New Rules, the London-based trio, established in April 2019 have had an explosive debut a few years ago and are continuing on an upward trajectory. Within the first several months of even being a band, crazy opportunities such as supporting the insanely talented Julia Michaels on her Inner Monologue Tour across the UK as well as being the support of industry staple Little Mix on their LM5 tour allowed them to introduce themselves to a wider audience. Being surrounded by artists of that calibre during their very early days has allowed the talented young band to quickly learn the top tricks of touring, to see “what their day to day life is like on the road” and also to play some of the most iconic venues in the UK and Ireland, which for any artist is a massive deal, but especially when only setting out.
Pausing for a moment of reflection, Ryan Meaney exclaims, “To be on a tour with Julia who we’re such a big fan of and then Little Mix who have been absolutely killing it for the past 10 years was truly amazing.” Due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, the arts industry as a whole has been halted, with the beauty of live performances not being allowed to take place since March 2020, only making a return just now. Taking a few moments to debate what colour best represents that magical feeling of being on the stage, McGarry expresses “It’s all kinds of colours, ‘Happy Ever After You’ feels kind of yellow for example but the stage is just our favourite place to be.” The three-piece are scheduled to embark on their third headline tour this November, playing the almighty O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire and the stunning Olympia Theatre to just name a few venues. Looking ahead with the hope of being back on the stage, Meaney states “People singing our lyrics back is so special and it especially was on the last tour. Dublin and Glasgow were so loud… it was a bit of a goosebumps moment. We can’t wait to get back to it.”
From playing headline shows in Mexico and the Philippines to hitting one million followers on TikTok, the past two years have been filled with so many extraordinary achievements for the trio who are taking the world by storm. “Other than maybe two months during the first lockdown, we’ve been together the whole time, living together, touring together, everything, so this is going to sound really soppy but we really have gone from being three people who didn’t really know each other at all to brothers.” Despite the whirlwind of 2019, it was actually July 2020, when the band got back together a few months into lockdown, that in Alec McGarry’s eyes felt like the defining moment for New Rules: “We did a lot in a short amount of time and in that time we weren’t given a lot of freedom to figure out who we were exactly so when we had four months to decompress, I felt like we really found out who we wanted to be and where we wanted to go with this.”
Having spent time developing their recording skills and getting more creative due to the closures of recording studios throughout the pandemic, McGarry explains “We’re all so impatient to be able to go upstairs and get down what we want to and create when we’re inspired has been so amazing.” Learning how to record demos and improve their songwriting skills has been a highly gratifying process for the group. Ryan Meaney explains, “It’s been so rewarding to listen back to some of our earlier demos lately which sound pretty terrible and then to listen to our newer ones which have come on so much. We’ll probably think the same about our current ones in a year’s time but tracking the progress has been pretty rewarding!”
We can run a studio out of Barbados as well, But this is after the stadium tour, right?”
– Ryan Meany
Reflecting on their journey of very quick growth to date and the lessons they’ve learnt along the way, made them collectively answer, “We need to eat well on tour and sleep a lot more when we can. Next time we tour, we’re going to spend a lot more attention on getting that right,”, alongside McGarry’s chuckles as he adds, “You don’t need to tweet everything you think.” Meaney, Lambert and McGarry have been renowned amongst their fan base for some well… interesting, potentially unconventional but hilarious tweets along the way, with their social media presence growing by the day and their personal, almost friend-like interactions with their fans being truly special and recognisable. For example, New Rules hosted a weekly Instagram live that was named “Fizzy Friday” all through the pandemic’s lockdowns that gave many an hour’s escape from the scary and challenging times we’ve been living through. Each week, they guested a few fans talking through the highlights of their week, spreading immense positivity to their community and further demonstrating the personal and magical relationships the band have established with their fans. “Be sound to people, you notice when people make the effort and are really nice to you. I think a lot of writers and people that we’ve worked with and are the nicest ones end up doing the best and it’s definitely linked,”, continues Meaney, a piece of advice that is so true as “manners cost nothing,”, and a little bit of kindness genuinely goes a long way.
Dreaming of their long bucket lists and sunny Barbados beaches, “I want to open a beach bar,”, Lambert expresses, with Meaney quickly adding, “We can run a studio out in Barbados as well but this is after the stadium tour right?” chuckling at their ambitions which at the rate they’re growing may one day come true. “We absolutely love what we’re doing and are very passionate about what we do and we are all very passionate and want to be the best at it so we want to get as far as we can go and get to the top,”, the band claims to demonstrate that despite all of the successes the band have acquired to date, this is veritably only the beginning for the very talented trio.
“New New Rules” concludes the group, with tones of exhilaration, hope and suspense arising, hinting that there are many big changes and preparations currently being undertaken for their next era. Moreover, with plenty of projects in the works, an evergrowing fan base craving what’s next for this promising group and the time during lockdown for their journey of authentic self-discovery and growth in their sound, the three lads are working hard to deliver and stay true to themselves and it’s safe to say they have an extremely exciting road ahead.
Follow New Rules on Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
Written by: Issy Todd // Photo Credit: Theo Batterham
GEM Magazine 