No Longer Idle Interview
Few bands can blend two genres together with as much intensity a No Longer Idle, but they take it a step further. No Longer Idle takes influences from almost every rock sub-genre you can think of, and spices it up with a deep and soulful jazz style. This five piece rock band is tired of sitting on the sidelines so By the Barricade caught up with them to find out exactly how they fused so many styles together, and hear the future plans of their unique sound.
By the Barricade: Some of your music is very keyboard driven. What inspired this focus within your sound?
No Longer Idle: Our keyboardist, Jesus, writes a lot of our music, so naturally the keys get incorporated quite a bit. We feel that the organ sound especially gives our music a full body allowing us to add little intricacies without losing that core of to music. Think Ray Manzarek from The Doors. More recently however, we have been writing songs with a heavier drive, switching Jesus from keys to guitar. We’re one song away from asking him to do both at the same time…
By the Barricade: In your Facebook bio you reference older classic rock style bands. What bands in particular influenced your style?
No Longer Idle: Each of us has been influenced by a bunch of different styles and we try to incorporate as much of our influences as possible. As far as classic rock, the compositional soundness of The Beatles, Queen, The Who; organ driven sounds from The Doors, The Allman Brothers; and the creative licks of Led Zeppelin, & Jimmy Hendrix. We also have some influence from the 90’s [like] Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana, Metallica, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam. Sprinkle that with Chicago Blues, a bit of jazz, some Indie, and modern Progressive Rock groups like Dream Theatre & Umphrey’s McGee, and we’re hitting the tip of the iceberg. We like to mix, match, and combine different styles into something new; something unique, while keeping it raw. Taking the audience on a journey is key. We think there is something in there for everyone.
By the Barricade: Roosevelt Abney, lead vocals, really has a deep and unique vocal style. How did you hone your craft?
No Longer Idle: I sang in a gospel choir growing up. I try to take the harmonic soundness of that style and thrust it forward with the feel and conviction of a rock singer.
By the Barricade: What did you do in your previous “idle” time before starting this band?
No Longer Idle: We all have been playing music for years, just honing our chops and dreaming big, but coming together as No Longer Idle didn’t really happen until last May. It’s something you always aspire to do, but life happens. As a result we all have little our niches outside of this project: Architecture, Neuroscience, Teaching, and some of us, family men. However, we all know in our hearts that music is number one and we have been pushing as hard as we can to get the No Longer Idle name out there. We are sick of sitting on the sidelines watching everyone else have all the fun, it’s about time people know what we are made of!
By The Barricade: What does No Longer Idle have planned for the future?
No Longer Idle: Getting our name out there, garner a following, and then taking these people down with us! But really we are trying to play as many local shows as we can; bringing our talents and energy to the crowd and just having a blast doing it. It’d be nice to find a niche somewhere, with a steady fan base. Going on tour nationally would be a dream come true for each of us.
By the Barricade: Is there anything else you would like to say to the readers of By the Barricade?
No Longer Idle: Check us out on Facebook. Our next gigs are June 6th at Good Hurt, June 18th at The Redwood Bar & June 20th at CopperDoor. If you haven’t seen us yet, we put on quite the show and we know you’ll enjoy the unique sound we have for you.
