About: The Struts
A UK-bred band full of reckless swagger and hugely catchy
hooks, the Struts are returning the sweet and dirty spirit of glam to modern
rock & roll. Having already taken Europe by storm with such feats as opening
for the Rolling Stones before a crowd of 80,000 in Paris last year, the newly
L.A.-based four-piece is now breaking through to American audiences with their
exhilarating debut EP Have You Heard.
With their glitzy-yet-scrappy aesthetic—not to mention
frontman Luke Spiller’s snarling vocals and otherworldly range—the Struts might
seem to have stepped straight out of the ‘70s. But as proven on lead single
“Could Have Been Me” (a thrillingly anthemic track that’s racked up more than
two million plays on Spotify and shot to the top ten on Modern Rock radio
charts), The Struts fuel their high-powered sound with an urgency that’s
entirely of the moment.
On Have You Heard, Spiller and bandmates Adam Slack
(guitar), Jed Elliott (bass), and Gethin Davies (drums) match their super-sharp
melodies and bright and shiny guitar riffs with a lyrical sensibility both
heartfelt and brash. Made in collaboration with the likes of Gregg Alexander (a
producer/songwriter and former frontman of the New Radicals), the EP kicks off
with “Could Have Been Me” and unleashes a surge of raw energy that never lets
up. With its driving rhythm and chant-along refrain (“I wanna taste love and
pain/I wanna feel pride and shame/I don’t wanna take my time/I don’t wanna
waste one line”), the arena-ready track finds the Struts staking their claim
for glory while inspiring every listener to do just the same.
From there, Have You Heard slips into “Kiss This,” a breakup
song that forgoes the minor-chord moping for gritty guitar and fantastically
scathing lyrics ("I did all I could/So kiss this one more time ‘cause I'm
gone for good"). “‘Kiss This’ was inspired by a relationship
breakdown/meltdown,” says Spiller. “It’s about being cheated on, but the
message is really about standing up for yourself—sort of our version of a
‘Young Hearts Run Free’-type song, but in a rock mentality.”
On “Put Your Money on Me” (recorded with Alexander during a
road trip from Darby to the south of Spain, in a van filled with “lots of booze
and lots of stories,” as Spiller puts it), the Struts let loose with
hip-shaking rhythms and a soulful groove. And closing out Have You Heard is
“Where Did She Go,” a lovesick but infectiously stomping epic that first came
to life when Spiller was just 15. “My parents had just moved to this horrible
seaside town, which wasn’t a great place to be if you’ve got long hair or
you’re just an individual in any way,” he recalls. “One night I was walking
home quite drunk and started singing to myself, as you do, and this melody
eventually came to me. I remember thinking, ‘What kind of melody could you get
a whole football stadium full of people to sing along to?’, and then going from
that. I sang it to myself the whole way to keep it in my head, and then I got
home and wrote it all down.”
The founding members of the Struts, Spiller and Slack each
began making music as teenagers, initially finding inspiration in groups like
Oasis and the Libertines and then tracking their idols’ influences to discover
the classic glam bands that would one day shape their own sound. Introduced by
their mutual manager after the dissolution of their previous bands, the two had
an instant creative chemistry and quickly began writing together. “When we
first started, we both just wanted to make fun, happy rock songs with big
choruses—the kind of thing that bands like Slade and T. Rex used to do,” says
Slack. Once Elliott and Davies were added to the lineup, the four moved into a
house together in Derby and soon found themselves a name. “We were in
rehearsals and someone saw me strutting around as we were playing, and made the
suggestion that we call ourselves the Struts,” says Spiller. “We loved that
from day one—it absolutely represents what we’re about.”
Largely on the strength of their electrifying live show, the
Struts fast built up a major following and started selling out shows all across
Europe. Along with landing the Stade de France gig with the Rolling Stones, the
band took the stage at the 2014 Isle of Wight Festival, with Spiller decked out
in a shimmering-blue cape custom-made for him by Zandra Rhodes (the legendary
designer who formerly created costumes for Queen’s Freddie Mercury and Brian
May). In the meantime, the Struts kept on honing their songcraft and developing
new material, forging a sound that gives a nod to their glam roots and
ultimately revamps the genre for a whole new era. “It’s cool to think of kids
hearing this kind of music for the first time, and then going back and getting
into that same rock & roll that we fell in love with,” notes Slack.
Now at work on following up Have You Heard with a
full-length album, the Struts are also in the midst of their first stateside
tour, having added more dates and upgraded to bigger venues in response to
their rapidly growing fanbase. As in the studio, the band aims to infuse their
live performance with plenty of passion and flash. “We’re not afraid to go out
there and really put on a show, get everyone in the crowd involved,” says
Slack. And in that building that connection, the Struts aspire for nothing less
than blissed-out transcendence. “I don’t see any other point of going to a rock
show than to really get into the music and lose your inhibitions,” says
Spiller. “When we’re up onstage we try to bear that in mind, to push the
audience and get up close with them and challenge any self-consciousness they
might be feeling. We want to do what we can so that everyone can let go and
just have a great time.”
CONTACT: bb@Freesolo.us
The Struts – Official Website
http://www.thestruts.com/The Struts – Soundcloud
https://soundcloud.com/thestrutsofficial
The Struts – Last FM
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Struts
The Struts – Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/thestruts
The Struts – Twitter
https://twitter.com/TheStruts
VIDEO
The Struts - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/strutsofficial
The Struts – VEVO
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj8n3wzxszYbtGOU5qtNC-ABUY MUSIC
The Strurs – Official Store
http://thestruts.shop.bravadousa.com/store/The Struts – iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/the-struts/id419398308
The Struts - Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Could-Have-Been-Me/dp/B013WUB30U
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