Some bands make music to fit neatly into a genre. Rubbish Party seem far more interested in tearing the box apart and setting fire to whatever is left. Moving between punk, indie rock, synth-rock, poetry and deliberately chaotic storytelling, the U.K., German and U.S. collective have built an identity that thrives on contradiction, dark humor and an unapologetic refusal to take the expected route.
Their album Culinary Vendetta pushed that attitude to an outrageous extreme, turning punk rock into a theatrical world of absurdity and provocation. Its bonus track “Please Stay” offers another glimpse into the band’s creative universe, while their 100,000-plus streamed project Love and Decay showed that their willingness to experiment could connect with a much wider audience. Now, with another album in the works, Rubbish Party are preparing to bring together the manic energy of their earlier material with the atmospheric edge of their newer work.
We caught up with guitarist J. Edwin Galloway to talk about the story behind “Please Stay,” the band’s unconventional creative process, their transatlantic chemistry, the influence of poetry and performance, and why Rubbish Party have no intention of sounding like everyone else.
“Please Stay” appears as a Culinary Vendetta bonus track, connecting it to an album that deliberately pushed punk rock into an exaggerated, chaotic, and provocative conceptual world. What made “Please Stay” the right song to revisit as a bonus track, and does it reveal a different side of the band than the main album?
Ello mate, J. Edwin Galloway hit guitarist of Rubbish Party here. Honestly, we just forgot to release it with the rest of the album at that time. We were busy pushing the boundaries to fully grasp the tangible. Now that we’ve fallen in love with the fame and our current record is well behind schedule we figured we drop this for you lot to chew on. Enjoy yourselves, pumpkins.
Culinary Vendetta was built around the deliberately outrageous concept of a punk-rock cannibal story. How important is the use of absurdity, dark humor, and theatrical storytelling to the way Rubbish Party communicates serious ideas?
Gen Z is through with niceties. We want something raw. Like a Christmas hen before cooking. And culinary vendetta is exactly that- raw, sexy, quietly pulsating in a dark room sweat glistening on a leather sofa- full bondage. And it’s as serious as a toothache. Always get those checked, love.
Rubbish Party describes itself as a band that refuses to be boxed in, yet the transition from Culinary Vendetta to the indie synth-rock of Love and Decay represents a significant stylistic evolution. What triggered that change, and did you feel you were taking a creative risk at the time?
We were skint. That’s what triggered it. The plug weren’t hooking us up no more. So we made some synth pop record and now we’re higher than a lightning bolt before it touches ground- SEEEEEEP!
Your music seems to exist somewhere between indie rock, punk, synth-rock, poetry, and experimental chaos. Do you think genre labels ultimately help an artist communicate their identity, or can they become limitations?
I don’t believe in labels. Dastardly things those.
Evan Zorn Von Berg’s background as a lyricist, poet, and “rogue philosopher” is central to Rubbish Party’s identity. How does the literary side of your creativity influence the way you write lyrics and construct the worlds surrounding your songs?
Evan approached me and he was like “mate I fell asleep in the 7th century and woke up here.” I was like holy shit that’s mental. But i gotta work with this bloke. His mastery of the bardic verse puts Shakespeare to shame. A little politically incorrect but what do you expect- 7th century was a different place, love.
With Love and Decay surpassing 100,000 streams, the project clearly connected with a substantial audience. Did that response change your ambitions for Rubbish Party, or did it simply reinforce the belief that you should continue doing things your own way?
That was our sell out record so we weren’t surprised. We bloody did it on purpose. Ambitions have always been sky high. I reckon we’re better than Oasis and the Beatles combined. Run and tell that fam.
Rubbish Party is a genuinely transatlantic collaboration involving musicians from the U.K., Germany, and the United States. How does having artists from different cultural and musical backgrounds affect the chemistry and unpredictability of the band?
Music transcends all cultural barriers. Love. Peace. Tranquility. Sex. These are languages everyone speaks. That’s what Rubbish Party is all about
The lineup includes musicians with extensive performance histories, including Dread Phantom, who has reportedly toured with more than 28 bands. How does that accumulated experience influence the way Rubbish Party approaches recording, performance, and experimentation?
Danny Phantom’s stage craft goes beyond musicianship. His ability to levitate as well as manipulate the space time continuum is also of key importance. In Glasgow he hovered a staggering 16 feet above the crowd.
You are preparing another album for later this year. After moving from the manic punk world of Culinary Vendetta into the more atmospheric territory of Love and Decay, where does the new album take Rubbish Party next?
We’ve been preparing this album since the Jurassic era. And it’s set to feature a blend of both styles. Really excited for it. Only thing I’m excited for in life Really. Where does it take us? Only the dark lord knows.
At a time when many independent artists are encouraged to make their music more predictable and easily marketable, Rubbish Party seems committed to doing the opposite. What do you believe artists risk losing when they become too concerned with fitting into an established version of what indie rock is supposed to sound like?
Imma always do me fam. The risks are manifest right now. Turn on any radio station. All sounds the same. It’s awful, derrivative tripe. But rubbish party we always do us in the studio. Put it all on my city fam all on my city.Nuneaton REPRESENT
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