Musicians in Lockdown: The Simple Radicals Interview

From their music style down to their band name, retro rock n’ rollers The Simple Radicals are straightforward with what they put out — simple yet passionate rock music with explicitly progressive messages that some may view as radical. With the fall of 2020 following the release of their album New Revolution in 2019, the meaning and motivation behind their artistry has never been clearer. Each song bluntly states their beliefs through a lens of nostalgic tones, steadfast chanting and tasty riffing.

The Outer Void sat down with The Simple Radicals to discuss their recent activity and future plans:

What have you been up to during the pandemic?

We’ve actually been very busy. We continue to promote our album New Revolution. The guitar-God Vernon Reid from the band Living Colour plays lead on the track “Medicate.” Wait until you hear his shredding. We also released a quarantine video to our track “Raise Hell” and “The Optimist.” We just released a song and video mocking President Trump called “Rich Man Wanna Be King” which has 175,000 YouTube views and climbing. We’re also about to release a wicked cover version of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” where we collaborated with an incredible husband/wife duo called Che-Val. And, we’re about to release a podcast called “Music & A Brew” where we crack open a cold one with different musical artists including Kenny Aronoff (drummer for John Mellencamp), Todd Sucherman (Styx), Vernon Reid (Living Colour), and Daxx Nielsen (Cheap Trick).

Has the lockdown impacted your songwriting this year in any way?

No doubt it’s a bit more complicated these days since we’re all in separate places now. I write the songs and lay down the scratch tracks and send them to my lead guitarist John Griffin to lay down the leads. We then separately bring in our drummer Griff Johnson and bass player James Page to lay down their tracks. Then we mix and master. God bless technology!

What’s your favorite show you’ve ever played?

We were so honored to play the Cutting Room in New York City before the pandemic shut everything down. It’s such an iconic venue where some incredible artists have played including John Mayer, Lady Gaga, Sting, Sheryl Crow and David Bowie.

If you could tour with any band/artist, who would it be?

Pearl Jam. Eddie Vedder is my musical hero. I’m mesmerized with his writing and try to capture the messaging, passion and energy that he does in his songs. If I can even come within a million miles of that I’d consider it a success.

What 2020 album would you recommend to someone who believes there’s no good new music?

You definitely have to check out this Indie-Groove band from Connecticut called Goose. These guys are going to be huge.

What are your plans for 2021?

We had a huge 2020 planned before the apocalypse hit including playing two showcases at SXSW in Austin, Texas and musical festivals with Blue Oyster Cult, Molly Hatchet, Jefferson Starship, Puddle of Mudd, and Blackfoot. All were canceled and we’re invited back next year. We also plan to tour starting in Chicago. We will also be putting out more material and videos and should be deep into our podcasts. So we have a busy year planned no doubt!

Check out the creatively controversial video for their track “Rich Man Wanna Be King” below, and give them a follow on Spotify and Apple Music!