Nottingham three-piece The Ruffs showcase a new music video for their single Alligator – taken off their debut EP New Obsessions.
With an impressive run of festival shows and gigs supporting the likes of The Amazons and DMA’s, The Ruffs are rolling out their infectiously catchy hooks and raw 90’s garage sound to the indie scene.
I had a chat to frontman Connor Spray to find out more about how the band got together, their past and present musical influences and most memorable shows so far…
Hey guys! How did you form as a band?
We formed around three and a half years ago. I used to play acoustic and sing my own songs in a solo kinda set-up, then decided I wanted to get a band around it all and got my brother Tyler in on drums and a mate of mine Blaine on bass.
I love your new single Alligator. How was the track written / recorded?
Cheers, glad you’re into it.
It was written around about four / five years ago. I wrote it alone on my acoustic. I think it was the third or fourth song I’d ever written to be honest.
It’s been recorded before but was never how I wanted it to sound, then we recorded it for the New Obsessions EP in 2017 and it went perfectly. It was recorded in Nottingham at a place called JT Soar with Phil Booth.
Who are your biggest musical influences?
As generic as its gonna sound the whole reason I got into music in the first place was from hearing and loving Oasis growing up.
Now, I take a lot of inspiration and ideas from all kinds of artist from all sorts of genres. Really into King Gizzard [and the Lizard Wizard] at the min.
I see you’ve recently supported some great bands. What’s been your favourite musical experience so far?
Playing Rock City main stage once is really good for a band our level but doing it twice is pretty rare. We played there last with Shaun Ryders’ band Black Grape and it was packed out – those big stages are something else when it’s a full house.
I reckon I most enjoyed the weekend last year when we played for This Feeling at Y NOT. Was a very messy affair and we played a blinder so that’s up there. Playing with the DMAS was sick as well – they’re sound.
If you could recommend one record for our readers to listen to, what would it be and why?
One record for your readers to check out RIGHT NOW would have to be…. New Obsessions by The Ruffs!
It’s our debut EP – it’s a garage rock kinda piece and I’m proud of what we made. Alligator and MST are the bigger tracks on there but my fave is the dark ending track Show Me Ya Thingy. I f you know, you know!
What’s coming up next for The Ruffs?
Next up for us is… recording demos for our next release which will be towards the end of the year. We’ve got brand new music being sorted and I can’t wait to start it all. In the meantime, we’ve got video shoots planned for the EP.
Gig-wise, we’re playing a BIG headline show at Rock City Basement Beta on 14th September. Also hitting Liverpool, Manchester and an acoustic session coming out soon!
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