The Über Rock Interview: Timmy Rough (The New Roses)
Written by Allan Maxwell
Sunday, 13 August 2017 04:00
The New Roses come at you with all the hard-hitting, alcohol-fuelled rock and roll you would expect from your typical dirty dive bar in down town LA… not from the sleepy Rheingua region in Germany.
They have built up a substantial following since the release of 2016’s breakthrough album, ‘Dead Man’s Chest’, by racking up the miles via the old school method of playing show after show all across Europe, as well as an extensive tour in their home nation – as frontman Timmy Rough attested when I caught up with him ahead of the release of TNR’s forthcoming new album, ‘One More For The Road’:
We’ve been on the road pretty much non-stop. We played our first international tour in Europe and, in the short gaps between travelling, we recorded our new album…
For our readers who may not have heard of The New Roses, describe your sound in five words
Straight up rock ‘n’ roll
How did you all meet?
Most of us grew up in the same small town area. The music scene was small, especially the rock ‘n’ roll scene. So we all know each other since our school days. In different constellations we all played together before. But it took us till 2012 till we founded The New Roses. But Urban [Berz – drums] and me, for example, had already shared the stage a couple of hundred times before.
What artists influenced the band?
The list is long, too long, maybe. Everybody in the band has different influences. That is a main reason why our music is not only one specific kind of rock music. It goes from Slayer over Aerosmith back to Elvis. And there’s a hell lot of great stuff in between. I love Creedence, The Black Crowes, Bruce Springsteen and all these old Blues records.
Where did the name The New Roses come from?
We just wanted a rock ‘n’ roll band name. Nothing more or less. You should know right when you read it, that you’re about to see a rock band. We’re the new guys, doing it the old fashioned way. Playing live and working hard. That’s where it’s from. What you see is what you get when it comes to TNR, no frills rock ‘n’ roll. Everything from the way they look, to the band name. You only have to look at any promotional shot to know exactly what you are about to listen to.
Being a German band, what made you write in English?
I never listened to German rock music. When I was a kid, there was only Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard for me. I soaked it in and added other bands to my collection, but they were all singing in English. So, when I started thinking about my own lyrics I thought in English. It was the most natural thing for me. When I think about rock ‘n’ roll, I automatically switch to English. It’s the flow of the words and the phrases I guess.
You are just about to head out on another tour of Germany in support of the new album, ‘One More For The Road’. Will we see you back over in the UK any time soon?
Hell yeah! We’ll be back in November to be part of this year’s Hard Rock Hell Festival. After our first great UK tour this year, we can’t wait to be back and we’re looking forward to seeing our friends from The New Generation Superstars again.
What has been your career highlight so far?
Every show is special. We worked so hard to get out of our small towns. To know that we can travel all these cool places, it’s like a movie you’re watching. We’ve played the Champion’s League finals in Berlin, Hellfest in France, Swiss and Hamburg Harley Days, toured Spain, the UK, France, Netherlands and more. We also played with really cool bands like ZZ Top, Joe Bonamassa, Accept, Molly Hatchet, Blackfoot, The Dead Daisies and so on. But the best part about it is that we don’t know what’s waiting for us out there.
And the career low point?
You know the first years were pretty tough. There were no gigs, no money and no one believed in us. Everywhere we went people said “you’re great, I love your sound but rock ‘n’ roll is impossible to market these days.“ We really put our health in danger to make this rock start rolling. We played every dirty bar that would give us food and a place to sleep. We worked several jobs to pay for all the equipment and pretty much lost every contact to a regular life with friends, vacations and sleep cycles. Pretty tough, pretty exciting!
What can we expect from the new album?
The fact that we’ve been on tour all the time influenced this album the most, I would say. I wrote all the songs for the stage and the live show. We tried to record the songs the same way we should perform them live. But also we took the challenge of giving the audience what they expect, but still surprise them in a way. I’m really happy with ‘One More For The Road’ and we can’t wait to play it live!
What message would you like to give the fans?
This new record is for each and every one of you. We met so many of you already on the road and can’t wait to meet more and more of you guys that keep rock ‘n’ roll alive every day. We’ll do our best to kick your ass! Thank you!
‘One More For The Road’ is released on 25 August via Napalm Records.
The New Roses play Hard Rock Hell in Pwllheli on Friday 10 November.
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