Outright Resistance is one of those bands. A fearless collection of individulas who are constantly looking beyond the horizon for their next conquest. Overdrive had the pleasure of speaking with vocalist Paige and drummer Nelly about their DIY approach to breaking out of their local scene and spreading their wings for the world to see.
OD – You tried out for Metal 2 The Masses back in 2015 representing London and although you didn’t win, you managed to get on the bill for 2016. Tell me how all of this came about?
PAIGE – I think a lot of it was just luck really. We lost out to Skarthia and Wretched Toad who were incredible and totally deserved to win. After the 2015 campaign, we decided to take a step back and prove something to ourselves and make ourselves better as a live band. The idea was to make enough noise so that people would stand up and take notice of what we were doing. We underwent a series of shows up and down the U.K as well as getting over to Ireland, which was fantastic. Then a few months prior to Bloodstock 2016 Simon Hall (Bloodstock booker / promoter) got in touch with us and said: “there’s a slot available on the Jagermeister Stage for Sunday ( August 14th ), do you want it?” and we were like: “absolutely!”
NELLY – We just couldn’t believe that we got the chance. All we wanted was to get up there and show people what we can do. It was such a positive experience for us all and very rewarding for Outright Resistance collectively.
OD – Outright Resistance are very much a DIY band, as so many are these days. There is no question that things are hard out there for any band starting off. Can you talk a little about your experience of battling against the odds of the U.K metal scene?
PAIGE – People don’t realise just how hard it can be at times. I don’t expect them to realise as it’s our job to just get on stage and give the punters a good time. I want the punters to just enjoy what we do and that’s the bottom line. But yeah, it’s so hard sometimes to even get shows let alone anything else. Then, of course, there is the expense of keeping things ticking over, such as paying for equipment, rehearsal studios, transport and fuel going from one show to the next.
Then in some cases, we turn up to the venue to find that the show has not been promoted correctly and there’s nobody there. We’ve had our fair share of promoters who don’t do their job, as I’m sure nearly all bands have. It’s like a really unfortunate baptism of fire in this business. There should be a law against lazy promoters, who just don’t care about their events. There are really so many unseen struggles that most people wouldn’t even consider had they not been in a band or involved in touring with a band in some capacity. It’s hard, but when things come together and you get a really great show under your belt, it makes it all worthwhile.
OD – What way do you collectively work together with reference to the construction of the music and lyrics etc. Is there a certain system that you find works best for you all?
PAIGE – We actually have a lot of material from years ago when we first got together that we still haven’t used that much in a public capacity as of yet.
NELLY – I would say that it’s a pretty constant process for us. We are kind of always writing and coming up with new ideas and new arrangements. It’s kind of like this never ending circle where we are constantly discovering new music and bands who sometimes provide us with a certain degree of inspiration and may trigger some ideas that just fit into place for what we are trying to do or want to do. We are constantly being inspired by our surroundings and don’t really rule anything out when it comes to a source of creativity for what we do in Outright Resistance.
Right now we have plenty of material that is on what I like to call our: “Plan B Backburner” which are just sitting there waiting to be finished off when the time is right and when we do finally dip into the “Plan B” bag of tricks we can just work on enhancing the existing idea rather than starting from scratch.
OD – Outright Resistance currently released two E.P’s to date (Prveglia 2015 and Me vs I 2016). With reference to releasing E.P’s rather than albums, do you find that a lot of bands tend to be doing that these days?
PAIGE – For us, we are still looking at the prospect of another E.P rather than an album. A the moment it doesn’s seem like albums are the way to go for bands of our ilk. It’s purely a financial and time constraint that just doesn’t work for us personally. There’s also the aspect of our sound which is changing and evolving and with the frequency of recording E.P’s rather than an album, each slab of Outright Resistance is represented in each official release, rather than a big album that essentially we are stuck with for a long time, until we can generate the funds to record another.
NELLY – I would love to do an album of new material, but it’s just the financial element is so huge that it’s just not possible right now. For the sake of being cost effective and still releasing original material, E.P’s work so much better for us right now.
PAIGE – With an E.P it doesn’t need to be a certain length, whereas an album you kind of have to have a certain amount of songs and that’s also something that we like about the E.P. With our first E.P Prveglia, there were four tracks and one bonus track and then Me vs I had seven tracks in total, so there was really no pressure in terms of duration.
We can put out exactly what we want and there is no pressure for the amount of song or the length of the E.P and that’s something that really works for us.
OD – What’s been happening with the band since Bloodstock back in August?
PAIGE – We played Beermageddon and a few shows at the end of August which was amazing. We are now about to get ready to do a mini-tour comprising of dates in Scotland and the U.K which kicks off on October 22nd (check below for dates). After that we will be preparing for our first ever mainland European tour with a U.S death metal band called Bloodsoaked in April, so we can’t wait for all of that to happen. So that’s really the Me vs I promo plans for the moment and we’re just gonna see what else lands in our path that may benefit the band and help us to move forward.
NELLY – We are always on the look out for from a DIY point of view and have our fingers and eyes on everything and try and be on the front end of things that could be a good move for us. This way we get to have a little chat about things and decide collectively if it’s the right move for us.
OD – So the European tour with Bloodsoaked, which you are scheduled for in April, can you talk a little about what shows will be taking place and where?
PAIGE – Well it’s approximately ten dates in Europe and starting in Germany. I can’t really give away anymore at this point in time, but from what we heard from our friends who have played some of the venues and it’s all sounding really good and a good move for us as a band that is trying to break into that European market.
NELLY – Getting to play some shows over in Europe is something that I’m really looking forward to and as a band that is constantly moving forward, this is just the right move for us. I have wanted to take Outright Resistance out of the U.K to a wider audience for a long time and we’re finally getting to do so which is great.
PAIGE – There are so many bands that get really complacent with their local scene and don’t venture outside into the great unknown. We have been saying it to bands in our local scene for ages: “get out there and just do it!” They need to play wherever the hell they can; as it’s the only way to get people talking about your band.
OD – That’s some good advice. If any band was to play their local rock / metal bar week in week out, people just become bored.
NELLY – Yeah, exactly! It’s a case of bands understanding that they can’t keep hitting the same spot over and over again, as it’s eventually gonna run dry and there is only so many times someone is gonna come to your show.
PAIGE – Don’t get us wrong, there are so many amazing bands that are getting out of their local scene and winning over new fans because they are willing to take the chance. Success is not going to come knocking on your door, you have to get out there and earn it by working hard; like you would at any other job.
NELLY – It’s actually a little frustrating at times because there are some truly incredible bands from our local scene that really need to get out there and bring their show to the masses but they just don’t, which is such a shame.
OD – There have been many bands that have come to a certain point before the inevitably implode due to lack of progress. I get the sense that Outright Resistance are not one of those bands!
PAIGE – Absolutely man! We are a very determined beast and are not frightened by hard work and relentless touring to get our music to as many places as we can. I have seen so many bands who are just on the cusp of really making some changes to their lives and personal careers as musicians and they decide to chuck the whole thing in. It’s a really tough business and one that you just have to keep hammering away, in order to actually conquer anything.
NELLY – We also find that the more we get out there, we meet like-minded people such as yourselves who work in the industry and have a good connection of people, as do we and when we share those contacts it helps to make things better for all of us. Our love for what we do has provided us with some of the best times in our lives and given us some great life-long friendships that we are just eternally grateful for.
Outright Resistance will be kicking off their U.K and Scotland tour on October 22nd; with a selection of dates that you can find below.
22/10 – Monty’s, Dunfermline
23/10 – Opium, Edinburgh
24/10 – Ivory Blacks, Glasgow
25/10 – Trillians Bar, Newcastle
26/10 – Scruffy Murphy’s, Birmingham
27/10 – Grand Central, Manchester
28/10 – Bantam, Northampton
The latest studio E.P Me vs I, is out now and available from this link. Check out our review of Me vs I here.
Oran O’Beirne
© OVERDRIVE 2016
