Lola Schroer interviews New Rules. They are being called a boyband sensation and with 300,000 monthly Spotify listeners, crazy Dublin headline shows and a big South America fanbase, they are here to stay! Check out their latest release, My Guitar.
Lola Schroer: What have you been up to over lockdown?
New Rules: Our lockdown has mainly consisted of writing. In the last lockdown we all downloaded Logic and taught ourselves how to use it. Since then, we have come back to London, set up a little studio and have been writing and producing loads of new songs.
LS: It sounds like you have found ways of being productive! You are being called a boyband sensation at the moment. How does that feel?
NR: Boyband sensation is a pretty flattering term, it feels amazing. People sometimes ask do you mind being called a boyband, but we are boys and we are in a band. So, it’s great. Our management company is also really good, as we are working with a bunch of people who have worked with other bands before. They understand how a band works and what it takes to be a band. It’s really useful for us.
LS: My guitar is your most recent release. What is the inspiration behind that song?
NR: It is the first one we wrote in the new studio. At the start of the lockdown, we went home to our families, but once we came back to London it made us feel like a band again. The fact that it is the first song we wrote together in the studio, makes it really special. We wanted to write something that felt the most like New Rules. It definitely feels like us lyrically and melodically, so it felt great from the start of writing it.
LS: My guitar is getting a great reception from your fans. I can see in the music video that you included sign language and that your fans are really appreciative of that. Did you learn sign language for the video?
NR: We managed to learn the sign language for the lyrics of the song. We thought the fans would really like it and they have. We want our music to be inclusive to everyone, that’s important for us.
LS: I love your song Pasta, and originally, I thought the song would be about how amazing Italian food is. However, after delving into the lyrics I realised there is a very deep message embedded in the song. The message is that society pressures young women to look a certain way. How important is it for you to write lyrics and make music about real issues?
NR: It’s huge. They work hand in hand. We have so many fans who we are really close with. They raise with us what they are goings through and we tell them what emotions we are experiencing. If these issues are important to our fans, then they will be important to so many other people who hear it for the first time. That was our thinking with that. On social media, you have influencers and Instagram models, and it’s not all real, it’s not realistic. Especially in lockdown, it’s become extremely important.
LS: I really enjoy the Oh’s in 24 hours, it’s a very catchy song. What was the recording process like, of your self- titled ep.
NR: The ep was really fun to make. It got to the point where we had released a couple of singles and we wanted to do something different. We wanted to make a body of work, so it was a great opportunity to do it. We wrote it over a couple of months, in a few different studios. Took a month to finish the vocals and everything.
LS: I feel like 24 hours is a very atmospheric song.
NR: 24 hours is one of our favourites to perform live. On the last tour we came out to that song.
LS: On that note, do you miss touring? What will your set list look like when you can tour?
NR: We were talking about this recently. We haven’t toured for a year and we have so many new songs we have written and put out, so we are going to have to change the set list dramatically. It’s going to be very different. We are looking forward to seeing how we are going to move it around, it is one of our favourite things to do, just before we go to tour. It is really important to how the show comes across and we want it to be really lively and fun.
LS: I’m sure the fans have a favourite.
NR: They definitely do and they are involved in it too! On social media they say “you better not drop this song” “you better not leave this out.” There was one time we put a demo out on Soundcloud and on YouTube and that has become one of the favourites.
LS: Your toured with little mix. Congratulations on that, it was a great success. If you could collab with an artist who would that be?
NR: Ed Sheeran, we love his work, especially in terms of songwriting. We also got a chance to tour with Julia Michaels two years ago. We are really big fans of her and we think she’s an amazing writer. She’s class. Another one is Shawn Mendes, who we got to meet after his London show, so that would be an amazing collab, one day.
LS: What is your favourite song to perform?
NR: We have a few. Happily ever after you. It has loads of guitars and it’s the rockiest one. Emily as well. When we play that song, it seems that everyone in the room is called Emily. We say whose name is Emily and everyone puts their hand up.
LS: You should have a moment where you bring an Emily on stage!
NR: We didn’t go as far as getting them on stage but on the last tour we would single the Emily’s out and play to them. We’re also having to remember what it feels like to play songs live. 24 hours live is a lot of fun live, loads of energy.
LS: What is the best place you have performed at or your dream place to perform?
NR: O2 arena was pretty special with Little Mix. We were all dressed as Harry Potter, as it was Halloween. For budgeting reasons! Thinking back, if we wanted to do Draco Malfoy all we really needed to do was swap out the tie for a green one! Also, growing up the O2 arena for some of us, it was always the place we were interested in playing at. Our headline shows are also some of our favourites, going back to Dublin, those are always amazing. The fans in Dublin are so good. Growing up and going to concerts and artists coming over and being like “Dublin you guys are crazy, you are the best crowd, such a good one” and it sounded like they were just saying that, but Dublin does actually have the best crowd. They are crazy in all the good ways.
LS: I saw you had a South America adventure, what was that like?
NR: It was an adventure! We didn’t know what to expect because we knew we had a couple fan groups on social media and we were getting radio plays, but the reception was amazing. We did a free show and there was a couple of hundred people there and they knew every line to every song.
LS: Who were your inspirations when you were younger, and is there any of your singing or music that comes from these inspirations?
NR: We all grew up loving bands, so they definitely did. We try and channel our influences in our music whilst keeping it as pop music, because we really like pop Music. Ed Sheeran, Maroon Five and Greenday when we were growing up were huge inspirations, and we try to take energy like there’s into the performance. Also, we all listened to so much music, when you’re writing and playing, you’re trying to bring a lot of what you love. We bonded over John Mayer when we first met, but he doesn’t influence the songwriting so much anymore.
LS:If I could ask you one question about your music, what would it be?
NR: We want the fans to know we are sitting on a few things, a lot more music, and when we are allowed to play again, tour will be back as soon as possible. Until then we are going to be in the studio or doing TikToks!
