Interviews: RCKLSS

In this new occassion we have had the opportunity to interview the Pop Punk band RCKLSS from UK. Check out the interview and this band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1.Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?  

We were originally called ‘Reckless Intentions’, which was taken from the State Champs track “Elevated”, and toured and released music under that name for a few years! It was pretty much the first time any of us had attempted to make a band successful, so it was a massive learning curve for us and we learned a huge amount from the 18 months or so that RI was active, but when the time came to release new music, we just felt that we’d outgrown the sound and image that we had before. So, being incredibly creative individuals, we took out the vowels. And here we are.  

2.Why did you want to play this genre?  

I think the way that our sound has developed is really a representation of all of us, and we’re creating something that we all connect to deeply. We’re still obviously growing both as individual musicians and as a collective, but you can definitely hear the things that we love about our influences being taken into our songs. I think our main ‘mission' is to reach people and to have some kind of impact on people’s lives, and the messages put forward by the alternative scene about things like acceptance, or finding peace and happiness within ourselves is definitely one that we’re all proud to share.  

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?  

Josh and Matty were the first to meet when they first moved into halls in Brighton, but the band kind of originated from an acoustic project that Matty and Laurence started, called ‘A Decade Late’, after Matty put out an advert looking for musicians online. We met Lewis a couple of years later, after our original guitarist Jack had to step down because of health problems.   

4. Each band member favourite band?  

We’re all pretty different, which works out really well. Lewis and Laurence listen to a lot of metalcore; bands like Breaking Benjamin and Crystal Lake, while Matty grew up on a lot of pop-punk and pop-rock - melody-led bands like Green Day, All Time Low and The 1975, and Josh was a bit of an old school rock/indie kid, taking influence from the Stone Roses, The Who, Led Zep etc.  

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?  

It’s a very natural process for us, and we don’t ever really try to force songs. Most of the time, a small idea will pop up, and then we spend the next few months developing that into a full track. In terms of what actually inspires the writing, I think it’s really just a passion for music. Matty will write a few lyrics here and there based on what’s going on in our lives, but the first ideas of a track are normally based around riffs or melodies that come to us randomly during rehearsals or jam sessions.  

6. Where was your last gig?  

We played a really intimate show in Brighton just before Christmas at The Pipeline, which was really just something that was booked to keep us sane while we were off tour! We got back from our first European tour in October, and were on such a high from that, so it really bugged us that we didn’t have anything else booked until our upcoming EP release tour in the UK in February. 2018 was really special to us in terms of growth, and we had so many incredible experiences that we really wanted to thank everyone who supported us through all of it, so we arranged a free show in a tiny room with some of our friends in the Brighton music scene, and just really let our hair down, played a load of covers and it was such a great night for all of us.  

7. Where would you like to act?  

Obviously we’ve all got our dreams venues and then our much more realistic ambitions! Locally, we want to be able to play at venues like The Haunt and Concorde2, and we’d love to be able to sell out venues like The Fleece in Bristol, the Electric Ballroom in Camden and The Joiners in Southampton, that are all really important to their local music scenes. Then we have our dream venues, where we’ve seen our favourites bands play on the biggest stages; place like Alexandra Palace, Brixton Academy and Wembley Arena. Luck would have to be on our side for those to come true, but we figure we may as well at least give it a try!  

8. Whom would you like to feature with?  

At the moment, we’re loving bands like WSTR, Dream State and Holding Absence, who are really bursting out of the UK scene. I think we’re in a strange place, where we’re not quite the same as modern pop-punk, so touring with older bands like Jimmy Eat World, Good Charlotte, Blink-182 would be an absolute dream for us, obviously.  

9. Any of you has ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that?  

We’ve been fairly lucky in that we’re all pretty comfortable on stage. If we haven’t played for a while, or we’re playing something live for the first time then it’s perfectly natural to be nervous, but we always prepare for shows as best we can and that helps us to feel more confident in what we’re doing. Apart from anything, the more you practice, the more you can just relax and enjoy being on stage without having to think really hard about what you’re playing.  

10. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?  

We’ve had some pretty weird requests for songs during shows before. One show someone wanted us to play the Macarena, so for the entire set most of the room just danced accordingly along to every single song, even the completely depressing ones, which was pretty hilarious.  

11. What do you think of your fans?  

They’re great. We’re not a big band by any means, but the people who support us are always interacting with everything we post and release, and it really means a lot to us to have people who show so much dedication at such an early stage of our careers.  

12. What do you think of our site? 

It’s really important that blogs and sites stay active to support the grassroots levels of the scene. It’s pages like yours where people discover bands like us, so keep it up guys!  

13. Something add? 

Our debut EP, ‘So Cynical’ comes out on February 1st, and we can’t wait for it to be out there in the world. We’ve already released a couple of singles, so head to Youtube/Spotify/Bebo or whatever you listen on and check them out!