From growing up in Lebanon to Nivana, Random Ties' frontman talks about making music
PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF FOR US WHO ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH YOU AND YOUR MUSIC AND TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF.
Hey everyone, my name is Youssef the frontman for the Alternative Rock band Random Ties based in Detroit. I was born in Lebanon during a period of war, so I bounced around and lived in many countries growing up well 9 to be exact.
This exposed me to a lot of different types of music but the person that first got my attention was my grandad who used to love singing Opera and the sheer power and harmony of his voice intrigued me. As far as I can remember we always had people over singing and playing music and sometimes in difficult times it would get you through the day.
Fast-forwarding to today, immigrated to the US with my wife and kid to purse the music dream that I put on hold for a long time and here we are Random Ties is making some noise
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR NEW EP?
From the song Believe: “There was a time I lost a dream” It is never too late and no matter how hard it feels, things get better if you hang in there long enough is what I would like people to take away from it while they are rocking to our tunes.
WHAT INSPIRED THE EP?
Believe is inspired by life, the roller coaster ride we go through touching on subjects such as losing a loved one, difficulties in starting a family, struggling with faith, moving on.
CAN YOU SUM UP THE ALBUM IN A FEW WORDS?
A high energy feel-good vibe and a dynamic sound topped with an honest message.
WHAT RECORD CHANGED YOUR LIFE AND WHY?
Nevermind by Nirvana, it was such a powerful album and each song struck a chord with me, so many feelings I couldn’t express before came out after listening to this album
DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE MUSIC VIDEO FILMED BY YOUR BAND OR ANOTHER ARTIST?
Estranged and November Rain by Guns n Roses not just cause the songs are iconic but the videos complemented them perfectly. We just released our second video “Week 39” and working on our 3rd video with the talented Layal Jebran for our
song “Thawra” which will be released on August 21st , this video will raise awareness on what’s happening with the Lebanese revolution & abuse of political power.
WHAT WOULD WE FIND YOU DOING WHEN YOU'RE NOT MAKING MUSIC?
Being a new parent, I am blessed to be able to spend as much time as I can with my son and that brings me such joy and fulfilment, I also enjoy doing outdoors stuff and exploring gives me space to think, reflect and grow.
Your songs are a reflection of you and how you see the world, every interaction and experience impacts your creativity, inspiration is all around us we just have to stop looking for things that are not there & appreciate what we already have.
DO YOU GET NERVOUS PERFORMING LIVE, IF SO HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THAT?
I get anxious those few minutes before you get on stage, I wouldn’t say nervous but once the lights go on it’s the ultimate high
HOW DID YOU FORM THE BAND?
Random Ties is the dream I put on hold for many years.
We came together in the summer of 2019, which was the year my wife and new born at the time moved to the US from Beirut.
I didn’t know anyone in Detroit so I started going to open mics and meeting other musicians which this is where I met KD who plays the drums thunderously bringing that heavy-hitting power with amazing fills and breaks, Thew whose on the second guitar, compliments my playing with his fills that are all over our EP and Steven originally from Nirvana’s hometown brought a grunginess to the album with some great baselines.
HOW DO YOU WRITE? - DO YOU HAVE A KEY SONGWRITER, OR DO YOU ALL WORK TOGETHER?
Usually, the music comes first and then lyrics fall into place. It’s hard to explain once you get inspired it’s like the pen writes the lyrics for you and the guitar strums the notes on your behalf, that’s why I call song writing magic. I’d say I write the songs and collectively we add the meat on the bone.
WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
Our songs are inspired by daily life events that are shaping our communities and planet, that’s what makes us humans is the ability to have emotions and I channel that through music.
WHAT IS NEXT?
Our goal is to consistently release quality music and reach a wider audience geographically so a big thanks to you for giving us this interview and a voice.
Our EP “Believe” consisting of 6 songs is available on all streaming platforms such as Spotify, iTunes, apple music, Band Camp and all our videos are on our YouTube channel.
We will release our new single “Thawra” in August along with a music video and started on our second EP which will be released by the end of the year no title yet.
PLEASE TELL US ANY SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS SO WE CAN SHARE.
Our EP is available on Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/album/3CbeijdySKAcsiLSH2JJfo
& all streaming platforms.
You can follow Random Ties on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/randomtimesofficial
& Instagram https://www.instagram.com/randomtiesofficial/
Don't forget to follow @photogroupieuk on social media to get all our latest interviews and reviews
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