EMQ’s With THE RIPTIDE RATS
EMQ’s With THE RIPTIDE RATS
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with Swedish Surf/ Rock ‘n’ Rollers, The Riptide Rats. Huge thanks to their bassist, Jocke, for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
My name is Jocke, and I play the bass guitar in The Riptide Rats. We are a pretty new band, formed in 2023, and we play surf/rock’n’roll/twang/western instrumental music. We have just released our debut album “Waves of Steel” on beautiful blue vinyl, and we are so proud of our baby.
How did you come up with your band name?
We wanted a name that says both “classic instrumental surf rock” and rock and punk (where I am from), and Riptide is a cool surfy kind of word, and Rats sounds punk rock to me!
So, Riptide Rats it is!
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
We are from Kungsbacka on the west coast of Sweden, just 30 kilometres south of Göteborg. The Metal scene in Göteborg is always alive and well as I guess you know and the rock scene is getting back on track again with new fresh bands like Upploppet and Scumbag Millionaire.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
”Waves of Steel” is the name of our new album, and it is released on LP & CD on Ghost Highway Recordings in Spain and Green Cookie Records in Greece. And it streams everywhere of course.
Who have been your greatest influences?
I am just going to drop a few names here, and you must check them out on your favourite music platform: Link Wray, Dick Dale, Satan’s Pilgrims & Slacktone. There we go, you are welcome to a new adventure in music!
What first got you into music?
Back in the days we had a weekly one hour long hard rock show on national Swedish radio, simply called HÅRDROCK. Everyone was sitting ready to record the songs on our tape recorders and we played the songs repeatedly for a week. The first time I heard the show they played the song “Burning” with the German heavy metal legends Accept. And I was hooked; there was no coming back from that one!!
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
There are so many. But I think we could do a really cool old school rock‘n’roll album with Nick Cave on vocals.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
It has to be the annual Surf Guitar 101 Festival Weekender in Long Beach, California.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
I am sorry I can’t think about anything weird. I guess our fans and listeners are too old to be weird to bands 😊. We get nice stuff, like cakes, beer and whiskey.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Turn up the volume and be nice to each other.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
I have to answer for the whole band here, so we are of course bringing Dick Dale back from the dead and we will tour the planet as his support band, and it would be totally glorious, and we would be filthy rich, get all the girls and we would have statues raised in our honour on each continent!
Personally I would get Lemmy back and just crack open a bottle of Jack and listen to the stories. That would be amazing.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
I enjoy the songwriting most, I love when someone brings an idea to the shed where we rehearse and we juggle around with that for a while and suddenly we got a brand-new song, that happened last night. There is nothing I hate about it, if it was, I would not be into it, I guess.
I don’t like the streaming industry, but that is a necessary evil we must live with for a while.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
I would force all streaming services to pay bands and musicians good money, and I would remove this terrible “pay to play”, or “sell tickets to play” system that seems to be standard in some countries.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Tom Pettyäs “Wildflowers”. The songwriting on that one is over the top!
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
Always vinyl. I have always listened to vinyl. I don’t have any other ways of listening to music in my home anymore.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
We played a hometown gig just a month ago here in Kungsbacka. It was an event with three bands and a packed house; we had a really great time. It was our release show for the new album.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
We all have jobs beside the glamorous rock star life. I work in marketing.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
My wife, my son, my mom and my dad.
What’s next for the band?
We are going to play Finland for the first time in a couple of months, and then we are aiming for a Spanish tour, and we got some Swedish gigs booked for the summer. And we are already working hard on album no. 2.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
Official Webpage: www.riptiderats.com
Official web shop merch/audio: https://theriptiderats.bandcamp.com
AUDIO
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1H4GD3RldeXXGmkiayJrGm?si=E86Jn9TvRe6CT10A1Uj5zQ
VIDEO
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RiptideRats
SOCIAL
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theriptiderats
Instagram: https://instagram.com/theriptiderats
Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a Bun a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll or a Tea Cake?
I suppose all of them are correct depending on where you are located? In Sweden it is called a macka.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thank you very much for having us, we appreciate it! Take care and stay rock!
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