Artwork by @mystupidsketchbook
WHO are they?
“We are BORN RUFFIANS. We began playing together in high school, around 15 or 16. LUKE LALONDE and I (STEVE HAMELIN) became friends because he was the only person I met with similar musical interests and he was a nice guy. MITCH DEROSIER is LUKE’s cousin and started learning bass in high school too, so he was a natural fit. He’s a jerk.”
BORN RUFFIANS’ new album, Uncle, Duke & The Chief, produced by RICHARD SWIFT, will be released on February 16th via Paper Bag Records.
WHAT is the inspiration behind their songs?
“I do not want to speak for LUKE, but lyrically I would say he is often working through whatever he is thinking about in his life at that time. Sometimes he is writing from the point of view of a character, but often that character is someone he has recently encountered or is dealing with something that he is also thinking about. I would say his lyrics can be quite personal (even if they don’t always appear so).”
“Musically we cast a wide net for inspiration. We have a lot of common ground between the three of us, but the most obvious would be growing up listening to THE BEATLES, which is obviously not a very unique answer, but it’s an honest one.”
WHERE are they from?
“We all grew up in a small town called Midland, Ontario. Now MITCH and I live in Toronto and LUKE bounces between Brooklyn and Toronto. Midland and Toronto have both shaped us as a band.”
“If there was any kind of scene in Midland when we were in our teens it was a “punk” scene, and I use punk in heavy quotes. It was a very weak, mainstream, mall punk scene. The irony was, those of us who weren’t into that music were teased at shows for playing different shit. So, in some roundabout way we had a more punk rock mentality of “fuck em, we’ll play what we like” and all the other bands were just playing the same cheesy genre as each other.”
WHY are they called Born Ruffians?
“At this point, I don’t even remember, so I guess the best (or worst) answer is why not? Sorry ’bout that.”
WHEN can I see them live?
Check tour dates and buy tickets here.
HOW can I get to know them better?
Listen & Watch: Website // Spotify // Soundcloud // Youtube
Like & Follow: Facebook // Twitter // Instagram
The Five Ws of 