64 Big Cheese ROLO TOMASSI youngest band members into the venues where they perform, the group still emanates a youthful appearance—from their petite leading lady to their gangly guitarists. Bass player Joseph shrugs, saying: “It’s one of those things where we have to turn negatives into positives, and while some people might pigeonhole us as a young band, when we’re the youngest band on the bill, people are going to remember our band over another generic band they saw whose members are all a similar age.” Joseph also points out that in the time Rolo Tomassi has been together, they have accomplished more than many older bands ever manage during the life of their group. Not yet jaded and certainly not lacking enthusiasm for their work, Rolo Tomassi may have turned a potential handicap into an advantage. With the heavy touring schedule that the band has been churning through this spring and more dates planned for the summer, excitement and energy are the legs that will carry Rolo Tomassi through the season. In the past, they have taken on audiences at Download Festival, SXSW, and the Underage Festival, and this past February, they warmed up with the Soundwave Festival in Australia. Similar to their recording session in LA, James called the experience “this amazing holiday where we played gigs every now and again.” The group appreciates that the festival scene offers a unique on-stage challenge for the band to hold an audience while two or three other acts compete for people’s attention in neighbouring fields. It also that it gives bands a rare chance to socialize with each other. Joe explains avidly, “Music festivals are kind of like summer camp for bands. You catch up with all your friends and hang out and drink.” In ‘Cosmology’, fans can expect to hear about the self-assessments and reflective questions that rose out of Rolo Tomassi’s time on the road since releasing their debut album two years ago. Eva concurs, “With our first album, we were writing about everything that had affected us to that point, and then we had another eighteen months for the lyrics for the new album to take place. A lot of that was spent on tour and a lot of it was to do with the band.” As the band’s sound continues to mature and their notoriety spreads, the band hopes that the focus will continue to sharpen on the band’s talent, and not their age, appearance, or, in Eva’s case, size. “I don’t think it has anything to do with the music that we’re making and I certainly don’t think it was something we planned to happen with the band. I’d rather have the response be about something else than just me being a small girl who screams.” ‘Cosmology’ is out now on Hassle Words/Photo: Jen Gallagher/Hannah Thomas WHEN DESCRIBING Rolo Tomassi’s latest recording endeavour, it sounds more like a lopsided riddle than just another standard itinerary of gruelling studio sessions. What happens when you transpose four fair-haired boys and one petite pixie blonde from their native Sheffield environment to the warm and sunny, flowers-on-the-freeway shores of Southern California? Obviously, they produce a raging album of scream music that has been described along a sliding scale as anything from experimental rock to mathcore. Five years older and five years wiser than when they first formed, Rolo Tomassi have released their sophomore album, ‘Cosmology’, proving that they are more than just another match-strike band—their flame only intensifies in their new work. Not to mention, this time around on tour, they’re finally all of legal age. “We’re better at writing songs together,” says guitarist Joe, not to be confused with bass guitarist Joseph: “We’ve been in this band for five years now, and we did the first album in 2008, and we still weren’t really sure how to put together an album properly.” ‘Cosmology’ has taken the band’s sound to the next rung of progressive hardcore music. “It sounds a lot bigger, a lot more structured, more interesting without confusing or losing the listener’s attention,” Joe explains, gesturing as though he’s moulding the album out of the thin air over his lap. The recent breezy recording sessions were partly due to the maintenance of a newfound confidence that everyone will deliver on his or her own parts if only allowed to work freely. “I think we were just really, really prepared for it in the end,” says vocalist and synth player James: “Every one of us did our bit.” Piled onto a small couch and a couple wiry chairs in a hiccup-sized studio changing room, the band members are as at ease with each other as a nest of Spaniel puppies. They agree unanimously that putting ‘Cosmology’ together was notably easier than recording ‘Hysterics’ had been. For a group that has spent most of their lives in the soggy heartlands of the UK, Rolo Tomassi thrived in bright and smiley Los Angeles. “We were talking to people from home, telling them ‘Oh, we’ve done this and done this and done this’ and they’d be like, ‘Have you recorded the record yet?’” James laughs: “Our manager was getting really worried.” With Diplo on board to produce the new album and prior experience informing their efforts, the recording sessions for ‘Cosmology’ progressed smoother and more naturally this time around. “We all said that we felt like we just had a holiday and that at the end of it this album kind of just appeared,” says Joe. James is quick to add that the band worked incredibly hard on the new album, as evidenced by the glossy final product. Eva, still faintly glowing with perspiration from the high wattage photo shoot completed moments before the interview, chimes in heavily, “The days were really, really long.” As most young bands do, Rolo Tomassi faced extra hurdles due to the fact that they were so young when their band began touring. Though they no longer have to worry about facing difficulty getting their Big Cheese 65 Preparing to release their sophomore album, Sheffield’s ROLO TOMASSI talk ‘Cosmology’...