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Featured Artist: Young Rival
“A time that rock and roll was young and fearless.” Young Rival claim that we’ve forgotten how good music can really sound and that they’re the ones to remind us. With two full length albums under their old moniker of The Ride Theory, Young Rival is a rock quartet based in Hamilton, Canada. The band consists of Aron D'Alesio at lead guitar and vocals, Noah Fralick at drums, Kyle Kuchmey at rhythm guitar and John Smith at bass. Their sound as The Ride Theory was stylish and compared to the Beatles with a signature style to bring the garage band-esque feel from the 60’s bands they emulate to the new generation. With high ambitions and this sound with the “subtlety of The Zombies and the brashness of Arctic Monkeys” as their website puts it, Young Rival have made a name for themselves on the concert scene touring with such acts as Tokyo Police Club and the Born Ruffians. Their EP’s for their newest works have also been receiving substantial radio airplay particularly in the UK. With their debut album under their new band name in the works for release within 2008 and two noteworthy releases under The Ride Theory available on iTunes already, Young Rival are prepped and ready to take America by storm. Just like the band suggests on their site, stay tuned – Young Rival are coming to your town in stereo.Discography
Interview
What inspired your group to start playing music together?
Noah Fralick: "Things came about quite naturally. Aron and I grew up together, and used to play drums and guitar together. Kyle is Aron's cousin, and John went to school with Kyle. That's sounds convoluted, but ultimately we just grew up in the same part of Hamilton and came together over a mutual appreciation of rock and roll."
Back in the days when you still toted your name as The Ride Theory, your music had a 60’s garage band feel. Is there one band in particular that really influenced your work?
"Growing up we were fans of guitar-rock bands like Zeppelin, the Yardbirds, Ugly Ducklings, and a lot of that kind of stuff. There wasn't one band in particular that really influenced us, but we were certainly drawn to the authenticity of bands from that era. things were more stripped down and ballsy. Bands weren't afraid to make abrasive sounds in the studio, and they were true musicians. Not to say that there aren't true musicians now, but musicianship, as a craft, has certainly changed into something much different, and arguably, for the worse."
What made you decide to change your band name to Young Rival? Why the switch?"It was something we had wanted to do for a while. When we first name the band, we had no idea how serious it would become, so we didn't really give it much thought. Last spring we were in a position to freshen things up a bit, so we changed it. It's horrible to be confident about your music, but not about your name. Now we're confident about all aspects of the band, so it was a smart move."
With your previous two albums under The Ride Theory, your sound had a classic, almost Beatles-esque sensation. In your debut as Young Rival, are you trying to focus on another style of music?
"Ultimately we're just writing the music we want to write. We would never approach an album and say to ourselves, "let's try and make a record that sounds like this band, or that band". We've been doing this long enough that we don't need anything like that. Our approach for this record was to make a cohesive artistic statement, something where all the songs sounded well together, and complimented each other. There's some nice variety between straight-ahead rock and roll songs, and more melodic, deeper songs. We're really excited about it."
Recording for Young Rival’s debut started in January. When do you expect to have a finished product you’re happy with?
"We actually did the record in December at 2 studios - one in NYC, the other in New Jersey. Aron was back there mixing tracks in January. We're hoping to have it all done in the next few weeks. We'll hopefully release it in the summer or fall of this year, depending on what happens with labels and such."
You’ve been touring with some big names on the indie scene like Tokyo Police Club. Do you hope to reach mainstream America with your new release?
"We've always wanted to find representation in the US, and I think we've got a good chance of it with this record. Being commercially isn't a huge goal of ours, since it comes with a lot of compromise artistically. Certainly we'd love to better known in the US though - I don't know of a single band who wouldn't. So much of the industry is there, and it'd be great to add to the many cool bands that are currently calling the US 'home'."
On your website, you mention a similarity to the Arctic Monkeys. What modern day bands do you look to for inspiration?"There aren't too many current bands that inspire our sound. Aron writes most of our songs, and he isn't a big follower of current trends in music. As I said earlier, he just writes what comes to him, and we go from there."
As a successful artist, you probably have connections to other groups and artists. Any suggestions on what we should be listening to?
"I've been really into the new Raveonettes album - I really respect that band because they aren't afraid to overdrive their sound. So many albums are really tame right now....it's like people are afraid of putting high-end sounds on their records, because it means they won't get played on the radio. The raves don't follow that though, which is cool. Also, the new Born Ruffians record is just about to come out, and i think it's going to be received very well. You should check them out."
Your live performances are receiving raving reviews all over the web. How are you trying to transfer the energy you exude live to the record?
"We're trying to make a record that's energetic in its delivery - we don't want it to sound tame, we want it to have some bite, and really strike listeners in a raw and bright way. It's tough to do, but I think we've done it on the new record."
What does music mean to you?
"That's a deep question. Music is everything to us. Without it, the world would be bleak, bland, and colourless."
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, Mar 11 2008, 5:03 PM EDT
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