Catch up with lead singer Ryan Hobbs of Leeds/Birmingham-based band The Brazen, check out their new single, "Burn It Down", and look for The Brazen's debut album to be released this Summer.
What first got you interested in music?
Ryan Hobbs: I remember I just always wanted to sing along to anything I heard, and then I refined that a little into my teenage years, there were quite a few young singers in my school and we all used to annoy people by singing in the corridors! That’s when I really remember getting interested in music and singing
Which musicians have you been influenced by?
The main one for me will always be Kelly Jones of the Stereophonics, I love his narrative lyrics and his voice is brilliant, even better live! So he is a heavy influence for me……
If you were to make a playlist to share with your fans, which three songs - from other artists - would you have to include?
"Local Boy in the Photograph" – Stereophonics, "Champagne Supernova" – Oasis, "Creep" – Radiohead – easy one that one!
How would you describe your sound to someone who had never heard it?
Anthemic upbeat songs, big guitars, big vocals & harmonies.
What were your inspirations behind your single, "Burn It Down"?
The song was written by our bassist Trev, he has contributed some great material to the album and this one was immediately destined to be a single. Trev describes it as “Essentially an apology song. We have all done or said things we haven’t necessarily meant, failed to engage our brains! And then upon reflection we realise. Burn it Down!" It's basically saying let's wipe the slate clean and start over!
Is that single indicative of what we can expect to hear on the album and could you tell us more about your debut LP?
It is indicative in the sense that it has big vocals and big guitar parts, but our LP will be 12 songs and 12 very individual songs, I don’t think people will listen to our songs and think any 2 sound the same, or are even styled the same - each song is given its own identity and has been made the best it can be. We are very pleased and proud of the album, so much so we will be releasing three singles fromit, The first being "Burn It Down", and 2 more will follow, but I think we could easily have had 5 or 6 singles, there are a lot of strong tracks on the album - it's all killer, no filler!
Is there a track from the album you're most excited to share with your listeners?
Yes, I think "Laser Lips", which will likely be the next single will be the most exciting! Its very different, very upbeat and perhaps a little indie pop in style, but we play it live and people start going nuts, we have had a huge reaction to it, including a guy at a recent gig who was unable to control himself and was compelled to start dancing and even break dancing! We loved it, and the reaction at every gig has been huge, so yeah, "Laser Lips"! Remember the name!
What do you hope listeners are able to take away from your music?
We honestly just want people to hear our music and enjoy it, its our debut album and obviously exciting for us, but also there are some really epic and exciting tracks in our repertoire, and we just want people to have fun and enjoy our work.