Indie-pop four-piece Rebel Westerns are to release their single 'Atomic Blonde' a little later this month, so we caught up with the guys to find out a little more about their music, plans for the future and more…
Rebel Westerns
For those who may be new to your music, how best would you describe your sound?
Euphoric, alternative pop with electronic and RnB influences via John Hughes coming of age movies. Raw emotion dressed in Adidas and leather.
What challenges have you faced in the music industry so far?
As a band we're pretty autonomous, we finance and co-produce all our music from the recording to promotion as well as booking the majority of our own gigs and tours. Which does give us an incredible amount of independence but in such a competitive, saturated industry with new artists appearing all the time, it can be difficult to get your voice heard above the noise.
How difficult would you say this career path is then in terms of making a name for yourself?
It's harsh but the general public aren't concerned with seeking out new music - today we're delivered pre-prepared, fully-formed artists that are already established and marketed towards a pre-determined target. Thankfully there are plenty of amazing people who live to find new music but mass-appeal is a constantly moving target when people are more likely to be drawn to you if you're already making a lot of strides.
How important is it for you to have creative control over the work you produce?
For us as a band it's absolutely essential. Our music encapsulates our lives and is an expression of the things that matter to us and people like us. If that was diluted by other parties, it wouldn't have the same conviction.
Where do you draw influence and inspiration from for your work?
We're influenced by our own life experiences as well as a significantly large part played by pop culture. The visuals from movies like Drive and Purple Rain - trying to put those feelings into a sound constantly inspires us. That and unbridled pop artists like Prince and Whitney Houston but expressed with a raw intensity of bands like Foals and The 1975. Exploring rhythms is something that constantly inspires us.
If you could collaborate with anybody going forward, who would you choose and why?
For all of us probably Kevin Parker from Tame Impala right now, he's at such a creative peak at the moment where everything he touches turns to gold.
Tell us a random, funny fact about you that not many people know.
One of us has an obsession with compulsively watching 80s music videos. They're the most ridiculous things you'll ever see and better than 90% of comedies around right now.
Do you have definitive aims or goals for your career?
For now we're loving watching people relate to our music on a personal level. That has been one of our biggest goals and seeing people singing lyrics back to us blows us away every time, so to have our music heard worldwide - ideally in the shape of an album or tour - is our primary goal.
Where do you hope to be this time next year?
We have a lot planned for the future so hopefully all those come together and we'll have a few headline tours and festival slots under our belts. The shows are getting bigger and better so if that continues we'll be more than happy.
What should we expect from you in the coming weeks and months?
Our single 'Atomic Blonde' is released on September 9 and we will be following that with a headline slot at La Belle Angele in Edinburgh on Friday September 23 which is free entry. The next few months will see us release our debut EP also.