I’ve been following the superbly awesome rock band rumHoney for a little over a year now, I first heard about them when an exceptionally talented drummer who plays in a couple of other bands that I follow, Niol Sweeney, joined up with them and told me that he believed I would really like their sound.
So I got myself down to one of their gigs and was incredibly impressed with all that I saw and heard. Front man Sky Wood is everything a front man should be; charismatic, energetic, enigmatic and captivating. Even before I knew that rumHoney cited Aerosmith as one of their influences, watching Sky immediately reminded me of Steven Tyler’s adrenalin-fueled performances!
As a unit, they are incredibly tight and their performances are always exceptionally engaging. It’s not just their loyal fans who can be seen singing along, dancing and generally having an amazing time, they seem to have an uncanny knack of demanding the attention of anyone within earshot. In fact, I’ve often noticed staff at venues that they have played singing along without realizing it and picking up themselves a copy of the band’s EP after the show.
The origins of rumHoney go back to 2001 when guitarist Jaime Blake and singer Sky Wood started writing some songs together. They took their material into the studio and were pleased with the results. After that, they set about forming the rumHoney band and playing their songs to a live audience.
By 2006 rumHoney had toured their music throughout the UK and several locations in Europe including France, Italy and Spain. In January of 2008 rumHoney hit the road again, what was supposed to be a 2 week mini-tour of the Italian Alps somehow metamorphosized into something very different. 4 months and more than 100 gigs later, rumHoney returned to their native UK with a faint grasp of the Italian language and a growing desire to record the new songs that they had been inspired to write whilst on the road!
They began recording the album ‘East to West’ in June of 2008, paying for the studio costs by relentlessly gigging across the UK as well as organizing several other trips to Italy, Germany and Spain. The album was completed late in 2011 and has sold well at gigs and on iTunes. iTunes reviewers described ‘East to West’ as “simply brilliant”, “the buy of the decade” and “phenomenal.”
In a review that I feel really captures the essence of what rumHoney are about, WitsMk2 who was purchased the album after stumbling across a live rumHoney performance said;
“I bought this album after seeing the band in a London bar and I can honestly say the energy, emotion and talent of the live shows transfers fantastically into the recordings. The band definitely has their roots in rock but there are some elements of funk and blues that add a sophistication and depth that your average manufactured pop-chart singles sorely lack.”
Over the years, Sky Wood and Jaime Blake have had a few different bass players, drummers and guitarists join them in the rumHoney project, but currently they are joined by Noel Martin on guitar, Dominic Giannetta on bass and Niol Sweeney on drums.
For rumHoney, their music is a celebration of their roots, of the music they grew up listening to; the rock’n’roll legends like Aerosmith, The Black Crowes and the Rolling Stones. But it is also about developing their own sound and using it to engage their audience. rumHoney are one band, who more than anything, enjoy playing live. They just love putting on unforgettable, energetic performances for new fans and their loyal followers and this passion for performance really shines through at their gigs. You can’t go to a rumHoney gig and not enjoy it, it’s just not how these things work!
rumHoney are currently working on getting their next album recording, during which time they will be relentlessly gigging on the London circuit and they also have another European tour planned for 2013!
You can follow rumHoney’s progress on their Facebook and Twitter pages.
About Sheniz Raif