The Run Up are gearing up for the release of their second EP, ‘Scared Of Everything’. Putting their money firmly where their mouth is, the band are giving all proceeds from the release to support refugees in northern France. The band plan to purchase food and shelter, and to deliver these directly themselves.
“Whilst what we propose may only be a small tap (not even a scratch) we hope that this inspires others to take action,” the band explain their motives. “For the sake of humanity we need to move past the artificial borders erected by our governments together with finding peaceful solutions as opposed to the needless and on-going conflicts.”
‘Feels Like Yesterday’, the lead track from the EP, has been streaming online for a while, but the band have now unveiled the accompanying video. Fans can donate to The Run Up now, with the EP ready for download from the 8th December 2015.
Not only that, we have teamed up with label Paper + Plastick to offer a lucky reader who downloads the EP and tweets @punktastic with #NOBORDERSPT any record from the P+P EU store. You must have a UK address, and the competition will close on the 8th December 2015.
Head over to Paper + Plastick to pre-order a copy of the record and to donate, and check out our interview with The Run Up about the project after the exclusive video.
Introduce us to the Run Up and tell us your influences.
Nick Pugh (guitar): We’re a five piece punk rock band from Bristol/Birmingham, consisting of Larry (vocals), Rob (drums), Mark (guitar), Dan (bass) and myself Nick (guitar). Me and Dan started the band after I replied to an ad he’d posted online, without knowing he was my old neighbor that I hadn’t seen for 10 years! We were then joined by Larry and Rob, and finally Mark, who was in a previous band with Dan.
We’ve all been in various bands over the years and bring a whole host of different influences into our music – I guess the most immediate influences present in our sound comes from our love of catchy & passionate punk rock; bands like Iron Chic, Red City Radio, Bear Trade, Leatherface the list goes on.
Tell us about the video we’re streaming today. Who recorded it and what’s the song about?
Rob Perry (drums): The video for ‘Feels Like Yesterday’ is something that Dan (bass) put together. Of course, we operate on a shoestring and we’re fortunate to have Dan’s abilities in this area (because he can’t play bass, that’s for sure). He did a great job! It’s a pretty straight forward, “this is us” kind of affair. I think it captures the fun of being in a new band with mates and releasing something new.
The song itself was lyrically sculptured by our wizard frontman, Larry, so i’ll take a quote from him here: “That song is about how lucky we are that (sometimes) people will put our band on, feed us and (for me, anyway) playing in bands and putting on shows can help you meet awesome people. You may not see them regularly but I feel so privileged to be able to go and play places and hang out with ace people,” (even though nobody likes him).
You’re donating 100% of the proceeds. Tell us about the cause and why you chose that.
Nick: All proceeds from this record will be donated towards providing aid and assistance to refugee/migrant living-conditions in Northern France. Our aim is to source and deliver this aid (food and shelter) in person early next year, and we’re working with some really amazing organisations to make it happen.
Migration seems to be one of the most polarising topics in recent memory, and regardless of your own personal views there are men, women and children living in awful conditions and an ever increasing sense of despair across the channel (geographically on our doorstep).
It’s ridiculous, there’s so much messed up stuff happening in the world right now, that it’s almost easy to become numb to everything. We don’t class ourselves as a political band, and we wouldn’t want to preach to anyone, but this crisis is hard to ignore and as we’ve got a chance to (hopefully) raise a little bit of money, it seemed daft not to try to help in whatever small way we can. If it prompts anyone else to do the same, then that’s an equally welcome bonus. We’re under no illusions that our effort will change the world. We’re not Bono.
How has the reception been to the EP so far?
Rob: It’s been really positive! We put this EP out there to give back what other bands have given us over the years, good music as a backdrop to good times with good friends and good beer. I don’t think we had any real expectations, which I guess is the beauty of starting out in a new band and making music for the love of it, but the response from friends and other bands has been genuinely amazing. We’re really proud of the tracks on ‘Scared of Everything’, I think that comes across when we play live and the reception there always seems really positive too. So far, so good!
What’s next for The Run Up in 2016?
Nick: We’ve spent so much time working on this EP (it’s almost entirely self recorded), that we can’t wait to release it and get out on the road – we want to play as many shows as possible. There’s such an awesome punk scene in the UK right now, it feels like a great thing to a part of. Having said that, we’ve already got plenty of new songs on the horizon, so expect new recordings too. And of course, heading across the channel to deliver the proceeds of this EP.