Rising Strike are the latest band to join the TNSrecords family with their new album 'Bite The Hand That Feeds'. As an introduction, here is an interview that appears in the latest issue of the TNSfanzine.
TNS) Hi, can you introduce yourselves please?
RS) Tommy (also known as Bone) plays the Alto Sax and sings like a death metal tiger. Boff hits things with sticks according to some primal rhythm he hears behind the silence. Wiv plays guitar and screams like an irradiated witch. Tom plays guitar and shouts like an angry dad. Brendan (bass) refused to comment.
TNS) So tell us about the new album? What can people expect?
RS) You’ll find politically charged lyrical content, very noisy and belligerent guitars, a bit of ska, juggernaut drums, distorted bass, sexy but unsettling horn lines, odd time signatures and vocals that originate from the 7th layer of the underworld. A real treat for the whole family. Its overall sound is very much a reflection of us as people: awkward and quite furious about things, but also excited to experiment and push ourselves away from what’s familiar.
It also comes in a stylish box with a zombie theme, which is a bonus.
TNS) Your lyrics have always been politically fuelled, but obviously at the moment it’s not hard to find material. What subjects have you covered lyrically?
RS) Although we don’t really sing about any specific events or people in the album (which would be quite easy at the moment) we focus mainly on the things that effect our day to day existence and try to challenge people perception and acceptance of the media and social control. TV shows and adverts that teach us what to aspire to, how to dress and think, what music we should like. We also raise questions about why people feel the need to live in this way. Why we sit watching adverts ordering new products on our new smart phone while turning a blind eye to the bigger issues. A consistent theme throughout is the rejection of a society based on the living death of wage-slavery and consumption (hence the zombie obsession). Not just the lyrics, but also the music revolves around the dehumanising effect of allowing economic imperatives to override all other aspects of human life. The awkwardness and dissonance that dominate every song on the album are an expression of the repressed sense of horror that we constantly distract ourselves from, through the accoutrements of cultural capitalism.
Brendan wrote ‘pursuit’, which is about being chased by a robo
4 TNS) How important is it for music to address politics and what can be achieved by doing so?
RS) Music and politics can be uncomfortable bedfellows. It’s very easy to slip into dilettantism or posturing, and equally what’s important in music can get overshadowed by ‘the message’, to the point where we can’t recognise great song-writing just because it’s a song about cheesecake.
Having said that, music is an unparalleled medium for communicating ideas that the prevailing order doesn’t find convenient, as anyone who grew up listening to Propagandhi will tell you. There’s a connection, too, between your political outlook and musical taste. People who think that the world is a hunky-dory place where everyone can live the American dream are probably going to enjoy the fluffy excrement that spews from the charts, and find punk, for instance, to be unnecessarily confrontational and unpleasant. We can build on this, and use music as a way to make meaningful connections with others who have a similar outlook. By encouraging political discussion as a central part of communities forged around music, we can make something more of them and perhaps even make a difference beyond changing the soundtrack to our awful lives...
5 TNS) You have just added a saxophone to the lineup and it really completes the sound in my opinion. What was the thinking behind this? Was it a long term aim?
RS) There was very little design involved. Rising Strike has always been based on pre-existing friendships rather than some pre-conceived ideal, and when another one of our friends suggested bringing his sax to practice, it sounded like a jolly jape. Playing with so many fantastic horn-based ska bands (SOU, BTRL, Harijan and so on) made it seem natural, and we found, completely by accident, that Bone brought a new dimension that we could never have predicted. Adding the sax made everything more musically intelligent, while at the same time allowing us to get heavier without losing the intricacy that we all enjoy. It’s important to us to be open to changes in the sound and to explore new creative spaces as they emerge, so the sax might not be the last addition...
6 TNS) You are actively involved in the DIY scene putting on gigs in Stoke. How important do you think it is for bands to take responsibility for promoting gigs in their local areas?
Crucial, not just for punk, every genre needs people to get involved live music is really struggling in most towns and cities as people just aren’t going out to see live bands. It’s important that we keep putting on shows as often as we can (unfortunately not as often as we want) and helping other bands when they want shows or tour dates. No-one in their right mind would get into DIY gigs for the money, which means that those of us who recognise its value as an end in itself have only ourselves to rely on.
7 TNS) What can we expect over the next year or so and what would you ultimately see as a success?
We plan to play as many shows as we can, continue to write songs and maybe make another record, hopefully with Edgarville Clive Hall at Die Skreemin again: he’s an awesome producer and we all bitterly miss hanging out with him. We all want to tour, especially Europe, and perversely nothing sounds more attractive right now than travelling round, trapped in a van together, making noise at people. As far as the idea of success is concerned, the only thing that matters is that we continue to enjoy ourselves as a band. New experiences, good friends and loud music. What more can you ask?
Their new album is available in the TNSrecords webstore NOW!
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You can also download a copy of their first release in the 'FREE STUFF' section.
