Meet The Rions: the indie band from down under who are only heading up
The Rions. Image credit: Unified Music Group
‘‘Thank you, thank you, thank you! We can’t wait to be back.’
‘They look like a band’ I nodded to my friend, as four young men strolled into a pub in Sydney.
‘They are. They’re called The Rions. They come in all the time. They’re actually really good.’
‘Oh!’ I laughed, and on the way home I listened to a couple of the then-six tracks they’d released. That was in early 2023. A month or two later, they’d release their next single, ‘Scary Movies’.
That song now has close to 12 million streams on Spotify.
Sometimes a band’s presence precedes their sound – and the music follows. Such is the case for The Rions, who have since released their debut album, ‘Everything Every Single Day’ last October, which debuted on the Australian albums chart at Number 1.
…Turns out they are actually really good.
The band’s Aussie following grows by the day, and not far behind is their global reach, which has just taken the band on a world tour across New Zealand, Europe and the UK after extensive home turf touring, extending their setlist with tracks from last month’s deluxe edition release.
The Rions are Noah Blockley (lead vocals, bass), Harley Wilson (guitar, keys), Asher McLean (guitar), and Tom Partington (drums). TOPNOTE saw their final headline show of the tour at Islington’s Assembly Hall – you can find our photos and review of the night in our gig gallery.
We briefly caught up with the band about their latest trip over, new songs off the deluxe release, and a refreshed appreciation for The Beatles – though their dynamic live cover of ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’ already makes clear of that. The Rions are building up a ground swell, and it’s no surprise that so much of London’s Aussie population rocked up to see them… they won’t stay Australia’s best kept secret for long.
The Rions recently performed at Islington Assembly Hall. Head to the gig gallery on TOPNOTE for more live photos. Image credit: Bethany Cordery
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Interviewer: Welcome to Europe! How’s the jetlag? You’ve been to the UK before, so what have you been looking forward to coming back to or trying out for the first time?
Thank you! Jet lag is well and truly handled by this point. We made sure not to go to sleep at 8:00 pm like we did the last time we were here, which ended up meaning waking up at 4:00 am in a cold sweat. I think we were all excited to see more of Germany, and just Europe in general to be honest. It’s breathtaking.
Who’s your favourite British musician?
We’ve all been in love with The Beatles for years now, an ever-giving symbol of inspiration to us and our music.
Now to move onto your music… how would you describe your sound?
It’s honestly very hard to say, a lot of people describe it as indie rock, or indie pop. We’ve never really known to be honest, we just make what we want to make. I think we try to keep it earnest, and it usually ends up sounding pretty reflective of us as music fans.
You’ve just released the deluxe version of ‘Everything Every Single Day’. It seems like the sound has developed slightly from the original, even though the themes are similar. Were these songs you wrote in the same era as your debut album, or have they come to life since?
Some were written right from the beginning, but most of it was quite recent in terms of when the rest of the album was written. A lot of it was written in continuation of songs on the debut, so in some ways it’s a part two, that’s probably why it sounds differently developed.
“A lot of people describe it as indie rock, or indie pop. We’ve never really known to be honest, we just make what we want to make.”
What’s the song you’re each most proud of, or that most represents The Rions where you’re at right now?
Harley: They’re all so different to me that it’s hard for any one to represent our current state, either MIJAF [‘Maybe I’m Just A Freak’] or ‘Maybe it’s Everything’.
Tom: ‘I Don’t Know You’.
Noah: I would say ‘Cry’. The way we were able to formulate a song with such a real and present topic in today’s world, to the point that made even men come to us at our shows and say “thank you for writing that, it means a lot!” Makes me think that it’s a song that needed to be written and talked about!
Asher: It’s so difficult to choose, as each song feels like our children. But if I had to choose, I’d say ‘Cry’.
Your deluxe album features ‘How To Breathe’ with Matt Corby. How did that collaboration & track come about?
Matt Corby is good friends with the producer of the album, Chris Collins. I think it was suggested he poke his head in to see what we were up to with no strings attached, and we ended up writing that whole song that day.
I also want to mention ‘Idol’. Is that a hint of The 1975 influence we’re hearing? It has that euphoric 80s sound, what made you choose it as your deluxe album single?
That’s a big compliment, so thank you. I think it stuck its neck out in an ear-catching way, and didn’t reveal too much about the deluxe as a whole, so it felt like the right choice.
What do you want to say to your UK fans coming to the London show?
Thank you, thank you, thank you! We can’t wait to be back 🫶🫶
The Rions spoke to TOPNOTE along the final stop of their global tour ‘Everywhere Every Single Day Tour’ Image credit: Unified Music Group