Q&A: The Rooks

Photo by Ellen Quinn

We caught up with The Rooks before they took to the stage supporting Louis Berry last Friday. We dove headfirst into their humble beginnings, crafting their signature anthemic sound on their new single "Lay Me Down," and what plans they have in store for the future.

1. You’re about to support Louis Berry at Stereo on August 17th—another big milestone for The Rooks. How do you approach preparing for a support slot differently from a headline show, and what’s got you most excited about this gig?

Ross: It’s just about condensing your whole act - usually into a half hour at these things. We go out of our way to make sure condensing isn’t compromising though, and spend a lot of time on getting these sets right.

Kieran: Yeah, we take our entire team, regardless of venue or gig, because there’s always going to be people that haven’t seen us before. Ultimately, it’s down to us to put on a show whether we’re playing for two hours or twenty minutes.

Matthew: We’re not forcing people to listen with the amps at full tilt for the whole gig; we’d hope the songs and the charisma is a spectacle that invites people in. That’s our aim at support gigs really - to make audiences feel the need to edge closer.

2. How did The Rooks come together as a band? What brought you all together?

Matthew: The usual; met in school, learned a few songs, played a few parties and then the pandemic happened. We spent that time maturing our sound and our image, and that accelerated when we started playing more shows. It’s a process that got us to the very start of where we want to be.

3. You’ve described your latest release “Lay Me Down” as a defining track for your sound. Can you tell us how the song came together and what it was like working with Grammy-winning producer Jim Lowe to bring it to life? Any gems of advice he gave you that you picked up?

Ross: It was written really quickly. I took it to the rest of the boys and it was fleshed out in a night. We were confident it could be our debut and thought it sounded like some of the stuff Jim has worked on in the past, so we just got in touch and asked us down to London.

Cammy: He helped us refine some parts and intensify what was good. He’s big on not sounding like ‘anyone else’ and he gives us the freedom to explore that and keep our own sound distinctive.

Coll: He just lets us play it. We’ll throw around a lot of ideas and instead of explaining why it’s good or bad, he’ll just say “let’s hear it”.

The Rooks’s Artwork for their latest single “Lay Me Down”

4. Your live shows are known for their raw energy, which has already led to sell-out gigs at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut. How do you manage to bring that same energy into the studio when you’re recording?

Matthew: You can’t really have one or the other. We’ve spent a long time getting our live act right and still do because at the end of the day it’s the music that holds it all up. We take our image seriously of course, but there’s no longevity unless the product is good and we know it inside out. We’re confident of our sound as just five of us in a room so when it comes time to record it we just go to work and enjoy it. Hopefully that comes across on the record.

Photo by Ellen Quinn

5. If The Rooks could form a dream supergroup with any of your musical influences, who would each of you pick? Who’s on vocals, guitar, bass, and drums?

Kieran: We’ll take our respective instruments so it has to be McCartney for me. He can do it all and always serviced the song.

Coll: Phil Selway on the drums. The human metronome.

Cammy: Jimi Hendrix for me. Some of the first stuff I learnt was his, and he manages to make his solos so rhythmic.

Matthew: We need Brian Wilson in there, probably on keys.

Ross: Caleb Followill. He grew up singing gospel so his melodies’ are so full of emotion, such a unique voice.

6. Being a band from Glasgow, how does the local music scene shape your sound? And what does it mean to you to represent Glasgow on a bigger stage?

Matthew: Yeah you can’t avoid live music in Glasgow. It’s a good thing, there’s lots happening. I don’t think it shapes our sound as such though. Glasgow’s very famous for a certain sound that we don’t really identify with - especially in guitar music. We try to shape our music around escapism and craft a release for listeners that doesn’t dwell on their problems.

Ross: The writing is influenced a lot by anthemic rock, built for stadiums and for people to enjoy together. The smaller venues in Glasgow have made us focus on live production and how you can create a huge sound in small rooms by focusing on dynamics and charisma, rather than turning the amps to 11.

7. You’ve supported acts like Luke La Volpe and The Shambolics—what have you picked up from those experiences, and how has sharing the stage with them helped you fine-tune your own performances?

Kieran: Those gigs are the biggest stages we’ve played on, physically. That experience so early on taught us to put on a show. You know, these people have spent a lot of money to see the people after you so what more can we give them? How do we fill the room earlier, how can we bring them closer to the stage? Then after that you can only continue to apply those principles to any venue we play

8. What’s next for The Rooks? More new music on the horizon perhaps?

Ross: We’ve been back down to London with Jim, recording a few more things. There’s a release penned before the end of the year and a couple big announcements on the way. We’ve started expanding our team too, in anticipation of a bigger project coming in 2025.

The Rooks are a five-piece rock’n’roll band from Glasgow, Scotland. Their recent debut release “Lay Me Down” is a marker of distinctive sound, built to release crowds into aggravated euphoria. Produced by Grammy Award-winning Stereophonics producer Jim Lowe, The Rooks’ debut single is unlike that currently in Scotland’s music scene and is a track that proves their urge for performance.

A raw and energetic live act, The Rooks have twice sold-out Glasgow’s King Tut Wah Wah Hut to then only capitalise on burgeoning success with bigger audiences. Supporting Luke La Volpe at the 5000-cap SWG3 Galvanizers and joining The Shambolics on a bill at the iconic Garage Glasgow. Such gigs have captured the attention of Scottish star Lewis Capaldi and Blossoms frontman Tom Ogden.

The band’s debut single amassed 10,000 streams in just two weeks while seeing radio play not only throughout Glasgow, London and Manchester but in the United States, Brazil and Australia.

The Rooks have crafted their sound around influence from The Rolling Stones and The Doors, to The Strokes and Kings of Leon. Their tight, pulsing rhythms that dig out audiences is backed by subtle intricacies, a depth of songwriting and an ear for a hook - something the band delivers consistently to increasingly raucous crowds.