Sing & Tell :: The RPMs

Brighton-based band The RPMs
gathered early plaudits in 2016 for their debut EP ‘Digital Disobedience’, and live favourite debut single, 'I Don’t Like It'. Releasing second EP ‘Agents Of Change’ last June through Xtra Mile Recordings, they expanded their line-up and showed a bolder, edgier sound style to their hooky pop songs wrapped up in an indie package.


Who are you?

I’m Jack Valero, vocalist and lead guitar with The RPMs. The rest of us are Miguel Cosme on bass and backing vocals, Callum James, drums, Ollie Summers, guitar, and Chris Bowden on keys.

Tell us something about yourself and how you came to be where you are today?

Me and Callum actually knew each other back in Dorset and moved up to Brighton together where we met Miguel and played for a while together. We then got in Ollie last year as our songwriting was getting bigger so the band had to get bigger too. Soon after Chris joined as our tour manager originally, until we found out he played keys really, really well when we were at Glasto. And now here we are!

Give us an idea of your musical style and influences.

Our style is very contemporary with some electronic influences. We’re going through a bit of a transition musically at the moment, and with our new stuff you’re gonna really start to hear those new influences coming in.

Explain the production and writing process behind your songs.

Writing-wise, one of us will normally come up with a riff or chords as a base then bring it into rehearsals where we’ll all muck in with more ideas. It’s a very collaborative process. I find it much easier to feel inspired when everyone’s working together so gets the best out of us, I think.

Tell us a little about your new single.

It’s called 'Your Ghost'. It deals with a subject I think most people experience at one time or another in their lives, of being haunted by the image of someone. Someone you’re trying to forget and move on from, and yet you can still see them wherever you go. It’s also a big step forward for us in terms of production being the first tune we worked on with our producer Gethin Pearson who we really enjoy working with and has also worked with people like Charlie XCX. This is where you start to see our new musical approach!



Can we catch up with you at any forthcoming live shows?

You sure can and furthermore - you absolutely should! This is where we are so far, but with many more shows yet to be announced. Hopefully, more overseas shows to be added too. We have a session on Tuesday night (February 13) aired on John Kennedy's X-Posure show on Radio X that you can all tune into. Then on Friday 16th we play the Tooting Tram & Social in South London for John as part of his Remedy night. After that we head to the US for SXSW.

March 11- 18 - Official band SXSW Showcase Gig - date TBA
March 16 - British Music Embassy Showcase SXSW
March 17 - Artist Group International/Xtra Mile Recordings Showcase SXSW
March 31 - Stockton Calling Festival
April 14 - When In Manchester Festival
May 3 - Lincoln Engine Shed - BBC Intro ‘Plugged’ night
May 5 - Live At Leeds
May 6 - Liverpool Sound City
May 14 - Frank Turner Lost Evenings Xtra Mile Festival, The Roundhouse, London
May 26 - Bearded Theory Festival
August 4 - LeeFest Neverworld

How's the rest of the year looking, plans-wise?

There’s a lot coming up that we are excited about. There's the new single ‘Your Ghost’, released March 16. Then expect to see a video for it floating around out there from next week, followed by single releases in summer and autumn with our debut album scheduled for early 2019. We've already recorded the next single and we're a little bit pleased with how it's turned out. So yeah, a busy year ahead touring and releasing singles, and performing at some great festivals such as Leeds Festival, and we're really looking forward to getting the new tunes out there. We’ve taken things in a new direction adding our own twist to synthpop (hate that term though) to make music you can dance to, drink to, and have mind expanding existential conversations long into the night to... not really... unless you really want to, we won't judge.

Where can we hear more of your music?

On Spotify of course - 'Your Ghost' can also currently be heard on the Hot New Bands playlist and the official SXSW playlist - and Soundcloud and YouTube.

What social media platforms can we find you on?

Website // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram