Hailing from the North West of England, Retro Youth have crafted a blend of indie, pop and funk.
With numerous gigs behind them, alongside bands including Catfish & The Bottlemen and Press To Meco, the three-piece are gearing up for the release of their new EP ‘B.R.A.V.E’.
Working with Lee Batiuk (Deaf Havana, The First) and Kris Crummett (Deftones, Sleeping With Sirens, Issues), their new EP is due for release on February 3rd via Independent Ear Records.
As they prepare for the release and their seven-date tour with Rabid Youth, we caught up with the band to allow them to introduce themselves to you.
For those who haven’t discovered your music, how would you describe the Retro Youth sound?
We’re a mixed bag of indie, funk and pop vibes with some heavy and tech elements. There’s plenty in there for everyone, but the prevailing description we keep getting is that we’re fun to listen to.
Are there any UK bands in particular that you take influence from?
That’s a tough one for us because we like all kinds of music! We take influence from other three pieces like Biffy Clyro and Muse for their on-stage energy and just sheer raw ability to make that much noise alongside songwriters like Mike Duce (Lower Than Atlantis) and Ed Sheeran and progressive new bands with good hustle like Nothing but Thieves etc, the list could go on and on.
You’re kicking off 2017 with the release of your debut album, what can we expect from the release?
Music videos… lots and lots of music videos! We’re really looking to push as many singles as we can as the album is really diverse. No two songs are alike and we want to find out what people resonate with most and enjoy.
You worked with Lee Batiuk and Kris Crummett on the album, how was it working with a team who have been responsible for top releases?
We were hella excited to be honest. Lee was an absolute gent and a real pleasure to work with. He really gave us everything he could with the time we had and wasn’t afraid of taking the helm or giving us advice, he’s a great guy too so the whole process was made a lot easier and Kris just refined and polished out a finished product with us. We were fans of their work beforehand, but getting them to add their own brand into our music was a fantastic feeling.
If you could headline any venue in the UK, where would it be and why?
I think for us it’d be any mainstream festival stage, the atmosphere there is amazing and the crowds are always there to have a good time. We think we’d fit right in!
What are your band aims for the year ahead?
In the next year, we really want to connect with bigger audiences and grow/cultivate what we’ve already achieved and get the band name out there as much as possible. We’re all about getting content out to fans and potential fans and meeting people so we want to be working, touring and playing as often as we can.