Simon Rushworth
Our resident metal head Calum Robson has already checked out new Roadrunner signing Revoker live but that just wasn’t enough…
…and in the interests of lauding great British talent he caught up with the band’s Jamie Mathias to find out more.
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rushonrock: So how did the big deal with Roadrunner Records come about?
Jamie Mathias: We were recording our EP in Newport, South Wales. We recorded a few tracks and Benji (Webbe) from Skindred popped his head through the door. So we ended up working with Benji on an album and he ended up producing the album. Once the final album was finished we then sent off to a number of labels and Roadrunner were the first one we sent it to and they showed the most interest really. We played a show in Manchester last January and someone from Roadrunner was there and he came up to us after the show and from there they offered to sign us. It was an amazing feeling. It was Monte Conner from the American office who signed us. He’s signed the likes of Machine Head, Slipknot and Trivium, so it was a huge honour, quite unbelievable.
rushonrock: Have things changed?
JM: Yes, definitely. We’re a lot busier now! We just finished the Rob Zombie tour and we had a really good time. We’re finishing a tour now and we’ve just finished a video.
rushonrock: Will there be more content going up online soon?
JM: I think Kerrang are putting a quick snippet of the one video online of our new single Stay Down. We’re going to try to do more diaries and keep people interested.
rushonrock: It must be a really exciting time for the band on tour. How does it feel to be able to get your material out in so many different places?
JM: It’s our dream, it’s all we wanted to do – to just get out and play almost every night. Especially going to Europe. We did a festival in January, in Holland and that was a great experience. It was our first time playing out of the UK and we went down really well, they were really cool people. We’re really looking forward now to touring back in Europe and the rest of the world. We can’t wait.
rushonrock: In the studio, you had Skindred’s Benji Webbe behind production, how important has he been?
JM: Since we met Benji, he understood what direction we wanted to go in. We got along really well. From the producer’s point of view, Benji’s been in the business for so many years, he knows what works and of course being in Skindred – they’re an awesome band. They write good songs and you need good ideas from a producers view. Especially with me as a vocalist he pushed me, and got the best out of me as a vocalist. Benji has such a great voice and I’ve learnt a lot off him. He has given us advice and pretty much shown us the ropes.
rushonrock: What kind of reception do you think the album will get?
JM: So far we’ve shown people our song Thief, which is a free download MP3. That has had an unbelievable response, people are really digging it. We just released our first single from the album called Stay Down, which is the theme tune now for the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts (BAMMA) which is on the sci-fi channel on Sky. They actually chose that song. We’ve released two songs from the album now and the response we’ve had has been great.
rushonrock: New single Stay Down seems to berate the casual inner city/town violence that goes on during a weekend. Is that right?
JM: Yeah that was exactly it. We based our song around a night in our hometown but it’s pretty much the same with every city. Everyone goes out for a good time and then you get the odd idiot who’ll start a fight! And it’s about being different too, like when people get picked on because they look different or whatever. It’s a song to stand up for yourself and not take any crap from people.
rushonrock: What inspires you musically?
JM: Our influences are Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and we connect to those bands, but get our own ideas with riffs. We bounce off each other. I’ll fill in with a riff or guitars with Chris and we’ll figure from there together.
rushonrock: What kind of numbers have you been getting at gigs?
JM: Because we’ve only just done our first UK tour, it’s honestly been hit and miss. We played a show in Glasgow and the place was packed and we had a wicked show. The show in Cardiff was really good too, but some places have been quiet for us and some have been packed out. It’s all about building at the moment.Hopefully next time round there will be more people out. That’s what were doing though, we’ll keep on pushing and we’ll keep playing.
rushonrock: What’s next for Revoker?
JM: I think there’s going to be a lot of press with the new album, but we’re just going to be constantly playing and touring. The album is out on May 2nd but I think we should continue non-stop on the road.