Dead Cool: The Dirty Rivers Talk Singles And Live Shows
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
Written by Gavin Rees
The Dirty Rivers are the latest band to swagger from Liverpool's music scene, blending a punk attitude with influences from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the Verve.
Signed to Deltasonic after only a handful of gigs, the band are set to release their second single, The Kid, on July 22. We caught up with Mikey, the band's intense frontman, and lead guitarist Ryan to discuss the track, their influences and why a good live show can cure all ills.
Tell us a bit more about the single – it's already generating some buzz and radio play.
Mikey: The single came about through Ryan really. Every practice he was always playing about with this riff, and then one day we finished it off. Whenever we play it live it always grabs the attention of the room, it's a grab you by the scruff of the neck type of tune.
Ryan: It's great that the single has got something going, that's what we wanted it to do and I'm sure it will keep going.
You were signed by Deltasonic only a few gigs into your career, how did you deal with that attention at such an early stage?
Ryan: Being signed after just a few gigs was boss. It wasn't too strange because this is what every one of us wanted and it was just the start of more things to come.
Mikey: It was easy to deal with the attention. As an artist, I don't care who you are, you want as many people to see and hear your work as possible, so working with Deltasonic was going to help us achieve that.
You've continued to build your reputation as a live band, how important has that been to you?
Mikey: That's where we really do the business. We've had to improve as a band in the studio, but we've always been exciting live. People who have been to see us before get more excited than we do. I've had people come up to me and say, "I've had a crap week at work, and watching you guys has just made my week.” Or, "I don't care how much it is to come and watch your band, I'd pay £100." You can only be humbled by it.
Ryan: A live reputation is the most important thing to have I think. When you go and watch a band you wanna be blown away. It should make you want to get up and start something yourself.
You've got quite a dark sound and your music draws from a few different eras of British music – who would you say your greatest influences are?
Mikey: I suppose it's from the bands we're into, like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, the Black Angels, the Jesus and Mary Chain, early Verve. I'd say there's an even mix of American bands and British bands to be honest. If it's an era of British music it would be probably late 80s, early 90s, when all the bands looked dead cool. The Verve must have been the coolest band on the planet in 1991-1992.
Ryan: The darker side is just us, I'm not into how things are right now. People wear terrible clothes, listen to terrible music, everybody is skint and nobody thinks. Recently I've been listening to a lot of great guitar music like Funkadelic, Chic and the Undisputed Truth. Their sounds are amazing.
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