Reliant
Describe your music in 3 words
Honest, simple, guitar
What other bands/musicians influence your sound or songwriting?
Well when people ask me what we sound like, I find that the hardest question to answer. To me there’s no one thing but I do find influences creep into my songwriting style more than anything else, when it comes to bringing it to the band it tends to get Reliantarised!
Over the last few years I’d say by biggest influences have been Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes, Death Cab and always a bit of old school Biffy thrown in. Tell you what though, I also went through a stage of listening to the Walter Mitty soundtrack a lot so I'm not sure if that’s rubbed off at all. Bloody love that!
Tell us about the new release!
I just looked back into my demos folder and the first signs of this song came about in July 2021, which makes a lot of sense. The song is called 'Do What you want' and if you listen to the lyrics I think it’s pretty obvious what it’s about. At the time it felt like my life was falling to pieces and I couldn’t cope, I was trying my best to out in a brave face but you know what it’s like. That's basically what this song is about. Cheery as always!
When it comes to songwriting, what’s your process?
There’s a few different ways, with this one for example I had the track worked out and put a demo together of the basic track with the guitars, a bass track, a guide vocal and the little guy inside GarageBand playing some random drums. That’ll then go to Steven (vocals) and he’ll learn it, might tweak the vocals a touch and then we’ll take that into practice and the guys will put their stamp on their parts. Other times Steven might have an idea for some vocals that’ll he’ll send over, either as a sheet of words or an a capella voice note. That might then spark an idea for a tune which sometimes might not end up anything like the original lyric or idea!
I’ve seen you play at Loddfest ( at Loddon Brewery ) twice, tell us about those shows!
Well I have a special place in my heart for Loddfest. To be honest I think we’ve had special treatment, getting on the bill two years in a row with the family connection with Third Lung. But both years it’s just been great. The first year (2021) in particular was a turning point for me. This ties back in with what I was saying before, as it was a tough point in my life but Loddfest came at that time and kind of lifted my spirits. We had just come out of the covid hell, or it felt like it and it was the first big gathering I’d been to and I think that many people had been too. Everyone was on the same page, there to enjoy themselves and enjoy the music, it was just a great positive atmosphere. And there was free beer for the acts!
What’s been your favourite gig you’ve played & why?
I think my favorite gig of late was Wokingham Festival 2022. We played mid afternoon on the Sunday in the tent. Dean ( Generation Studio ) was doing the sound, so it sounded great. We could hear ourselves and it was just fun. It was relaxed and we just enjoyed it. And then we had the silent disco later that night, so you can’t get better than that!
Do you prefer the precision of recording or the energy of live gigs?
That’s a tough one, I like both. A good gig I’ll take hands down, there’s nothing like that feeling. But also I do like creating, getting new ideas and songs down.
What’s next for Reliant?!
I’m not sure if I’m honest. The band was never meant to be too serious, not meant to be another worry on the pile. It’s a distraction from the day to day, something to look forward to. It may not sound like it if you listen to us but it’s meant to be fun!! I want to enjoy it and I want people to enjoy coming to see us or listening to us on the wireless.
We’ve got a couple of new songs recorded, this latest release and another that’ll be out at some point. There’s a few more beyond that that we could do with recording also. It’s always good to capture these things, so they’re not lost forever!
Keep moving forward, we don't look back!
New single 'Do What You Want' is out now!
Interview with Alex ( primary songwriter & guitarist from Reliant ) April 2023