Be on the Lookout for Unruly Few
A couple of months ago I biked over to 15 Marion Street in Brookline, and found myself in an auditorium in the basement of a church. Why was I there? I had seen a really cool flier for the music festival by Cuck x Bug Collective, and thought “Alright, I’ll be adventurous and go see some independent live music in Boston by myself.” I’ll be totally honest though, I wasn’t expecting anything particularly good or interesting. I thought it was going to be a bunch of college kids singing in that voice that all indie singers adopt for some reason – the faux British, cursive-sounding, soft-mumbling tone that’s so popular right now (you know what I’m talking about). The auditorium was still pretty vacant at 4:30 pm when the music was supposed to start, and the first band came onstage and started plugging in their instruments and such. But, when they launched into their first song, I was immediately transfixed. These guys could fucking rock, and that was incredibly refreshing. Let’s just say they were all I needed to hear (I also had to leave right after their set was over, so who knows? Maybe the other bands could fucking rock too). Either way, for days afterwards I was trying to find their music online, and thinking, “wouldn’t it be cool to interview those guys?”
So who are “those” guys? They’re called Unruly Few, made up of four upperclassmen from the Berklee College of Music: the lead singer and primary songwriter, Lucus Unruh from Malibu, California; the guitarist, William Thomas from Toulouse, France; the bassist, Rocco Ciarmoli from San Diego, California. And last but not least, the drummer, Tommy Marcus from Atlanta, Georgia. I had the pleasure of meeting with Lucus Unruh in a Caffè Nero earlier in April, armed with my notebook and phone. I immediately recognized him when he walked through the door: tall, wearing an outfit cooler than anything I owned and walking with a stride that just radiated effortless rockstar power. Yeah, I was intimidated, to say the least. But, he was incredibly calm, friendly and answered all of my questions with the same enthusiasm he brings to the band.
Neko Collins: How did you guys meet as a band? Were you all friends first and decided to start a band, or were you actively seeking out bandmates?
Photo from @unrulyfewband
Lucas Unruh: No, that's a great question because we had an interesting formation. I was playing with another Boston band called The Nobodies for about a year, and I ended up leaving the band, and out of that, I didn't have a band to play with. I was feeling very lost. So in the wake of leaving that band, I had this idea to start my own project, and I wanted it to be an authentic rock and roll band where I run the show and the songs that I bring. So I put out a flier looking for members, which was not very successful because I don't exactly have Photoshop skills… I got in touch with the drummer, Tommy, who I knew from when I played in the Nobodies. He had come to one of our shows and introduced himself, and I always kind of kept him in the back of my mind. We weren't really friends at this point, but I DM’d him on Instagram and was like, “Hey, I'm looking to form a project. Do you want to get in a room and just see how it feels together?” So we got in a room, just me and Tommy, and it was just instant. We just clicked. And coincidentally, he had also put out a flier beforehand, and then that's how he found the other two members. And it was really weird because a lot of times forming a band is a hard thing to do, especially because you're dealing with four people's personal lives and coming together and putting the time in and dealing with four people's personalities. But we got really lucky because the first time, we all just clicked. And that doesn't always happen. And not only did we click, but they also just happened to be fucking rockstar killer musicians. You know what I mean?
NC: What qualities would you say are essential for being successful as a band? Basically, what makes a good band member?
Unruh: I would say dedication and loyalty. Being in a band is being on a pirate ship – everyone has their role to play, right? And the minute someone isn't doing their role or holding up their part that they're carrying, the ship sinks, and it's like, there's a captain, there's a cook, there's whatever – those are all necessary pieces for the band to float and work. So, I would say that's the biggest thing about being in that dynamic [is that] everyone has a role they play and understanding that and not having role-envy. And also, just being open to collaborating with other people.
NC: What/who are your musical inspirations, both personally and for the band?
Unruh: Some inspirations? Well, I'll start with personally, I'm a huge sucker for David Bowie. I love David Bowie. But I also really like bands like Queens of the Stone Age, that heavier, hard rock side – The Gun Club comes to mind too. They were an early ’80s L.A. Punk band. So yeah, that's kind of where I'm at, personally. As far as the band goes, we're very much rock and roll, but with a roots influence. I relate it to The Black Keys, Social Distortion, that kind of vibe.
NC: What’s your inspiration in the early stages of crafting a song?
Photo by @syd.kemme
Unruh: Well, a lot of the songs are [reactions] to my current environment, and writing a song is kind of like an emotional response to maybe traumatic or maybe not traumatic things that have happened to you, and it's just putting that emotional response into the form of words and music. A lot of the songs come from past loves that didn't work out. They come from the uncomfortable feeling of being stuck in a situation that you can't necessarily get out of, or don't know how to get out of yet. And then sometimes you just write a song because it sounds cool. Not every song has to be this deep philosophical burden that you're getting off your chest. Some songs are just there because they're fucking badass songs.
NC: What is the song writing process like? Lyrics, music, who does what?
Unruh: So for the majority of our set, these were songs that I had written and I brought to the band. And then [the band] just transformed them. I mean, that's the great thing about having such a cool band, they make your songs better and they kind of take them and turn them into things you never thought they could be. And that's really cool. But then we also write songs collectively all in a room together. A lot of times, I've noticed that whenever we plan to have a writing session, it doesn't work out. All the best songs we've written have been when we're in a room probably setting up or something. William will just start playing something on guitar and Tommy will start playing drums, and they'll just be jamming and then they'll stop. And I'll be like, ‘No, no, no, keep going, keep going,’ and I'll sit there and maybe write some lyrics out. That turns into the writing session, and we'll flesh out a song right then and there. And that is the best feeling on earth – because it wasn't planned. Nothing was preconceived, it was just raw in the moment, inspiration. And that's very hard to recreate.
NC: How did you guys start navigating through the live music scene in Boston?
Unruh: So our first show was in November, a house show called Hillside Bistro. Getting that first gig is the hardest because it's like, what do you even show people? You have nothing to show, for the most part, unless you record videos of yourself in a practice room. But we got that gig because I was buddies with the guy Max, who runs things over there. I had played there with my previous band before. So that was our first gig. And then as far as upcoming gigs, I do all the booking, so I'm reaching out to places. But recently, we've been very lucky to have places reaching out to us, which has been so flattering and we're so grateful.
Photo by @syd.kemme
NC: What have been your favorite moments working together as a band? When are you having the most fun as a band?
Unruh: I think we're having the most fun together when things are working like a well-oiled machine. Sometimes one of the guys in the band will do something in a song that they may not do every time, but they're so intuitive and they're so good that they'll do it at the exact right moment: William will bend a guitar string, or Tommy will do a drum fill, and it just works. In those moments: I'm up there singing — I'm facing the crowd and [the band] is kind of off to my sides and behind me — and they do something like that and we just nail it, I give 'em a side eye and they're smiling at me. Yeah. I would say that's when we're really locked in and just having fun.
NC: How does it feel to be up on stage and singing to a crowd? What's going through your head?
Unruh: It is about the closest thing you can get to feeling like God, it is better than any drug. You're just flying and it all goes by so fast, and you look back at it and it just feels like just a blip in time. But depending on the show, you can be high from it for days. I would urge everyone to, at some point, try it. And it’s not just music, it's performance in general. Especially when you get into the loop of interacting with the crowd and you're giving them an energy and they're giving you energy back… it just surges through you. A lot of times, I feel [that] when I'm performing onstage, it’s the only time I can fully unapologetically be myself.
NC: What are your hopes for the band and where do you want to take it in the future?
Unruh: Yeah, so in June we're all flying down to Atlanta where Tommy's from. We're spending two weeks in the studio and we're going to cut our debut record. I feel pretty ambitious because a lot of bands — when they're starting out — they'll just record a single or an EP. But we're doing a full length, 12-song project. Hopefully that will be out around fall, between the time it takes to mix and promote it. And we'll probably release one or two singles over the summer, and then the full project will hopefully come out in fall. So after that, as far as what goes on after that, I have another year here at Berklee. All the guys will still be around. So we're just going to operate here in Boston. And then after this record comes out, hopefully we can plan a tour to support it.