JOE talks to Rizzle Kicks on fame, influences … and James Corden’s ‘hump’

Rizzle Kicks are destined for great things. They sold 250,000 copies of their debut single, recorded with Fatboy Slim, they’ve notched up over 27 million views on their YouTube channel ... and they’re just getting started. Not bad for two guys who have only just reached their twenties, right?

Made up of childhood friends Jordan Stephens and Harley Alexander-Sule, Rizzle Kicks are definitely an artist to watch out for in 2012. Their current single Mama Do the Hump has been playing non-stop on radio stations across the country.

JOE caught up with Jordan to talk music, future plans and to discuss the fantastic dance moves of James Corden in the video for their latest single.

JOE: Okay Jordan, let’s talk history here. How was Rizzle Kicks born?

Jordan Stephens: Right so, I was thinking about this the other day actually! My mum and dad are musicians and I think growing up, I always watched my mum write lyrics. So even though I wanted to be a footballer until I was about fifteen, I think I was always going to end up writing music in some way. I was always writing and rapping by myself, and Harley was pursuing acting. I convinced him to sing on a track. We played the track to our mates and they were like “that’s pretty sick!” We thought “why don’t we do this all the time?” and then the rest is history!

JOE: Who are some of your main musical influences?

JS: For me personally, it’s a dud called Pharoahe Manch – he’s an American rapper. He’s amazing! For Harley I’d say it’s Pete Doherty. That’s two different ends of the scales there, but they seem to somehow work!

JOE: You’re a band that was born on the internet, do you think this had much of an impact on your success?

JS: Our place on the internet has helped us a lot. I think we wouldn’t have gotten signed to Island Records if we hadn’t dropped the first video on YouTube, and our fans have been like, insanely helpful in the progression of our tracks in the charts and stuff.

JOE: You’re nominated for a Brit award for the song you did with Olly Murs, Heart Skips a Beat, how does it feel?

JS: Well you know what, to be frank, I don’t think we’re thinking of it as a nomination. Even though we do love the track and are hugely happy that it has been nominated. We featured on the track but predominantly it’s Olly’s. He deserves the credit. We love that we’ve been part that process…procedure? Process? Process! But I think that ultimately we want to have a nomination that’s our own. Then we’ll celebrate!

JOE: We love your new video. Do you think James Corden did a decent ‘hump’? (that’s a dance move people, check it out here)

JS: Yes! I think James did very well! That’s one of the main reasons why I rang him. He came to see us at a gig in Birmingham and he watched us do Mama Do the Hump. He came back to the dressing rooms afterwards and was like “is this it?” and just did it. I was like “Oh, you legend!”

JOE: You guys have achieved a lot at such a young age. Has anyone ever used your age as an obstacle?

JS: Some people took a bit long to take us seriously. Some people expect us to be naïve and tend to look down on us a little bit, but that’s just a natural thing of life I think. You’ve got to learn and I think we still do have a lot to learn, talking in a larger respect. No, it hasn’t affected us too badly but we’re looking to be in the music industry for as long as possible. Hopefully this will be nothing but a mere flicker in the memory in about ten years!

JOE: So what’s next for Rizzle Kicks?

JS: We’ve got a headlining tour starting in a couple of weeks and we’re in the studio at the moment just making new music – the main vibe is to keep our fans happy. Then a few festivals and hopefully a winter tour in the latter stages of the year. Yeah, I don’t know, we’ll just keep going!

Rizzle Kicks debut album Stereo Typical is out now. For more information visit www.rizzlekicks.com.