Shuffle Beat Music: INTERVIEW: Youth in Revolt

Interview by: Xochitl Hansen

Hitting the Ernie Ball stage on their first year playing the Vans Warped Tour, you can tell Outerloop Records band Youth In Revolt is more than prepared. With a great cover of Lorde’s Royals on Punk Goes Pop 6 and a new album coming this fall this band is knocking everything out of the park. Recently, I was granted with the chance to speak to vocalist True Arahill and let me tell you, he’s one of the most down to earth people I was blessed with meeting.

Can you say your name and what you do in the band?

My name is True and I’m the singer for Youth In Revolt.

How’s tour going?

Tour is amazing; it’s our first Warped Tour eve. It’s a great opportunity, the kids have been really receptive, and you know the Ernie Ball stage has been real good to us. It’s been a great time so far; we met some really awesome people, and get to hang out with some really good bands.

How’s the weather been?

The weather has been pretty brutal. Yesterday [Mesa, Arizona], was one of the hottest days so far, if that was the worst I think I can handle it. Today [Albuquerque, New Mexico] would have to be the second worst. You’ll definitely have fun in Texas then. Texas! I forgot that’s coming up next. There is a hurricane in the coast, so you may catch a break on the heat. Rain, that’s something I haven’t experienced on tour yet. I’ve always watched Warped Roadies, where people’s tents are flying around. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.

You guys got a cover of Lorde’s Royals on Punk Goes Pop 6, how was it recording?

That was amazing, the cover has really blown up for us now. It has almost two million views on Spotify; it’s only been out for about seven months or so. It was just really fun to do, I love Lorde and I think her music is great; it was cool to put a nice twist on it and give it more an upbeat vibe to it. Just being on Punk Goes Pop 6 is amazing; I used to listen to them all the time. So, the fact that we were able to be part of it is pretty special. I’d love to do another one too, if you’re out there Fearless.

Any tour stories?

Um, well this girl actually gave me this flannel and it says ‘King T’, because in the Royals song I say ‘you can call me King T’ instead of ‘Queen B’. I just wanted to give a little character to it, so she made this for me and gave it to me at the show. It’s pretty cool. I wear it on stage and stuff. Nothing to crazy yet, it’s only the beginning for the tour so we’ll see.

Any tour Pro’s and Con’s?

Cons, not enough water. We are always running out of water, so that’s a main thing. We’re always trying to salvage water. One con is since we are on the Ernie Ball stage we’re like one of the few bands that is asked to bring their gear with them, so we need to put our gear in the trailer, which limits our space and stuff. But like I said earlier, it’s still a great opportunity. Pros, definitely the exposure, meeting new people that we haven’t before, meeting new bands that I’ve always wanted to talk to and hang out with. Try and get on tours with those guys and girls. So far the vibes have been great; everyone’s been so nice and kind. I have no complaints.

Where’s the best place you’ve played or your favorite here in the US or overseas?

I haven’t been overseas yet; I’m trying to get over there so well see how that goes. Favorite place so far, we actually had a great show in Birmingham, Alabama. I know that’s kind of not so much a popular location, but the crowd response was great. It was a Crown The Empire tour with Volumes and Secrets and it was awesome. Also, another place was Columbus, Ohio which was really nice. Then independently I was with another band, and we went to a place called Bear Lake, Utah and that was really beautiful. They had a raspberry festival going on; it was just a super cool vibe. It was kind of like South Beach in a quiet town. It had a really interesting vibe and the Colorado Rockies made it an amazing sight with a beautiful lake in front. I’m a nature person, so it was really cool.

What place are you excited to play on this tour or in the near future?

Well, I was excited to play California. We always get a great response there. We’ve played Chain Reaction [Anaheim, California] a few times before; we always get a great response there. I guess I’m pretty excited to play the Washington area; it was raining last time we were there now I think it’s pretty nice out. It would probably have a nice breeze out there since its up north; get way from the heat for a bit. Its very wilderness, like I said I’m a nature person. I think I’m going to be pretty excited about that.

What bands were you excited to be on the same bill as?

Definitely excited to see Pierce the Veil, you know they have a new album coming out. They have a new single out and it’s really awesome. Pvris, definitely. I met Alex two nights ago, super cool guy. I’m supposed to hang with them tonight. You know kind of bond with the bands. I met Mallory Knox; they’re really cool. I saw them on The World Tour with Pierce the Veil, Pvris, and Sleeping With Sirens. Which I actually saw on Ticket Master Sleeping With Sirens might be playing a few dates on Warped, so I’m not sure if that is really true or not or if Ticket Master messed up, but if they play I’d be thrilled to see them. I love Sleeping With Sirens. Asking Alexandria, with Denis as their new singer. Big shoes to fill, but he’s been doing really well, I saw them last night and they did a really great job. Attila of course, always a fun crowd. Never Shout Never was good too, Chris- his new style of music is pretty bluesy, and so I’m getting into that. I didn’t realize it was him at first and he played Trouble or something and I was like ‘Wow’ such a cool new dynamic. But, those are a few bands I’m pretty excited to see. There is so many here honestly. So many friends and so many just awesome bands I can’t even choose.

When you guys are in the studio, what does your writing process look like? Any rituals?

This album was a very hectic album for me, we had month to do the album and then get right on the Warped Tour. We wrote a lot of songs from scratch in the studio. I usually like to take a lot more time writing, but we made it work. One of my friends helped with the song writing, so it took some of the work off me. We did it in Fresno with Taylor Lawson, so it’s a real nice area. The food there is really good. It was expensive, but it made the whole experience worth it. You get to enjoy your meals every day, then go back and write. No rituals for this one, we used a couple songwriters in LA for some stuff, we didn’t use all of them. We worked with Mike Green, whose done like All Time Low, Pierce the Veil, and Brandon Paddock who’s done Black Veil Brides, he’s worked with so many people, like Boys Like Girls. It was really cool; we got to try a couple different things for this album. I’m pretty excited to see how it turns out. I haven’t gotten my hands on it yet; I’ve been just in the mix of everything. I’m just rolling with the punches.

You have some pretty nice sleeves, are there any tattoos that hold meaning or are your favorite?

I really like this octopus guy [right shoulder]; I’m a certified scuba diver, and I really love underwater. I’ve always wanted to be a treasure diver. If I ever get really wealthy somehow I’m just going to go buy a boat and go search for treasure in the water or something, like every rich man’s retirement dream. Then, this Jimi Hendrix one [left inner wrist] I started playing guitar because of Jimi Hendrix. It’s a really good tattoo. It was done by an apprentice too so that’s funny. He was an art major, so he had a lot of talent. I grew up on classic rock, so for me he’s the root of rock and roll. He started the whole life and psychedelic guitar playing. It’s really cool; I’m a fan of all classic rock And, I got Zelda right here [left shoulder] huge video game fan. I’ve got spider man, the Hobgoblin. I’m kind of just a video game, music nerd. That would some it up pretty much.

What’s coming up next for Youth In Revolt?

I’m sure we're going to tour to support the new album and the fall is when the album comes out. I know there is a lot of bands on Warped that have new albums coming out, so you never know. We might be able to go on tour with one of them or something. I’d be stoked to go on a Blessthefall tour or something.

One final question, what does music mean to you?

Music to me is an expression; you know emotion, art; it can be angst or just what you’re holding inside. To me it’s beautiful when people can relate to either your lyrics or just your melodies or chord progressions. It’s just an art form; it’s another way of showing how you feel. Sometimes it doesn't even have to be the way you feel, it’s just something enjoyable that people like to listen to. For me, it was just an escape and it was something I always just gravitated towards and knew I was good at and it’s a great way to make friends. All the fans are super nice and the bands on this tour like I said are great too. So, it’s been just a nice community of people. I wouldn't change it for anything. It’s been awesome so far.

Make sure you catch Youth In Revolt all summer long on the Vans Warped Tour! They'll be playing the Ernie Ball Music Man stage!

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