RIVAL SONS (Eng.)
– Hi, thanks for your time. What are you currently up to? How is everything doing right now with RIVAL SONS?
Well, I couldn’t ask for more, man. It’s going REAL well. We are charting and selling out venues all over the UK, Scandinavia and Europe.
– Your evolution has been and still is unstoppable. Did you expect that when you released your first «Before the Fire»?
I can’t lie. We had a pretty good feeling when boarded this enterprise.
– And now you have just unleashed your new «Head Down». How is its feedback being so far? And what are your expectations on it?
Man. Google «head down» and you’ll see pretty much nothing but good stuff about it. The wind is definitely in our sails right now.
– I personally think this is your best album so far. You’ve created a amazing soundscape full of melody, Rock and melancholy. Each song seems to be part of RIVAL SONS’ identity. What are your expressing with this new opus?
Well thank you very much. We are really proud of it. I believe we were just trying to expand our horizons; broaden the palette. It was a very arduous and exploratory process.
– This time it feels like you as musicians have dared providing some songs that, still being bluesy, if they wouldn’t been so well-thought, they wouldn’t fit so nicely on this opus. So do you really give much thought to the songs or does everything just come naturally out of you?
Well, we do a song a day. Each day, each new song, we’re in a different mood, a different headspace. On the 20-mile drive to the studio everyday, we’d listen to different music. Stuff we might want to be inspired by, like say, I was only listening to the Staple Singers during this time and might put on «Respect Yourself» and we might have all felt a bit groovy.
– You are constantly compared to AC/DC. How do you feel about it? Is it a bonus motivation? does it pressure you? Bother you?…
I haven’t us being compared to AC/DC actually, but that’s an awesome band to be compared to. They are a timeless rock band. I saw their set when we opened for them, and I must say they deliver the best Rock show on earth. So, thanks! Haha
– This being said, have they been an influence for you? What are your main musical influences?
We listen to a lot of soul music. We’re always looking for rare vinyl from old blues artists or Motown or 50’s/60’s R&B. I personally listen and am influenced by a lot of Jazz: be bop, hard bop, Bud Powell, Charlie Parker, Miles, Coltrane.
– This LP is sorrouned by a modern and clear production that makes easy to notice all the different elements that lay in your compositions, giving an extra push to the bass lines. I think think it has the feeling LPs from the 70s had. Are you satisfied with the result obtained with producer Dave Cobb and engineer Vance Powell? Was this the kind of sound you were looking for?
These guys get what we’re doing; what we’re going for. Vance Powell got my drum sound dialed in in less than an hour. Some guys spend a month on a snare drum! Dave Cobb is our «fifth element.»
– The artwork for «Head Down» is an oil painting crafted by Jason Holley, and the cover artwork is really nice but simple. What did you want to express with it?
I think our album conveys tension/release; the good, the bad and the ugly. I think Holley’s interpretation of Head Down is right on target.
– All this about «Head Down» being said; how could you describe this new piece in just 3 words?
Turn it up!!
– You were formed just a few years ago but with all the success you’ve got I guess you may have already achieved a some of your goals but, what’s left for you to get? Which band would you like to play with?
We’d like to just keep on pushing forth, focusing on putting out more material. Playing more shows. Bigger venues. All the things most bands want. We’d like to open for the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
– And finally, what are your near-future plans? That¹s all, thank you once more for answering our questions. If you want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
We are nose-to-the-grind with Head Down right now. We will finish this European tour around November, then go to Canada, then we have our release in the USA, so a tour will ensue there as well. Tour, record, sleep. Tour, record, sleep. We’d definitely like to thank our crazy fans. One thing we evoke is commitment. I think once you’re a Rival Sons fan, you’re hooked for life. We appreciate that and we will continue to give you dangerous, maximum R&B.
