Hey guys, thanks for chatting with us! First up can you introduce yourself to our readers and explain how the band came to be? We hear there’s a fresh lineup?
We’re Rude Rum! Our music is very much rock at its foundation, however, we like putting in funk or groove elements and taking a different approach to our songs so it’s fresh to the ears. Jaeden started the band around mid-2017, however early 2019 is when the line up changed to what it is today… India came along first as bassist, and then Van (who is a childhood friend of India’s) happened to move to Brisbane after living in the U.K, right at that time we were looking for a drummer… It all clicked together really quickly.
We see a lot of solid bands coming out of Brisbane in the last few years – how do you find the music scene up there?
It’s fantastic… Almost every night of the week you can go into Fortitude Valley and there is a gig happening… There are also heaps of sick venues, and the musicians and bands are all super rad and supportive of each other. There’s also a place for everything, and a lot of variety so it really is a flourishing scene.
Congrats on the recent single ‘Curious Affection’! We’re getting some serious party-rock vibes! What’s the story behind the track?
We wanted to make it super fun, high energy tune that you can dance and sing along with and have a grin on your face to… Something that really shows what we’re all about as a band. The chorus came first… The lyrical hook line first which then inspired the main riff… The song then developed around those two parts into a real feel good and slightly cheeky, vibin’ rock tune. Adding in some almost surf style bass lines along with a pretty tight rhythm then gave fresh energy to the song which really supported the guitar and also complimented the bigger riffs within the song. This is also the first Rude Rum track with backing vocals, so it’s very much a new step compared to the previous works.
This comes only months after the release of your debut EP – were you just keen to release more music or had you been sitting on this for a while?
A bit of both to be honest! We had heaps of fun with the EP release and we wanted to do it all again but step it up a notch. Jaeden had this song written a few months earlier and was waiting for the right time to release it. So when we decided we wanted to go straight into another release we brought this one out… we felt it was exactly the right tune to step up from our EP with.
Will this be a taste of what’s to come next? Perhaps another EP?
Curious Affection is definitely the first taste of all the new material that is on its way… We are going to release more music and videos in the future. We really want to tour a lot more and make our way into festivals, so the new material that’s in the works is going to be aimed at those goals for sure.
Tell us about your usual creative process?
There’s no real set creative process, but rather each song has its own identity of how it was crafted. A lot of the time, the song is written and brought in as drafts by Jaeden… We then workshop and sculpt the final touches together as a band (which adds in all the personal nuances of each member to the song which we feel is so so important). Sometimes a song just clicks, other times we play around with it until it rolls how we feel it should. India is also a songwriter with awesome tunes of her own, and Van often has rad drum lines we work off… we’re also noticing that a lot of new ideas are coming out of simple jam sessions together.
The writing process can go any way, you can never tell and that’s sort of what makes it exciting.
You’ve got a support tour this month, your debut at that, which will see you roll into Melbourne! What do you enjoy most about being up on the stage?
Yes! And we are super stoked about it!! First time playing in Melbourne!! The best thing about playing is to see people having a great time with your tunes… We love putting on an energetic show and making people feel good, so when we see our songs doing that, it’s absolutely priceless.
Following this tour, what are plans for Rude Rum?
We’re traveling down south this time around, so perhaps a northern tour of Australia next year is on the way? We would love to support some bigger bands on tour too, and we definitely want to get into festivals… Those two goals are definitely on our minds so we’ll be working at bringing that around next year.
The name, an ode to your favourite spirit?
Whilst we do love a good rum, the name actually came from a high proof rum they used to distill in Jamaica that earnt its name as “Rude to your Parents”… It was served on the Jamaican party scene back in the day, and it was just a super potent spirit. By shortening it to “Rude Rum”, it just made for a catchy and unique name… Plus we’re a bit of a party band too so that links in well with where the name is derived from.
Besides Rude Rum, who should we be listening to right now?
There are some sick Aussie Acts we dig currently, like Tired Lion, Ali Barter, and Clowns… Same with G-Flip, Lime Cordial… Basically anything we vibe with we listen to! It doesn’t matter what type of music it is… We listen to as much as we can because you never know what you might find.
When & Where:
The Bergy Seltzer, Melbourne – November 21
The Old Bar Fitzroy, Melbourne – November 22
The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar, Melbourne – November 23.
Photo by Will Johnstone
