August 12 | Written BY Jessica Pispisa

Oh Romance are an up and coming group hailing from Edinburgh, Scotland. The band have kindly taken the time to speak with the mag in this exclusive interview! A special thank you to Oh Romance for taking the time to speak to The Music Mag.

1. We're halfway into the year. What's been a highlight for you guys so far?

Alex: We started out huge this year by playing our first ever headline at Tut’s [King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut], which was then followed by supporting King Nun and then October Drift, then a headline set at our first ever Stag & Dagger festival in Glasgow, so I think we’ve done alright.

Blair: The highlight for me is the October Drift and King Nun shows for sure! We love those bands so it was unreal to have the opportunity to support them.

Kev: We’ve had a busy year! The three of us have worked pretty hard to refine our live sound as well as write between shows. Our shows with October Drift and King Nun are up there for me.

2. How did you come together? You've mentioned that you have been "spawned from the dissatisfaction of being in bands without direction". Can you give us a little insight into what you mean by that?

Alex: I met Blair originally a few years back when we were both living in separate cities and playing in different bands.
Blair: I ended up auditioning for the band a while back and we both had a moment where we looked at each other and had a double-take, then we clocked who each other were.

Kev: I met both Alex and Blair in a pub, Blair dropped a full pint of Guinness on the floor and it's genuinely the most romantic thing I’ve ever experienced.
Blair: Honestly, couldn’t write it.
Alex: As far as that quote, we’ve always found that those old bands we played in just didn’t have it in them to go as far as they could. There was always a lot of negativity, a lot of bullshit, and a lot of “yeah we could do ‘x’ and ‘y’ but nothing ever happens. With Oh Romance, we’ve always pushed ourselves as hard as possible because we just give a shit about what we’re doing.

3. Who are your influences?

Alex: A lot of bands, but mostly Joy Division, and a bit of the Stones.
Blair: So many! Linkin Park and Nothing But Thieves to name a couple

Kev: Dead Poet Society, PVRIS and Ben Howard.

4. Besides music, what other kinds of art forms do you guys find inspiration from? Some of them are influenced by a certain era in history, or take inspiration from works from an artist like H.R. Giger. What is a piece of your band's blueprint?

Alex: Books, films - I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’.

Kev: I’ve always loved Kintsugi pottery. It's the art of repairing pottery with powdered gold. Find the uncertainty of the cracks very human.

5. Being in a band nowadays is harder than ever, financially. Do you guys worry about that? 

Alex: Definitely, we’re a band that doesn’t have some of the financial “luxuries” that others may have in abundance. For us It’s a balancing act of playing shows, funding the next single, and gear, but also supporting the creatives that help us out - photographers, videographers etc. It’s tough, but we get by.
Blair: It’s a difficult time for all involved within creative industries. All that matters to us is playing shows, meeting new people and showing support for others in the industry. It’s tough as a musician these days but passion comes before anything and we all just love what we do.

Kev: Definitely. I do feel playing music live gives it more than justice for the worry. There's no better feeling than being on the stage with the boys. 

6. What's on your personal playlist that people would be surprised to find?

Alex: ‘Amor Mio’ by Mina.
Blair: I like my heavy music as well so Slipknot is in there as well as Architects etc, it's important to explore different genres as a musician. Helps me stay inspired!

Kev: ‘Why Georgia’ by John Mayer. 

7. Is your new single Tongue-Tied part of your next LP or EP? Which one should we be hoping for to come soon?

Alex: Nope, ‘Tongue-Tied’ is its own art piece with no plans for an EP - it’s counterproductive.

Blair: Single releases are a good way of growing for now.

Kev: There's plenty more to come for us, we’ll have some news soon for sure. 

Alex: Listen to it now. It’s shit hot.

8. It's festival season! Has there been a moment where you've looked at each other and said "we're on the right track", and does it inspire you to write more music that is perfect for a festival crowd?

Blair: We certainly have a lot of moments in rehearsal where were really inspired by a riff and build from there. 

Alex: It comes in waves for sure. 

Kev: Yeah, there's lots of moments when we play and catch each other's eye in the moment, it's part of the excitement of playing. I feel that trying to write something for a specific application like playing to a festival crowd in my mind has certain criteria that would limit ideas. 

Alex: There are many moments that we’ve had that thought, and where we have a collective “holy shit” moment. I’m a strong believer in “everything in its own time” and  “everything happens for a reason”. I’ve always believed the Ohs will be on top.

9. After summer, what is the rest of the year looking like? What are you looking forward to?

Alex: We’ve really just been spending time honing our craft and writing as much as we can. It’s so easy to get lost in playing shows over and over that you feel that you stagnate the set a bit. Great for people who are experiencing us for the first time, but we like to keep things fresh and exciting for people who’ve seen us already.

Kev: The first half of the year has been a lot of playing, it was mega fun. We’ve spent this year pushing ourselves by playing a better and better show each time and adding to it. We’ve also written loads which we drip feed into our shows and on our socials.

10. Thank you guys for your time! If you had to use only one word to describe OH ROMANCE, what would it be? (Have fun with it!)

Alex: Filthy.
Blair: Dirty.

Kev: Energy. 

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