What was the beginning point for your music career? How did it all start?
Rob (Burns, Bass and Vocals): With my terrible post-grunge band playing to a bunch of tone deaf teenagers in the upstairs room at The Cardigan Arms in Leeds. I haven’t looked back since.
Sam (Moran, Guitar and Vocals): I was forced into trumpet lessons from the age of six, picked up a guitar at fourteen and started playing bad metalcore. Just like Rob, I haven’t looked back!
Were there any bumps on the road? What kind of challenges did you have to deal with?
Rob: Fall outs, equipment and vehicle breakdowns. Diva histrionics. I’ve seen everything just short of success… It’s all fun and games though.
Sam: I think if you’ve not had bumps along the way you’re not doing it right (or you have a shitload of money) but since we four started writing and playing together there’s not actually been any drama between us, just a casual global pandemic.
Rob: And war, famine, and pestilence…
What was the most fulfilling and satisfying moment so far?
Rob: My old band played Bloodstock, which was a pretty incredible feeling for me. For RA I would say that just finally getting some music out there and getting positive feedback was great. We’ve dragged our feet a bit.
Sam: it’s always nice signing off a mix and sharing it with everyone. Getting back from our tour last year with When They Riot and One Million Motors also felt pretty amazing.
How would you describe the music that you typically create?
Rob: I would probably describe it obnoxiously.
Sam : Noisy and shouty punky bops.
What is your creative process like?
Rob: Lot of voice memos get exchanged in group chats, and then when we have a half-baked idea, we’ll build it up together whenever we can get in a room to jam. We try to make sure that everyone gets their input, and that everyone is happy (ish!) before we sign off on the finished product!
Sam: One day we’ll collate what must now be in the thousands of voice notes we send to each other and release it! Once it’s written, we start recording our parts, generally at home, and tinker away until its presentable.
Rob: Also, I’ve just moved house and unearthed literally 25 notebooks full of various riffs, bass lines, and other bits and bobs. There must be at least one good idea in there when I can face rummaging through it all.
If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
Rob: Place myself at the top of it, then kick the ladder away so I can never be usurped!
Sam: It’d be nice to get paid, but it’s also nice that your music can reach so far now with the streaming services available. Bring Spotify into public ownership and make it not for profit!
Rob: For the collective!
If you were asked to give a piece of advice to upcoming bands, what would that be?
Rob: Release little and often instead of aiming for a big EP/LP and large periods of inactivity. Going quiet in this always online world is equivalent to death. As shit as that is.
What has been the best performance of your career so far?
Rob: Probably the Bloodstock gig, or our recent Puppy support slot. That was a strong performance I felt, especially because we’d not really had chance to rehearse as a band much recently beforehand.
Sam: I’d agree with Rob, our last gig was a great test as we took it with 36 hours’ notice, and still smashed it! We had an amazing crowd at the Adelphi in Hull last year which really made the gig feel special for me!
If you didn’t become a musician, what would you be doing now?
Rob: My day job, but sadder. I work in IT so it’s nice to have an outlet to be creative instead of just staring at database diagrams all day.
Sam: probably deeply addicted to some awful video game – looking at you, league of legends.
Rob: My Elden Ring playtime would also probably be in the thousands of hours as well, instead of just 300 or so.
What is new with the band at the moment? What are you currently working on and would like to share with the world?
Rob: We just put out a single called Cup of Coffee in the Big Time at the start of May and have another due on July 29th called Custom Made Lizard Shoes. Then it’s the EP in August and maybe a tour before we start on number 2. Busy, busy, busy!
See you in the aftermath…
