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 Riot! In The Boulevard have recently been burying themselves in a studio in Los Angeles, California to begin work on their self-titled debut album, but the band is working under some quite unexpected pressure following their sudden explosion onto the music scene, yet to release a full album, the band have already achieved massive chart success with a number 1 for All The Non Believers and a number 2 for Sweet Little Fantasy’s, rarely has such a new band had so much interest prior to their debut album. But they’re working hard to reach those dizzy heights and are aiming to please with this record.
The band are all sat around talking and playing around with their instruments, as I walk into the room I’m greeted warmly by the rest of the band. As I introduce myself to the band, Justin makes space on the sofa for me to sit down and find out more about the record. Here’s the interview;
Q: For those who haven‘t heard the bands music yet, how would you describe it to them?
Justin: It’s almost like something anybody could listen to and enjoy, I’d say that we seem to be building a particular kind of audience but we make music that we enjoy making and it seems to reach people you wouldn’t necessarily expect it to reach, if that makes sense.
Amy: Yeah, what he said. (laughs) But it’s music that you’d probably expect four seventeen to eighteen year olds in a rock band create. It’s pop rock but it has some heavier elements and it has some more reflective and softer elements to it. If it’s commercial then it’s commercial, if it never gets noticed then it never gets noticed, that element of it is completely out of our hands.
Q: The pressure on you guys for this debut album is pretty intense, How do you guys deal with it?
Amy: Nothing’s really changed, we’ve just got on with it. I’ve been writing the songs for this album for the best of the year and I don’t think the pressure has really influenced me or any of the guys for that matter. We’ve done everything the way we planned, the only difference is that we’ve had like crazy support and interest prior to the album and you know we never expected the E.P to do so well but those two singles from that E.P just put on this different kind of level really, but nothing’s changed because of it.
Justin: Yeah, I think we’ve worked pretty hard since we got signed and so I think the effort we have put into our career so far has sort of helped us more than anything really. Nothing was handed on a plate for us, we never signed to a major label right away, we signed to Nomad Records which is a very indie label and I think that was the best deal for us and still is because they’ve given us the freedom to basically go out and do what we do without any major pressure on their part.
Q: And the support for the band has been building rapidly, what would you put this sudden rise down to?
Amy: I think we’ve got a good work ethic, we don’t want things handed on a plate to us, when we first formed, we had no idea that we’d get here, but just because we’ve quickly been recognized and supported doesn’t mean we’re gonna change our initial mission statement. We’re gonna go out and support whatever we release by performing live shows and touring our ass off, the bands we respect hugely may not be the most succesfull bands around but they work harder than anyone and we’re gonna make sure that whatever we achieve, it will be down to hard work.
Jason: We’re kinda following the mould set by bands like Suburban Sunrise and Reported Failure, the most important thing for us is to be performing live shows and killing it every night. The albums and singles are just bonuses for the fans but the touring is where we will properly be focusing on.
Q: Speaking of Suburban Sunrise and Reported Failure, your gonna be touring with both of those bands throughout August and September, how did that come about?
Nathan: We were initially asked to do an earlier tour with Suburban Sunrise, but we were committed to touring with Fathers Of Fury in the UK, I think we made the right decision to do the UK tour first because there was less pressure for us.
Justin: To be asked to support any of those bands that we look up to and admire is an honour for us, Suburban Sunrise really set the mould for the kind of music that we want to make and although they haven’t been around for so long, they’ve done so much, so it will be a learning curve for us.
Q: And it seems like a bizarre decision for you to tour in the UK before you’ve toured in your home country of the USA, why did you decide to do the UK tour first?
Amy: I think the musical heritage of the UK definitely played a big part in our decision and to be asked by Fathers Of Fury who we are all hugely inspired from was the defining reason. And we knew that there would be less pressure, people coming to the show would have been going to see Fathers Of Fury and so the pressure wasn’t high for us, we could go to a show and just do our best and try to steal a few Fathers Of Fury fans along the way (laughs)
Justin: And the experience that we got from that tour will stand us in great stead for the US tour with Suburban Sunrise and we’ll have our album released, and from what we’ve heard from our management there’s growing support for us in the US, it definitely worked out best for us.
Okay, so let’s talk about the label, How come you signed with them, rumours have it that there was quite some substantial interest from other labels?
Jason: That’s not really true. There was slight interest from a couple of major labels but there was no contract ever written for us to sign. We talked to one or two other labels but nothing happened from there. Nomad Records came in with huge interest and we signed to those guys.
Nathan: Yeah, I think this label is perfect for us. It gives us the freedom to go out and build a career as a band, I always thought if we signed to a major label there we would have been more like a product, kinda like a toy that gets thrown away once the label are bored of us, with Nomad Records, it seems different, they wanna see us build a career, whether it’s with them or not.
So how long do you guys expect to stay at Nomad Records?
Amy: We’ve signed a one album deal with those guys and hopefully we’ve done enough to get a new deal with them. We’d love to stay at Nomad Records for a little longer, but the ball is definitely in their court. We are more than pleased to stay but if they don’t wanna give us a new deal then that’s fine too, we’ll go out and look for a new record deal but we owe a lot to Nomad Records and we’d ideally like to stay at the label for a little longer and repay their faith in us. Where we are now is because of the label’s faith in us, so to answer your question, we’d like to stay at the label for a very long time.
And lets move on to your music, it’s been hugely praised in the media and by fellow musicians, especially the Songwriting, do you guys ever think Amy gets too much of the praise?
Justin: No definitely not, we’re a band, we’re a group of really great friends and we’re in this together. Yes of course Amy gets a lot of praise and she deserves it because she’s a phenomenal talent. We can’t do the things that Amy can do. We don’t really have the interest in words that Amy has, yes I help out with lyrics sometimes but we’re not good songwriters, Amy is a great songwriter and a fantastic singer so yeah she gets a lot of the credit but she deserves it.
Amy: (laughs) Yeah, I do.
Jason: We work on the songs together though, Amy will come up with the lyrics and then we’ll spend like days working on the music to go perfectly with her words. But it is a team effort.
Ok, and do you ever worry about Amy going solo?
Nathan: (laughs) No, we’ll support her with whatever she does, if it’s with the band, if it’s without the band. Either way is fine with us. I’d like to think she enjoys working and touring with us guys though. And we’re all great friends so there’s nothing to worry about.
Amy: Yeah, I’d like to just confirm that I don’t have any plans to go solo anytime soon. I’d like to think that we could make this the greatest band around, but that won’t happen overnight.
Justin: We’re happy doing what we’re doing now and that’s all that really matters, if that changes anytime soon then it happens. It’s not really important right now.
Q: Ok and now onto your album, you‘ve already confirmed the track listing and lyrics before heading into the studio, how did that work?
Amy: We always knew which songs we’d put on the album, we spent about six days in a studio in London after the end of the tour and we played a bunch of songs with each other and spent hours deciding on the track list for the album, We wanted a good mix of songs for the album and we all agreed on the track listing and the running order for the album, so everything is in place for the recording process.
Jason: And Amy is just always desperate to get her lyrics out there and get some feedback on it so she decided to release the lyrics earlier than planned and I guess it gives fans something to tide them over until the album gets released.
Q: And how is the recording process going so far?
Nathan: We’re almost one week into recording and it’s more hard work than I thought it would be, I wasn’t properly prepared for it.
Amy: Yeah, right now we’re not recording anything, we’re perfecting the songs right now, but it’s like 4 hours of the guys perfecting the instrumentals while I’m in another room working on the vocals, the engineer is like super crazy, he gets me to perform each song in as many different vocal styles and I’m like “We’ve done these songs on tour, they work, we know how to perform them.” but that’s just for the first week so we’re prepared for when our producers come in and start work.
Q: And those producers are?
Amy: This dude called Damion Holmes, he’s pretty cool, perhaps a little bit insane but what producers aren’t (laughs), And Uhh, Danny Allen will be doing the mixing on the album, he’s worked with Brittany Knox and few other pop acts. And our final producer is Ryan Ross Hernandez, yeah that dude is producing our record, it was crazy when we found out he was interested, the dude was in PANIC!, we were like, we don’t need to hear anymore, he’s in.
Justin: We were all looking forward to meeting those guys but Amy was admittedly a little more excited about it. (laughs)
Q: Interesting, And now onto your success, your second single, All The Non Believers, became a number 1, surprising many, do you think you can continue with this momentum?
Amy: It was never our intention to be number one, we never expected that and definitely not so soon, but the crazy thing, is that our first two singles were from our E.P, we recorded the E.P in a couple of days and those two singles from it have sort of blew up. I dunno if we can top what we’ve done so far, but we’ll continue to improve as a band and as a unit so I think there’s still a whole lot more to come from us.
Q: And once final thing, when can we expect to hear your debut album in full?
Nathan: July 24 will be the day the album is released. It will probably end up getting leaked early or something which sucks but July 24 is when it will officially be released.
 Track Rundowns.Mona Lisa SmileMona Lisa Smile is track two on the album. It’s soft beginning is accompanied by Amy Meyer’s accapella vocals which show that she is a capable vocalist. The band then move into full power, giving the song it’s fiery rock edge which the band specialises in. It’s music is reminiscent to modern bands like Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, 30 Seconds To Mars and Green Day. It’s a song about a carefree girl that always gains the attention of guys. It’s chorus is catchy which we’ve come to expect from this band, “The Girls Wanna Be Her, The Guys Wanna See Her/If Only For A Little While, Just To See Her Mona Lisa Smile/The Girls Wanna Be Her, The Guys Wanna See Her/If Only For A Little While, Just To See Her Mona Lisa Smile.” The song could be a potential future single and will no doubt be a fan favourite at their concerts. Sweet Little Fantasy‘sThis song was re-recorded for the album, it’s essentially the same version as the one that appeared on the bands debut E.P, Sin City Serenade. The song’s success was what has helped throw this band headfirst into the limelight. The song was a number two hit on the Top20 Airplay Charts and it’s catchy chorus and fast paced music gave fans the perfect preview of what this band does best. Again Amy Meyer’s ability to write a chorus that sticks in your head is obvious when you hear her sing, “Sweet Little Fantasy’s/Are Coming Away With Me/Sweet Little Fantasy’s/Are Coming Away With Me.” It’s highly unlikely that this will be re-released as a single but it’s likely to be the bands signature song for years to come. All The Stars And BoulevardsThis song starts off softly and quickly picks up pace, and before you’ve had time to think, the song quickly grabs your full attention. The drums seem to beat louder on this song and the guitars seem to be battling against each other throughout. Perfectly accompanied by Amy’s vocals as she sings about love and in this case, her inability to love her boyfriend as much as he loves her. It ends with the repetition of the chorus, “So Look Into Your Soul, You’ll See What’s On The Cards/And For One Night Only, We’ll Look Up To/All The Stars And Boulevards/All The Stars And Boulevards.” This song seems like almost a definite hit in my opinion and could quite easily become one of the most recognizable songs this year. A Moment, An Hour, A LifetimeThis song is quite possibly the song which gained Amy the most praise as a songwriter. At 17 years old her maturity as a lyricist shines through on this with her almost poetic lyrics perfectly accentuated by her powerful rock vocals. It’s not quite as fast-paced as the other songs on the album but it shows a different side to the band, proving that they aren’t just a one dimensional rock band, and her chorus of, “So If It Takes A Moment To Like/And An Hour To Love/A Lifetime To Forget/I Guess It’s Easier To Regret.” helps make this one of the standout tracks from the album. The Echoes Of My SoulThe Echoes Of My Soul is another deep and mature song. It’s lyrics become almost haunting as Amy sings it softly. It mixes power and pace with softness and emotion at the perfect time and it’s lyrics are almost perfect for their primarily teenage fanbase with lyrics like, “So This Is Not The End Of Your Dreams/This Is Just The Start/Believe In The Echoes Of Your Soul/Believe It With All Your Heart.” The final verse is sung accapella. It’s another possible hit but it could go either way as it appears more of a singer-songwriter track than a teenage pop-rock song. Something Old, Something NewA fiery track and in my opinion, a hidden gem on the album. What with more recognizable songs like Sweet Little Fantasy’s and A Moment, An Hour, A Lifetime. This song has an incredibly infectious chorus which is likely to get stuck in your head for ages, “Something Old, Something New, Something Fragile/Will My Broken Heart Do/Something Old, Something New, Something Dying/It’s Sent To You.” which is quickly followed by more catchy lyrics, “Will You Regret Me, Will You Forget Me/Will You Kiss Me, Will You Miss Me/Will You Regret Me, Will You Forget Me/Will You Kiss Me, Will You Miss Me.” I would personally love to see this song released as the first single from the record, only time will tell but it’s my favourite from the album. |
