Reliant K
By: Lauren Napier

Reliant K, a band named after a Plymouth car from the 80's, is a much more serious band than the name might imply. They have shared staged with such pop-punk bands as New Found Glory and Good Charlotte. An Ohio group, Reliant K releases album after album of rock n roll riffs and pop hooks that snag them many fans. They even find the time throw a little harmony in there. Dave was kind enough to take the time to do an interview with SMASH and here it is!

Smash Magazine: What’s the basis for the band’s name?

Dave: The band’s name actually just comes from that really crappy economy car in the 80’s.

SM: How did you get together?

Dave: A couple of the guys grew up together and they had known each other for a long time and I went to college in the town that they’re from. So Reliant K was actually a local band and I was in a local band at the time. We ended up playing a lot of the same places. We became friends and I got to know the guys that way.

SM: Could you describe the song writing process?

Dave: Matt is sort of the mastermind behind that. Basically he just comes up with his ideas and lyrics and whatnot and has a rough idea of the song and the basic structure of it - the chord structure. Then we all get together and run through it and make little tweaks and changes. It takes the course of a couple months usually by the time it’s all finalized. Matt does about 90 percent of it really.

SM: Who/What are your major influences?

Dave: Oh man, the influences list is huge. Pretty much about every kind of pop-punk band that you can think of has some influence. Some of the more interesting influences are things like the beach boys. So we do a lot, well we try to do a lot, of harmony and kind of use some little percussion things. Even things like Ben Folds and things that have kind of piano to them as well. And that’s coming through more and more on each record.

SM: What genre would you label your band as?

Dave: Genre...well, if I had to I’d just say it was rock ‘n Roll and it had some pop punk influence in it. But I kind of stay away from getting too specific. I don’t know - no one really likes to pigeonhole themselves into a category, so I like to just think of it as Rock n Roll.

SM: What political issues most concern you?

Dave: Personally...We’re getting into politics - is this a good thing? I follow politics at leas somewhat, so any of the current issues. Especially foreign policy right now with everything that’s going on. As well as just some ethical issues, I don’t really want to get terribly specific right now.
SM: What occupies your time besides music?

Dave: I don’t know...I do a lot of music. I hang out with my wife a lot. There’s that. I enjoy playing a few Playstation games form time to time. Other than that, it’s mostly music in many different facets. Beyond reliant K, I’m really just a fan of music. And personally I work on a bunch of my own stuff - I have my own home studio.

SM: What is you favorite song out of your material and why?

Dave: I think right now, even though it always changes from album to album as we write new stuff, one of my favorites is “I So Hate Consequences”. I think one of the reasons is just because the energy level of it is just super high energy. It’s just a lot fun to play and I get to sing a bit more on that one than I do on the other stuff.

SM: What is in your CD player right now?

Dave: Today I was listening to Sleeping at Last. Let’s see what else have I been listening to recently. I’ve been really just browsing around on the iTunes music store the last couple days and been finding all these random bands that I haven’t heard from in years. So I’ve been sampling all this really old music and it’s half serious, half laughing about the things I used to listen to. I’ve been listening to LetterKills lately. It’s kind of post-punk mixed with like Guns N Roses or something. I’ve been listening to The Living End - kind of rockabilly, they’re from Australia. It’s pretty rockin’.

SM: What is your biggest regret?

Dave: I got one. It’s kind of a sticky one because one of my biggest regrets is not finishing college (Commercial Music Technology @ Malone College). I’m 12 credits away from finished, but the reason I didn’t finish is because I had to make the choice to either finish school or join Reliant K. So I joined the band and I don’t regret that, however, I do regret not being able to finish school. that's kind of a multi part answer

SM: Any last comments?

Dave: Our next project...I know that in a couple days we are actually going into the studio to record one cover song for a comp called Punk Goes 80’s. We’re doing Manic Monday. That should be fun. I’m not really sure when that comp should be coming out though.