One of the leading lights of the ‘new’ hardcore scene, Sheffield five-piece Rolo Tomassi will be turning heads with its debut album Hysterics. FL got the word from James Spence.
There has been a rather large gap since your inception to the release of your début. Why did you feel the need to have this gap, especially with the release of several EPs during that time?
It wasn’t a conscious decision to leave the gap that long, it just happened. When we initially released our first EP, we were all still studying so couldn’t make the band our primary focus. We decided to take a break from education in September 2007 and began to focus directly on writing the album then. The writing was finished in March ’08 and it was recorded, mixed and released by September ’08, so I think we ended up doing okay!
Your music appears to almost have an undefinable quality about it, confusing most who try to place it in a genre. What is your take on this? What genre do you believe you are?
I think first and foremost our roots still lie with hardcore music. We may have brought it other influences and genres but hardcore is definitely the lowest common denominator. We don’t set out to confuse and mix up different styles, it just sort of happens when we write. When you put five people in a rehearsal room who have varying tastes in music it’s bound to happen.
That said, who would say are your influences and inspirations?
As I said previously, we all have varying tastes. I listen to lots of different music all the time. When writing our record I was listening to a lot of M83, Converge, Daughters and Sonic Youth and that all influenced my contribution heavily. Right now, the new things I’m writing have been influenced by bands like Deerhunter and Gang Gang Dance.
In such a male-dominated genres as screamo and mathcore, how does it feel to be one of the few bands fronted by a female vocalist?
It’s something we get asked a lot and it’s something we never really think about unless we’re asked! We’d like to think we were on a level playing field like everyone else, but obviously it does categorise us and almost make us a bit of a novelty. I guess if it makes someone check us out and makes people remember us then it’s a good thing.
Sheffield has become almost a home recently of alternative music, most notably the Arctic Monkeys and Warp Records. What do you think has created this rise of musical culture in your area?
I’m not entirely sure. I think maybe the fact that we have a host of music venues which caters for a lot of different styles and tastes helps a lot. Also, with it being a city populated largely by students, people will always have an active interest in night-life and going out and gigs falls into that bracket. Aside from that, if you’re not in the city, the rural-meets-industrial outskirts of Sheffield can be pretty bleak at times. It’s that kind of setting which can inspire you to do something positive with your time in order to escape it.
What do say of the current state of the rock industry?
I think rock is in a fairly healthy state at the moment, but I’m not too keen on the reformation of bands destroying their legacy. I saw Smashing Pumpkins last year at Leeds Festival and Billy Corgan left with his integrity barely intact. Same goes for Rage Against The Machine this year. I think a lot of artists have been too quick to cash in.
The English press seems adamant that you are a part of a, I quote, “renewed focus on British hardcore music”. What is your take on this?
It’s great that we’re being associated with a positive statement like that. I think heavier music is definitely becoming more acceptable widespread over here at the moment. If we’re being namechecked as a band that’s involved in the new wave of hardcore then its hugely positive for us.
The English music press can, at times, be some of the most vicious in the world. How have you dealt with your rise, as a band, with their eyes constantly peering over?
We’ve embraced the love and the hate. Without some of the coverage we’ve had there’s no way we’d be in the position we are now. I try never to be too conscious of media expectations, but we’re always happy to talk to people so that questions that people have about our band are covered. Obviously there’s not much you could assume about us based purely on our sound so we have to be willing to speak to people, which we are.
Any plans to tour Australia any time soon?
We’re currently making our touring plans for next year and Australia is somewhere we’d love to come to if we were given the opportunity. Unfortunately I can’t say more than that right now!
Rolo Tomassi’s Hysterics is out now on Pod through Inertia.
