Hello, They are excited to submit the new single “Hostility” from Detroit rock/alt group Riding With Killers. The group features members of Taproot, Wild Fire etc. and the single dropped today on Apple Music and Spotify. Check out the exclusive interview below:
1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?
RIDING WITH KILLERS: I’m originally from Gulfport, Mississippi. I started playing Alto Saxophone at age 7 and switched to guitar at age 10 after I heard Papa Roach’s “Between Angels and Insects”. That opening riff floored me and I had to know how to do that. I ended up started my first real band about 4-5 years later called Cathercist and grew that band to where we eventually started touring and opening for acts such as Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet For My Valentine, Korn, and so many others. That band eventually turned into Wild Fire (which I never really liked the name at all; nor did I want to change it from Cathercist) but after awhile I become incredibly unhappy, and felt like I got pushed out of my own band, so I quit, left my hometown and moved to Detroit to meet up with my friend Dave Coughlin who I met in 2013 opening for Taproot (who I now coincidentally play guitar for). He was their touring drummer and then we started writing music together and Riding with Killers was born.
2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?
RIDING WITH KILLERS: It’s a bit of both. I took guitar lessons for about 6 years. I started off with James Gillies and then moved to David Knorr at Pinkston’s Music. And then I ventured off on my own and kept progressing from there. As far as vocals, I’m definitely self taught. I’m still learning to be honest because I never envisioned myself being the lead singer of a band, and after recording Hostility, I caused myself an inguinal hernia. I hit the notes in studio but I wasn’t getting there properly, I wasn’t utilizing my breathing or pushing correctly. Needless to say after healing, I’ve been working on my voice through lessons and taking myself a bit more serious.
3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘RIDING WITH KILLERS’?
RIDING WITH KILLERS: It’s a mix between Elton John (my first concert), Papa Roach, Alice In Chains, Linkin Park, NIN, and Korn. The name came about in 2018 after I had quit my band. I knew I wasn’t done with music but I didn’t know what was going to happen. I ended up getting to be an extra in the Netflix Motley Crue movie “The Dirt”, and meeting a now life long friend Shane Bouvier. But after we met on set, he ended up offering me a really good paying gig for a week to which I immediately agreed to. Before the actual trip, he must’ve changed how we were getting there about 5 times, so I started to question if it was safe or not. I called a mutual friend and was like “man am I gonna end up in trash bags scattered along the highway? Or is this legit” my buddy laughed and said “Dude it’s totally fine, go with it”. Turned out to be one the coolest and best weeks of my life. On the way back we were joking about my paranoia and the name “Riding with Killers” popped in my head and I searched the internet front to back and no one else has the name and I really liked it and felt it was a name I could have fun with.
4. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?
RIDING WITH KILLERS: I’d say a live audience and studio work. The live audience is just such a spiritual connection to the music and to each other. Especially when you see people singing the words you wrote back to you. It’s almost overwhelming at times. You’re connected to your audience in such a powerful way and to see people experience release to your art is so energizing, beautiful, and it makes you want to go harder, be better, and give it your all. It only takes one person in the audience to create a wave. The Studio excites me because it’s a multitude of things: meeting up with friends to create, getting things off your chest, and making that piece of art you have inside your mind a reality. It’s a chance to write something that not only makes you feel, but hopefully your audience. Studio is always a wonderful time especially once you’re in the thick of it and going super late into the night. You get the A HA! moments, you figure out the puzzle, you cry, you laugh, you’re angry, you’re uplifted. I feel like it’s a chance to go through all the emotions and put it into a body of work that’ll hopefully translate. It’s always exciting to make new music because I find that often times you surprise yourself at what you’re truly capable of.
5. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?
RIDING WITH KILLERS: I feel like understanding the origin can help you figure out where the artist’s head and heart was at when creating the song, but ultimately I think fans should be free to interpret the music how they see fit. Art can evoke many emotions for many different reasons and if you try and stifle what and why the audience feels the way they do with a song, I think that’s missing the mark. Understanding the origin doesn’t hurt though, and often times when you hear the story of WHY, it can make a song that much more powerful. I know in my own experience that once I’ve figured out the artist’s meaning behind some of my favorite songs, it in fact made them that much more meaningful and powerful in my own life.
6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?
RIDING WITH KILLERS:
I view music as one of the last real unifying entities in this world. I think it’s the one vehicle that truly brings all people together, no matter race, sex, religion, orientation, creed, etc. When you’re in a music hall with 100s or 1000s of people you’re all in the same moment for very different reasons, but you’re there together. Music is an experience, it a dive into the soul, and it’s the backdrop that gives life, life. I’m not interested in being the best guitar player or the best singer, I’m interested in writing songs that touch people’s hearts and minds and lets them know that they’re not alone in their problems or whatever it may be. That’s what music did for me when I was an angry young man growing up without a father, being picked on for physical attributes, and all the issues I faced as a kid with ADHD. Music said what I couldn’t. That’s what I hope to do with my art.
7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?
RIDING WITH KILLERS: I would say it is, just for the fact that I didn’t know if I could make it as a singer/guitarist in a brand new band, but here we are, doing the thing. It’s very satisfying because I’m a very self conscious person and it’s been difficult to put myself out there in this way. I feel like for the first time I’m finally getting to say what’s been on my mind and heart for a very very long time. I’ve always been able to express myself musically but now that I get to do it lyrically, it’s such a huge release and that is incredibly fulfilling.
8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?
RIDING WITH KILLERS: I generally start with a guitar riff and play around until it’s at a point that I feel a song can be written around it and then I’ll bring it to the studio, to the rest of the guys. I’ll explain the feel in terms of a beat but I honestly let my guys (drums and bass) do their thing. But other times it can come from a jam session. Great example on our song Self Destruct we had no idea what the chorus riff of feel was going to be, but we finally just pressed play and Dave and I completely locked in and formed a chorus. Another example for the current record I’m working on, we built a song around a completely accidental sound that caught my attention. My producer hit my guitar string super hard while we were just talking and it made an incredible sound and I was like wait, let’s track it and it sparked an entire song. So really there’s not one specific way that I write but I’ve definitely had help from my long time producer Matt Laplant, and my current producer Jakob Herrmann, as well as musicians I’ve spent time in studio with, Dave Coughlin (drums), James Lascu (bass), Tim Krukowski (bass, vocals). They’re all wonderful people and I’m so very lucky to be able to create with all of them.
9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
RIDING WITH KILLERS: I’d say starting over from complete scratch in 2018 was the biggest challenge. I left an established band that I started and poured everything I had into for 14 years and walked away. That was one of the worst pains I think I’ve dealt with because I thought that was going to be the band I retired with but it got to a point of where I didn’t feel like I was in my own band which was so bizarre and honestly horrible. I was sad, I was angry, and I felt supremely supremely wounded to the point of having to walk away. On top, having to jump in the singers position and assume even more responsibility was a really big challenge and a big step for me. I feel like I’m finally coming back after almost 5 years.
10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
RIDING WITH KILLERS: I’ve definitely got a few moments. When I was 18 I got to open for A7X at the Taste of Chaos tour and it was my first time being in front of 10,000 people but I weirdly had control of the crowd, I was comfortable, and I felt like I was at home. That let me know that I was doing what I was supposed to be. Getting to come on board as an artist with Gibson guitars last year was huge for me as my first American guitar was a Gibson SG Voodoo, which I still own. That felt like validation for sure, to be backed and endorsed by one of the most well known and legendary guitar companies. And getting invited to Gothenburg, Sweden to finish a record, which is where I am now, is absolutely a highlight. I’ve dreamed of coming to Europe since I was a kid and the fact that music brought me here is incredible.
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