Last Friday, Gigslutz writer Tom Hancock caught up with Joe White and Justin Acee from stateside indie-rockers Made Violent to see what makes them tick...

 Made Violent’s location for our Skype interview couldn’t be any further departed from paradise. They’re cooped up in their tour van, scoffing fast food and chugging cheap lagers, outside a forlorn-looking warehouse on a drizzly evening in Buffalo, NY. Yet I soon learn that this is their practice spot and an important component in their astonishing rise from complete unknowns to buzz-making hotshots since the turn of the year.

It’s clear the boys are still on a high after Wednesday night’s sell-out hometown gig with The Orwells which, as they tell me, “felt more like [their] own show.” Organised by a Buffalo radio station, it served as one of high points in their short career to date.

The local airwaves have been a crucial factor in Made Violent’s success so far, opening them up to an ever-growing audience as they set out to “revitalise the guitar scene Buffalo hasn’t had in so long.” Comparisons to The Strokes – stemming from debut single ‘Wasted Days’ – which I’m told “everyone makes” would suggest they’re already right on track.

Something else they seem to have a stranglehold on is the art of Twitter, employing a mass following tactic which they explained to me: “We were quite selective with that. We targeted bands we like and went through their lists [of followers] and so on.”

It seems to have worked wonders, with the band now nearing 4,000 followers, among them countless music blogs and websites on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as UK radio giant Xfm.

Asked about their views on what can help emerging artists like themselves in such an extraordinarily competitive industry today, the pair were quick to laud the often lambasted Spotify – “For me, Spotify’s a game changer,” says Justin, with Joe full of praise for its Related Artists feature.

‘Wasted Days’ has the best part of 2,000 plays on the streaming service and I was keen to get the lads’ assessment of their scintillating debut: “Before Wasted Days we weren’t really taking the reins. It was the first time we took charge with the whole shabang in writing. We put it out with no expectations but all sorts of other scenes started to appreciate it.”

Made Violent’s wide sphere of influence is down in no small part to their refusal to confine themselves to any one genre or niche – “It’s just rock ‘n’ roll’, well-versed rock ‘n’ roll. Everything’s its own single.”  Follow-ups ‘Inside Out’ and ‘Dirty’ certainly fit in with this outlook, and you’d be wise to imagine their next batch of releases would follow suit.

 “At the moment we’re working towards our first EP and we’ve got a split single [You Had It Easy / Talk About It] out on Tuesday”, the guys are keen to inform me, as they look to push themselves to the next level. And whilst this year’s festivals may come too soon for them, they hold high hopes of gigging in the UK for the first time:  “We’re eager to get to London by summer”, I’m told – not bad for a band who confess to have “only been real for six months” after several years of casual jamming.

They won’t arrive on these shores without a fan base either, given the extensive coverage they’ve received from British blogs: “Over here it’s all about college and local radio but blogs really hit it off overseas. [Blog coverage] has surpassed any other coverage we’ve had, for sure. It’s been the haymaker for us. We also have a really good team over here who have blasted any and all blogs to help with releases. Shouts to Ian Planet and JD Yarosh, they’ve helped really get it all around.”

As the clock runs past midnight my time and we start to wind up our chat, it turns out I’ve been lucky enough to grab them moments before they get down to business writing their next song; it may be a Friday but Made Violent are fully focused on musical matters tonight. Keep it that way and the parties will come to them.

Made Violent’s split single ‘You Had It Easy/Talk About It’ is out today, you can hear it here: 

Tom Hancock