Music
Ride are unstoppable. The band’s new album ‘Interplay’ is arguably the most potent of their second arc, and became a Top 10 hit on its release earlier this year. Melting together the muscular live chemistry that makes their concerts so memorable with a sense of studio control, the band nod to their imposing legacy while still tackling new ideas.
It’s come at a potent time, too. Shoegaze has – in terms of numerics – never been bigger as a global form, with a new TikTok generations seizing hold of those guitar pedals to make something new.
Working with alacrity, Ride have just returned from a lengthy tour of Asia, packing their tour bus for another British jaunt. CLASH caught bass player Steve Queralt for a quick catch-up.
—
—
So, how’s the tour going?
Good! We’re two weeks in. We did two shows in Ireland, North of England, up into Glasgow last week. Then Falmouth for our first ever Cornwall show!
You first ever one…?
It was! And our first ever first in the audience as well. Someone bumped into someone’s fight and it all kicked off. Had to stop one song, re-start it when it all calmed down. Very exciting!
Did Mark have to jump in and bring peace to the crowd?
Maybe 30 years ago we would have! Getting back on the stage is the issue now.
As a Scot, I have to ask about the Glasgow show…
Oh it was great! And it always is. We played SWG3 which is great, I love that venue.
What makes a good venue in your eyes?
I don’t know what makes a good venue in terms of acoustics, but I like playing places like SWG3… Marble Factory is great. Boiler Shop in Newcastle is great. They’ve all got big concrete rooms, and lots of history.
Live music is the bedrock of everything isn’t it?
Absolutely.
I mean, that’s my fear for the future of music – that bands who are just starting out, and even bands at kind of our level, it’s so hard to make money at this sort of thing. So even if you do it part-time, completing a tour of Europe is expensive. Getting crew to drive you around and do their jobs is really expensive. And then you get to a venue, and the venue will decide that they’re going to take 20% of your merch. Everybody is taking their little percentage, and it’s getting more and more difficult.
You must see fans tagging you in original photos from the early 90s in venues that no longer exist…?
Yes, that does happen! I live in Hammersmith and I remember seeing shows at the Greyhound… which was a great venue, and it’s now empty and has been for years. There are some good news stories, though – we played the Leadmill in Sheffield, which was under threat but it’s going strong now. Great venue.
Your new album went down really well – back to back Top 10 albums! Is it a nice feeling when music connects like that?
It gives us a lot of confidence. There’s always some trepidation before you release something, because, well, you just never know! But when it comes out, and the fans like it, the reviews are good… it’s a big sigh of relief. And then the sense of pride slowly creeps in.
First album in five years – thanks, ‘the pandemic’!
I mean, that was interesting because it prevented us from doing anything. And as that eased we decided to get together in Mark’s studio in Oxfordshire without any agenda really, just to make music. To see what we could produce. We did it about three or four times, and it was good fun doing it… I have to say, we made a lot of music but some of it was terrible!
When we get together and jam they are inevitably nine minute long space jams. ‘Essaouria’ and ‘Monaco’ both came out it, actually. What we discovered is that it’s a good thing to do, but inevitably you paint yourself into a corner with that sort of thing. That’s the point we brought in a producer. We’ve never made an album this way before – the pandemic forced us into a slow, relaxed approach.
You all individually make a lot of music – Andy and Mark lead the way, but you all have outside interests. Do those help reinforce the band, in a way?
Yeah, I think it does. Andy has numerous side projects on the go. And it’s probably a good filter, to be honest. When I make music it falls into two categories – either I’ll give it to the guys in Ride, or I’ll keep it for my own prog-electronica projects. So, in a way, it filters out ideas that wouldn’t fit in the band arena. It probably keeps the material quite strong for Ride.
Do you ever return to ideas the band have left on the cutting room floor?
I don’t think we’ve ever revisited. We’ve always had outtakes. And generally, they are outtakes for a reason. Having said that, when we did ‘Going Blank Again’ in ’92 it was meant to be a full-blown double album. The US label came to us and said, look, we aren’t prepared to put 22 songs on this. It was the first time we’d ever had any form of record company intervention. It meant that some tracks got left off – ‘Tongue Tied’ emerged via an outtakes album. There’s been a few casualties, but generally speaking casualties within reason.
I mean, your initial EPs plus debut album ‘Nowhere’ is basically a double album…
It is! When Creation put the initial EPs out they came to us and said, come on… are you putting all your material out? Do you have enough left to make a record? And we were like, relax! We’ve got it covered! We put out so much during that first 18 months… but we came through.
Do you approach touring slightly different this time round?
The first few tours we did were totally different to the way we tour now. It was literally a splitter van, sleeping on people’s floors, putting the gear onstage yourself. Now, we’ve got a tour bus, it’s a big touring bubble with our crew. In terms of the schedule, not much has changed. We’ll happily do three shows on the trot before having a break. It can be gruelling in America – you do four, five shows in one hit before a day off. And those days off can be travel days, simply getting from one city to another. It’s gruelling, but it’s great fun, and it’s a huge privilege.
How do the guys look after themselves?
We’re all quite fit! Me and Loz go running, Andy and Mark hit the hotel gym. Touring takes it out of you, there’s a lot of temptation. It can be hard to avoid that, but you put the breaks on, go for a run… and you’re back to square one.
You were influential in America, and retain a huge cult following in Japan – it must be wonderful to visit these places.
It really is. It’s an immense privilege. And I had to stop touring tomorrow it would be those sort of places I would miss most. If someone told me I could never go to Tokyo again that would hit hard. We just did a two-week tour of Asia, actually. We even did Mongolia – we did a show in Ulan Bator! An experience I’ll never forget.
There’s a huge shoegaze scene in Tokyo – does it surprise you that this new generation of musicians take the sounds of Ride, and their peers, in a different direction?
I am amazed. If you’d have told me 30 years ago that in 2024 all these bands would be making shoegaze I would thought that was insane!
My take on it is that shoegaze never burned that brightly. It had a moment, and there were some great bands, but it never really crossed over into the mainstream like Britpop did. And I think the fact it never crossed over meant that it kept burning in the background. Around the Millennium you started hearing about shoegaze bands in South America and Japan. It’s having another resurgence now, especially with Slowdive’s success. It’s a massive honour to be cited as an influence.
Can you write on the road?
Not really, if I’m honest. I’ve just started plugging my bass into my pedalboard on this tour, just to waste some time really. Generally when we’re recording we’re recording, and when we’re touring we’re touring.
You play the Roundouse in London this weekend – it’s a great venue isn’t it?
We’ve played there a few times and it’s always great. It’s not a massive venue, but it feels like it is! The lights are great, the reception is always good. I always look forward to playing there.
—
—
‘Interplay’ is out now. Catch Ride at London Roundhouse on September 20th.
Words: Robin Murray
