The Australian rock band Rudely Interrupted provides, in a way, a journalist’s dream: a story with a fascinating, unexpected complication at its heart, a complication that’s emotionally compelling. For Rudely Interrupted, that complication is that all of the band members except one have had their lives rudely interrupted by factors like Down syndrome, Asperger’s syndrome, blindness and deafness (in some cases, more than one of the above).
That raises all sorts of purely practical questions. How does a deaf player interact with others musically? How do members with Asperger’s manage the whirlwind of the unexpected that arises with touring (around the world, in this case)? Such questions get answered in fascinating fashion when you spend some time checking out the Rudelys’ plentiful interviews, audio and video (see rudelyinterrupted.com).
The band’s lead guitarist, Rohan Brooks, began the band as part of his work as a music therapist, so he’s clearly accustomed to fostering talents in whatever way they happen to manifest themselves. With the members of Rudely Interrupted, he’s made some interesting accomodations.
Keyboardist Marcus Stone has Asperger’s syndrome and is also deaf. Brooks, in a recent interview, explained how he helps Stone and bassist Sammy Beke do their thing. “I get [Stone] to take his shoes off, so he can feel the vibes through his feet. He’s got hearing aids, too, that give him about 20 percent hearing,” says Brooks. “With Sammy [Beke]—he has Down syndrome. He’s just a showoff, and he’s there because he’s one of the most entertaining people you’ll ever meet. I tune the bass to power chords and then use capos. There are a couple of songs that we’ve written key changes in, and we have someone who plays bass on those. Then Sammy puts on a costume and goes out in the crowd telling people it’s his birthday and they should buy him drinks. Smart bugger, Sammy!”
Drummer Josh Hogan, too, has an unorthodox approach, but is an impressive drummer. Singer/guitarist Rory Burnside (who suffers from Asperger’s and blindness) provides a strong anchor, thanks to his innate perfect pitch and absolute pitch.
Brooks also rallies his unusual fellow “musos” in the songwriting department. “Naturally, the autistic, the Asperger’s mind doesn’t have the empathy to relate to other people. So basically, I use music as a way of getting these guys to think about other people, if you like,” says Brooks.
“There is no exact process that we stick to. I get them to think about starting and ending and hooks. I try and use the guys’ lyrics as much as possible,” he continues. “They come from conversations that we’re having. Josh had a dream that he was a star on a soapy [soap opera] show. Little moments like that. ‘Rock moments,’ I call them. It’s often Rory’s interpretations of these moments.”
Working around the band members’ challenges has shaped the Rudelys sound in significant ways. “We don’t have a lot of effects. There’s no real trickery going on. It’s about the simplest expression,” says Brooks. At the same time, he says, “They’ve come so far—it’s a slick, professional show.”
It’s undeniably impressive to hear the results of the hard work the band has put into its performing. When he talks about it, Brooks sounds rightly proud: “We didn’t start the band to take on the world, just to take on little challenges. Rock ‘n’ roll as therapy, it works. It’s changed their lives, their behaviors, their interactions with people. It gives them hope and experience.”
It’s easy to leave the story of Rudely Interrupted on that kind of well-earned high note. But that doesn’t do these remarkable rockers justice.
An interesting dynamic is clear in Rudely Interrupted performances, a dynamic that gets explored in the band’s video for a tune called “Close My Eyes.” In it, the music begins, along with glimpses of hands doing things like turning knobs and propelling drum sticks. Eventually the players’ faces come into view. That brings on a revelatory moment: these guys are rocking, but they don’t look like anyone’s idea of rock stars.
If Rudely Interrupted is to continue its considerable successes, what happens beyond that moment of surprise holds the key. It’s then that another question enters. When this unique group addresses the challenges it faces, what is the result? In short: challenges aside, do they make good music?
The music of Rudely Interrupted is probably best described as melodic pop, or perhaps by that more nebulous term “power pop.” There’s a limited range of chord structures they can successfully employ with a bassist tuned to a power chord, but that possible disadvantage can also come in handy—just such simple structures often foster the kinds of sounds that get bands like U2 or Coldplay labelled “triumphant” or “huge.” There’s an undeniable power in the simple.
Rudely Interrupted taps into something humbler than arena-rock melodrama with its unadorned sounds and lyrical concerns that reflect the world of its members, the kind of world that seldom becomes the subject of rock ‘n’ roll. That world bumps up against big rock sounds to create something unusual, probably unique—hearing Burnside sing about looking for someone to marry in the tune “My Only Wish” offers a sort of wistfulness that could, in the wrong hands, turn purely sentimental. But such turns are kept well in check when you see the earnest nature of what’s going on onstage: an unadulaterated expression of joy and confidence, and an all-out rocking good time. The band scratches an itch you didn’t know you had, and it scratches it really well.
I asked Brooks what he thinks keeps people listening beyond the initial surprise an audience might experience. “I think it’s the pure honesty of the expression. The way the guys tackle their instruments,” he says. “Rory has perfect pitch, absolute pitch. His performance is always dead-on. In the studio, his first takes are always the best.”
Rudely Interrupted possesses a sound that clearly hails from the pop world, and that’s largely thanks to Brooks, who’s played in rock bands for around 20 years. “My [musical] heritage, what I like, plays into it,” he says. “I love ’80s pop rock and the romantic sort of pop rock. That creeps in, obviously. I just love a good song, rather than a scene or cool band or whatever.”
That gives the Rudelys a tightly focused sound that borrows from older pop rock (the Psychedelic Furs come to mind at times), but also possesses a hard-to-pin-down plaintiveness that seems to hail from the indie pop world. Hear a song from Rudely Interrupted, and their challenges don’t matter for long—it’s just as likely to get stuck in your head for days as anyone else’s music. (“Close My Eyes” is still echoing.)
In the end, the lasting power of Rudely Interrupted comes down to just that kind of equation. Their music is solid and rewarding, regardless of the interesting details of who they are.
In the long term, says Brooks, “We really want to be accepted as a band. These guys have wonky genes, but we just want people to listen to the music. If you like it, great. If not, well, so what?”
Rudely Interrupted plays June 13 at 7 p.m. at the Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St., Northampton, (413) 586-8686, iheg.com.
