Perth four-piece Rogues’ first single Double Vision sees the band place one foot on the springboard of the past with the express intent of propelling their musical ambitions forward. It’s an accomplished effort for a new act, channelling the synth-laden melancholy of eighties pioneers like Tears for Fears and Depeche Mode through a lense of industrial rock and modern classical composition. Check it out below as BRAYDEN EDWARDS talks to bassist Zach Brown, who channelled his degree in classical composition at WAAPA into the unlikely creative venture that is Rogues, and their upcoming EP.
Since their formation just last year, Rogues were never going to be a group that fit neatly into any musical genre or flavour-of-the-week narrative. The group includes high-school friends from diverse cultures and musical backgrounds far beyond the Perth city-limits, with members from Colombia (drummer Cristian Galindo), Scotland (vocalist Graeme White), England (bassist Zach Brown) and Albany (guitarist Luke Tulloch). This single encompasses their collective ambitions succinctly.
Can you explain what different musical influences came together to form your sound? You can sense a few industrial influences like Nine Inch Nails but with traces of bench setters in their field like Depeche Mode as well…
We take influences from many places. Our main philosophy is to never try and imitate the artists that we look up to or try and be the next “Muse, Yeezus or whatever”. We often take influence from artists outside of our genre, artists such as Tears for Fears, The Weeknd, Kanye or even classical composers such as Philip Glass. We usually find little things we like about these artists and find ways to make it our own. Be it the way they structure songs, the way they layer and produce their sound, or some specific things like drum sounds.
You have some other tracks recorded that are scheduled to come out on your upcoming EP. What was it about this song that made you want to record it and put it out as a single?
This is one of the first songs we wrote as a band, so it’s always held a special place for us. We also wanted to hit people with something real punchy and anthemic, and this song feels exactly like that for us.
So do you think Double Vision reflects the sound of the group as a whole or is there more of that we can look forward to hearing?
We’re still finishing the rest of the EP, working on mixing and production with Matt Gio at Rada Studios. We worked hard to make sure all the songs have a cohesive sound that is unique to us, but we were also excited to explore other genres. We consider ourselves as sort of electro-rock but on the EP you’ll find tracks that are more alt-rock or even R&B focused.
It seems like you took some time away from live shows to focus on this release. When can we catch you next?
Although we don’t have any dates booked at the moment we have started rehearsals and are very excited to play these new tracks live. We’re actually in the middle of planning our big EP launch right now. So keep an eye on our social media for updates on that!
