Interview with Toby Michaels of The Broken Ravens, ahead of their gig for ‘One Night of Rawk’, Inverness in December.
The event brings together a clutch of the Highland’s favourite and emerging rock bands. We asked the bands a few questions and The Broken Ravens’ lead singer gave his considered responses;
IGigs – Trent Reznor said that “ rock music was never meant to be safe. I think there needs to be an element of intrigue, mystery, subversiveness.” What do you think are the key elements of your music ?
Musically we are riffy, with a hint of quirk, a dash of heavy, a snippet of anger and a large scoop of energy. Intrigue, mystery, subversiveness are all things ALL music should be. Who wants to be safe?
I think a key element to The Broken Ravens is we are not afraid to push each other for our best musically and lyrically because we click as a group of friends. Personally, it didn’t take me long to realise I would get on great with the guys, which helps with the songwriting and performance in the band.
IGigs – As a band, you are only allowed to have one album to listen to for eternity, would it be an easy process to decide, what album would it be and why?
I don’t think it would even be possible! The mix of influences is so vast in the band. When we went down to London for a couple of shows I know Steel Panther got a full albums listen, so maybe that…
IGigs – The demands of being in a band are massive, what keeps your band gigging and what are the essential aspects to driving your band forward?
I think a big part of driving the band forward has been the positive feedback we have had at live shows and from people in the industry. We all have a love of performing on stage though, as does any musician. For me, I count my blessings that I am getting to do what I love. You never know when something could be taken away from you, so you have to make the most out of it. You learn from the bad and remember to enjoy the good.
IGigs – ‘One Night of Rawk’ features five bands with local links, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the local scene?
The local scene is really what you make of it up here. We have a great collection of venues in which, if you put the right energy and effort into promoting and playing, can be incredible fun and very memorable. The list of great bands and musicians in all different genres is staggering as well. Of course working with a smaller population would be classed as a disadvantage from a business stand point, but that just makes you work that little bit harder… which serves you well for when you start travelling elsewhere too.
IGigs – The experience of a band having a good live performance, stays with you, how do you prepare for your gigs, and what do you use to judge whether you have had a good night or not?
Other than making sure the material is well rehearsed there is not a lot more you can do to get ready. Being in the right mindset before hand is always key though. If I am not enjoying a gig when performing, I fail to see how someone in an audience could. So if I have enjoyed myself, I will always hope the crowd has too. It is always nice to speak to people after to get a general reaction.
IGigs – Given the time of year, we are normally afforded the opportunity to reflect on the year, how would the band view 2015 and what’s next for 2016?
2015 has been a great starting year for the band. I know I don’t just speak for myself when I say we are very excited to take it to the next level in 2016 and progress on this journey we are on.
We are in the process of completing some recordings for release in 2016 along with a couple of music videos and plan to get The Broken Ravens out on the road more next year once we have completed discussions with the PR company we are in talks with.
One of the main goals for next year would definitely be appearing at Download Festival, but as long as we are playing and getting our music out to as many people as we can, we will have a great year.
Broken Ravens will be playing One Night of Rawk (Seed of Sorrow, Swamp Radio, Lawless & The Leash and Devil’s Queen are also on the bill) The Spectrum Centre, Inverness on Saturday December 12th.
Tickets available on line from here.
You can track the band down on Twitter @thebrokenravens and Facebook @thebrokenravens
