Interview: The Rift

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

As kids we’d always listen to classic rock radio in the car on long car rides and I just remember really connecting with the music, The Police, Eagles, Zeppelin, Santana, would always be on in the house and I just fell in love with music. When I held a guitar for the first time and heard bands like Deep Purple, Dio, Metallica, Sabbath, I knew there was nothing else. I really can’t imagine doing anything else but hey who knows there’s always Only Fans lol

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

Surfing is big for me and I Know Ovais loves to fish, the ocean is a constant source of inspiration for us. There’s something about it that has always captured my imagination. Also big horror movie buffs probably been through every haunted house in the area lol.

How long has your band been around?

We’ve all been playing in bands for years but The Rift really came about in 2016 with our first record.

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

We are based out of beautiful southern California Ventura & LA county. Obviously there is a rich rock and roll and metal history here and many of our favorite artists are from here. But I think also being around so many different cultures and surfing communities also had an impact on us.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

We made the name The Rift because of our variety of influences between metal, blues, reggae, prog rock, and flamenco so I think we felt like we were’nt necessarily any one of those styles but space in between. To me when I think of the name it just fits us and I thnk of us

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

Many come to mind but one of my favorites was when we played at this place that has long been gone called the Cobalt back in the day, we started a pit going and this one kid literally got the braces knocked out of his mouth sort of a bloody mess, he came up to me after we finished with a huge smile and he said it was awesome to have gotten his teeth knocked out to our music. I never forgot that one felt like it should have been on most metal moments or something!

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

Oh man we really like playing at The Holding Company in Ocean Beach San Diego, it’s a great spot. The Rainbow bar & grill upstairs to just so much rich rock history there always cool to be in that atmosphere. We’d love to do something huge at the Hollywood Bowl, or who knows th garden one day.

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

Would be a random collection but I’d be there in a heartbeat, Metallica, Muse, The Police, Foo Fighters, System of a Down, In Flames, Gojira.

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

Go with your gut and be yourself, find a band mate that wants to do that with you

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

Get good at video editing stupid skits for tik tok lol

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

For me Deliverance an old song of ours will always mean something

We wrote it for my newphew when he was born, so he would know despite the many things in this world that are hateful, hope and love win out.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

I really love the groove we are in with our writing and the new material is just on another level

Playing Lost Angeles always is a blast live people really enjoy it, probably Bad Luck gets requested most and Rock Narcotic right now.

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

Different things inspire us music is very cathartic we generally will work on a song for months at a time woodshopping different ideas, but sometimes they just come together quickly too. Sometimes we also just write songs about girls gone wild haha jk

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

Freak nasty messages…..lol no we like to give uplifting messages but also

Sometimes just get out all the crazy rage that we all can deal with sometimes

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

All the time and we have sword fights typically, I’m down to my last toe lol. No if we disagree on something that friction is usually good and tuns into something better than we intended. You need that friction sometimes I think to have great music

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up? We are working on our 2nd full length album so we’re excited about that and potential touring opportunities that could be on the horizon for us. Coming up we’re thrilled to be performing this fall with Tantric at the Whisky October 6th and on the rock the vote effort #Ivotedfestial November 7th with Rise Against and Halestorm.