www.facebook.com/ren.ret
From: Manchester, UK
Sounds like: Hard Rock
1. How did you get started with music and how did you develop your sound? Who thought of the name “Renegade & Retrospect” and is there any meaning behind it?
Renegade & Retrospect was created through three like minded individuals meeting at university in North West England with the same desire to start a band. The Renegade & Retrospect sound and true beginning happened towards the end of 2013. Jordan Leppitt, Gareth Hodges and Dan Godwin played with a number of musicians before realizing that they were best of as a three piece. The Renegade & Retrospect Hard Rock sound came about through the various influences that the band members fused together. From Jordan’s 60’s/70’s hard rock and folk rock influences to Gareth’s 90’s Alt Rock influences they developed a sound that is described as Refreshing and Original. The Renegade & Retrospect name came about based on our views of modern day music. As a collective we strongly feel there is no originality or substance in the modern day ‘Pop’ world. And this is because music has been exploited by commercialization and labels that only focus on one thing, the image. It is now a common occurrence for an artist to have very little say on the music that is commercialized under their name; all there used for is their image, they are a tool. Now that music has no integrity and no drive to focus on the music itself, there is no originality, and the industry has become mundane. We feel originality comes from purely being yourself with the music you create with no regard for image or some pretentious persona; that will come by just doing what you do. We feel Retrospective music had that mentality, with the main focus being the music. We feel you have to look respectively on music now to find something original and innovative because there is not enough substance in modern day music to do so. Renegade & Retrospect in a nutshell; Rebel and look back on music.
2. How's the new music coming along?
The music is coming along well. New tracks are coming together, and we have a very good feeling about this new E.P. Our influences and personalities have changed in the last year, and we feel we have become an even stronger unit. Hopefully this E.P will portray that.
3. What can people look forward to from your new music? How will it be different than your previous "Unorthodox Satisfaction" EP?
This new E.P will be more experimental, more professional and will really portray what we are about and the potential we have. We feel the last one was premature and did not portray our true potential, so we are very excited to show the world our new material.
4. What can people expect from your live show?
We are a powerful, loud and hard hitting three piece that will get your heads bobbing and your hips swaying. With catchy melodies, sing along choruses and balls to the wall riffs. We are enthused by live performances, and our live performances have often been described as better than the recordings themselves.
5. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?
If we are talking bands of all time then Led Zeppelin, Green Day or Foo Fighters. But if we are talking new bands then it would be Blues Pills, The Wild Lies or Royal Blood.
6. Any crazy show stories?
We have a number of drunken hilarious memories, but one that really stood out was the first battle of the bands we ever played in Bolton, UK. Only 2 songs into the set and our bassist managed to literally snap his bass string. Fortunately we managed to borrow a bass, but we still wonder to this day how that happened.
7. What’s your take on the current state of rock?
Improving as we are starting to see a number of artists pop up that we strongly admire. And the Foo Fighters are starting to deliver strong messages with their recent documentaries/music which we back whole heartedly. But there is still that underlying image focused mentality there.
8. What’s the current music scene like there in the UK both locally and country wide?
The music scene is generally good, it’s vibrant and active and there are lots of things to do and be a part of. But it’s quite pretentious with Indie being ‘in’, or if it’s not that it’s Metal Core or Screamo, and we are somewhere in between that. So it’s hard to break into, but as we are neither it adds to the Original aspect which is helping us develop a good fan base, and in the long run we feel that will be very beneficial.
9. What’s your take on legal/illegal music downloading?
Terrible, but we feel with the development of technology it was inevitable. We think people are beginning to notice the problem though and bands are starting to get the appreciation they deserve for their music.
10. What’s next for Renegade & Retrospect?
We have lots on the horizon. Starting with recording our E.P in June, then we are off on a small tour in July. Over the summer we will be working towards our first music video and the release of our second E.P. And then we will be back on tour autumn time.
