DMV Access Interviews Night Riots and Silent Revival

This Sunday night we had Night Riots & Silent Rival come to the DMV where they played at our DC venue U Street Music Hall. We were lucky to get an interview with both of them.

Night Riots Interview

What is something you’d tell your younger self

 

Probably to relax more and trust yourself.

 

Who’s been such a big influence to your music?

 

There’s not so much a person or artist but more so the drive to continually improve and expand musically.  

 

How do you feel about the internet in the music business?

 

There’s good and bad too it.  It’s so much easier for artists to produce quality art but at the same time there is so much noise and opinion out there that things can get washed out.  Overall all it’s a cool time we live in for music.

 

What new music do you like?

 

The new J. Cole album is rad.  The band Vacationer is always a favorite.

 

Who would you be nervous to meet?

 

I don’t really get nervous or starstruck by people.  I like to stick by the old advice of ‘Don’t meet your heroes.” Everything is better in your head.

 

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you recently?

 

I spilled about a gallon of salsa down my pants recently and all over our photographers bag.  That was pretty fun.

 

How do you handle mistakes during a Performance

 

You just gotta roll with it.  Honestly, some of the most raw or real moments are mistakes and I’ve had fans say those were their favorite parts in a set.  We’re all human.

 

What advice would you give to beginners who are nervous?

 

Be true to yourself and do what you believe in.  Take criticism with a grain of salt and be relentless.

Silent Rival

1) At first, when we were throwing around band names, we liked Silent Rival because it sounded cool. But over time, it has taken on different meanings - one of them being that your worst enemy is yourself. It makes me think of the man in the mirror and that when you want to see a change in the world, first you have to change yourself.

Who’s been such a big influence to your music?

2) Joz and I were in a band before Silent Rival. Yutaka and Joz were in a band before that band. I was always a fan of theirs, and a year ago we all got together.

3) It's dancy, singable, upbeat alternative rock. It's hard to answer what makes us different, because I try to see all artists as individuals. Lumping artists together in categories is more of a job for the suits.

4) We have a really wide range of influences, and some influences that differ from each other's. We overlap in the genre of classic rock with bravado. Artists that still influence us today are different for each of us. Joz is still influenced by T. Rex, the Beatles, and Jimi Hendrix, and I am still influenced by the Beatles, Gladys Night, and Steven Tyler.

5) We are currently a handful of songs through our new album, and we're going to hopefully release it in the fall and continue touring for the next year.

6) Whatever they see fit. We get asked this question a lot, and I almost never know what to say because we get so much more out of it than anyone else. I wouldn't want to make any demands on top of what an audience gives me that they should take away.