A Q&A with The Riptide Rats
Swedish Surf Rock in Full Force…
What’s the title of your latest release, and what does it mean to you?
‘Dunes’ has been out for a few weeks now and is doing well! It’s a huge deal for me because these melodies were the first thing I wrote when I got my first guitar 40 years ago. They’ve been swimming around in my head ever since, and it felt great to finally get them out there.
What was the hardest part about putting this release together, and why?
The hardest part was dealing with promotion and all the digital work that needs to be done. Everything else—writing, playing, recording—is the fun part, but social media and Spotify take some of that joy away. Bring back 1972! Vinyl LPs, posters, and tours!
Who produced the release – what did they bring to it? If you produced it yourselves what do you enjoy most about producing your own material?
Gus, our fantastic guitarist, just built a studio in our rehearsal shed, and that’s where we’re recording our new album. So, the producer for the new songs is Gus the Twang Master! The best part of recording is the production and mixing process—tweaking a song into something you love and are proud of is everything.
What do you want the listener to take away from listening to your music?
Joy and happiness.
How does a track normally come together? Can you tell us something about the process?
Usually, one of us brings in an idea or a nearly finished song—we rarely jam. We respect the songwriting process too much to leave things up to chance.
What band/artists have influenced you the most since you started this project, and why?
Link Wray and Dick Dale, no doubt. Their fantastic guitar playing and iconic sounds are difficult to recreate these days, but they inspire us to keep the surf-western rock alive.
What countries would you like to tour? Are there any standout venues you’d like to play in?
We’d love to tour California, Spain, the entire coast of the UK, and Iceland!
If you could pick one track for our readers to listen to in order to get a taste of your music, what would you pick, and why?
‘Clint Eastwood’s Mule’ sums up our sound perfectly—it’s a surfy western rock song that captures our essence.
What ambitions do you have for the band/your career?
Our main ambition right now is to get our debut album out there, and then we need to book more shows. We have gigs lined up in Sweden and Finland, but as we said earlier, we want the world!
Finally, as you leave the stage, what are your parting words?
Be kind, rock hard, listen to instrumental surf rock, and support your local scene!
For more info about The Riptide Rats, visit their official Bandcamp
