We last talked to Belfast band, The Rising, on a swelteringly hot day in London, back in June. Since that time things have literally been rising for them – with the sudden appearance one day of a “blue tick” on their official twitter account, to a nomination at the British Country Music Awards, to a support slot on UK/Ireland tour with Jess and the Bandits (who incidentally won the Best Video award at the BCMAs). We caught up with The Rising in what was formerly The Marquee Club, before their London show last week.
EP: So! What’s changed, what’s happened since I saw you guys last back in June?
TR: Well…we’re on tour…we’ve been doing promo stuff…
EP: You’ve really taken off haven’t you!
TR: Yeah! On this tour, we played last night in Bristol, and we had people turn up to see *US*. We were talking to them at the end, saying hello to people, people we’d talked to over Twitter or whatever.
EP: It says a lot for your social media presence doesn’t it? You’re out there. (Chris does) Twitter, (Shane does) Instagram…Peter does the website…and what do you do Tristian? Do you do Facebook?
TR: He doesn’t do anything! He’s The Face! (Tristian) I’m not really one for Social Media really…
EP: You’re missing out! You’ve got to be in it!
TR: (Chris) He lives in a cave! (Tristian) I try I try…
EP: I went to a thing the other day and they were talking about the future of music, and they had some music industry people from back in the day in, and they said it all changed once Napster happened, and it’s just gone so fast from there…
TR: (Chris) They were told!
EP: THEY WERE TOLD. And the thing is, now it’s affecting other industries, with 3D photocopying and so on – they’re now looking at the music industry, who’ve been through it 20 odd years ago, and asking for advice….so – long story short – social media! You’ve got to get involved!
TR: (Tristian) I will! (Chris) Yeah it used to be about the invisible band, nobody knew anything about you… (Shane) Now they know what you had for dinner! (Chris) That’s the other side of it…
EP: Get onto it Shane! Take a photo! “We’re at the old Marquee Club…” But that’s how it is isn’t it? I mean if it wasn’t for social media I wouldn’t be doing what I do now either…
TR: Yes! We’d not be where we are right now…
EP: You might still be doing the circuit in Belfast, instead of living it up touring the UK…
TR: It’s great for us to come over here, to see the other side, where people actually come to gigs! (Shane) And come to gigs where they actually do the sound! That’s what I couldn’t get over last night – there was actually someone doing the sound – instead of someone just turning it on and leaving it to do it itself.
EP: So you’re halfway through the tour now?
TR: Yeah – we’ve done Newcastle, Dublin, Bristol…
EP: Oh I so wanted to come to your Dublin show! You’ve done Whelan’s before though haven’t you…
TR: It’s a great venue, even just going for a pint.
EP: I really wanted to go – I’ve never been to Whelan’s and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity, both you and Jess performing, and another band I wanted to go see that week in Dublin…had all my ducks lined up to go – then a few more ducks got in the way over here so I had to stay at home. But I’m here tonight.
TR: Whelan’s is a very intimate venue, very small. A lot of people came…it was very…close.
EP: So – last time you played here, someone pulled Chris off the stage?
TR: Jumped on the stage…
EP: So hopefully that won’t be happening tonight…
TR: We’ve got security tonight! We never did find out who he was…
EP: Oh dear! So basically you’ve been dreading the London gig tonight Chris…
TR: The worst thing about that gig was getting back to where we were sleeping that night! We had a hotel in Gatwick…there were no trains…no cabs would take us there. We got there in the end – we jumped in the cab, shifted our gear all over the place, and wouldn’t get out – we begged him “Please please take us there!” We had to haggle with him! We got there!
EP: I suppose because you had to get them back as well…
TR: It’s a good story! That’s the difference between here and Northern Ireland – everything there is no further than up the motorway…we didn’t realise that Gatwick was quite so far from London…
EP: Yes! Because when you book the flights, it’s a London airport! When it’s not, it’s like, practically…France!
TR: This time it’s different, we’re organised. We’re driving, we’ve got our hotels already booked…
EP: Hotels!
TR: Well we priced The Ritz for London, it wasn’t too bad actually, quite reasonable…it was £600 a room for the night…not much more than Travelodge between four of us…
EP: What do you get for your money though? I mean, for £600…
TR: Comfy beds! We’ve been doing a lot of sharing and cot beds…
EP: You know, I don’t actually have any questions for you guys – it’s just been nice to catch up with you! Look how happy you all are!
TR: It’s just a much better day today than last time…
EP: And it was soooo hot…
TR: And it was a very stressful day…
EP: So what shall we expect tonight? Have you been doing the same set each concert? Or have you been mixing it up for all your fans who’ve been following you for your whole tour?
TR: We’ve been trying to mix it up. The set’s not changed much, because we’re trying to play the album…
EP: It’s a promo tour isn’t it…
TR: Yeah! We toss a few different things here and there. We’ve got a very strict time, we’re on for half an hour, so we’ve worked out a set that lasts that long and we play that, and we throw in a few different things…
EP: …like Chris…
TR: (Chris, laughing) …yeah we invite special people onto the stage for hugs…(Shane) Only one lucky person per gig gets a hug from Chris! It’s part of our merch deal! Whoever buys the most merch can come on stage and get a hug from Chris!
EP: So what happens next?
TR: We never stop working, we’ve always got something on the go, but we’re going to give this album a bit more time, then maybe January, February, put out something more. We’ve got to stockpile as much material as we can when we can. You’ve got to keep your hand in.
EP: Oh we got a really good reaction to your Essential Weekly Playlist! That was between you and Peter, wasn’t it Chris?
TR: Yeah! The others couldn’t decide.
EP: It *is* hard! I couldn’t do it myself. It’s good to get a look inside an artist’s head, to see where their influences are coming from. We were *really surprised* to see Bruce Springsteen turn up!
TR: Imagine that! Who listens to him!
EP: But do you know though, there’s been a theme for a lot of people who’ve done the Playlist for us, Bruce has turned up a couple of times, there’s been Bowie, Oasis…
TR: The Beatles?
EP: No! Not once! [having said that, we’ve actually had The Beatles feature once since this interview was recorded]
TR: (Chris) I was tempted…
EP: I think a lot of people go, ‘Oooh I don’t want to do the obvious’.
TR: Have you had the Rolling Stones?
EP: No Stones! We’ve had Iggy Pop, Bob Dylan, a few…not the obvious obvious ones, which is really good. I don’t know what I’d do – I’d probably chuck a Bowie song in there…
TR: (Tristian) The Rising, obviously! [everyone laughs]
EP: THE RISING! OF COURSE I WOULD! THE ENTIRE ALBUM! IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING. OH THERE’S 10 SONGS ON THE ALBUM, which means there’s no room for anyone else…
TR: [laughter]
EP: You didn’t get your award [British Country Music Awards]?
TR: (Chris) No! [Lots of mock crying from everyone] It’s a very sore point. We’re very sad!
EP! But being nominated is huge! Have you ever been nominated for it before?
TR: Nope first time! It certainly shows something’s been working…
EP: To even just be nominated is really very good – it’s something to put on your CV…”Nominated for a BCMA”. It means that you’re rated, you’re up there. It’s not like, you know, people say, “I got a number one on the iTunes chart” – that’s a moveable feast! It just means all your fans bought your song at one moment in time. But a nomination! That’s something that means something. We’re very very proud of you! And here I was going for you guys, and I hadn’t even realised Jess [and the Bandits] was up for one…and then she won…
TR: We were sitting beside her…
EP: Awwww! There’s always next year!
Find The Rising online on their official homepage, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. ‘Coming Home’ is available to buy from Amazon, 7 Digital, Google Play, and iTunes. You can also stream it via Deezer and Spotify.
