“Much compared to Arcade Fire, U.S. formed but London based six-piece rockestra The Outside Royalty have had a whirlwind 12 months. Touring and playing with all from Young Knives to Babyshambles and off the back of a highly successful Road to V campaign in 2007, they’ve just released their debut single proper ‘Falling’ and the only way from here is definitely up!”
Much compared to Arcade Fire, U.S. formed but London based six-piece rockestra The Outside Royalty have had a whirlwind 12 months. Touring and playing with all from Young Knives to Babyshambles and off the back of a highly successful Road to V campaign in 2007, they’ve just released their debut single proper ‘Falling’ and the only way from here is definitely up!
noize: Hey guys and gals, how’s life treating you all today?
The Outside Royalty: Yeh pretty well thanks!
n: So you’ve finally got a debut single coming out soon, ‘Falling’. How does it feel to be getting a proper, full single release and what made you decide that ‘Falling’ would get the honour of being the song to unleash first?
TOR: It’s great to see our hard work finally bear the fruit of a 7”. We’ve built up a great team of loyal industry supporters over the past year, and with them all working with us now, it’s time for us to unleash ‘Falling’ on the good people of Great Britain. The song has pretty much always been a live favourite, so we’re confident we’ll win over plenty of new hearts with this release.
n: You’re self released EP featured ‘Falling’ along with a number of other gems, any thought’s as to which might be the next single?
TOR: We have the next single cued up, but we like to play our cards close to our chest. However, we may write a blinder in the meantime and change our attack plan.
n: You’ve been working with Phil Vinall for the single, what did working with such an experienced and impressive producer do with your sound and way of working?
TOR: Bringing Phil on board was a really interesting experience. Until working with him, we’d always self produced our music. What Phil brought to the record, was a pop sensibility coupled with the desire not to make us sound like anything else out there. His experience working with the likes of Pulp, Placebo and Radiohead, really allowed us to focus on our performances. We knew Phil would make it sound great!
n: So what plans for the debut album? Can we expect it any time soon? Is Phil producing it too?
TOR: We’d love to be able to see that far ahead, but we’re really relying on the success of singles one and two to be able to fund an album at this stage! We’ll see what happens.
n: So let’s rewind a bit to about this time last year and, incidentally, the first time I heard you guys. It was as entrants into the 2007 Road to V competition. Now although somehow you didn’t win (you guys and New Cassettes were robbed if you ask me) it must have been quite an experience! How did that grow you as a band and what do you think you leant and gained from the experience?
TOR: Firstly, the experience was great fun – even though we weren’t to make it to the final 2, it gave us a great deal of exposure. In terms of us growing, it made us think about exactly who we were as a band, and how to communicate that. I think we’ve really evolved immensely from that point forward in terms of self belief and identity.
n: There must have been some labels sniffing around after Road to V, so what was it about Bloody Awful Poetry that made you decide you wanted to work with them?
TOR: Bloody Awful Poetry Records is a brand new offshoot of the highly regarded London club night. They put together dynamic, diverse and intelligent line ups, often breaking new bands onto the scene for London’s in-the-know live music aficionados. It’s a nice story, we’re their first signing and we also headlined their first ever night at Nambucca last year. They have been behind the band from the start, and are now good friends, so it was a no brainer for us. We also know that they’ll put the love and nurturing into the project to make the release a success.
n: Arcade Fire are the band you seem to get compared to mostly. How do you react to being compared to such a great band, is it motivating, intimidating or not something you pay too much attention to?
TOR: We can’t pay attention to that. From our perspective it’s lazy journalism syndrome! We’re not consciously making music to sound like AF, and we don’t owe our sound to that band. I have ‘Funeral’ because I think it’s an incredible album, not because I think it relates to what we’re about. AF came along (and became hugely successful) at an unfortunate time for what it is we are doing it seems. There are similarities, granted, but there’s more than enough individual personality and direction to this band to weather that particular storm.
n: You’ve toured with some pretty established bands, such as Young Knives. How have you found playing to other band’s fans that might not know much about you, has the response been good?
TOR: Overwhelming! Really overwhelming! When we played in Bristol with Young Knives we had a room full of people we’d never seen or met before in our lives. They most certainly didn’t know who we were. We opened, but come the end of our set the crowd we’re clapping and cheering (loudly) for well over a minute after we’d finished and retreated from the stage. That’s a nice feeling you know – people appreciating and getting what it is you do.
n: The artwork you use is very interesting. Very old yet highly intriguing images, such as the man in the smoking jacket with a snake’s head and butterfly wings. Where do these images come from and how do you feel they represent your music?
TOR: We’re very lucky to be good friends with, and work alongside Adam Pobiak (www.tiedeye.de), who’s an incredibly talented artist and illustrator. We had an idea for the brief on the artwork that was something along the lines of: ‘We’d like a logo for the band that’s nostalgic, odd, full of personality, fantasy, hints towards academia, and looks f**king great… is that something you can create for us’? Mr Pobiak stroked his chin for a second and looked us up and down. ‘Yes’, he said. Since then he’s helped us maintain the right imagery for the band and it’s become very much a part of our brand.
n: Well 2008 is sure to be a massive year for The Outside Royalty, what plans do you have up your sleeves, any big tours or festivals in the pipeline?
TOR: We just returned from a UK tour and are playing the Zoo Thousand festival down in Kent. We’re just going to be writing and recording as much great music as we can in 2008!
noize: Hey guys and gals, how’s life treating you all today?
The Outside Royalty: Yeh pretty well thanks!
n: So you’ve finally got a debut single coming out soon, ‘Falling’. How does it feel to be getting a proper, full single release and what made you decide that ‘Falling’ would get the honour of being the song to unleash first?
TOR: It’s great to see our hard work finally bear the fruit of a 7”. We’ve built up a great team of loyal industry supporters over the past year, and with them all working with us now, it’s time for us to unleash ‘Falling’ on the good people of Great Britain. The song has pretty much always been a live favourite, so we’re confident we’ll win over plenty of new hearts with this release.
n: You’re self released EP featured ‘Falling’ along with a number of other gems, any thought’s as to which might be the next single?
TOR: We have the next single cued up, but we like to play our cards close to our chest. However, we may write a blinder in the meantime and change our attack plan.
n: You’ve been working with Phil Vinall for the single, what did working with such an experienced and impressive producer do with your sound and way of working?
TOR: Bringing Phil on board was a really interesting experience. Until working with him, we’d always self produced our music. What Phil brought to the record, was a pop sensibility coupled with the desire not to make us sound like anything else out there. His experience working with the likes of Pulp, Placebo and Radiohead, really allowed us to focus on our performances. We knew Phil would make it sound great!
n: So what plans for the debut album? Can we expect it any time soon? Is Phil producing it too?
TOR: We’d love to be able to see that far ahead, but we’re really relying on the success of singles one and two to be able to fund an album at this stage! We’ll see what happens.
n: So let’s rewind a bit to about this time last year and, incidentally, the first time I heard you guys. It was as entrants into the 2007 Road to V competition. Now although somehow you didn’t win (you guys and New Cassettes were robbed if you ask me) it must have been quite an experience! How did that grow you as a band and what do you think you leant and gained from the experience?
TOR: Firstly, the experience was great fun – even though we weren’t to make it to the final 2, it gave us a great deal of exposure. In terms of us growing, it made us think about exactly who we were as a band, and how to communicate that. I think we’ve really evolved immensely from that point forward in terms of self belief and identity.
n: There must have been some labels sniffing around after Road to V, so what was it about Bloody Awful Poetry that made you decide you wanted to work with them?
TOR: Bloody Awful Poetry Records is a brand new offshoot of the highly regarded London club night. They put together dynamic, diverse and intelligent line ups, often breaking new bands onto the scene for London’s in-the-know live music aficionados. It’s a nice story, we’re their first signing and we also headlined their first ever night at Nambucca last year. They have been behind the band from the start, and are now good friends, so it was a no brainer for us. We also know that they’ll put the love and nurturing into the project to make the release a success.
n: Arcade Fire are the band you seem to get compared to mostly. How do you react to being compared to such a great band, is it motivating, intimidating or not something you pay too much attention to?
TOR: We can’t pay attention to that. From our perspective it’s lazy journalism syndrome! We’re not consciously making music to sound like AF, and we don’t owe our sound to that band. I have ‘Funeral’ because I think it’s an incredible album, not because I think it relates to what we’re about. AF came along (and became hugely successful) at an unfortunate time for what it is we are doing it seems. There are similarities, granted, but there’s more than enough individual personality and direction to this band to weather that particular storm.
n: You’ve toured with some pretty established bands, such as Young Knives. How have you found playing to other band’s fans that might not know much about you, has the response been good?
TOR: Overwhelming! Really overwhelming! When we played in Bristol with Young Knives we had a room full of people we’d never seen or met before in our lives. They most certainly didn’t know who we were. We opened, but come the end of our set the crowd we’re clapping and cheering (loudly) for well over a minute after we’d finished and retreated from the stage. That’s a nice feeling you know – people appreciating and getting what it is you do.
n: The artwork you use is very interesting. Very old yet highly intriguing images, such as the man in the smoking jacket with a snake’s head and butterfly wings. Where do these images come from and how do you feel they represent your music?
TOR: We’re very lucky to be good friends with, and work alongside Adam Pobiak (www.tiedeye.de), who’s an incredibly talented artist and illustrator. We had an idea for the brief on the artwork that was something along the lines of: ‘We’d like a logo for the band that’s nostalgic, odd, full of personality, fantasy, hints towards academia, and looks f**king great… is that something you can create for us’? Mr Pobiak stroked his chin for a second and looked us up and down. ‘Yes’, he said. Since then he’s helped us maintain the right imagery for the band and it’s become very much a part of our brand.
n: Well 2008 is sure to be a massive year for The Outside Royalty, what plans do you have up your sleeves, any big tours or festivals in the pipeline?
TOR: We just returned from a UK tour and are playing the Zoo Thousand festival down in Kent. We’re just going to be writing and recording as much great music as we can in 2008!