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 epiphany's
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?
When we were young the 1st wave of rock music to come through was that American energetic pop punk vibe, particularly Sum 41. It sounded so exciting and basically was the soundtrack to our lives, it inspired us to become music fans then eventually musicians a couple years down the line. We can honestly say that if it wasn’t for that wave we would probably be completely different people, even now almost 20 years later it’s still evident in our music.
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?
Its chaos, the only aim is to have a song we love to play and it seems like the harder we push ourselves to hit the spot the more we get back out of it. It can start with anything really, sometimes just making silly noises from our mouths and taking it from there, it works for us so we don’t question it.
Who has influenced you the most?
Shortly after picking instruments up for the 1st time and starting to get the hang of playing Green Days American Idiot dropped, bang !!! What was this? 9 minute long songs? Piano, acoustic, falsetto harmonies? Not the sort of thing you’d expect from the genre, this sparked the question why conform. We would have been about 13, 14 at this time playing in different bands but still all had the same experience and wanted to see what boundaries could be pushed and what could be brought in to make something new and your own, despite what the purists have to say.
Where do you look for continuing inspiration? New ideas, new motivation?
Recently we’ve been getting a lot of ideas from UKs rap/grime seen, it’s really d.i.y and relevant. We’ve been likening it to punk rock in the 70s, its music made by the people. We’re currently talking ideas on how we can bring any of its vibe to The Outlines. It isn’t hard to stay motivated as cliché as it is, you just need to love what you do. We’re real with each over, we don’t talk about fame and fortune we talk about being a brotherhood and to just keep making music we love till we’re dead and buried.
We're all a product of our environment. Tell us about the
band's hometown and how that reflects in the music?
True, we’re from Warsop in Mansfield Nottingham and its pretty much a countryside. Growing up you and a bunch of friends could always just walk off into the woodlands take a guitar and a lighter and stay out all night without any bother. This gave us a massive sense of freedom, no rules, no responsibility and no trouble, we would light a fire sing some songs and have a laugh. Being able to escape from everything almost feels transcendent and that’s something we want to get across in our music.
Where'd the band name come from?
We were in the studio recording everything we had put together for our 1st album “The Streets Of England”. Because we had put so much effort into the songs, we overlooked the band’s name and the release was in a matter of weeks. On the last night of recording, driving home, we started brain storming for a band name. Whatever came to mind we just called out. After about 3 or 4 minutes Martyn said “Out of time, out the box, out of place, out of mind, outsiders, out of line, The Outlines” we all just went quiet and sat on it for a moment, it seemed to ring true so there and then we named ourselves ‘The Outlines’. It was the cherry on the cake.
You have one chance, what movie are you going to write the soundtrack for?
It would have to be something like Alice in Wonderland, our music would probably work well as a lot of our songs are sort of a step into a trippy world
Come on, share with us a couple of your great, Spinal Tap, rock and roll moments?
Ha ha! It wasn’t Vegas it was California but still what happens there stays there, only thing we can say is it was like living in a Hollywood movie we had the time of our lives, nobody would believe us anyway.
Tell us about playing live and the live experience for you and for your fans?
Our headline shows are always a treat, when you’re playing to your own fans for hours and the whole room doesn’t stop jumping the entire way through I suppose everyone just feels like they’ve won a Marathon by the end of the set.
What makes a great song?
Telling a truth, with lyrics, rhythm or melody. Music is something that speaks to you on an emotional level, one minute you’re sitting drinking tea the next you put a song on and your acting like a maniac. If you give people something they connect with they’ll bond with it and listen to it again and again throughout their lives.
Tell us about the first song you ever wrote?
It’s been a long time since I’ve thought about that, ha ha and for good reason I'm starting to sweat with embarrassment. I think it was called “what’s going on” I co-wrote it with an old friend, it was bouncy and terrible, good fun at the time though we all have to start somewhere.
What piece of your music are particularly proud of?
I think right now were most proud of “Man Down” for our “House of Thieves” EP, it has a lot of elements to it and feels awesome playing.
Who today, writes great songs? Who just kicks your ass? Why?
“Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes” everything is killer, the guitar and vocal tones are bang on and the rhythm section just creates so much power. It’s always a pleasure to listen to a punk band that’s relevant in tone and subjects.
Vinyl, CD, or digital? What's your format of choice?
In no secret everything’s going digital but vinyl offers so much more soul to the audio.
Whiskey or beer? And defend your choice
Whiskeys for old men and beers fizzy p**s – we choose spiced rum, tastes great and your one step closer to being a pirate
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?
Ha, there’s nothing like that in Mansfield, go find Wez busking.
What's next for the band?
Recently we’ve been trying to branch out and it seems to be going well, we have more music videos this year to be uploaded to our youtube and we’ve been talking a lot about bringing rapping in to our verses, we’re really invested in our next ep being rap punk.
Any final comments or thoughts you'd like to share with our readers, the waveriders?
If this seems like something you’d be interested in please head over to our socials and give our material a go.
Much love
