STEEL BAND

Introducing RedFaces

 

The Sheffield boys of new band, RedFaces, are all over festival line-ups this summer. We tracked them down for a chat about their looming gigs and their imminent rise. They’ve already shared stages with Noel Gallagher and here’s why we can see them being catapulted into the spotlight this year.

 

How’s the tour going so far?

It’s going very well thank you, it’s definitely the best one so far. Some highlights have been Oxford, Northampton and Newcastle. They were amazing gigs! It’s just been a really great experience, we’ve had all of our guitarist friend who’s been helping us out so it’s just been a good solid tour.

 

How did you arrive at the name ‘Redfaces’?

Well, it was me and Charlie who came up with the name. It was our first gig at school and we’d get really embarrassed so someone was just like, “Ah, you just call yourself RedFaces!”. And we kind of just thought, well, that’s the best thing we’ve got. It’s a rubbish name!

 

Can you tell me a bit about how it all came about and when you realised you should start playing together?

It was never a realisation – we were all friends at school before we even started the band. We were all into the same music and stuff, me and the guitarist also share a cousin so we’re kind of related. We’d spend lunch times in practice rooms at school where we’d play together so it all went from there really! Ryan, we stole from another band in Sheffield so we knew him, poached him with a little net the rascal! So ,it all came from that really! We never realised we needed to make a band, it started off as fun and ended up becoming a job that’s still good fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What kind of artists is your sound influenced by?

Well we started off really young so it was always very Beatles and Oasis and all kind of classic stuff. We’ve certainly moved away from that now, not that it’s a bad thing but now we look to new things. For example, I’m really into a band at the moment called Geowolf who are quite a fashion/pop thing. Definitely more electronic stuff like Tame Impala and more psychedelic things which I think our music definitely dips its toes into. We don’t discriminate on any genre at all, we just like if it sounds good.

 

You mentioned previously you were into your fashion – is there anyone you look to as style inspiration currently or do you just wear what you think looks good?

It’s as simple as I’ll try something on and think, ‘Oh, I like that!’ and that’s as far as it goes really. I also really love charity shops to find cool clothes for as cheap as possible. But I’m definitely more baggy, if I were to look to anyone for style it would probably be The Smiths. Isaac’s a bit more smart and 60s inspired, he wears a lot of pea coats and suits. But we don’t necessarily have ‘a look’ as band, we just throw on whatever we like!

 

Did you decide quite early on what kind of direction you wanted to take musically, or did that happen quite naturally?

I’d say fairly naturally, like I said, we all grew up on similar music so we started messing around with similar-sounding tunes and then make an effort to try a completely different way of writing a song or listen to something completely different for inspiration for a week and then see what changes come of it. And it’s kind of gone on like that for about a year now, just experimenting with different sounds, different things and different people all the time to help to create a variety in our music.

 

I’ve seen you’re scheduled to play Tramlines and Y Not festival in July which is a pretty big deal – how do you feel about performing on the same stage with all those other amazing bands?

To be honest, it’s not something I’ve even thought about! The first time we actually had to think about it was at Community Festival because we were dressing

 

Ωwhere everyone else was dressing as well, so we’d be walking past bands we’re really inspired by so that was really a shock and quite humbling. To be treated on the same level as these people was amazing – but it definitely depends on the festival. So, for Tramlines, we’re playing the same day and same stage as Noel Gallagher which is a massive thing. I don’t really think about it until I get there and then I’m like, “Oh, right. This is happening.”

 

What’s been your favourite gig as a band so far?

I’d probably say Community actually. It was probably a shock to the system and a totally different experience. It was only half an hour long so it went so quickly, but it was more the experience of the day as well to be honest. It was great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Give me an insight to what it’s like being on the road with the band – any funny stories?

I hate this question so much because whenever anyone asks me I go blank even though there’s been so many. I tell you what, one thing we do is we take a piece of paper and write down all these challenges for each other and it’s like a dare-point game. So, Charlie had a bath in gravy and stuffing mix in a Travelodge. And once I ran around a hotel covered in bubble bath and nothing but my trunks as a dare.

 

Real rock and roll stuff then!

Yeah man. But we don’t disturb the neighbours, we’re good boys really.

 

On that topic, was there ever a period when you didn’t think you would make it as musicians? How did you get over the hump, and what advice would you give to any artists that are still on the fence about continuing the dream?

Don’t give up, do what you want and do what you like. There are so many bands and artists out there doing stuff that’s already been done or listening to something and going, ‘ah let’s do this but let’s do it that way!’ So you’ve just got to do what you like but in your own way. And also just get out to as many places as you can, play as many gigs as you can because it really pays off if you get a good one. It’s worth it.

 

Am I right in saying you were listed in Radio 1’s track of the week playlist a few months ago? What was that like?

That was brilliant, yeah that was really good because you get friends and family just ringing you up like, “Aah I’ve just heard you on the radio!” That’s so nice to have your music recognised and to have people say it’s inspired by is a very humbling thing. So yeah, it was lovely and all the radio DJs said really nice things about us too which was nice.

 

What is your opinion on the current state of the music industry?

I hear a lot of people keep saying rock and roll is dead, but I don’t pay too much attention to that because that defeats the point of making music. If you just do it and enjoy what you’re doing and make music despite what everyone else is saying then that is the point of rock and roll. And just because you have a guitar and you put something out playing a guitar doesn’t make it good! Some of our favourite bands don’t play guitar at all and aren’t particularly classic rock or indie sounding at all. So I personally think the music industry is in a fairly good state, people just need to go to more gigs. A lot of people complain that there’s not enough good bands, but people don’t go to enough gigs either! We travelled all the way to Newport in Wales yesterday from Sheffield and we had loads of people approach us afterwards saying they loved it and wanted tickets and t-shirts which absolutely means the world to a band because it means you see progress and reaction. So we’re not in a bad position, just go to more gigs and don’t feel bad about liking something, if you like it, then just like it!

 

And finally, is there any new music we can expect soon?

Yes, we have a single out mid-March. Then we’ll probably have another three or four throughout the year. We’ll definitely be releasing singles, touring and doing festivals.