A band named after a dinosaur? Dig out your best Jeff Goldblum impressions.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Kurt Fletcher: We’re originally from Herefordshire but are now based in Bristol. I play guitar and sing, Adam plays drums and Nick Osborne plays bass.
How did you meet?
Kurt: Me and Adam are brothers so we’ve been playing music together for years. I met Nick at uni in Bristol four years ago and the three of us have been best mates ever since. It’s really funny as Nick is originally from Garway in Herefordshire but we only met in Bristol by sheer chance.
How long have you been playing as a band?
We’ve been playing live since about 2012, Nick has been with us for close to a year now.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
Adam: As Kurt usually answers this, when we were younger we got booked for a gig and basically didn’t have a name. When the promoter rang to ask the name of our band, Kurt said Raptor off the top of his head.
What are your influences?
Adam: I can say that for me and Kurt of us it’s quite varied. I mean we both are listing to a lot of music coming out of Australia lately. As well as stuff we’ve been listening to for years like Black Sabbath, The Beatles, The Stones etc…
We caught The Murlocs live recently at the Thekla in Bristol who were awesome! Nick’s into all sorts like the Allman Brothers Band, Clapton, Richard Thompson and folk music, he’s slowly getting into heavier stuff!
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Adam: We make a conscious effort to make every song different and have its own thing going for it musically. What I mean is we’d rather have an album with 7 tracks that are well refined and thought out, than a 13 song album with filler songs that don’t need to be there.
Kurt: In terms of how describing ourselves I think that’s for other people to decide. When we play live we really put on a show and try to entertain people, hopefully that comes across!
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Kurt: The new record has all sorts of ideas running through it and I get inspired by quirky themes. Some of the new songs explore festival euphoria, Mythology, Alice in Wonderland and Himalayan Bees that produce psychedelic honey!
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Adam: The new songs are really varied in style so it creates quite a diverse set. We could be playing a heavy song one minute, then go into a quiet number and next might be a song that starts quiet and builds into something else!
Kurt We’ve played a lot of shows over the years all up and down the UK. We’ve had the chance to play with some amazing people like Mick Ralphs (Bad Co/Mott The Hoople), The Groundhogs, Dr Feelgood and Deborah Bonham. We toured the UK last year with our friends in Stone Cold Fiction who are on the same label as us.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Kurt: We opened for Robert Plant a couple of years ago which was pretty crazy. I jumped off-stage with my guitar and went into the audience, I was making my way back and I tripped straight over the monitors and fell onto the stage! I think I got away with it! Planty was watching – he loved it!
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Kurt: I have two main guitars that I play live, a white Airline guitar and a sparkly Danelectro 3 pickup guitar. I used the Danelectro in the studio for most of the new album, it’s such a versatile guitar so I’ve been using it to play new material live too. I built my own fuzz pedal called ‘The Raptor Fuzz’, I also used it a lot in the studio and use it live with a few other pedals and a 1971 Carlsbro Amp. Nick’s just picked up a wicked Fender Mustang bass.
Adam: I currently use a red sparkly 1968 Premier kit, with Paiste cymbals live and random vintage cymbals in the studio. I’ve been into production for the last few years and have been picking up various mics, compressors & cassette recorders. I mostly use vintage Shure and AKG’s mics, would love a 8-track tape machine to get that awesome crunchy sound.
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment & what are your plans for 2019?
We’ve going to be releasing our debut album on 17th of May with Brighton’s Don’t Tell Anyone Records. It will be pressed on vinyl and available to stream online, we’ll be launching the record at Rough Trade in Bristol on the same day!
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https://youtu.be/nV7i9Wyx1ko
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