Interview with The Rions: ‘Any guitarist who is capable of letting the guitar sing, they’re who I want to learn from’

Sydney-based rock band The Rions are gearing up to release their debut EP ‘Minivan’ later this year.

The band, who have been together for seven years, consists of Noah Blockley (lead vocals, bass guitar), Harley Wilson (guitar), Asher McLean (guitar) and Tom Partington (drums). ‘I met Harley in year three, we grew up together, we went to primary school together,’ Blockley said. McLean jumps in: ‘I joined midway through grade seven, that “I know the guy but I don’t know him that well” thing and we did a music project together.’ Their band name has a sweet provenance: ‘When Harley was a kid, he couldn’t say “lion”, he said “rion”,’ McLean said. ‘It kinda stuck, there’s a funny video of him somewhere saying it!’

For now, they are keeping their debut EP under wraps but say that it will include last month’s cinematic single, ‘Minivan’, of which they say: ‘We really wanted this song to reflect the wild spirit of youth, with a sound that would evoke a sense of maturing and growing into the person you want to become’: ‘We started that one in the 10th grade for a school assignment,’ Blockley said. ‘Back then, it was a completely different song but we liked the melodies and the first verse.’ McLean looks at him: ‘It was my assignment!’ Blockley laughs: ‘Oh yeah, then we came up with the chanty chorus. If we can play this live and have everyone chant that, it’d be cool!’ McLean weighs in: ‘We changed the whole narrative of the story. It was originally about a fisherman. I wrote it about a friend as a joke, he loved his fishing (laughs). There were things that stuck, like the melody, but the chorus at the time wasn’t hooking us.’

Blockley agrees: ‘Now, it’s a random story about running away from home.’ McLean nods: ‘Our storytelling is often fictional so that it feels inclusive to everyone.’ I ask who the minivan on the artwork belongs to: ‘It belongs to a friend of ours from high school, we asked on Instagram if anyone had a van as our van doesn’t really have the right look (laughs), we were like: “Bro, can we use your van?”‘ Blockley interjects: ‘The minivan part of the song is clearly on the road, it’s got a road trip feel, a nice, homely feel.’ It does, you can almost feel the summer breeze wash over you and imagine yourself traversing the Australian landscape like they do in the accompanying video. The chorus is really anthemic as poppy guitar lines jostle up against Blockley’s warm vocals with the defiantly rebellious line: ”Cos when they wake up in the morning, they won’t notice we’re gone.”

As it kicks off: “Stole my mum’s minivan. We could be anything. Just another quiet night. And I left a note by my mum’s bedside. Stole my dad’s cigarettes. He won’t care, he’ll forget.”

‘We storyboarded a bunch of stuff, we wanted to get that old-fashioned 50’s vibe’

‘Scary Movies’, which they released as a single in March, is a jangly, shimmery, upbeat track whose title is a bit of a misnomer as the song is really about falling in love and how much fun it is, exploring the flurry of new love and the emotions tied up with that. As the track opens: “I broke my leg falling for you. I question everything I do. How did you fall right into my arms? ‘Cos I thought I was dumb, thought I had no charm.”

The music video for it finds them taking on the roles of legendary horror villains Dracula, Wolfman, The Invisible Man and Frankenstein: ‘It was very tedious to film,’ Blockley laughed. ‘We storyboarded a bunch of stuff, we wanted to get that old-fashioned 50’s vibe. The Invisible Man was the hardest one to do as he can’t actually be invisible, so we went down the wrapped up in bandages route. It was crazy, Tom got his make-up done – we had a make-up artist that day – when Harley was filming.’

McLean laughs: ‘It was more of an exchange, everyone was always doing something. If someone wasn’t in the make-up chair and filming, it felt wrong! We actually filmed it on Halloween. Halloween is expanded in our minds as children, the last one was the first time we didn’t do anything for it.’ Blockley jumps in: ‘Last time I dressed up, I dressed up in a movie accurate SpiderMan suit! We’d been listening to Dayglow, we reference him in the chorus. We were spitballing. The whole song is about my relationships and Harley’s relationships. That one line “scary movies” changed the course of the song. It was called “Date Night” originally, it’s cool to keep people wondering.’

‘Everyone has a similar understanding of Anakin Skywalker but the song itself is so ambiguous’

Songs can start out in the smallest ways, according to Blockley: ‘Often I mumble (laughs) and then we hear something in it and think we can make a song about that. A lot of the time, Harley will bring something to us. I don’t know how to form chords into a certain song but he does. Or Tom will do a beat that none of us can play!’ McLean agrees: ‘Harley has a John Lennon brain! There are times when Noah will contribute his own melodies, even lyrics. There’s a heavy contribution from everyone, we all spit out lines. Or sometimes we have a preconceived idea for a song, like with ‘Anakin’. Everyone has a similar understanding of Anakin Skywalker but the song itself is so ambiguous, there’s no real reference to that universe.’ Blockley agrees: ‘I remember saying: “Do we call it ‘Anakin’ and then have nothing else about it that’s Star Wars?!” It’s fun to trick people, if you really dive deep into Anakin’s story. Some people don’t know who Anakin is so they just love the song for what it is, which is super cool itself.’

If money were no object, Blockley says he would ‘100% get a ’71 Fender Music master bass’. McLean has other plans: ‘I actually already have my dream guitar – a Gibson Firebird – so at this point, I really just want to build up an inventory of guitars and then maybe I’ll find a new dream guitar along the way.’

Other tracks go back a long a way and are built around childhood stories, such as ‘Sadie’, which is essentially about a break up: ‘I had it happen to me,’ Blockley said, laughing. ‘I was always scared to talk to my girlfriend in primary school, I asked Asher to break up with her for me!’ As the track kicks off: “Sadie wanted me to tell you. She’s sick and tired of your bullshit. And she would just like for you to know. You don’t even know how to kiss.” McLean nods: ‘Sadie’ is more of a symbol than a person, it makes everyone feel inclusive.’ Blockley agrees: ‘It’s a strange concept (laughs). I wrote my first song when I was four (he starts to sing it): “I was a boy in a land, will you help me understand…” If you ever walk in my house and you don’t hear music, you have to worry my mum has gone missing (laughs). I walked in the other day and the music was on but she wasn’t even there!’

‘As a band, we came together listening to The Beatles, we fell in love’

McLean nods: ‘Noah is the outlier, none of the rest of us come from musical backgrounds.’ Blockley interjects: ‘My dad tour manages us, he was in a band called Trevor, he did pub gigs. I’d listen to Green Day in the car with my dad. And Etta James, Stevie Wonder, Paramore. The Twilight soundtrack, that was on the other day. As a band, we came together listening to The Beatles, we fell in love.’ McLean weighs in: ‘I grew up listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers and Eric Clapton. I played the trumpet in school.’ They are also fans of Australian rock bands Spacey Jane, Pacific Avenue and Teenage Dads. ‘We’re also fans of INXS, we used to cover ’Never Tear Us Apart’,’ McLean said.

They have also supported brilliant Sydney rock band Lime Cordiale, which Blockley describes as ‘so, so sick’: ‘I remember the email we got from them, we freaked out!’ McLean agrees: ‘It was one of our dreams to support them. In year nine, we hopped on the train and went to see them at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney. We cover them sometimes. Over the years. we’ve played ’Temper Temper’, ‘Inappropriate Behaviour’, ‘Robbery’ and ‘Dirt Cheap’.’ Their connection with the band has grown into something really special: ‘They invited us to hang out and listen to the Hot 100 together,’ Blockley said.

Their dream line up would be brilliantly raucous: ‘I think definitely The Beatles,’ McLean said. ‘Also Coldplay, Paramore, Sam Fender and Foo Fighters with Taylor Hawkins, The Technicolors, Queen (the original lineup), Led Zepplin and Jimi Hendrix.’

If they could go for a pint with anyone, Blockley picks John Lennon: ‘I want to know what it was like in The Beatles, how they wrote such good songs. I’d want to do a deep dive of how John and Paul would work together, getting to know how their minds worked together to create one masterpiece.’ McLean has other ideas: ‘I’d want to talk to Eric Johnson (an American guitarist) about guitar. I used to listen to Tommy Emmanuel (an Australian acoustic guitar player) a lot. Any guitarist who is capable of letting the guitar sing, they’re who I want to learn from.’ Blockley looks at him: ‘Singing is pretty important!’ McLean laughs: ‘I’d want to ask Eric Johnson: “Why a Stratocaster?” He does these insane chord improvs. I want to know about pedals and hybrid pickups. I’d have so many questions, I’d probably annoy him within 10 minutes!’

(Photo from left to right: Asher, Harley, Tom and Noah.)