Interview With Eastern Oklahoma’s, Reliance Code
Sticking to their roots has paid off for Alternative Rock Band Reliance Code, landing them opportunities at Blue Ridge Festival, Rocklahoma, & support slots with acts like HELLYEAH & Texas Hippie Coalition.
At the end of 2014 lead-singer, Todd Falconer and bassist Josh Roach founded RC, but didn’t step onto the stage until summer 2016. Before their live appearances, the rock band premiered their single “Come Alive,” in 2015, quickly following up with a 4 song EP, snowballing growth at a different level.
RC quickly found themselves on Arkansas’ The Fort 94.5, named April “Band of the Month” by Krave Radio, & landed the 5 piece with Grammy-nominated and multi-award winning producer Alex Gerst. During their time with Alex, Reliance Code would complete their first full album, “Finding Your Way Out.”
The album speaks about important topics like overcoming addiction, dealing with heartache, learning to live in the moment, and making the most out of life. Co-founder and bass player Josh Roach was nice enough to talk about his experiences so far with the band and album “Finding Your Way Out” in an interview.
Check it out Below!
What’s up Reliance Code! So for those who don’t #knowthecode yet, can you tell us what Reliance Code is all about?
We all have to rely on each other to perform, it takes all 5 of us doing what we love. But we all have to be there, be on time, be sober, be accountable, and be reliable. That’s the code that we live by.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVT5fIBasK4
How does an Alternative Band from Eastern Oklahoma get hooked up with a Grammy-nominated and multi-award winning producer Alex Gerst?!
That took a lot of internet searching and digging around, Todd had nerded out and found that he’d recorded an earlier album from Nothing More and also Seasons After. So we just reached out, sent him some recordings that we’d gotten from a different Studio. We weren’t happy with the quality of those so we just scrapped it. But Alex could see the potential that was there so he agreed to work with us.
Where does the inspiration for the music come from on your album “Finding Your Way Out?”
Just life experiences, our vocalist Todd battled drug addiction and trouble with the police, luckily he overcame all that. He’s now clean and sober, but those battles, fighting those demons, that’s what the album is all about. It’s about Finding Your Way Out of that darkness and into the light of living right and making a positive impact on society. Dirty Girl was about when he first met his wife, Come Alive is just small town living, having fun, partying and honestly getting wasted.
https://open.spotify.com/album/0VqTubzk7yISr0z8jvEc4v?si=AcynlNdCT5upYktg_Zdo2w
The band started in 2014, but took time to find the right drummer, so what did you guys do until Chris came into the situation? Did you have to find fill-in drummers for studio sessions and live performances?
We had a couple younger guys when we first started and they eventually left the band for their own reasons, always on good terms. So the drummer left and it did take a lot of searching. We started with all band members being from our little town Stigler, OK but we found Chris from Ft. Smith, AR. He was playing in 2 or 3 different bands, Todd reached out on FB, met up with him, and played him Come Alive over his phone and he joined the band. Then the bass player left the band, we tried for a while to find another bass player with no luck. So I made the move from guitar to bass, we brought in Cody from another small town in Eastern OK about 20 minutes away. He eventually left and then we brought in JC. Every departure was due to the band’s success, believe it or not, more traveling and more shows, finding out that not everyone is cut out for band life.
Your Midwest talent has managed to get you all the way to the East Coast as part of the Blue Ridge Rock Festival. What was that like?
It was easily one of the top 3 moments of the band’s short existence!! There were so many really good bands on that lineup. THC, Everlast, Sick Puppies, Saliva, Drowning Pool, Scott Stapp and we were the 2nd band to play!! Getting to share the stage with some of the bands I grew up listening to was a dream come true. We hung out backstage eating the fresh grapes from a beautiful vineyard in Concord, VA just chatting around with the other bands trying not to show our fandom. The weather was very pleasant, the local wine was outstanding!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuqCmuqXvRg
It feels good when the hard work starts snowballing and you can notice people becoming fans of your music. What do you find to be easier, incorporating the internet for exposure or using popular radio as you did with The Fort 94.5 and Krave Radio?
It is such a great feeling when our music connects with fans and they send us messages or tag us in their posts!! I love the independent stations like Rock Rage Radio, The Fort, and Krave Rock, and so many more I could keep going on and on. We’re having more success with internet radio and indie stations. But some of the FM stations are falling in line and slowly adding our music here and there. It appears there are many financial hurdles when it comes to major FM radio play.
The demand for music is always changing. Do you prefer to release Singles, EPs or full albums?
It’s ever changing and those that adapt and change with it do the best. We’re a band that comes out during social media and the internet age. We just hit the ground running and did our best to try to emulate what is being done by our idol bands. We released Finding Your Way Out with 8 songs, it’s really a double EP we started with a 4 song EP and then went back recorded 4 more and put all the songs together. Moving forward in the future we’re probably going to just record and release a couple singles and see how that goes. We’re simply learning as we go.
If you had to start Reliance Code all over again what would you do differently?
Well, there’s a couple of studios that we won’t name that we wouldn’t have gone to and wasted our money at. There have been a couple of ventures that sounded good at the time that turned out to be another waste. When it comes to the music biz, there’s no shortage of people with their hands out offering fantastic services for money and not all are worth it.
Also, there’s a lot of bands that’ll smile to your face and then turn around and stab you in the back just to get a leg up. It’s very cut-throat at times, different cities all have their individual scenes and some are open to outsiders some aren’t. Talking new indie bands like us, I mean everyone welcomes Metallica to their city and is more than happy to play a show with them. But an up and coming band not so much, especially if they’re good and could possibly win over an already established band’s crowd in their own hometown. Yeah, that doesn’t always go over so well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXQMvHTmw5s
I heard the album cover for “Finding Your Way Out” is an original hand painting from Josh’s (Bass for Reliance Code) Aunt, Norma Howard, a multiple Award-winning painter. Does her story resonate with the grind along your own musical journey?
Oh yeah for sure, she’s self-taught and has put in a lot of work to achieve what she’s done. I’m completely self-taught, this is the first band I’ve ever been in. So like her, I’m learning as I go on the job, but doing something that creates something from nothing. To take a blank canvas and turn it into a piece of art that someone is willing to pay thousands for is a hell of an accomplishment!! I think being able to play an instrument is pretty good, learning cover that’s good. But to be able to create a song from thin air and then it is good enough that people want to come watch and hear you play it, now that’s priceless!!
We ask all the artists that we interview, what is the best piece of advice that someone has ever given to you?
As a musician the best advice I was given: Always put your heart and soul into your music and let your emotions play through your instrument.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dGeuzYA-oY
Be sure to follow Reliance Code on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram to stay up to date with shows and future announcements!
