Relatively new to the blues rock scene are RavenEye. Made up of award winning blues guitarist Oli Brown, bassist Aaron Spiers and drummer Adam Breeze, the boys are taking their genre to a new, modern dimension. We caught up with Oli and Aaron to see what experiencing Download was like and what’s next for these up and comers.
Although it’s your first time at Download, you boys aren’t afraid of a headline tour! What’s more daunting?
Oli: This is the festival I grew up with, watching it on TV in awe, it’s a dream. A festival has such a different atmosphere than touring with bands. So many bands and crew that you meet everyone’s out to hear music and it’s such a beautiful energy. You don’t get that at individual gigs. It’s a new culture. It’s like a new town that opens up that’s all about music.
Aaron: I think it’s cool too ’cause it challenges you not to shit yourself, and allows you to do what you do and hopefully the music translates. The crowd was sick today! It’s was a wicked gig!
Were there any secret blunders or mistakes the crowd weren’t aware of or was it plain sailing?
Both: It went great!
O: There was a really big crowd there!
A: I think everyone’s recovering from their hangovers, crawling out of bed…
O: They were out though it was incredible!
Well it helps that your music is a nice transition from hangover to hard metal, eases them into the day! What song did you get the biggest response from?
O: A song called Hey Hey, Yeah, I climbed on this lovely gentleman’s shoulders [points to Aaron]. It’s pretty fun! Pretty sketchy at times too when he starts walking too fast and his leg almost went so that was scary!
So you’re a band that do your own stunts! [All laugh] To those of our readers that don’t know you, how would you describe your sound using only 3 words?
A: Woah that’s tough!
Yeah we are pretty tough! [All laugh]
O: In your face? No.
A: Nah, riffy, heavy, bluesy.
Love that! Speaking of bluesy, you guys in the last have supported Blues Pills, a great band! If you could choose to support anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?
O: [without hesitation] Soundgarden, easily Soundgarden.
A: Same.
Same?
A: Yeah we love them!
Amazing choice, that would work amazingly!
A: Thanks!
You have a definite blues twist to your sound, but what else makes you stand out at such a prominent heavy rock and metal festival? Did you ever feel intimidated?
O: I mean, variety is the spice of life.
A: You’ve got the bands doing the heavy rock stuff, and then you’ve got us doing what we do.
O: We grew up on influences that started from rock aswell. I love that trippy, psychedelic guitar playing. I think that is some of the influence from some of the more bluesy tones in our sound.
A: We make the live show as energetic as possible and we come up with really intersting ways to excite the crowd and make it visual!
O: We keep it individual.
That’s the best way! You mentioned influences, is there any music that your fans would be shocked that you listen to? (We don’t like the term guilty pleasures!)
O: I caught Aaron listening to Britney Spears on the bus.
A: [laughs] that’s bullshit strike that! I wish we were filming.
O: Yeah cause I just got a death stare! [All laugh]
A: I do like contemporary, classical music which is kind of weird. I kind of like, the weirder the better almost.
O: There’s a wicked band that I like called The Do that I’m really into. They’ve got a trippy sound aswell. I was obsessed with them. When I get an album I really like I can’t stop playing it. Repeat, repeat.
We get that! So we have brought our fun box of questions to the party. Would you boys like to dive in?
Both: [laughing] Sure! [Pick one]
If someone was torturing you with one song on repeat, what would be the worst one they could choose?
A: That’s hard!
O: So the worst song?
A: Yeah the worst song in the world.
Doesn’t have to be the worst song just one that would drive you insane. Straight up musical torture!
O: Oh! Rebbecca Black, Friday. That’s pretty awful, yet sadly I know all the words! A guy I was touring with before like an idiot downloaded an app that plays little sound bites. So he used to wake me up with it.
So you have actually been musically tortured by Friday already! Poor you!
O: Well yeah! [All laugh] He even set an alarm, so I would wake up to “it’s Friiiday”
A: The Macarena.
That is an excellent choice! Well thanks guys for letting us get to know RavenEye a bit more and how to drive you insane! Good luck with the rest of your shows over the summer!
Both: Thanks!
O: Lovely to meet you!
Written by: Charly Phillips
