by Matt Kelchner
“When the band finished we didn’t expect to ever get back together again. We thought the entire shoegaze movement would be forgotten,” bassist Steve Queralt of the influential British shoegaze band Ride admits. Back in the ’90s Ride, along with a number of others like Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine, were champions of the driving, melodically dense movement.
Almost 20 years since their breakup, Queralt and his fellow bandmates have joined together again. After an already long year of hopping from festival to festival, Ride comes to the TLA this Saturday as they make their way around the US. We were able to catch up with Queralt in between his rehearsal schedule to chat about the past, present and future of Ride.
Following the official announcement in November 2014 and an acoustic set from guitarists Andy Bell and Mike Gardner, the first full band reunion show came on April 5th at London’s O2 Academy. After months of preparation, the band was ready to get back on the stage. “It was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done, primarily because I haven’t done it in such a long time,” Queralt recalls.
The anxious feeling of wanting to get the whole thing over with coupled with the unsure feeling of how everything would turn out hit an all time high prior to walking out. On top of it all, NME, a major British music publication, was there to capture it all. “We were all nervous, biting our nails, and we had [the NME] camera crew there which didn’t help that.”
But a few minutes into playing “Polar Bear”, their first song together in front of an audience in almost two decades, all of the stress and fear washed away. Queralt describes, “After five minutes of playing it was like going back 20 years.” Everything seemingly clicked. Ride powered through a 17-song, two encore set filled with songs from every album (including the first three EPs). Since then, they have been tearing up stages across the world.
In the years after their disbanding, each member besides Queralt continued performing in other various acts such as Oasis, Beady Eye and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Queralt went off in a slightly different direction. “Oh, it’s not really worth talking about. It was just a regular 9-5 job. Really dull.”
When talks of getting back together started, that all changed. Queralt recounts, “I haven’t played bass guitar in 15 years. When we first decided to get back together, it was an incredibly exciting feeling thinking, ‘Oh my god I’m going to be in a band again’. But at the same time, it was followed minutes by feeling terrified because I haven’t played in 15 years.” As rehearsals and practices went on, the tenseness eased away as everything fell into place.
That isn’t to say relearning every song was a piece a cake. One of Ride’s most memorable tracks from their debut, Nowhere, proved to be one of the more troubling ones for Queralt. “’Vapour Trail’ was particularly difficult,” he describes. “The sound quality on the first album is not great so trying to pick out what I was actually playing was difficult. I had a rough idea of what I was playing, but picking exactly the right part out was difficult.”
”Leave Them All Behind”, the lead track off Going Blank Again, received a little bit of extra attention from Queralt during rehearsals as well. Arguably one of the group’s most well known songs, it places Queralt front and center. “Because it’s a more bass driven rack, there’s no room for error in that. If you make a mistake, it’s glaringly obvious.”
With a few months of performances already under their belts, Ride comes into the TLA like a well-oiled machine. Queralt described going through a few additional practices with the band to freshen up the setlist prior to making their way across the Atlantic.
There will be a big focus on the group’s first album, Nowhere, but that’s not to say it will be the only material played. “There’s nothing that’s forbidden or anything that we’re trying to avoid,” he explains. Queralt also lets me in on a few secrets that may or may not be pulled out during this tour, but we’re not going to spoil any of the fun for you. To get in on the action, you will have to make your way down to South Street this Saturday!
