Royal Blood frontman Mike Kerr has said he feels it’s the band’s duty to “disrespect rock’n’roll”.
Speaking to Music Week ahead of the release of the Brighton duo’s second album How Did We Get So Dark? on June 16, the singer stressed his disillusion with the current state of rock music.
“I just don’t know what ‘rock’ really means,” he said. “None of it particularly moves me today, it’s rare I find a rock band pushing things forward, it always feels like a conscious effort to stay in the same place.”
Kerr believes that not enough band’s deviate from the genre’s traditions. “Maybe it’s because there’s so much history that it feels like messing with French cuisine. Like deep-frying foie gras,” he said. “It’s our duty as artists to disrespect rock’n’roll, to bend it and break it. If you obey its rules, all you’re doing is pastiche. We looked at hip-hop, which Ben [Thatcher, drummer] is a big fan of, and thought, We should break some rules.”
With the band having already begun what will be a long campaign on the road, Kerr said, “It’s important people see guitars being used and drumkits being smashed up. Live rock‘n’roll shows will keep giving the same feeling as always, and we feel that’s the bit we’re good at.”
Royal Blood delayed the on-sale date of their upcoming UK and European arena tour as a mark of respect to those affected by the tragedy at Ariana Grande’s Manchester Arena gig earlier this week.
Read the full interview online here, or in the latest edition of Music Week, out now.
To read Warner Bros UK president Phil Christie’s thoughts on Royal Blood’s new record, click here.
FOLLOW 
