This week: Roshambeaux at WorkPlay

Roshambeaux will perform at WorkPlay November 13th. Roshambeaux is a duo comprised of Kyle Iconic and J Chastain. Five years ago, the two musicians met at a festival while J was touring with another band. During the festival, Kyle sat in for a sick drummer and after the show Kyle pulled J aside. The band took shape soon after that, writing recording, and now on tour.

Macey Sims: You’re from Chicago originally, how did you end up in Atlanta?
Roshambeaux: Kyle grew up in Wisconsin and moved down to Georgia to work in a recording studio and started playing with local bands. J already lived in Georgia and we met at a festival in North Georgia about five years ago.

MS: What is the significance of the name Roshambeaux?
RX: It just means rock, paper, scissors – it is anything you make up to settle an argument or disagreement. We actually play roshambeaux to figure out what song we are going to play if we are at a disagreement.

MS: Do you write your own songs?
RX: We write all our own songs. When it comes to writing our songs, it is pretty equal in the writing process. Typically one of us will come up with a line and then the other will add a line after it and we go and bounce off each other. This is something that we think is really interesting about our band, both of us contribute to every one of our songs so they end up having both of our expressions.

MS: Who are your musical influences?
RX: We have a lot of musical influences. R&B, old school gospel, punk, alternative rock, as long as it is good we will pull inspiration from it. We also pull from Vanilla Ice, Kris Kross, MC Hammer, Marilyn Manson, and this is where you can hear the industrial tones in our music.

MS: How do you describe your music to people?
RX: Rock electronic Motown – rock band. We use different tools than other rock bands to get electronic. When we create a song we want to make sure we go back to our roots, the guitar and drums. We are trying to roll with technology to create more electronica, while also using the guitar and drums. We are moving away from genre-based songs.

MS: What are your immediate music career goals?
RX: It is about people hearing our music; we want as many people to hear our music. We want to help people enjoy and feel the music; we want them to come out and enjoy. If that happens, then we are satisfied.

MS: Do you have a favorite lyric from one of your songs?
RX: The way we write, a lot of times we will say a line and the other will shoot one right back. Because we write this way, neither of us truly have a favorite line. On our new album, there is a line ‘love is just another way to die’ that Kyle came up with. J commented that this line, “truly hit home for me. It is the human experience and it makes me wonder why we do not do life while loving people. Life is about meeting people and loving them the best you can.”

MS: Your upcoming album in a few words:
RX: It is going to be harder, sicker, and girthier. It is still rock album with guitar and drums, but we are expanding to different instruments, for more of an electronic push.

MS: In Birmingham, we have a really great food culture. If your music was perfectly paired with a delicious meal and cocktail, what would be on the menu?
RX: Vodka tonic chasing a turkey wrap with some salsa on the side. It is simple and it isn’t extremely popular, but it is recognizable and not cliché.

MS: If you want your fans to know one thing about y’all, what would that be?
RX: That we are nerds and we are not as cool as we look in our photos. We are just trying to help others deal with life. We want people to come and let it loose with us. Music is therapeutic and it is necessary to be around.

MS: What can Birmingham expect with your upcoming show?
RX: We know it will look really good. We talked to the technical manager last week and we will boost the light show. We will feature a lot of tracks in the show from the new album that will be out next summer.

MS: What has been your most memorable moment in your music career?
RX: We cannot pinpoint one moment, the moments come with each new experience. The most recent really cool moment was opening for Everclear Tuesday, November 3.

Roshambeaux will perform at WorkPlay November 13 with Every Day but Friday. Tickets are available here. The show starts at 8 p.m.

WorkPlay is located at 500 23rd St. S, Birmingham, AL 35233.