RHINO // Rumbling Riffage

Brisbane rifflords RHINO have closed 2021 with the release of their sprawling and unpredictable epic single DJW.

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Guitarist James Waasenaar is the one responsible for the song’s origins so we got him to talk us through the track and how they got Lucius Borich from Cog to sit in on drums.

This is the second release for RHINO this year, and it’s a bit of an epic. Tell us a little bit about it. It is a big track and you have a special guest as well.

It was one of those things where I was just going through a shitty time, and there was nothing I could do, so I picked up the guitar and the first thing I started playing was that little riffy thing at the start. I sort of liked the sound of that, and then I came up with the heavier intro riff, then the verses came in and the choruses. It was weird. It was one of those ones that just worked. So many times you’re just sitting there needing new riffs and trying to write a song, and nothing happens! But with this one, we took it to rehearsal and it went smoothly, we all enjoyed it, and then when it came to record it, it was one of the ones we just kept the way we had it. The only thing we did do… Geoff, the other guitarist – he’s a brilliant guitarist – came up with that slide riff at the start. That was cool and something a bit different. So it was one of those things where a negative, shit situation turned into a positive one.

Had you worked with Lucius Borich before?

That was our first time in the studio. How he became involved in playing drums [on DJW]… my memory’s a bit shot. The drummer we had at the time, I think he fucked up for about a second or half a second. You couldn’t really pick it too much. But the way Lucius heard it, he was like, ‘There’s a mistake there. Don’t worry, I’ll fix it!’ Also I think what happened was, one of the mics near the snare or the toms had moved, and he tried to put it back in the same spot but he could hear that it sounded different. Being so meticulous as Loosh is, he decided to play the whole thing, just so it would sound the same.

He’s been playing in bands since the 90s. Did he impart any wisdom to you?

Well, especially with some of the other tracks we recorded, when we had them in the rehearsal room, we thought that they were brilliant the way they were. Lucius would have a listen and say, ‘No, no, do that riff once there, do that one twice…’  Just shit you would never think of. Then when you put it all together, it’s a brilliant idea. It really works! We learned a bit about writing, because we’re a riff-orientated band. So putting it in the puzzle where it really works was really helpful.

DJW is a big track that goes in a few places. Is that normal for your songwriting process?

As I said, It’s a weird one. It just kind of worked when we all started playing together and we liked that aspect of it. Look, it probably shouldn’t be a ‘single’. But we love it. When we play it live, no one knows what’s happening with the slide part!

You don’t want to spoon-feed people. You’ve got to keep them guessing.

I don’t know why, but a lot of people think we are a proper metal band. We’re not a proper metal fucking metal band, that’s for sure, sometimes we’re asked to play on these metal shows, and we’ll be playing straight after some full-on, foot-to-the-floor band, and then we’re playing slide guitar and it’s like, ‘What is he playing up there?’ It’s funny!

Now the single is out, what do you have planned?

Everything we had coming up has been postponed! We had the support for Electric Mary, they were coming up – that got canned. Wallapalooza, that festival on the Gold Coast, has been moved to next year now. Cog’s playing up here again in the New Year and we’ve got the support – that’s in February… We’ll see what happens. It’s hard to plan anything.

You have music out though, so at least you have that.

Yes, but we started recording DJW in 2019. Lucius’ studio is in Byron, so everytime the borders shut, we couldn’t do anything! 

Purchase and stream here.