Formed as the brainchild of West London producer Santi Arribas, who was recently mentioned in both Pitchfork and Vive Le Rock in recent months for his work on the new Gang of Four record, The Roadside Bandits Project return with their latest anthemic single ‘My Own Lies’.
Collaborating once again with Gang Of Four vocalist John Sterry for the release, ‘My Own Lies’ brings back more of that bright and eclectic sound they are becoming known for. With its fresh and dynamic sound, their latest offering previews their eagerly awaited self-titled new album, which is set to arrive in September.
So with their new single on repeat for us right now, we sat down with Santi to find out more about his new project and what he has in store for us in the future.
Words by Chris Bound
Discovered via http://musosoup.com
Chris) Hi Santi, how are you today?
Santi) I’m ok thanks, quite hot but I’m good.
Who would you say have been your biggest influences so far?
I have many but I’d say guitar-wise Stevie Ray Vaughn and BB King are up there, production wise, producers like Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno have had a big impact on how I hear music.
You have just released your new single ‘My Own Lies’. Can you tell us the inspiration behind that song?
The song tells a story from the perspective of a modern politician whose only resource to convince the public is to lie. It really is a reflection on the current political climate and how policy making is made to be understood - it almost feels like if the running of a nation is now done via uplifting PowerPoint presentations which is completely ridiculous. Politics, in my view, have become the theatre of the absurd, pretty much everywhere in the world but particularly in the UK.
And how did Gang of Four’s John Sterry end up being involved?
John and I have known each other for years, we’ve worked together on the last few Gang Of Four records so I asked him if he wanted to sit down and work on one of the songs with me. I love his voice; I think he is one of the best rock singers out there today!
You are releasing your new self-titled album on CD in September. What can we expect with that?
A lot of instrumental music, blues guitar riffs and solos and a reasonable amount of electronic sounds. There is a lot of blues in it, but I like to think it has a twist a bit away from the classic blues form.
And what about your plans for the rest of the year?
Good question! – it’s difficult to tell as things are going right now, it’s not looking good for musicians right now but hopefully we’ll see this mess clearing up a bit, I’ve started writing new material and I also have some production work coming up, I guess I’ll just try to keep myself busy, like everyone else…
And finally, what would be your dream collaboration in this project?
Well, it would be impossible, but I would have very much liked Howlin’ Wolf to sing in one of the tracks, unfortunately he passed away over 40 years ago so is not going to happen, but hey, one can only dream.