Rival Sons
We collar Rival Sons’ sharp-dressed Jay Buchanan and Scott Holiday to talk about the last decade, fashion, latest album Feral Roots and playing ballads at metal festivals.
We collar sharp-dressed Jay Buchanan and Scott Holiday to talk about the past decade, fashion, latest album Feral Roots and playing ballads at metal festivals.
Rival Sons guitarist Scott Holiday’s handlebar moustache – part Poirot, part Captain Hook – is impressive. It’s fair to say it’s made him one of rock’s more recognisable figures. The Ray Brown suits and striking Gibson Firebird guitars also help.
Jay Buchanan joins us looking similarly chic in a long coat and matching boots. The singer delights in customising clothes from high-end designers, although years of dues paying in rock’s underworld mean he’s relaxed in today’s grungier settings while the Record Company (Rival Sons’ support tonight at London’s Brixton Academy) sound-check downstairs.
To put it simply, Rival Sons put rock’n’roll back on the map at the start of a decade that seemed to have forgotten it. Since then they’ve rekindled classic rock fans’ passion for new music, and raked in fans from younger generations. Most recently they were signed to Atlantic Records for this year’s game-raising Feral Roots.
How do your pre-show habits today compare to those of ten years ago? Jay Buchanan: I’ve never really been one to warm up vocally, except for maybe screaming a couple of times before I go on stage. Back in those days we didn’t have any room, we didn’t have much of a rider and we were in a van. Most of the time with the gruelling touring schedule we had, you’re just trying to stay alive and doing whatever you have to do to make sure the show didn’t suffer. A lot of long drives, a lot of unnecessary hangovers… Scott Holiday: And just focusing our heart and energy into the show. In a way it’s not that different now, but our pre-show rituals are different; we had a meet-and-greet earlier, we have a photoshoot after this. It’s much more structured. JB: And we smell a lot better than we did ten years ago. We’ve both had showers and our clothes aren’t dirty. So that’s a big difference.
Rival Sons have been a hard-touring band for just over ten years now. How does this way of life sit with you? SH: We love this lifestyle. It’s what we’re made for. It’s what we do, and if we don’t do it we feel strange. It was ‘us’, I think, since we were teenagers, and it’s grown and grown, and we’re getting to focus our statement, and the whole thing is just becoming very friendly. It feels like your favourite coat. I can’t have it any other way and I never want it to end. JB: I was talking to my wife last night, and I said: “Y’know, I have to say this is probably the best job I could ever think of.” Are the shows physically taxing? Yes. I walk off stage completely exhausted and I’m ready to lay down for a couple of hours. It’s extremely draining, but it’s so fun! I can’t complain about how hard it is, because people pay to come and watch us dick around on stage and have fun.
When it came to writing Feral Roots, you took your first proper pause from touring since the band began. What did you glean from that time? SH: We were busy the whole time. We got some things in order, but we were writing, we were in the studio recording. More than gleaning, we were preparing to come back out. JB: What Scott says is very true. And also just getting that time at home and not being on the road, because, believe me, we stayed very busy. It was constant, every day. It was writing all night, every night, for months on end.
You went off to a cabin in the woods to work on the record. What was that like? SH: I think that the lake and the setting and the way we did it, where we got out and away from everything, staying up late, really sharing ideas, it felt like a really great reset. We talked about what we had done, and not wanting to repeat ourselves. JB: We were resetting, establishing whatever we were doing. This whole thing is a different journey. So we went out there and we didn’t have wifi, we didn’t have cellphone service. We’re both very busy, we’re very bossy people, so for us to come together, just us, and sitting there philosophising about whatever. It’s not as if we uncovered a bunch of answers, it was just setting the tone for what the next six or seven months would be.
At the start of the decade, Rival Sons were in the minority in terms of new classic rock-inspired bands. Since then things have changed considerably. JB: When we first came over here we definitely felt the minority status. And signing to Earache Records, when we came over here they were using all the assets that they could to try and break us, but all of those assets were metal, because we were their first non-metal signing. So they were trying to figure out what to do with us. SH: They put us on tour with Judas Priest. That was our first UK and European tour! JB: And we did a whole bunch of metal festivals and we were thrust into the metal world and thinking: “How do we fit? I don’t know, but we’re in front of people so let’s keep going…” SH: We were playing ballads at Hellfest… We realised that fans of extremely heavy metal music are the most loyal and the most wonderful fans, they’re just really great people. Once they adopt you, you’re in with them. And a lot of those people who like heavy music are our fans.
“I can’t complain about how hard it is, because people pay to come and watch us dick around on stage and have fun.”
Jay Buchanan
For a generation of rock fans who thought they were ‘done’ with new music, you made them excited about it again. SH: For us it was… I don’t want to say
‘disenchanting’, we were happy and proud that anyone was coming and enjoying it. But it really started out being middle-aged and older men. And we were going: “When are young people gonna come?” But we also understood that these guys were into it enough, that of course they’ve got the strongest magnet for it; as soon as they heard it they went: “Oh yeah! I remember that! I know what that is and I can smell it, it’s not bullshit!” JB: Looking out at the audience: a lot of bald heads and white hair. That was what helped us survive, and they gave us the chance and the attention when we needed it the most. That audience is the tap root of rock’n’roll – people that really care. SH: One of my favourite things about our audience is you’ll get a child and his father and his father, or daughters and mothers, you’ll get three generations together. And that’s cool, that’s rare. Of course, you’ll see that at the Stones. But for us, being technically ‘newer’, that’s great and it’s a cool thing to watch.
You’re two of the most stylish people in rock. What are your favourite luxuries on the personal grooming and fashion front? JH: All of them! I’m a very luxurious person [laughs]. I love fashion. That’s definitely an addiction of mine. I have a lot of clothes – a lot. And shoes, boots, the whole thing. It’s ridiculous. For me, from a young age, being a peacock that way… Because where we grew up we didn’t have bread, we didn’t have money. So I started getting my own jobs so that I could afford the things I wanted. My parents wanted to provide everything, but my mum tells me that I would get in trouble all the time; she said that we’d finally be going out to dinner or something – cos we never went out to eat – and I wanted the lobster, and the steak, and she’s like: “No!” But now I like to enjoy the finer things in life for sure. SH: What I think about my childhood, I had everything I wanted, to be honest. We weren’t rich, but I never remember thinking: “Man, I wish could get this.” And I certainly didn’t want anything I have now at that young age! [laughs]. I dressed flamboyant through high school, but this was the day you could hit thrift stores and they weren’t picked over yet. So I was wearing three-piece suits and they cost, like, three bucks. But I think a great luxury now is we’ve got a lot of friends in fashion; we do a lot of collaborations. I’m working with our great friend Guy on vegan boots, because recently I stopped wearing any leather.
Have you ever thought about calling it a day? SH: I think it’s normal with anything you do in repetition to become worn down, so I think we’ve all felt that. But the reality of bringing it to each other and saying: “I’m about to call it a day” as a serious thing? That’s not been a factor for this group. I mean, because besides loving it, we also make a living at it, it also pays the bills. We don’t have our team built just because they’re wonderful people, we have built a strong team because they help us make money. We get to be artists and make rock’n’roll, and they make sure we can survive on it. So even if we felt this feeling of: “I don’t wanna do this any more”, it’d be like: “How are we gonna pay the bills?” And then you’d go around full-circle and go: “I don’t wanna quit! I love these guys! I love making music!” JB: We’ve definitely had issues. But I think we also take a lot of pride in what we do and have a lot of respect for each other. So whenever things get difficult, we don’t do that thing of airing our dirty laundry or making it a public issue. It undermines what we’re trying to do, which is support each other and work through our shit.
“We’ve definitely had issues. But I think we also take a lot of pride in what we do and have a lot of respect for each other.”
Jay Buchanan
Having spent thirteen months touring with Black Sabbath, what can you tell us about them that people don’t know? JB: Boy, that opportunity they gave us is… I feel like it’s something out of a story book. Now that it’s over and we’re back to headlining our own things, the opportunity that they gave us is paramount. SH: One thing I never hear people talk about – and they should – is that they are utterly professional. Each one of them individually, their crew, the way they’re running their business and doing their music, it’s just beautiful. It’s orchestrated perfectly. Everyone’s happy, they’re on time, everything is just really ship-shape and they’re super-focused when they play. No one was getting fucked up on the road, no one’s not wanting to be there.