Riot in the Practice Space

Looking back on our blogs, i realize that we are all so excited about the band, the music, the shows, the reviews, and all things riot. And for good reason…there is a lot to be excited about. But these good things aren’t happening by accident. We are gaining momentum and finding some success because we are always working hard in the practice room. We like to party like the next guy(s), but when we’re in the practice room, it’s all work. We get in there and get to business.

For some reason, it’s always 75 plus degrees in there, so we always feel like we are getting a good work out (near stage conditions temperature wise). Nobody is ever drunk (or stoned or whatever else), and everyone is focussed. We write as a team, usually working off of a guitar riff or a drum beat or even a hummed melody. Hell, Lew and I laid down the basis for Suffer when the other boys took a potty break, and Gary (upon leaving the room) said “write our next hit before we come back”.. so Lew Jones busted out that main riff and i came up with that opening beat, and we went from there. When the others returned they liked what they heard and “Suffer” was born.

So, once we establish a main idea, we work to build at least a frame work which will flesh out the rest of the song -i.e we try ideas and think “that might make a good intro”, or “man, that could be a killer bridge”. We like to set up those basics and add detail from there (well, stefan likes to focus on every detail every minute of practice – he’s a music major, go figure)…. and the next thing you know, we go from a song skeleton to finishing up with a phrygian scale (steffan), and “putting some Lew Jones on it”, and the next killer Riot Inside song is complete.