When Rivers Meet Have A Winning Hand

Firstly, let me say thank you very much for the previous interview which leads me to ask how did the UK Tour with Arielle go? Any highlights, interesting/funny stories?

Hey, the UK tour was amazing, we were so pleased that Arielle was able to join us as our special guest and she got a great reaction. We met her when she was touring with Beth Hart and we instantly felt like we connected, so it was a great fit. Highlights were just being all together, enjoying each other’s company and having a real blast. As a celebration at Manchester after the last night of the tour, we all had a piggyback race in the car park, Ads (Producer) and Mike (Sound Engineer) of course won. We were getting some strange looks from passersby, and I’m not sure if Arielle had ever taken part in such a race before, but she seemed to enjoy it (he he).

We did touch briefly on your forthcoming new album ‘Aces Are High’ but the record is now officially available to purchase. What was the thought process/inspiration behind the album title?

We really wanted to do something different, so when we got into the studio in January and had already roughly written most of the album, we told Ads (our producer) our plan. Which is the way we have always recorded. He took the ball and ran with it. We wanted something heavier and introduce different guitar tones on this album. So, the Fuzz pedals came out and it all started from there. We’re very much into doing what we want and as we feel it at that time. And having a heavier sound was where we were whilst in the studio this time around, and we are happy with the result.

Where did you record the album and who worked with you on the album in terms of musicians and production duties?

Since 2019 when we recorded our first EP “The Uprising” we’ve recorded with our producer Ads at the “Boat House Studio” in Suffolk. He’s someone who really gets our vision of what WRM is. Being a multi-instrumentalist, he has always played bass, drums, and keyboards on everything we’ve done, which is very handy especially as he’s our producer and recording engineer as-well. It just makes things flow so much easier when everyone is on the same page and adaptable. Then we had our live sound engineer Mike Curtis mix the album before taking it to Abbey Road for mastering.

The album opener ‘Infected’ is a slightly heavier sound and I wondered if that was a conscious decision?

Yes, we really wanted to start the Album off with a bang, and always thought that “Infected” would be a great opener to this new album. Like you say it’s slightly heavier and really gives an impact to what we think is our best work so far.

Which of the songs from the new album has you at your a) Happiest, b) angriest, C) Calmest?

It’s difficult to give an answer to this because we feel that each song can bring on multiple emotions throughout. I know that Graces favourite is “Perfect Stranger” But what I can say is that my favourite song on the album at the moment is “Golden” because it’s still quite raw (emotion wise) and it floods with memory’s good and bad.

I have to ask about ‘Trail To Avalon’ and if it is based on a real place or a fictional location?

“Trail to Avalon” is a fictional place. It is quintessentially a Mythical Arthurian place where magical things can happen if we only let ourselves believe it is possible. So, the meaning for me is that it is a place within each and every one of us, and it’s a place of hope. If you truly believe in something strongly enough, good things will come to pass.

Do you have a specific songwriting process e.g., lyrics before melody etc?

Not really, anything could start of the song writing process, i.e., a Riff/Melody or a lyric, and then whatever comes from that idea we either run with or shelve depending on if we have faith in it or not. It has always been something we’re quite open to, so there are no restrictions.

‘5 Minutes To Midnight’ is quite a mysterious title and I was curious about the song’s origins (I did wonder if it was about waiting for the New Year to come in?

It’s a funny story. We were working on the last song for the Album and had been for a while. But whatever we were doing it just wasn’t working, can’t put my finger on why, but Grace and I just weren’t feeling the love for the song, and this was on the day before it needed to be at Abby Road for Mastering at 11am. It was getting very tense and stressful, and, in the end, we decided to scrap it, because we don’t want to put out anything substandard, but it was an extremely difficult decision to make. We desperately wanted ten songs on the Album and after much discussion and deliberation, Ads jumped up and said let’s just write another song, we’ve got ideas for another, so that’s what we did. We stayed up all night and wrote ‘5 minutes to Midnight’ which is 100% better than the previous song we were trying to get out. Songwriting can be a funny process, but maybe it was meant to be that way.

When you are not writing, recording, or touring yourselves what music do you like to listen to yourselves?

We go through phases of music. It can range from rock, blues, country, and everything in-between. We like to listen to lots of different genres and really do come away with inspiration from varied artists, whether they’re a household name or not. I think if you can feel the song and if it speaks to you then that’s amazing. There are no rules which is very freeing, especially now that music is so accessible from anyone around the world.

How does the schedule look for When Rivers Meet and do you have plans for another headline UK Tour at some point?

Summer was very busy now I’m looking at my diary. We’ve had lots of Festivals on which is great and of course Joe Bonnamassa’s Blues Cruise in the Med. But we’ve also got lots of other plans in the pipeline, like more studio recording, a live album of the “Breaker of Chains” tour, and 2024 planning. Busy times ahead, but as always as soon as we know exactly what’s planned, we announce straight away on our website and socials.

Photo Credit: Rob Blackham/Blackham Images

When Rivers Meet’s new album “Aces Are High” is released by One Road Records on Friday 13th October 2023 via www.whenriversmeet.co.uk