Exclusive Interview with KROOKED TONGUE Vocalist OLI RAINSFORD

KROOKED TONGUE Promo Pic 2 - Cover Photo

Formed in 2019, KROOKED TONGUE released their celebrated debut single “I Wanna Steal Your Car” the same year, which soon saw them embark on their first UK tour. With word of their frenetic live shows and brooding lyrical commentary spreading, interest in the band quickly grew, leading them to establish working relationships with the likes of ENTS 24 and Laney Amps.

2020 saw the cancellation of their second UK tour and the postponement of shows alongside the likes of Dinosaur Pile-Up and Turbowolf, as well as festival slots at Boardmasters and 2000 Trees. They instead spent their time honing in on a more refined studio sound with Josh Gallop of Phoxjaw at Stage 2 Studios in Bath, working to help replicate their formidable live act.

INFRARED MAG: Each group has a unique background that distinguishes them. Could you give us a short summary of yours?

OLI RAINSFORD of KROOKED TONGUE: Well we hail from 3 entirely different parts of England. I’m (Oli) from Worcester in the midlands, Dan who’s from Plymouth and Harry who’s from Liverpool. And we met in Bristol at BIMM. So I guess we’re a mongrel of sorts.

INFRARED MAG: What first inspired you to make music?

OLI RAINSFORD of KROOKED TONGUE: We each have our own roots in music, but collectively we take inspiration from a lot of modern alt rock such as Highly Suspect, Death from Above, Demob Happy.

INFRARED MAG: How would you describe the music that you typically create?

OLI RAINSFORD of KROOKED TONGUE: This is always the hardest question. I think you could say it’s somewhere between alt rock, indie rock and hard rock. Either way, there’s a hella lot of rock in there.

INFRARED MAG: What is your creative process like?

OLI RAINSFORD of KROOKED TONGUE: So, when it comes to writing, I’ll write the song in full before I take it to the lads in rehearsal. Then we play around with stuff until it feels natural. That’s always the fun part, when Dan starts adding in his style and his guitar tones and Harry adds in his style of play and you start to feel if the song is going to come together or not.

INFRARED MAG: What do you feel is the best song that you’ve ever released and why?

OLI RAINSFORD of KROOKED TONGUE: We all have different favourites to play, like H’s favourite is Vampyre. I think cos he gets to kick the shit out of the drums. Dan’s favourite is Freaky Love because he loves playing the guitar line throughout the riff. But I (Oli) think in terms of songwriting, I’d put Swarm up there in terms of lyrical content and flow and another favourite, I’d say is probably When the Beaches Bleed.

INFRARED MAG: Your latest single “When the Beaches Bleed” just released on July 29, 2022. What can you tell us about the song?

OLI RAINSFORD of KROOKED TONGUE: Ah yeah, the reception has been insane. We feel like Beaches is another step from our debut EP, but still very much in the realm of our sound. It just feels like this one has more of a final boss energy, especially with the solo in the last chorus.

INFRARED MAG: What was the inspiration for the song?

OLI RAINSFORD of KROOKED TONGUE: So I’ve always been into surfing and in context of the song, big wave surfing. It’s so fascinating to see people surfing these mavericks, when at any moment they could get swept under or trashed by the waves. It puts into perspective how fragile life is, and it’s a fine line between greatness or failure.

INFRARED MAG: What was the writing and recording process for the song?

OLI RAINSFORD of KROOKED TONGUE: I think Dan was originally playing around in rehearsal with the opening line while we were tuning up and it sounded cool, so I was like ‘yeah this could be a sick tune’. It sort of already had that flow, like you were mashing along with the sea. I think we started jamming and then I went home and wrote the rest of the tune, lyrics etc. Then we brought it back in for rehearsal and that’s when Dan came up with that killer solo. As for recording, it’s always super efficient working with Josh (Gallop) as he always knows the vibe of what we want to go for. We still experiment with interesting layers like synths for example, while maintaining our own sound.

INFRARED MAG: What is it about music that makes you feel passionate?

OLI RAINSFORD of KROOKED TONGUE: Music is the most out of body and yet biological feeling you can experience. It gives meaning to things that you would’ve otherwise struggled to find meaning for, and can say more in 3 minutes than you could in a 3000 word essay. No matter what the topic, it’s always open to be interpreted in a million different ways. Aside from maybe cinema, there is nothing that is that malleable when it comes to how people view it.

INFRARED MAG: What strengths do you have that you believe make you a great group?

OLI RAINSFORD of KROOKED TONGUE: I feel that we’re a pretty efficient band, like we get things done quickly. Which is something that can really hold you back if you are taking too long on projects etc. Our main strength though, I think, is in our live performance. That’s when we come alive and can really get the crowd excited.

INFRARED MAG: Do you think that you could get any better as writers? If so, how would you achieve that?

OLI RAINSFORD of KROOKED TONGUE: Yeah, for sure, there’s always room for improvement and growth no matter who you are. You might hear a cool lick in a new tune and be inspired to write something with that guitar tone. Everything takes practice. The more you write, the better you get.

INFRARED MAG: Is there a producer, musician or group that you would like to collaborate with and why?

OLI RAINSFORD of KROOKED TONGUE: We’d love to do a colab with Turbowolf, since they did so many sick ones on their last album. That would be amazing.

INFRARED MAG: If you could compare yourself with any animal, which would it be and why?

OLI RAINSFORD of KROOKED TONGUE: Haha! As a band, I guess maybe a cobra? I feel like I can imagine a cobra swaying along to ‘When the Beaches Bleed’.

INFRARED MAG: What’s next for KROOKED TONGUE?

OLI RAINSFORD of KROOKED TONGUE: We’ve just come back from an epic tour promoting the latest single, but we have few gigs coming up later in the year. Right now, we’ve just been in the studio recording 4 more songs. Which we’re really looking forward to getting out.

INFRARED MAG: If you had one message for your listeners, what would it be?

OLI RAINSFORD of KROOKED TONGUE: Do your own thing, fuck everyone else. Most importantly, have fun.