Following on from a bright and blistering string of releases over the last few years, Brighton-based indie-rockers The Rapports recently returned with their latest upbeat offering 'Problems'.
Taking their cues from acts such as The Strokes and The Vaccines, 'Problems' makes for a fun and lively return for the group. With its catchy hooks, pulsing rhythm, and singalong vocals throughout, their latest delight sees the group comeback with one of their most engaging cuts to date.
So with the new single doing the rounds right now, we sat down with frontman Thomas Skilton to discuss his earliest beginnings and what has inspired him most over the years.
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What were the first instruments you fell in love with?
For me it was the bass guitar. I started playing bass at 13 years old. My dad played bass in The Daleks, an early punk band when he was a teen. He wrote music and played acoustic guitar throughout my childhood which always kept me inspired. His original bass was a white Ibenez that he kept in a hard case in his loft. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Even being kept in the hard case made it feel like a treasure, a relic. He would teach me all the The Jam songs, I first learnt “Down in the tube station at midnight” and then was hooked. My hands were too small for some of Foxton’s bass lines so I would sleep with my younger brothers blocks of Duplo sellotaped between my fingers to try and stretch them out and get a longer reach.
What has been the most prominent inspiration behind your music so far?
I guess I am Inspired by good songwriting- John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Noel Gallagher, Pharell Williams, Julian Casablancas. I get excited by intelligent vocal hooks and melody, clever use of intonation and inflection. I love it when a writer can use their voice more percussively. I can be inspired and write when I’m feeling happy or sad. Being in the rehearsal room surrounded by musicians I love pumps and pushes me.
What kind of music did you love as teenagers?
We all have such varied tastes and personal inspirations. Mine was Britpop and Indie Rock. Chris was more classic rock to classical music. Chris has his grade 8 piano and Oboe. Todd’s more folk based and Colm’s Rock and Jazz.
Can you remember the first song that made you want to pursue a life in music?
There was no song in particular that gave me the bug. I was always fascinated by the never ending challenge of songwriting. How you can always improve, how you can always learn, how you can always evolve. For the lucky ones the pursuit of music hopefully leads to a career.
When you wake up in the morning, what kind of music do you like to listen to?
Nothing too heavy. I like to wake to familiar music. I’ve normally got my 60’s and 70’s playlists serenading me as I drive to work. Bowie (I named my son Bowie)-Velvet Underground-The Clash-The Kinks-The Beatles.
How many of your songs have you written about people in your life?
All my songs are biographical. I write about the relationships I have with the people closest to me. It feels more genuine for me to write about what I experience. I also use writing as a form of release and a tool for understanding a situation or personal dilemma I may find myself in. I find it difficult to write about anything else to be honest.
What have been the most memorable moments in your career so far?
Colm and I used to run a monthly underground Indie night in Brighton, our ethos was to support local unsigned talent and get them and their partners and entourage as drunk as possible. These were always sweaty raucous events but so much fun and so loud.
We once played at a house party at the top floor of an Edwardian townhouse and one of the structural beams in the floor gave way. Police and fire brigade were called by people below and the party was stopped and the building condemned until a structural engineer could get in. I remember seeing all the kronenbourg cans roll to the middle of the room as it dipped so much. That was a scary one.
We played a 4 hour acoustic/ish set in a chateau in Normandy and all ended up getting tattooed, this was also the night we met our label NOA Music and got signed.
We also supported Cast at Komedia in Brighton and they were a massive band for me during the 90’s. There have already been so many wonderful memories made along the way.
Outside of music, what are your biggest passions?
Top of my list has got to be live performance, painting and sculpture. I love the expressionist painters and installation sculpture. Francis Bacon, Frank Auerbach, Lucian Frued, The young British Artist. I studied sculpture for my BA and then went on to complete my masters at RADA in Set and Costume Design. I work as a set and costume designer for Theatre, opera, musicals and events. I am highly passionate about this- drawing, sketching, model making, fabric sourcing, then seeing designs come to life and the seeing people inhabit and perform in these worlds. It’s so painful to watch in real time as the current climate cripples the creative industry so destructively. I watch warily and hopefully.
If you weren’t musicians, what other path do you think you might have taken?
We all have other passions and other jobs so the only thing really that would have changed if we didn’t make music would be we’d probably all be more up tight and less happy.
And what advice would you give to other musicians looking to start a career in music?
I would say don’t take any advice from us. We play hard, we work hard and we have been incredibly lucky, and still, the slog continues. Just write genuinely and with passion and keep going. Above all do it for yourself.
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The Rapports' new single 'Problems' is available to stream and download now. Have a listen to it in the player below.