The UK may be undergoing some major political changes right now, but one of the best things to come out of England has always been its music. From the Beatles to the Rolling Stones, Idol to Bowie, there’s never been a shortage of great music from England. And, this week’s Indie Band of the Week, Re:Make, is absolutely no exception. With a sound borne from a love of video games, Star Wars, and anime, it is clear from the first note of their self-titled album that Re:Make is an up and coming sound out of one of the best places to make music. I sat down with Edd Langridge of Re:Make and had a chat about music, inspiration, and what we can expect in the future from the band. Enjoy!
Heya, Edd. So, what is your role in the band?
Hey Devon, it depends on the situation, really. When it comes to the writing and recording side of things, I do the bass and the drums. But for live performances, I hand over the sticks to our drummer Dan and stick to the bass.
So you’re a jack of all trades, musically. That’s great! How did the band get started?
That’s a fun little story. Basically, I was attending a university dedicated to music a few years ago.Every week we would be given a song that we would need to learn and then perform at the end of the week. While doing this, we would play with a load of different people, but one guy I performed with was a guy called Jimmy; we really clicked due to similar interests in music and a shared love of anime and gaming.
Due to this, we became really close and started covering songs from our favourite bands and just messing around. After a while, we thought it would be a good idea to form a ‘band’ consisting of the two of us. We would record all the parts ourselves and do it about nerdy stuff that we loved.
We uploaded a few of our songs to YouTube for a laugh to see what would happen, and we somehow ended up racking up a fair few subscribers and fans. Our minds were blown! How and why did this happen? We continued working together and releasing random nerdy songs for three years. Unfortunately, we had to do acoustic sets when we performed live due to there only being two of us. This changed last year in 2015 when we said enough was enough and started looking for members. It was at that point that Re:Make was born officially.
We’ve been through a few members since then for various reasons, but it doesn’t stop us from having fun and doing what we love.
So, being as well-versed as you are in music, what is your personal history with music? How long have you been playing?
Well, I started playing piano at the age of 4 when I was at primary school. I’ve had a strong love of music from a very early age. During my years at primary school, I tried a variety of instruments – piano, violin, saxophone, flute, recorder – eventually when I was 16, my mom bought me my first electric guitar. This was my first step into where I wanted to go. My first song I tried learning on guitar was Slayer’s “Raining Blood”. I was a badass 16 year old. Haha.
From there I started learning drums and bass, as well as teaching myself how to make 8bit music. So all in all, I’ve played a wide variety of things over the years. It’s hard to pinpoint an exact start. With my love of music I obviously went to university to study music – doing my Diploma, Higher diploma and eventually my degree. I’ve been in several bands doing several different instruments with several different genres.
It’s been a lot, but all the different experiences helped me get where I am today.
That’s awesome. Who are your influences, and how do they play a role in your sound?
We draw a lot of our influences from many different bands. With both Jimmy and myself liking very similar music but different bands, we manage to draw parts of different bands together to make something which suits us. I draw a lot of my inspiration from my favourite band, One Ok Rock, in terms of style and songwriting, whereas Jimmy gets a lot of his inspiration from bands like Twin Atlantic and Fightstar.
We like to think our music is unique enough to us but definitely has hints of those bands in there somewhere.
Oh, you’ve hit the nail on the head with that sound description. What has been your most meaningful experience being in this band so far?
Most meaningful moments? Ohhhh, there’s so many to choose from. I think some of the most recent would be finally releasing our new album under the new name. It was a big moment because it meant we’d finally started this new journey, and things were happening! But I think the most meaningful experience is an ongoing one: having the support of our fans, those who have stuck with us for the past five years through our old projects and continue to follow and support us with this one. They’re all amazing, and we love every last one of them!
Favorite memory from a show you’ve played or a place you’ve travelled?
Favourite memory would probably be from when Jimmy and I made a trip over to your side of the pond! We performed in Seattle, which was an experience and a half. One of the most beautiful places I’ve been, and I would do anything to visit there again.
What made it even better was that when we had finished our performance, a young girl came over to us with her mom. She was really shy but apparently was a big fan of ours. She must have only been about eight or nine. Either way, she asked if she could have a picture with us, asked us to sign her convention booklet, and then gave us a hug before running back to her mom. Probably one of the most random but amazing moments I’ve experienced while performing.
That is SO sweet!! So,what do you hope to accomplish with your music?
There’s the obvious goal that all musicians share: being able to get their music out there and tour the world seeing all the amazing people that made it possible. But ultimately, at the end of the day., we make fun music about things we love.
We just want to get out there and put on a fun show and make sure everyone is having a great time. That’s all we need. If we see people are enjoying themselves and having a laugh, our job is done.
Now, for the moment of truth, if you will. What is something about you individually and you as a band that no one knows?
Ohh, that’s something you never really think about! Something about me!? Umm.. It’s nothing too extravagant of an answer, but something some people find strange is that I’m part of a rock band, go out performing and jumping around on stage, but when I’m at home playing bass, I just sit and play stuff like Sade, Michael Jackson, Toto, and Stevie Wonder. Nothing like what our band plays.
As for the band? That’s a great one! No one knows this but now they will. Haha.
When we were trying to come up with a name for the band, we wanted to think of something short and sweet but something that would match our influences of Japanese and nerd culture. With this in mind, I came up with possibly the cheesiest name ever, and if we hadn’t come up with something last minute, it would probably be our name now.
We were originally going to be called N.Y.A.N, which stood for ‘Not Your Average Nerds’.
A small part of me still maintains that it was stroke of genius on my part – but we know that’s a lie.
I think the current name is a lot more catchy! So, your songs and your sound are very unique and have a feel I haven’t really experienced a lot outside of the album. Where do you draw that inspiration from for your sound?
Well, as you know, our music is all inspired by games and anime. When we’re writing about them, we obviously write the songs in our style but also try and add small elements of that game, anime or even the character it’s about. We like to make the song not just one of ours, but also as if the character is somehow involved as well. That way it’s more personal to that character; anime or game and fans find it easier to connect to it.
You have a contracted partnership with Doni with Doni Guitars for your band. Tell us about that. How did it come along, and how has the relationship been?
Ahhh, Doni! I do love that guy! A while ago, just before Christmas, I was arguing with myself over purchasing a new bass. Now, this wasn’t just ANY bass, this was a custom made Millennium Falcon bass which Doni likes to call the Rebel Bass. As a Star Wars fan and a bassist in a nerd band, this was a MUST HAVE for me!
While ordering this, Doni and I got talking about the specifications that I wanted; after a while it cropped up in conversation that I was part of the 501st, a Star Wars costuming group around the world that raises money for charity. We got talking about it and decided we should make the most of the fact that I have armour and he makes Star Wars guitars.
I travelled up to where he lives with my armour, and we did a photo shoot for some of his guitars as well as my beautiful custom made 5-string Rebel Bass. After talking for a while, we became really good friends and decided that it would be mutually beneficial for us to work together. I have a nerdy band that plays guitars and basses, he makes nerdy guitars and basses; you see how things are fitting together? Either way, we thought an endorsement was in order so that we can help each other out.
We have a lot of awesome stuff planned with Doni for the future, and we look forward to being able to share it with everyone soon.
I love all of the animation and the parallels in your music to animation. Why was your love for all of that important to put into the music?
Well, music typically comes from something close to you. Something that makes you happy, sad, scared, etc. With us, anime and games do all that. You grow attached to characters, you feel involved with the story – all of this makes for AMAZING inspiration for writing songs. Especially when it’s something you’re passionate about. Each story and character brings a new perspective on different situations.
Well, speaking of writing and inspiration, who is the main writer for the song lyrics?
The main genius behind the songs would be our main man, Jimmy. I just chime in whenever I feel appropriate to do so or if I have an idea I feel is worth mentioning! Other than that, I leave him to it.
What is your most requested song when you play?
Our most requested song is probably a song that we wrote four years ago I think it was now? It’s a song called “Loyalty”. We released it on our Bandcamp as a special EP a year or two ago. It has the original song along with several remixes and coves by some of our close friends. It’s probably one that will continue to follow us and be requested at conventions and gigs.
I know you have some big shows coming up. What’s the biggest show you’ve played, and how did it feel?
One of the biggest shows we played was probably our final gig as our old band, well, I say old band; it was still Jimmy and I. We just had a different drummer and lead guitarist. We performed at a convention in Manchester, UK – the crowd was huge, the stage was huge, the atmosphere was – yeah, you guessed it.. HUGE! Haha! The crowd was getting involved with every song we played and singing along every chance they got. It was amazing. Looking forward to doing that again sometime with Jack and Dan, the new guys. It really is amazing how supportive our fans can be, and we owe so much to them!
Give us a little snippet on a day in the life of your band.
A day in the life of Re:Make? Hmm.. Wake up, drag ourselves out of bed, and debate the plans for the day. We usually just end up sitting down and watching anime, taking a break every time we think of a song idea, write it down or make a quick recording, and then straight back to anime. Wait, what’s that? Disc One is finished? Let’s play some games and come back to it later. This may sound like a VERY lazy lifestyle to you, but it’s where the inspiration comes from.
I joke of course, we’re not THAT lazy. I mean, yeah, we sit around and play a lot of games and watch LOADS of anime. But, we all have jobs during the day and other commitments. But we do try to spend as much time together as possible – because being in this band is like a family on its own. A very weird, crazy and somewhat dysfunctional family, but it works for us!
That’s not lazy! That’s life for an artist of all stripes, for sure! What is next for the band?
What’s next? Continue playing at conventions, continue having fun and a good time and start work on our second album! Can expect some songs to be a little bit heavier on the next album. I’m not talking Slayer heavy… I just mean, well… you’ll see.
Anything else you want to add for the fans?
Not really – I just want to say thank you so much for chatting with me. It’s been an absolute pleasure, and I look forward to hopefully catching up with you some time soon. Maybe even find a way to get our there and perform for you guys some time!
I would LOVE that!! Let’s plan it!
Interview by Devon Anderson, Rock Revolt Journalist
