“Ronnie writes everything. It’s Ronnie’s band, you know?”
Falling In Reverse last toured Australia for 2015’s Soundwave Festival. After playing Warped Tour the last two months, they’re now gearing up for their Count Rockula Australian Tour. We spoke with Ryan Seaman (drums) ahead of their upcoming October dates. “Warped Tour was amazing,” Seaman enthuses, “we just can’t wait to get back to Australia.”
Since the release of 2013’s Fashionably Late, a turning point was struck with Ronnie Radke’s (frontman, vocals) experimental hip-hop vibes, rapping and electronic elements, mixed with his trademark vocals that continued into their 2015 release, Just Like You. “Music always changes,” Seaman says. “I can’t speak for Ronnie, but from my personal opinion, having some sort of different element to every album is what makes an artist grow, and is what makes the listeners grow.”
Falling In Reverse is Radke’s world. He writes all the lyrics. He even comes up with all the music. “Ronnie writes everything. It’s Ronnie’s band, you know?” Seaman says. “I think he just does whatever he wants, and that’s the endearing thing about Falling In Reverse. It also helps that we have a label behind us that supports artist’s vision.”
Since the release of their debut record, 2011’s The Drug In Me Is You, Radke has not been afraid to stick to his guns. He doesn’t shy away from creating the music that he wants, and he doesn’t censor what he says or sings, instead giving an always honest account of his life and his thoughts. Radke stands proud in a scene that is always trying to snub anything that ‘shouldn’t quite fit’.
“It’s really hard for musicians to be heard today because there are so many different outlets in the media to hear anything,” Seaman says. “Everything’s so saturated, so I feel like in order to survive as a musician you have to always think of different ways to go about being creative all the time.”
It wasn’t hard for the band to start from ground zero and rise to the platform they stand now. Everyone knows the story of Radke’s journey, and it doesn’t need to be told again. But success is an ongoing journey in the music industry, something that always wavers and can be interpreted differently. “I feel like just from being in a band — and being in a successful one — is that you have this idea of what it should be, and then you get to the top of the mountain, and you realise that there’s a whole bigger mountain in front of you,” Seaman says.
“I think every artist gets to that in their career — not that nothing’s ever good enough — it’s just that as an artist, people naturally want to be successful and that can mean a number of things, so just being on top of that mountain, every artist aims to go higher and higher and that’s just what we’re trying to do.”
“I think what we’re working towards is just still being here in the next ten years, which could happen, but there’s never a guaranteed timeline… it’s if our fans want to stick with us. As long as people are coming to the shows and buying the merch, then the band will continue to be strong.”
Seaman offered only limited details about what’s next for the band after their Australian run, telling fans to keep an eye on the band’s individual social media profiles to keep in the loop. The band members are quite active on social media, but has the obsession with it benefited the music industry or made it worse for the band? “Anybody can be on the internet,” Seaman says, “but there has to be something truly special about the individuals of the band or whatever separates them from everybody else. People want to be engaged with a specific person or a brand — it separates a lot of things.” And we can immediately put to mind Radke: a born entertainer with a big personality, engaging stage presence and a ‘don’t-give-a-fuck’ attitude.
Seaman does reveal that the next record is “definitely going to be different. I think it’s like an actual evolvement for the band. Playing the drums for Falling In Reverse — this is probably the best stuff I’ve heard in a long time, so the fans should be really excited.”
“I think it’s exciting where we are right now,” Seaman says. “I think what keeps us going is looking forward to creating something special with an audience. The fact that [we’re playing] overseas and Australia just makes it that much more special for us because it’s not even our home. It’s crazy to think that there’s a whole other side of the world that cares about what we’re doing just as much as we do.”
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