UTG INTERVIEW: Night Riots @ SXSW

April 11th, 2014

Matthew Leimkuehler

Night Riots have infected listeners with its contagious blend of electronic and alternative rock. The 2013 release, Young Lore, is making waves amongst a sea of mediocre competition. Songs such as “Remedy” and “Young Lore” display a band composed of musicianship that is absent of fallacies. The record mirrors the essence of other fabulous key-driven acts such as The Killers or Keane.

Under The Gun had a chance to sit down with the band at SXSW to talk about the success the band has been having with the latest release and what we’re to expect from the band in the weeks to come.

Young Lore came out late last year. How has reception been?

Travis Hawley (vocals): It’s been really fantastic. A lot of people have been picking it up and running with it.

You guys have a great pop sound, but it also stands out with a bit more aggression then other artists in your genre. Is that the goal when writing?

Nick Fotinakes (guitar): Yeah, that’s something I’ve always really liked about our music. I don’t know if it’s necessarily a conscious decision, but we grew up listening to a lot more punk things and I think it kind of shines through. It’s angsty with a nostalgic vibe and I think that shines through, intentionally or unintentionally. We always have had a tinge of darkness with that pop sensibility, too.

Rolling Stone named you one of the top 16 unsigned bands right now. What was it like when you heard about that?

NF: It’s pretty crazy. It’s one of those things that you never expect to happen, but when you do it, it’s like, “wow you’re in Rolling Stone.”

Have you thought about what your next release is going to be?

Matt DePauw (guitar) : We have a bunch of songs we’re sitting on right now and after South By were going to go home and we’re going to spend about a month and a half writing and finishing recording stuff. Lookin’ for a late summer or fall release.

NF: Young Lore was our first release as Night Riots so we’re still finding our sound and getting everything right. With this next one, we’ve really spent the time honing in and finding our sound and who we are and what we’re doing. We’re really excited to release the new stuff because we feel it’s a lot better and a lot more us. It’s similar, but better.

So, you guys have history together before this band?

NF: We’ve known each other for a really long time because we grew up playing music. It was one of those things where we played music our whole lives, went our separate ways, and then came back together. We were able to re-form and be Night Riots. We were good friends for a really long time.

You’ve been making a lot of noise in LA. What have you done to stand out in such a music-driven city?

NF: LA has always been kind of a beast that we didn’t really know how to tackle because there are so many bands there, ya know? We just started playing and kept hitting it, and we grew.

MDP: We had some lucky stuff, too, like we got on KROQ, so there was this point where it went from begging people to come to your shows to having people you don’t know come to your shows. That’s a recent development to see that growth.

NF: Yeah, we played a couple good shows. We opened up at The Jupiter once, and then turned around and sold it out. It’s been kind of like a snowball.

Any more touring this year?

MDP: It looks like probably a little west coast run in June and then a little east coast run and then releasing the EP as well.