Wir das Frontstage Magazine hatte das Vergnügen, mit Matty und Greeny von der aufstrebenden Band Roughneck Riotzu sprechen, die das Irish-Folk-Punk-Genre neu definiert. In unserem Gespräch gewähren sie Einblicke in ihre unkonventionelle Herangehensweise an das Genre, ihre bevorstehende Tour durch Deutschland, Holland und die Schweiz und die unvergesslichen Erfahrungen auf vergangenen Touren mit Bands wie Talco und Strike Anywhere. Außerdem teilen sie ihre Ansichten darüber, wie sie die Leidenschaft und Frische ihrer Live-Auftritte aufrechterhalten.
Frontstage Magazine: How would you describe your unique style within the Irish-Folk-Punk genre, and what influences have contributed to it?
Matty: I’d describe our sound as more Punk-Folk than anything else, and also we dont really play any Irish music! We have been heavily influenced by Irish traditional folk music, as well as music from all over the British Isles in the past, and all of the fusion with punk and rock over the years, but as far as were concerned, writing and playing songs about Ireland or Irish history isnt really being genuine to ourselves or others. It’s not our heritage. Personally we’d also prefer to move away from traditional folk music rules and focus more on writing our own music, and tell our own stories rather than re-hashing old standards. We also have 6 members with greatly varying tastes in music so to keep everyone in the band happy we have to try and bring in a bit of everything from skate punk to P-Funk!
Frontstage Magazine: After decades of touring through the EU and UK, what are your most significant insights about performing and interacting with your audience?
Matty: I think when it comes to interacting with our audience, the most important thing is to show everybody an equal amount of respect. Just because youre a musician and may have a room full of people paying to see you it doesnt mean youre any more important than eveyrbody else in the room. It doesnt mean you have to give away all of yourself to everybody all the time, but I think its really important for making and keeping relationships with audiences over the years, and making people feel theyre all part of it. A lot of the joy that comes from touring is the people you meet and the friends you make, it wouldnt be possible without them so it makes sense to us to keep that in mind. As for performing you have to do the same thing within the band and tech and stage crew. We’ve all had times in the past where we just want to party and get messy with everybody but it can have a negative effect on the live show, and in the end, ruin things for some people. Trying to keep that proffesionalism is important even in the smallest DIY situation. Its better for everybody if things run smoothly and there arent unnecessary conflicts with people tyring to put on a show, and I think that it helps make for a better live show when the energy is high and the stress is minimal. And although it can feel impossible sometimes, giving everything youve got on stage is vital. Even if youre making yourself throw up or pass out or something. It just makes it all more real.
Frontstage Magazine: Your upcoming tour takes you through Germany, Holland, and Switzerland. What do you hope to achieve from this leg of your journey, and what message do you want to convey to your fans?
Greeny: We’re really looking forward to this tour. Its the first one in of 2024 and we hope to achieve what we always hope to achieve; meet some familiar faces, make new friends and put on some performances we really can be proud of. We’ve been revisiting a LOT of our back catalogue whilst writing new music recently, it’s really got us all excited again. I guess ‚Don’t Count Me Out‘ is our message!
Frontstage Magazine: Could you share some of your experiences and impressions from past tours with Talco and Strike Anywhere?
Greeny: Those tours especially have been life affirming. Catching up with our friends in Talco after 10 years, and making lifelong friends with Strike Anywhere, these are the reasons we love to travel with our music. With Strike Anywhere having their drummer Eric break his wrist mid-tour and borrowing our drummer Dempsey, it was the quintessential beautiful chaos that we’ve come to expect over time. All the more stories to tell for the next run!
Frontstage Magazine: How do you manage to keep your music and energy fresh and captivating at every performance, especially after so many years of shared stage experience?
Matty: Keeping things fresh and captivating can be really tough, especially when youre playing near enough the same setlist every night. Its easy to forget that most people in the room havent seen your show every single night for weeks, so youve got to really try to show as much enthusiasm as you know you can. However it usually only takes a song or two to get you back into full swing. And I think years of shared stage experience can definitely help when it comes to keeping the energy and keeping the audience interested. Personally I love when a band looks comfortable with each other on stage and you can tell they’re doing it because they love the music and love each other. After being in this band for so long, we’ve kind of got to a point where weve worked through the majority of our issues and learned how to work with each other so touring isnt a huge chore like its felt in the past, and I think that kind of thing greatly improves our live performances.
Roughneck Riot Live
29.02.24 Hamburg Hafenklang
01.03.24 Berlin Schokoladen
02.03.24 München Glockenbachwerkstatt
03.03.24 Solothurn (CH) Kulturfabrik Kofmehl
05.03.24 Karlsruhe Alte Hackerei
06.03.24 Köln Sonic Ballroom
07.03.24 Hannover Kulturzentrum Faust
08.03.24 Viersen Rockschicht
09.03.24 Rotterdam (NL) Arminius church
Fotocredit: Jim Taylor
