When I was a kid, growing up in a house with Cat Stevens,
Neil Diamond, and Simon and Garfunkel, the first time I ever heard Kiss's
"Detroit Rock City,"
it was a moment of musical epiphany. It was just so vicious, aggressive and
mean. It changed the way I listened to music. I've had a few minor epiphanies
since then, when you come across a band that just brings something new and
revolutionary to your ears.
What have been your musical epiphany moments?
I'd have to say my main musical epiphany moment was the first time I heard Welcome To The Jungle at the age of 14. I was always a little into my rock and punk music from a young age but when I heard this it completely changed my view on the capability of Rock music and the epicness & intensity it can offer. This was also what inspired me to pick up the guitar and start playing, I became obsessed with slash's playing style and technique. From this I got heavily into 70s rock as GnR were largely inspired by that era, learning every Thin Lizzy, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple track I could. It was my interest into Psychedelic rock that then led me on to learn about the sub genre Stoner Rock, discovering bands like Clutch, The Atomic Bitchwax & Fu Manchu in my late teens. And now here we are today.
Talk to us about the song-writing process for you. What comes first, the idea? A riff? The lyrics? How does it all fall into place?
To be honest it varies everytime. Mostly our songs stem from ideas as it's quite easy for your songs to start sounding repetitive if you don't put a little thought behind it. We tend to focus on making all our songs have a unique aspect from the last, not repeating our ideas too much and keeping it fresh. This can often make song writing a long process for us, but we feel it's worth the wait when you have this approach.
Who has influenced you the most?
For me my biggest influence has to be Slash. His style and creativity was what ignited my interest in heavy blues as a kid. But today is say my influences are Isaiah Mitchell of Earthless and Mike Mccreedy of Pearl Jam. They both incorporate the Wah pedal into their solos perfectly, which is something I try achieve with our music. Big fan of the Wah!
Where do you look for continuing inspiration? New ideas, new motivation?
We tend to look for inspiration from new established or up and coming bands that we really dig. We also each have our own sources of inspiration and personal music quirks, for example I'm often inspired by folk music for it's melodies use of scales. New ideas can come from many different areas but keeping your mind open to new areas of inspiration is what keeps your music fresh.
We're all a product of our environment. Tell us about the
band's hometown and how that reflects in the music?
Manchester has a great rock and metal community that we have become very familiar with. We tend to write our music about life events, experiences and ideas. Manchester has certainly influenced all of these, especially when we first started out as we hadn't begun touring properly. From the people we meet and the memory's we create there's always something to write about.
Where'd the band name come from?
The name came about when recording our E.P. Our producer at the time would address us as by 'King'. We would jam around his house finalising ideas for the record, or as we liked to put it, performed some 'Rituals' to conjure up the creativity... Yeh probably one of those had to be there moments. Anyway we put two and two together when coming up with the band name and here we are.
You have one chance, what movie are you going to write the soundtrack for?
Cheech & Chong - up in smoke.
You now write for a music publication (The Ripple Effect?). You're going to write a 1,000 word essay on one song. Which would it be and why?
Sanctuary by Elder. The song has stacks of elements which keeps an 11 minute song interesting. Amazing time signatures, key changes & a quality recording… need I say more?
Come on, share with us a couple of your great, Spinal Tap, rock and roll moments?
One that springs to mind was our performance at HRH Stoner Vs Doom in 2018. It was our biggest show to date and almost everyone we knew in the UK scene was there, so we knew it would be fun. The show went brilliantly and the room was packed, we played a mixture of old and new stuff and the crowd response was immense. Looking forward to more moments like that.
Tell us about playing live and the live experience for you
and for your fans?
In my eyes there's no better natural high than a solid gig with a great crowd response. It what makes learning to play an instrument, spending tonnes of your hard worked cash on gear, writting material and trekking around the country for petty cash worth it. I'm generally quite a reserved guy on stage, I'm not one to chat loads of shit into the mic or strutt around like an arrogant douche, but what you'll get from us is a powerful, honest and fucking loud performance with songs effortlessly gliding into one another.
What makes a great song?
Guitar solos. It can be anything from a catchy riff that keeps you hooked to complexed time sequences and breakdowns. I also think a Melody is necessary to make it more memorable. When you find a song that has all these elements you've got something special.
Tell us about the first song you ever wrote?
The first song I wrote was a track called 'Blinded Paradise' back when I was living in Bolton before I moved to Manchester. I wrote it about a pub we used to regularly attend called The Alma Inn. The pub is well established gigging venue and we came across some real awesome underground bands there, watching shows and getting pissed. The track is to resemble that period in my life.
What piece of your music are particularly proud of?
I think the opening track 'Valleys' off the debut album will hopefully turn some heads. Proud of that one.
Who today, writes great songs? Who just kicks your ass? Why?
Clutch seem to be that stand out balls to the wall stoner rock band, constantly writing and just smashing it. Always got kick ass songs on their records, love their work.
Vinyl, CD, or digital? What's your format of choice?
Vinyl all day long. For it's clarity in quality.
Whiskey or beer? And
defend your choice
Beer definitely. Because I like my hangovers not making me feel like my eyes are popping out my skull. Gotta pace yourself when touring.
We, at the Ripple Effect, are constantly looking for new music. What's your home town, and when we get there, what's the best record store to lose ourselves in?
Manchester us our hometown and when you get here check out Piccadilly Records. Awesome place, good selection.
What's next for the band?
After the release of the album in Feb we plan on touring the UK in April and hopefully Europe around September time. This is all in the early stages of planning but we hope to hit France, The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany on our trip over to Europe. We shall cover most of the UKs fundamental locations on our tour in April. In the meantime we'll be cracking on with Album #2.
Any final comments or thoughts you'd like to share with our readers, the waveriders?
Make sure you check the record out when it's released! Also come to a show! So you can party and drink with us.
