Interviews: The Rattlebacks

Rob Blackham / Blackhamimages.

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Punk Rock/Rock 'N' Roll band The Rattlebacks from the UK. Check out this band and follow them on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or did it just come out like that?

As children Max and Coxy set off on a quest to find the ultimate band name, with nothing but the guitars on their backs and a voracious hunger, they set off into the wilderness to find what they seek. A mountain was climbed and many a Sussex-based grizzly bear was fought off by hand in their quest for Rock N Roll greatness. Until eventually Mother Nature gave up her secret, and there it was, carved in stone standing before the young rockers were the name “The Rattlebacks”.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

Because nobody else is! Ultimately, we are fans of the genre, and collectively our thirst for bands to believe in has yet to be quenched. So fuck it, here we are and we are going to make a go of it ourselves. The hard rock genre has become almost non-existent which means there is a huge opportunity for The Rattlebacks to remind everyone what it is supposed to be about. Appetite, hunger, riffs, spit, and leather. Are you listening Gene, rock isn’t dead? Not on our watch pal.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

I had so much fun telling my third-person story above, let’s try another. The year was 1995 and a 4-month-old Max Horn was introduced to a 0-month-old Coxy, both with no other siblings a lifetime brotherly bond was destined to follow. Their fathers, a few years prior, were stuntmen seeking not only to entertain but to break world records for jumping cars, ultimately it didn’t quite work out how it was meant to. After having Queens “Greatest Hits 1, 2 & 3” in constant rotation in their preteen years Max and Coxy took on their parent’s flair of daring to dream big, and Rock N Roll became their lifetime obsession and objective. From the moment Max got his first guitar Coxy had to have one. Years and years were then spent learning and playing guitar together as their favorite pastime and this set the foundation of the future of The Rattlebacks, Coxy jammed a riff and Max laid down the lead guitar. The recipe was found, and a generational guitar paring was born. After a handful of unsuccessful bassists, Jack Hollamby came recommended to the pair and two became three. Coxy went to school with Seth, Seth reminded everyone he is a few years younger than Coxy, and three became four. This is where it got difficult, and the band did not want to underplay how tough this search was…. but after a two-and-a-half-year nationwide search for the right singer and countless auditions Josh Clarke was found and the lineup was completed. Thus, ending third-person story time.

4. Each band member's favorite band?

Josh: Rival Sons/A7X/Bonjovi

Max: Alice In Chains/Guns N’ Roses/Pink Floyd

Coxy: Guns N’ Roses/Alice In Chains/Skid Row

Jack: Tool/ The Hell/ AC/DC/ The Darkness

Seth: Iron Maiden/The Mars Volta/Outcast

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

If you speak to any artist the songs always come from different places, you can’t quite call it. An idea in your head, a groove you have jammed, a drum beat, heartbreak, falling in love, death, or simply writing a piece of music you think will get the crowd going. Truthfully the possibilities are endless, but the bar is high in The Rattlebacks so not all the ideas will make it and even the songs that come out of that process will be culled until you get a purified 100% proof Rattlebacks tune. Normally once someone has found their inspiration the group works to explore that idea, other times someone might come in with a fully thought-out idea and that works too. Really you have got to find a bunch of dudes who can speak to each other musically and share a musical vision, that is one of the many hard parts about forming a band that is going to last.

6. Where was your last gig?

At the time of writing it was The Hope and Ruin in Brighton, with Unknown Vandals and our brothers in arms Moth. It was a great show, the sound is always amazing, and it was one of those shows that went off without a hitch. Something that rarely happens…. I can confirm we normally operate in some sort of Spinal Tap manner. 

7. Where would you like to play?

If you ask each of us it is different, really we are only limited by our imagination. I think collectively we want a show at Brixton Academy as we have seen many of the greats there, but we have just recorded our debut album on a ship moored opposite the O2 Arena so we fancy a bit of that action. It has to happen to someone, so why not us?

8. Who would you like to support?

The Darkness! Collectively it is one of the only bands we can all agree on. It is a running joke in the band that Mr. Hollamby started as it was in constant rotation in his car, Now we buy each other Permission to Land every year for Christmas, you’re welcome Justin. The truth is though we are looking at any opportunity that we can to run with the big boys, we are hungry and we are very much here to prove that The Rattlebacks can go toe to toe with the best of them. We hope as our reputation grows some of our heroes will see a little bit of themselves in us and give us the chance to melt some faces. Give us a stage and an audience and we will go for the throat.

9. Who not?

Anyone who stands in our way!

10. Any of you has ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that?

I think we are over that hurdle of our journey, but everyone starts with that fear. How I got over it was to just take the walk to the stage and let it happen. Truth is if you are good enough and rehearsed enough then you can’t do anymore, It is in the hands of the rock gods and that is the magic of it, that is why it is nerve-racking. I would say you have got to use that fear to aid the performance. I still get nervous from time to time and I love it, it makes me grit my teeth and say “fucking come on then” smash myself in the head a few times and then go to war. Own it.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

With some tongue in cheek, the band simply distills this into “Grunge N’ Roses” we kick on from the end of the grunge era with added modern rock sensibilities. Pulling influences from Guns N’ Roses to Alice In Chains to TOOL to Skid Row to Black Sabbath to Queen to Alter Bridge to The Darkness to Pink Floyd to Stone Temple Pilots to Pantera to Avenged Sevenfold to Audioslave the list is endless.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

Oh, definitely stuff we can’t put in here, probably best we don’t go down that rabbit hole!

13. What do you think of your fans?

We know all of our fans, and we make a serious effort to. They come to all our gigs, support us, buy us beer, have bought merch, and generally funded us making this next step via our GoFundMe page where we raised £5k. Not only do they motivate us, but they also pick us up when we are down and they fundamentally have made us realize that it is possible that people, other than ourselves, can fall in love with this band. We can only do this because of them, so we are forever in their debt and very grateful to have this relationship. This is a cult band, for the people, by the people!

14. What do you think of our site?

Oh, we have had a little poke around and you love to see it. There is so much good music out there and to see you writing about artists such as ourselves is amazing. It means so much more to independent artists that you would take the time to take an interest. So for whatever it means from The Rattlebacks, keep up the great work!

15. Something to add?

Our time is now, come and get behind a band that you can believe in and together we will take over the fucking world. Keep in touch - https://linktr.ee/TheRattlebacks