RiotWeekend – Interview

Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views  (https://petesrocknewsandviews.com)

PD:  How would you describe yourself or your band as an artist?

RW: We’re an alt rock band with big pop punk influences. We like big riffs and catchy choruses!

PD: Can you tell us briefly about your background – i.e. where you’re from, how you came to make music, etc. What is the band’s lineup?

RW: We’re all from around the Guildford UK area. Holly (vocals/bass) started the band years ago. Tomma and Rab (guitars) both joined at the same time just before lockdown. Rab left the band for a bit but rejoined last year and at the same time we brought in Salvatore on drums.

PD: Who and what inspires you to make music, both in terms of musical and other influences? What do you like to write about in your songs?

RW: We all grew up on Kerrang! so bands like Green Day, Paramore, Linkin Park etc are big influences on all of us. In terms of what we write about, all our songs come from real life experiences or people. There’s something quite therapeutic about writing down your feelings and putting them in a song.

PD: What are your aspirations as an artist?

RW: World domination!

PD: What is the proudest moment in your music career so far?

RW: Anytime we play a show and people are singing along to our songs, resonating with the lyrics, it’s just a really powerful feeling and makes us really proud of our music.

PD: Promoting one’s music is such a challenge these days, especially with so many new artists emerging from bedrooms in the day of the home studio. How is that going?

RW: Yeah it’s definitely challenging, as you say there’s so much great music out there. I think the biggest way of attracting new fans for us is at our live shows. People who have never seen or heard of us before come up to us afterwards to say how much they enjoyed it and ask where they can find us.  We also have a great publicist so that helps!

PD: And how do you book and promote your live shows and tours? Any performances coming up?

RW: We book most of our own shows, we’ve just played our single launch party which is the last show of 2025 for us but we will definitely be back next year. You’re just going to have to keep your eyes peeled for dates!

PD: What do you think about downloading music online? What about streaming sites like Spotify?

RW: It’s difficult because as music fans it’s great for discovering new artists and having access to a whole bunch of music. However, as musicians, it’s definitely having a bad effect on the industry and the way in which artists are compensated by streaming platforms needs to be addressed and changed.

PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?

RW: We had this discussion not too long ago and all agreed we would go for something like Mariah Carey “All I Want For Christmas” or Slade purely because they must make a killing every year!

PD: Is there anything you don’t like about the music industry, which you would change if you could?

RW: There’s a lot that probably needs to be changed but it is the way it is. We will just focus on ourselves and create the best music we can!

PD: So, what are you working on at the moment?

RW: We’ve just released our new single ‘Harry’ which is our first new music since we released our debut EP in 2022. We have some more stuff on the way but that’s all we can say for now!

PD: Where can we learn more about you and buy your music/merch online, have you any Social Media links that you can share?

RW: You can find all our socials and streaming site via our linktree. We have merch as well and if you pop us a message on socials we can sort you out. linktr.ee/itsriotweekend

RiotWeekend links:
Band/Artist location – Guildford, Surrey
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Apple – Spotify – Amazon – Deezer – LinkTree – TikTok –
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