THESE WICKED RIVERS -AN INTERVIEW
With the gradual easing of lockdown restrictions and the promise of a return to some semblance of normality, British southern swamp rockers These Wicked Rivers have wasted no time in announcing a string of UK tour dates, which will finally see them take their new material out on the road this September. I spoke to guitarist Arran Day about the band’s critically acclaimed debut album, ‘Eden’, and how living a simpler life (with chickens) could bring us all a little bit more happiness…
ANNE: You’ve been described as “Derby’s entry into the New Wave of Rock and Roll that is sweeping across the United Kingdom”. With so many incredible bands on the UK scene right now, how do you stand out from the rest?
ARRAN: We draw a lot of influence from late ‘60s, early ‘70s bands such as Cream, Pink Floyd and Lynyrd Skynyrd alongside the more modern bands. So our sound ends up a mix of heavy southern swamp, modern power and eccentric ‘70s English lyrics all molded into one, which hopefully gives us a character all of our own that folks dig!
ANNE: Your latest album ‘Eden’ was released last May. Is there a particular theme, narrative or message running through its songs?
ARRAN: A lot of the songs are focused around living simply, enjoying life and being happy, which drew us to the title of ‘Eden’. There are a few songs that run around darker themes as well, as we all have different motivation and stories that come out with our writing.
ANNE: How would you compare ‘Eden’ to your previous record in terms of style and musical progression?
ARRAN: Our record in 2017 was released as a mini album and we see ‘Eden’ as our debut LP as it’s the best representation of the journey of the band’s sound. We’re really proud of our mini album ‘II’ but with ‘Eden’ we worked really hard on the material, particularly when we went away to Wales to record the album – trying new things and pushing ourselves creatively to take the songs to new levels. It’s also our first record with our bassist Sam Williams, so it means a lot to us all for Sam to have his first recording experience with the band.
ANNE: In the absence of touring, how have you been spending lockdown?
ARRAN: Lockdown has pushed us to get recording gear so we can create demos to begin building the foundations for the next record! We’ve really dug this process as it meant we could work on things independently and send them to each other to get ready for when we return to the practice room. We’ve also been doing live steams, with (frontman) John Hartwell doing acoustic performances and myself doing playthroughs of songs from the new album!
ANNE: Tell us about the “Beyond The Vibe” Podcast!
ARRAN: So during the second lockdown myself and our media wizard Ryan wanted to make our mark in the podcast world. This initially started as a Football & Music podcast but when we interviewed Richie Heavenz (ex-Roadstar & Heaven’s Basement frontman) we got a great reaction and realized this was the format we wanted to continue with! We release episodes every Saturday at 10am on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts – so far we’ve interviewed Nathan James (Inglorious), Ricky Warwick (Black Star Riders) and Lips (Anvil) to name just a few and we really enjoy it! We’re trying to bring the community of fans and musicians back together to prepare for the return to live music!
ANNE: What are your plans for the rest of 2021?
ARRAN: So we’ve got our hometown venue The Hairy Dog in Derby booked for the first weekend live music opens back up on Saturday 26th June with Wolf Jaw and Emma Buckley and can’t wait to play with our family and fans again! We’re also playing Saturday at Call of the Wild festival on 10th July and probably our biggest gig to date opening main stage at Ramblin’ Man Fair which is going to be amazing.
ANNE: How do you think the music industry will have changed as we come out of lockdown?
ARRAN: My hope personally is that it will bring us together as more of a community as we’ve been separated for so long. We’ve all missed the opportunity to be able go out and experience live music and I hope once we get it back again we don’t take it for granted and support bands, venues and festivals every opportunity we can to celebrate the return.
ANNE: Are there any positives to have come out of this period for you?
ARRAN: I know this has been a really challenging time for a lot of people so I’m always conscious not to talk too positively around my own experience but it’s been a really cool time for myself. I was placed on furlough during the first lockdown – this gave me the motivation to set up a support provision in Derbyshire called Little Canyon Collective. Bringing my love of music with my love for supporting Autistic adults alongside loads of other creative outlets to try and help people move forward in their lives and have awesome experiences! I also got a new role working with care leavers as well as getting chickens!
ANNE: Where would you like to be in five years time?
ARRAN: From a band perspective I’d love us to be working with a major label such as Earache and to still be playing with the same four guys, as we’re a family now. For me personally I’d love to be living in deepest Derbyshire with my partner Jade, hopefully with some kiddies and a big dog called Radagast. Maybe a few more guitars and an even bigger pedal board…
ANNE: Finally, if you could have any super power, what would it be and what would you use it for?
ARRAN: I’d love to be able to turn into an animal on demand but to be honest, the first time I’d turn into a guinea pig for a laugh and get eaten by the cats!
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Anne Estella
Freelance Music Journalist & Presenter
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