Rou Reynolds – Enter Shikari (Audio Interview)

Posted on September 20, 2017 by walladmin

As far as bands who change things up almost with every album go, Enter Shikari are a new wave of musicians who, like Linkin Park and Bring Me The Horizon before them, have managed to do so in a way that doesn’t completely venture too far from their signature sound of hard rock, combined with electronic synth and a plethora of political views that are so on point, Donald Trump himself should be shaking in his toupee. Frontman Rou Reynolds is a man who, over time, has learned to change and develop his craft to adapt to new challenges progression alongside his fellow band mates, while learning to open up a whole new side of him we’re yet to come across, his vulnerability.

The band’s new album The Spark (our review here) digs deep into Rou’s life, heart and soul as he bares his biggest opinions and most emotional battles, especially with the song ‘An Ode To Lost Jigsaw Pieces‘ which he revealed to us was about the passing of his Grandparents and a failed long term relationship:

“[The song] is the most honest in terms of presenting emotions and talking about emotions. I wrote that that day after my Nan’s funeral… so for me that music punches me in the gut, I get so bitterly emotional [hearing it]… I’ve never been this sort of personal on records”

But it’s a welcomed change. All good musicians are able to take their pain and suffering and transform it into art, in the form of music which eventually has an emotional connection to an active listener, who’s life is changed in someway, shape or form by it. But when you’re someone in the public eye who isn’t afraid to share their life or opinions, it can cause backlash as Rou found out recently when he called out Taylor Swift for her exploitation of her fans to which he further explained to us:

“Hopefully it made a few people think. It’s obviously difficult if you’re a fan of a pop artist… you’re so involved you feel emotionally invested in the artist, so it’s very difficult to try and inject a different opinion or a different take on what that artist is doing, especially if it’s exploiting fans… But I think it definitely made a lot of people think and hopefully it sort of did some positivity”

Take a break and listen to the full chat below, then get yourself a copy of the band’s latest album and see why Enter Shikari are fast becoming one of the biggest exports England has on offer right now.

Interview by Michael Parente