In today’s day in age, categories, to a point, have become a thing of the past. There is a plethora of everything, so the lines get blurred in terms of trying to qualify product. This is never more prevalent than in the instance of music genres… band bios often read like this, “We are an indie-rock-blues-grass-soul-sing-songwriter band from…”
Wow, thanks for narrowing that down for me! And what’s worse, rock ‘n roll has become more of a catch phrase than a type of music. And even terms like “Classic Rock” and “Vintage Rock” have become distorted… but surprisingly, I don’t take issue with the latter. Reason being, people are starting to describe current rock as sounding “classic rock.” A phrase that used to describe timeless hits from former generations has been resurrected as musicians trade in digital over-production for a stripped-down analog sound.
Rival Sons — Jay Buchanan (vocals), Scott Holiday (guitar), Robin Everhart (bass), and Michael Miley (drums) — are among the few bands at the helm of this return to good ol’ fashion rock ‘n roll. For being such a young band, their accomplishments are already many and close between. They received the “Breakthrough Artist” award from Classic Rock magazine, have a headlining European tour under their belts, and their latest effort, Head Down, reached #1 on the Rock chart in the U.K.
When critics started likening the band to Zeppelin, I had to hear for myself…Listening to Head Down from start to finish is an experience. No two songs are the same and no one song is indicative of what kind of band Rival Sons is — which for me, made the connection to Zeppelin most apparent. You cannot listen to “Rain Song” and assume to know what kind of record Houses Of The Holy is, and the same logic applies to the masterpiece Rival Sons has created.
There is such variance between tracks like “Run from Revelation,” and “True,” that to listen to just one song on the album would be a disservice. This is a band of storytellers and Head Down is their manifesto, and just like any good narrative, the listener has to experience the entirety in order to truly comprehend the plot. Speaking with the band’s singer Jay Buchanan afforded the opportunity to add further layers of character development to the story of the already fascinating Rival Sons…
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I want to start by talking about the crazy rollercoaster Rival Sons has been riding since your formation in late 2008. Looking back at that time, could you in any way predict or imagine that in just a couple of years you’d be opening for bands like ACDC and Alice Cooper? Performing at the Indy 500? Headlining your own European tour? Such a trip you guys have been on…
Well, we’ve had such a great run so far, so when things go this well, and the audience is growing at such a rate, it’s hard to foresee. You imagine something good happening, right? You think, okay, this is going to be a lot of work, but we are a good band, we could potentially do really well, people might dig this. But once it actually does start going your way, it’s really surprising. I’m constantly taken aback, and humbled, and most of all surprised by the amount of support we’ve been given by people.
I find it exciting that people are embracing the kind of sound you guys create again. There seems to be a turn away from pop and electronic music, which has dominated the past decade, and a focus back towards the original multi-piece band. It’s a slow turn, albeit. The audience almost has to be re-taught how to listen to genuine rock…
When you say, “The audiences need to be re-taught,” it’s funny that you mention that, because you’d be surprised at how many journalists and how many people I speak with that refer to the type of music we play as, ‘blues-infused rock,’ or ‘blues rock,’ and I’m thinking, isn’t that originally called rock ‘n roll? We are so far out of the woods that when people hear the word ‘blues,’ they think of the standard five-note piano riff with someone singing, “I got the blues,” when really, blues and rock ‘n roll have always gone hand in hand.
“Jordan” off of your latest album Head Down was recently featured on an episode of the FX hit television show, Sons of Anarchy, which is not only wildly popular, but particularly praised for its classic rock inspired soundtracks. Are you, or any other members of the band SOA fans?
I’ve actually never seen the show, I’m one of those no TV guys, but I’ve heard nothing but great things. I know some of the guys watch it, along with some other shows when we’re touring and on the road… I hear them talk about Dexter a lot!
I’m sure it’s safe to assume that you have seen the December 2012 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, which features an interview with the incomparable Jimmy Page. A couple of paragraphs into the article, the author remarks, “Page is fully engaged in current music; he enthuses about recent London shows he’s seen by Muse and a young American blues-rock combo, Rival Sons.” What a loaded sentence… you have one of rock’s greatest legends not only giving you the nod, but also placing you in the same company as Muse? What an insane honor… How does one even react to that?.
It’s really peculiar. It’s quite a feeling. First of all, when we played in London, he stopped by before the show, came backstage, and wanted to meet us, which was obviously really crazy. It happened so fast, like, okay I just met Jimmy Page… and he was very nice… very amiable, and just really present. A lot of these older rockers that you meet are too wrapped up in themselves or just not really there in the moment with you, but Jimmy was really kind, an incredibly genuine man. And then about a week later it really hit me, oh my God, Jimmy Page! Jimmy Page came to our show and wanted to meet us. We gave him all of our records on vinyl, and he stayed through the entire show, which was just crazy. So that was one thing, but then to get the nod from him in Rolling Stone, knowing that he is infamous for not giving interviews, especially not long interviews, and especially not with Rolling Stone… for him to finally give an in-depth interview in that publication and only bring up two bands— us, Rival Sons, and Muse, who is one of the biggest bands in the world right now—to get that kind of a nod from him was really, really, cool.
What a surreal moment…
It was really something. Everything is moving so quickly for us, and just the lifestyle, we’ve only been together about four years, and really touring heavy the past two and a half years, but we are so busy that every time things happen, you just kind of take it at face value and think, “Alright that was cool, I’m thankful,” but experiences start to go over your head because there’s always the next thing to focus your attention on. But every now and then, you know, reality just slaps you in the face, and you think, Oh my gosh, all this crazy stuff has been happening throughout this whole last year, we are really fortunate. You have to almost stop and take stock, because its natural, no matter what you’re doing, for people to take things for granted once they get used to it. And for me, I never want to be in that position, where I start taking these things for granted. We are extremely fortunate that people want to support us, so we have to take stock that way.
It’s definitely important to “take stock” as you mention, but it’s also human nature to become indolent at the first signs of acknowledgement or praise, however, and to pull from your lyrics, in order to truly make a lasting mark you have to “keep your head down and keep on swinging,” … is that a philosophy that Rival Sons employ?
I agree with that, accolades, and all these things… and this may sound shitty, but for us, we really can’t afford to let it penetrate. We can’t afford to let it stick. Because journalists, and even fans… I mean, hearing a story about what a song did for someone is one thing, that’s relatable, but hearing great things said about you is really poison in a way. You should always count on being worse than you actually are. You need to keep yourself humble so that you stay hungry. If you start believing the hype, then that means you also have to believe the bullshit too. If you go on the Internet, like I used to do, and read your own reviews, you’ll see that people are really vicious and really disgraceful. It’s a weird aspect of human nature, where people want to give you great accolades but then slam you at the same time. That whole scene can get really ugly. If you’re going to believe the good stuff, you are going to believe the bad stuff as well, so I try and keep my nose out of it.
There is an oath of honesty that Rival Sons have allegedly taken, does that lineup with the belief of “keeping yourself humble so that you stay hungry?”
It’s my approach, staying away from all the hype — good or bad, it’s not necessarily the approach of the band. That is definitely what I do to stay sane; the other guys have their own way of dealing with things. In terms of the oath of honesty, it’s more an approach to make good music and not cut corners. Let’s really work as hard as we can to be the best band we can. Whatever that potential is, let’s work hard, and do whatever we can to reach that point. Everybody really is committed to that.
You guys talk about rock ‘n roll not just a type of music, but a lifestyle. I think that’s lost on a lot of musicians in this generation, particularly the craze of DJs who are able to protect their identities, or in other words hide behind booths, masks, and computers. Is this more than just music for you? Is this a way of life?
First of all, I mean, everyone is hiding behind something, it doesn’t matter who you are, but through art we try to discard the things you can hide behind. I think that that’s really the process. I know for me personally, that’s what I try to do. If there are obstacles that are going to allow me to hide from the audience, or for the actual song, I spend my time trying to knock those things down. But yes, when you spend so much time doing one thing, it does become a way of life; it becomes your way of life. For instance, I’m really happy to be home, but after five or six days it starts to feel strange, I’m not gigging, I’m not making music. I mean at home, I write every day, for my own satisfaction, but in terms of the band, after being on tour for so long I’m just used to performing with them every night, and now it’s like, what am I doing? Picking up dog shit and taking out the trash? So yeah, I think it does become a way of life and it almost has to out of necessity. Living the art and living the music, committing to that craft becomes your every move, and all of your actions start to revolve around it.
You recorded Head Down in a mere 20 days, is that correct?
Yeah, it was about three weeks, 20 or 21 days…
You’ve described your writing style as being analogous to the Samurai Code, which allows three to five breaths before making a decision. Can you tell us a little bit about this approach and how it affected the process of creating Head Down?
The way it works is, we go in with no material, and we give ourselves those three weeks so that we have to react off of instinct. We give ourselves only three weeks so it turns into a do or die situation. It absolutely does not run smoothly. It’s a fistfight the whole way. It’s a lot. For me, having to write lyrics, and complete songs, and write melodies and arrange… there is an enormous amount of pressure on you. But there is an enormous amount of pressure on all of us, because we each have a job that is integral to each song. Everyone has a lot of responsibility, and because of that, we bring out the best, but also (like in any family situation) we are also capable of bringing out the absolute worst in each other. But we do it this way because, as artists, we will naturally procrastinate. Out of comfort you always want to give yourself more time than you should have. Many bands today just stroll at a very leisurely pace. And they build it up in their head that they are artists, and need time to get inspired before they can write. Well how about if your life depends on it? Can you make a record then? Or what if someone tells you that this next record you make is going to determine the rest of your career, either you’re going to sink or you’re going to swim, either you’re make a good record or a bad record… you better make a good one, because if not, the fan base can disappear and everybody can stop staying nice things about you. So bottom line, you better give it everything you got.
That attitude and sense of urgency is apparent and breathes life and immediacy into your music…
Which is important for us because, the way that we make a record, for the most part, it’s first and second takes. We have some third takes on there, but we record it live as soon as the song is written. A lot of the songs off of the Head Down record were first takes all the way through. It was supposed to be like a scratch track you had in your hand. And we try to do that to capture the immediacy before we get comfortable. We really try to stay away from the situation of recital.
And I think that is precisely what everyone is connecting to in your music… the abandon of overproduction for a more raw and analog sound, so in terms of approach, your integration of the aforementioned Samurai Code has clearly proven effective…
We’re just trying to do what we think is going to work for us. That process seems to be a good catalyst for what we’re doing right now. Are we always going to make records that way? I don’t know. We may take six months and go to a French chateau and get fat and take forever making a record one day, but for now, this works.
And to be clear, when you guys go into the studio, you have nothing written? Not even lyrics? Just walk in with a clean slate?
Yeah that’s it.
Knowing that, it puts a greater emphasis on the lyrical content of your music. For instance, in the track, “All the Way,” you sing, “we got our focus and we got out steam / for the rest of our lives we’re gonna fight for this dream, you know / this time we’re going all the way.” That phrase, beyond being prophetic, is indicative of exactly how you were feeling in that moment, in the studio, while recording during that 20-day period… it gives the listener a rare date and time stamp in terms of when and where and how you were feeling when the song came to be.
When we’re in the studio, because of the work load that I personally have, I mean… there will be mornings when I take my shower after having a cup of coffee, and I’ll admit, there are those moments where you’re laying at the bottom of the shower in the fetal position thinking, I can’t do this, how am I going to pull all of this shit out of my brain? What am I going to do? And oddly enough, I was kind of having one of those moments when I got the idea for “All the Way.” I said to myself, wait a minute, I need a positive song, I need to keep my head up, and that’s the way it worked it.
What I love about Head Down is that it is a truly conceptual album. It tells a story beginning to end. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Each track is great on it’s own, but you can’t listen to, say, “Nava,” and assume to know who the Rival Sons are. There are only a handful of current rock artists — Jack White comes to mind — brave enough to release an album like that. Most bands are content creating one or two hits and then mimicking variations of that for the other 12 songs. Does it feel like you guys are holding the torch to a certain degree?
Well, thank you. We are going to do what we can. Trying to make the right decisions and following our instincts feels pretty natural right now, we don’t really feel anyone or anything pulling us in one direction or the other. People can describe us as blues, or classic rock, or revivalists all they want, we’re really just trying to see who we can become. And I think there are a lot of bands out there that are also trying to do the same thing. But we just want to make good stuff, that’s it.
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Whether it be their commitment to honest work, do-or-die recording style, or belief that one’s art is a way of life, (or answer D: all of the above), Rival Sons have managed to rocket themselves into stardom — literally, because once Captain Jimmy Page gives you your wings, you’re orbiting in a whole new galaxy — while somehow staying humble and more importantly, hungry. Their untreated and unabashed sound has given vintage rock junkies a new catalog to sink their teeth into, and although the classics will forever satisfy, the taste of something fresh is always a sweet welcome. Rock on Rival Sons!
