Fresh start
Romantic Rebel adopts more melodic sound with ‘Begin Again’
Modifying from aggressive, heavier vocals to something more melodic has been a positive change for Romantic Rebel. “I think our sound has definitely changed in a really good way,” Romantic Rebel frontwoman KT Paige said. “I think it’s more us now. I think my voice changed. I used to be more aggressive and sound heavier, but I don’t think it’s the way that I’m supposed to sing. It just wasn’t what my voice was supposed to do, and now I’m singing like a singer should. It sounds better, so it’s cool.”
The hard-rock band from Chicago is promoting its new album, “Begin Again,” which contains songs that reflect many of the emotions that Paige and her brother, guitarist Alex Vincent, underwent after the release of the band’s debut self-titled album in 2014.
“There’s a lot of places that we get our inspiration from,” Paige said. “I think Alex and I went through some difficult situations since the debut album came out, and we had more writing material as far as lyrics go, things like that, so that’s probably where a lot of it comes from.”
The title track, “Begin Again,” is particularly special to Paige.
“That was actually the one song that I had written solely,” Paige said. “Usually, Alex he does the music and I’ll do the lyrics. I came up with the lyrics and the melody right off the bat. Alex built the music all around it. It’s very therapeutic.”
“Enemy Within” and “Begin Again” are Paige’s favorites to perform live. Paige said that she cannot discuss the back story on “Enemy Within” but that “Begin Again” was inspired by heartache, which Paige found the strength to overcome.
“I went through a really bad breakup,” she said. “… It was basically my healing point, my healing song to anybody else who is in a situation like that, you should get out of it and move forward, and you’re better off by yourself.”
Romantic Rebel prefers to do its songwriting in the studio. Paige reserves any downtime on and off the road to create artworks with acrylic paint.
“I paint a lot on the road, which is cool,” she explained. “I (also) do it at home, but I was able to bring my paints along this time, and I paint drumheads and sometimes someone’s merch table. I use acrylic, and I’d say it’s kind of pop surrealism a little bit — that kind of describes it. I’ve done celebrity zombies, but they’re all colorful and it’s not really dark, it is dark, but more with a lot of bright colors. I do a lot of poison-apple-looking things and candies and skulls. It’s pretty fun, but it also really does have a dark element to it, which I like.”