Charlie Rolfe - As Everything Unfolds 'Admiring the Process On The Inside'

UK emo/post-hardcore outfit As Everything Unfolds recently released their debut full-length, Within Each Lies The Other (our review here) and I'm telling you now, you really need to get behind these guys. This six piece combine compelling vocals and intense, gritty screams with soaring emo-rock melodies that catapults As Everything Unfolds to the world stage as alternative rock's newest kids on the block. I'm super excited about the bright future that this band has, so naturally, I just had to catch up with frontwoman Charlie Rolfe to get to know the band myself!

Congrats on your latest album though, Charlie! It is a solid and empowering debut release. What's the inspiration behind the album title, Within Each Lies The Other? 

The title is a play on of 'As Above, So Below'. The whole idea of the album and the way the album was written is going through shit and coming out the other side. At the same time, it's really also admiring that process and coming to an understanding that you can't be a better you without understanding the worst parts of yourself. 

I cannot get enough of your latest single 'On The Inside' and I feel it pretty much sums up the album's essence. Can you share a few words about what 'On the Inside’ from your own mind? 

The song's about leaving behind what you know and what you have known and moving forward, in both a negative and a positive way. That's probably like the best way to describe the song, and it's probably the most put your middle of finger up in the air song in terms of for me anyway. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIR9QXRmzAY

You're in a band with five other guys. How did the six of you come together? 

Oh my God. So in the UK, I don't know if it's a thing anywhere else, but there's this website called joinmyband.com which is a forum where you can submit almost like an advert for free. I think at the time, I was 17 and I'd left my first high school band and I thought it’d be quite fun to start another band while I'm still young. So I went on that and Adam Kerr (guitarist) messaged me and they were only fifteen minutes away from me. I was like, oh, that's perfect, like absolutely perfect. That's basically how we met. We literally met on an online forum and I met them in a supermarket carpark. 

Oh wow, I guess I shouldn't be surprised in today's online age, really. So what's the creative songwriting process like for the band? I guess given there’s six of you, that’s a lot of creative input! 

To be honest, that's one thing we've actually never struggled with. We're all quite easygoing, you know, nobody sticks to listening to one genre of music. We’re all quite flexible and fluid with what music we listen to. John, Adam and I are the main songwriters, so we will build the song, and then we'll kind of take it to the executive board of the other boys and get their opinions and suggestions. That's kind of how we work, and it's worked since day one, so I suppose it's like, don't fix what isn't broken. 

What was the biggest challenge for you during that process? 

Oh my God. To be honest, writing was OK because we did it over quite a long period of time, over a year. We wrote the songs and we’d pick them apart and pull them altogether. But I think the recording for me personally was quite challenging. We recorded the whole album in pretty much five days, but for me, I had to do all of the vocals, the screams and the cleans, everything all in a day and a half. It was really quite challenging, starting at 9:00 in the morning and finishing at midnight. 

What's the one song from the album that you hope fans will connect with the most? 

To be honest I hope it's ‘On the Inside’ because it’s my favourite chorus, and has the catchiest chorus on the whole album and I think that's why we left it to the final single because as a band we were like, “this could be like the song everyone sings along to when we play (eventually) live. But you know what? If it’s any of the other songs, I'm not bothered either. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCxw_1pnx-g

Being a young and upcoming female in the music industry, are there any other female musicians that you really look up to or feel inspired by? 

Oh, you know what, there’s quite a few. Through my development as an artist I experimented with different vocal styles. I will say, the first woman I am inspired by and I'm still probably a huge fan of is Hayley Williams. I think most people in bands are inspired by Paramore in some form or another. But then it’s kind of developed into Flyleaf and Lacey Sturm, and that's where I started experimenting with those gritty vocals and the screaming. Then I discovered Rolo Tomassi who are like a math band here in the UK, and then there's Marmozets as well. Actually we’ve met a lot of friends’ bands like Dream State and Vexed who are friends of ours. So they continue to inspire me. To be honest, it's probably more so now that a lot of my peers inspire me rather than 'celebrities'.

You guys have somewhat a very similar style to Dream State, but yet both bands still have unique aspects as well. Obviously being in the UK, and being friends with them, has CJ imparted any advice about the industry with you? 

She's always said to just be you and don’t let anyone tell you what to do and especially, don't let men tell you what to do. But CJ’s great and she's always very complimentary. She’s very kind and she always compliments my makeup every time I see her, she’s like “you need to do my eyebrows!” laughs 

In the alternative music community, we love a good collaboration. So is there anyone you'd love to collaborate with on a song down the track one day? 

To be honest, I'm just gonna say anybody from My Chemical Romance because they're like my favourite band of all time!

So what's on the forecast for As Everything Unfolds now that the album’s out? 

To be honest, we're continuing to write new music at the moment. But we're also going to look at touring in Europe in the next year. We went to Europe two years ago and we had a really, really good time, so we’re probably going to push for that. It's obviously going to be a bit more difficult now as well with the whole Brexit situation. But hopefully we can sort it out. Of course, if there's any other tours coming to go to the States or going to Australia, oh my God we would be all over it! 

Looking forward to the day that Australian visit plays out then! Anyway Charlie, it was so lovely to chat to you and get to know the band. All the best with the album and everything you've got coming up! 

Interview By Tamara May (@citylightstam)

As Everything Unfolds' new album, Within Each Lies The Other is out now through Long Branch Records. Get it here

As Everything Unfolds – Within Each Lies The Other tracklisting:

1. On the Inside
2. Take Me There
3. Wallow
4. Stranger in the Mirror
5. I’m Not the Only One
6. Grayscale
7. Stay
8. Let Me Go
9. Hiding From Myself
10. One Last Time
11. Wither