Scottish band, The Rah’s, have released a new double single ‘Our Design’ / ‘If You Never Try (You’ll Never Know). This comes hot off the heels of the band’s fantastic debut album ‘When Does It Become Real?’. The Rah’s create intoxicating tunes bursting from the seams with alternative rock bravado. Blood, sweat, and tears go into every song to make the powerful sound we have come to love from the band and watching them blossom over the years up to the release of their fantastic debut album has been a joy.
I caught up with singer Jack McLeod to talk about the new release, touring and how Jordan McIntrye’s incredible guitar playing elevates the band’s songs.
“It was always our intention to release ‘Our Design’ as one of the final singles from that album but PR thought we’d be a bit cheeky and release a double A-side. The benefit of a double A-side is basically, if a radio station doesn’t fancy side A then they can go to side A two. So, it’s a cheeky way we can get either or played. If they don’t like the heavier one then they could go for the more majestic and melodic one, that’s the thought behind that, so hopefully, it pays off.”
The Rah’s have become known for their arena-sized rock and these new singles pack a serious punch. Not only can the five-piece provide sleek melodious tunes that pivot around a gritty alternative rock sound the tracks also boast lyrical depth and have an emotional aspect to them aswell.
“I think it is probably just who we were influenced by. We’ve got quite a wide variety of influences and genres that we listen to collectively as a band. We’ve all got personal tastes, I can be listening to disco one day and then pop the next day it’s just sporadic really, and it’s the same for everybody in the band. But the majority of the songs that we listen to are all from rock, alternative rock, indie that kind of bands. It’s just been created over a number of years. Started off way back playing covers of Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes. So we’ve always had that channel to go down and that’s the music we like playing. That’s the main reason, it’s because we enjoy playing it.”
The instrumentation within The Rah’s tracks is breathtaking. ‘Our Design’ in particular is a fine example of this. The soundscape boasts shredding guitars and a punchy rhythmic backbone, it is an impressive display of musicianship. The band teamed with the sublime talent of James Darkin to help craft the impactful sound the band had envisioned for the song.
“The swagger is listening to too much Oasis. The song was one of the last created for the record. It was in the last batch of songs, and when our guitarist Jordan [McIntrye], was playing the riff in the band room, just a kind of acoustic intro riff, instantly we thought there is something there. So we worked away on it. As I say it was one of the last songs written, so I thought it’d be a good idea to write the song, based on our journey throughout the time being in the band – the ups and downs of being a band, basically, it’s a song for the band lyrically. As soon as we heard Jordan playing it, we knew there was something there. Then we took it into the studio with James Darkin and he just took it to a whole different level. He’s got an outside point of view which really helps. Once you take it into the studio and actually get it into audio form and listen back to it, you realise what kind of track it is. That’s pretty much the process of the creation of that track. I think it finished off at the tail end of 2019. So yeah, it’s been a long time coming.”
One reliable aspect of The Rah’s sound is the awe-inspiring guitar solos. They are proper air guitar worthy moments created through the genius that is Jordan McIntrye.
“Jordan was brought up with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and stuff playing, and he’s played guitar since he was about seven years old. When we first started the band we used to dare him to play like a full Red Hot Chili Peppers song behind his neck. So he’d have the guitar behind his head and that like, no word of a lie that’s how good he is on guitar. So with the inspiration of Jimi Hendrix, John Frusciante and people like that, that’s exactly what brings it out in him. It’s phenomenal. The solo in ‘Our Design’, he [Jordan] was tinkering about a bit and we all knew in the studio that there was more that he could offer and then there’s this pedal, it’s like a fat fuzz pedal. You can hear it in the track, it’s absolutely incredible and as soon as he hit that, it’s like he unleashes a new beast in him.It was music to our ears when he was playing it. Instantly again we’re just like that is definitely the take, he didn’t actually like the last part yet, but we were all just standing in awe listening to him bend these strings on the neck of the guitar so yeah it worked really well.”
‘If You Never Try (You’ll Never Know)’ is my favourite track on the album. The buzzing intensity and euphoric melodies within the track are just spectacular. I was excited to see it as part of this double single and McLeod told me how the band crafted the song.
‘That’s one of the older songs on the album, we actually released an early version of that in like 2015 so that song has been about for a while. Once again, it was picking it to bits after all those years of playing it and when the album came around to recording sessions we had that track already prepared, but taking it into the studio with James Darkin again just took it to another level. Originally, I was listening to a lot of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the time and they covered a song by The Call, ‘Let The Day Begin’ which is an incredible song and it was inspired by that song because I was listening to a lot of that at the time. The original version [of ‘If You Never Try (You’ll Never Know)’] was actually played a couple of notes slower. So, again, us bringing it back matured and taking it up two notes just gave it a whole new lease of life, it was quite hard on my vocals but we worked it out.”
Seen as ‘When Does It Become Real?’ is The Rah’s debut album. I wondered if the band had been refining the songs for a long time and if there were multiple versions of each track.
“Yeah there are versions that I’ll probably never want to listen to again. There’s really early versions, ‘The Time Is Now’ is the oldest song that was written, probably in 2012/ 2013. That’s incredible to say that it has been that long. We’ve been playing that song first or last in the set ever since. But again that track has just got a whole new lease of life, every single time we have revisited it, and honestly, we’d never thought that it gained enough traction, the first time of the release. Then the second time and then the third time was, within the first, like 48, hours, of it being released into the PR world which just shows you don’t give up hope. If you believe in the track, which we did, you need the right people behind you to get the track where it needs to be. We were lucky that we’re in that position last year when we released it and it got instant Radio 1 [BBC] plays and Radio X plays”
The Rah’s highly anticipated debut album has been a long-time coming. It’s already racked up tens of thousands of plays and the band have received heavy support from Huw Stephens, Gemma Bradley, Gordon Smart and Jack Saunders.
“Yeah because of the hard work that you’ve put in, like the names that you have just said there, even to hear them say The Rah’s from Prestonpans is just surreal. We’re just boys from a wee town in Scotland, we never ever thought of being played on Radio 1. But yeah, amazing, absolutely incredible and Jack Saunders, rather than just play the song, mention the band, say good song, next track – he actually got his producer to extend the outro of the track, and kept on talking over it. Honestly it was so surreal. It was an amazing experience”.
Their debut album ‘When Does It Become Real?’ was released this year. I’m sure the conditions they expected for the debut album never included a pandemic and McLeod told me how the pandemic helped them plan for a successful release.
“I guess it took our foot off the gas a little bit. We did benefit but at the same time, we had these tracks prepared for, some of them have been prepared for years. The final, ‘The Time Is Now’ recording was actually recorded in 2017, so that’s how long that audio has been ready. Obviously, we mastered it and did chops and changes but that’s how long that track has been there…. to be fair the pandemic in a weird way probably helped us get the album released in the way that we wanted to, because we’ve done our Kickstarter campaign, that was in October and it ran to December and we managed to get the 5000-pound rewards within two weeks of the final day. So yeah that was really good and the reason we wanted to do that was to release it on vinyl. That was our main aim when we first ever talked about an album. So, yeah, thank God for the fans for that one.
“We made ours extra special as well for all the people that pledged to our campaign, basically in a pre-order form. We put their name on the back of the LP as well. So everybody that bought the album or CD or bought a t-shirt album deal, and it was like over 20 pound, I think , then you got your name on the back of the record which was amazing so everybody was like jumping on that.”
Although the band’s sound is high energy rock they manage to pack in some potent lyrical content within their songs. Lines such as “We proceed to kill ourselves.. To become divine” in Our design is a striking opening line and very impactful.
“That’s in relation to all the hard slogs that we’ve done up in the country, just to literally get some money together, well not even that just to get some fans. Literally years and years of doing that “
The Rah’s have a tour lined up in October, including a sold-out show at Sneaky Petes. It’s an exciting time but the nerves are high for what to expect from a show and what the limits are.
“Yes, actually we are doing a session tomorrow. It’s our first session out of our homes or our rehearsal room, so that’s exciting. It’s like being let free again. It’ll be a bit surreal to be around people with an instrument, I’ll probably get all shy and forget all my words. So, I’m looking forward to that but yeah live events need to happen, ASAP we are desperate to play this album live for the fans”
“I hope everybody feels relaxed and stuff. I hope there is no tension in the crowd and obviously, the virus is a thing but I hope that we can actually engage with people without having to think about all blah blah blah, he’s touched or whatever. I hope there comes a time in the next hopefully couple of months where there is some sense of freedom, and I hate to say a cliche but some sense of normality – that’s the thing I’m actually most nervous about. Obviously forgetting my lyrics is part of it but I just hope that everybody enjoys it and to be fair, everybody’s been starved so long, of live events and basic socialising, so I think everybody will be like greyhounds at the tracks”.
The Rah’s have been building their sound and reputation as a dynamic and powerful live band not to be missed. I wondered if McLeod had any advice for anyone thinking of starting a band
“If you’re looking for money, go elsewhere. No I’m kidding, it’s the best experience of your life, the enemies you make will last a lifetime, some that you’ll never really speak to again but that’s fine. They’ll stay in your memory forever. Honestly, one thing I will say is, if you believe in it, just crack at it. One day it will shine,100%, yeah, that’s pretty much it “
With the release of ‘Our Design’ / ‘If You Never Try (You’ll Never Know)’ and the upcoming tour The Rah’s have an exciting few months ahead.
“There are a few things lined up for the summer that will hopefully go ahead, We’ve got the October tour as we said. We’ve got an alternate version of ‘Our Design’, sitting there that we kind of forgot about in planning the single release, but I think we’re gonna go chuck that on an EP so there’s more content. We’ll probably see a lot more live sessions and get the behind the scenes footage in rehearsal rooms and that, now that we’ve got a bit of time on our hands, now the album is out. It’s been a bit chaotic. I think we’ve done about 100 deliveries within three or four days so you can imagine the chaos that was on the run up to the album. But yeah, we’ve managed to get hold of some new equipment and stuff, treated ourselves to some new equipment in the band room, so yeah, there’ll be a lot more live footage from the practice studios. Maybe talk about album two soon or maybe we’ll just chill out and enjoy album one. But looking forward to what lies ahead. I think there’s a decent wave of guitar bands coming through, a lot of great upcoming artists out there so everybody should be listening to upcoming music rather than mainstream radio in my honest opinion.”
The Rah’s alternative rock tunes blister with earnest emotion and the shredding instrumentation the band have been crafting throughout the years. They pour every fibre of their beings into their riveting grooves, majestic guitar solos and fiery melodies to create songs that ooze passion and rock-infused swagger. The new double single ‘Our Design’ / ‘If You Never Try (You’ll Never Know) displays this perfectly. This band has immense talent and are locked and loaded ready to rock our socks off in the live setting.
Stream ‘Our Design’ / ‘If You Never Try (You’ll Never Know)’ below
Author : Danu
