Music, Inspiration, and Live Performance: The Rooks in Conversation

The Rooks are a fresh, young rock band from Glasgow, who just released their new EP, Noise & Confusion (2025). They played a great set at the Lending Room, as part of the immense roster of bands and solo artists that were to be found in every nook and cranny of the city during Live at Leeds in the City 2025. I sat down with them comfortably in the green room before their gig, somewhat tired from walking around all day seeing all these amazing musicians, yet still raring to talk to the group about music, inspiration and what drives them to perform.

HUGO: Do you like it here? The Lending Room? I’m really fond of it. It’s a lovely small venue, but as well as that, it’s just a nice pub.

THE ROOKS: Yeah, it’s a nice wee bit, the venue there looks well rigged out. Stained glass windows are always a plus.

HUGO: Back home, where’s your favourite place to perform?

THE ROOKS: Glasgow is quite good for gigs, we’re quite lucky. Up the road we’ve got venues like King Tuts, which is like 300, it’s alright – and then Barras, if it’s busy the floor jumps, you know what I mean.

HUGO: What got you all into music? My mum had me playing the recorder since I was about 6, and I just kept going and going and going.

THE ROOKS: I mean, it’s usual, but it’s your mum and dad’s record collection, really. [They were] kids of the late 80s and 90s, so that’s kind of ingrained in their culture and naturally kind of filters through for me. It’s like the CD in your dad’s car when you’re 8, 9, 10. Eventually, the one that was in my car was Paolo Nutini’s Sunny Side Up. But I remember listening to that album and realising what you can convey through that. And then also just nice wee ditties on that album. [Music] can span such a range of purposes.

And now you realise, actually, music’s gonna be really important. And then you fall into it eventually when you’re in your later years. I was brought up on my mum’s sort of soul records, Elvis and Sam Cooke and that sort of stuff. And then at about 11 or so, my dad got the Stereophonics, the Decade in the Sun, on the iPod, so the greatest hits, and it was the first time I’d heard rock music. And then about a year after that, I was 12, just starting high school.

HUGO: Did you start playing an instrument?

THE ROOKS: No, not really. I was just more interested in the sound there, and like, the image of the bands. And then I heard Cigarettes and Alcohol, for the first time when I was 12, and it was fucking go thing, so [I] picked the guitar up then. The rest is history.

HUGO: I mean, you’ve come far, haven’t you?

THE ROOKS: At what cost? At what cost? [Laughter]

HUGO: You enjoy it all, though, surely?

THE ROOKS: Aye, it never seems it, but we do.

HUGO: I know it must be the most stressful thing in the world sometimes.

THE ROOKS: Aye, but there are more stressful things. A new place every Saturday night, focused [on the music], can’t be half bad.

HUGO: Your EP came out yesterday. What was the creative process behind that? What was the drive?

THE ROOKS: Well, we had most of the songs written, and we’d been playing them for like 2 years, we kept hanging on to them – we need to wait until this and that – then we played TRNSMT that July, that summer. And it was like record crowds came down to see us, everybody singing the songs. And we just thought, why are we hanging on to these songs that need to go out now? After that, we met the guy from [Fontaines D.C], Grian, and we just felt part of the whole big thing that’s going on, we thought, get the songs out to the people now. When else? It’s hot. That was the beginning.

HUGO: What’s the creative process like?

THE ROOKS: So we just finish the songs on an acoustic guitar in my house, and we try to get it like 90% done. Only then do we take it the rest of the band. Once the full band starts playing, that either goes the way you want it to go or another way. But whatever happens, it’s always for the better.

HUGO: What’s next? Do you want to do a full album at some point?

THE ROOKS: I don’t want to discuss the next plans, but yeah, not an album yet. Just gigs next year, everywhere in Europe. Just let everyone know we’re coming.

HUGO: Is there a specific country you want to do?

THE ROOKS: I think when we get there, France, Germany, the Czech Republic. That will take us to our new audience. We’ve not been spread to that part of Europe at the moment. We went to see Radiohead last weekend in Madrid. The crowds are so different to a British crowd. A British crowd just wants to get drunk and go mental, but these people, the Europeans, they just appreciate the artist so much more. I feel like they just get right in.

HUGO: What are your influences, what’s driving you creatively?

THE ROOKS: We’ve all got influences. No matter the medium, it’ll come through. So the primary source is obviously music, but if your story is interesting enough, then regardless of what it is, it links to people, no matter what medium they consume it through. Maybe you get an idea for a song from a line in a film, or like that kind of thing. It doesn’t always need to be music. Films you watch or the mood of being somewhere. I mean, if we can be the reason someone tries to get away from their work early on a Friday night to come and see us. That’s good inspiration. The idea that somebody can find solace or some excitement in what we do. Being bigger than just the music. We want to be the next. We want to leave a lasting impact, we don’t want to be just a fresh, buzzy band that just dies straight away.

HUGO: What are you doing to push yourselves out there? Because I know lots of bands are pumping out TikToks every half hour.

THE ROOKS: We’re just great at [being] us. We just want to turn up, live at 8.

HUGO: Do you think you’re best live?

THE ROOKS: I mean, the songs probably sound just as good, but 80% of people who see us end up buying tickets, which I don’t think a lot of other bands can say.

Noise & Confusion is available on streaming platforms now.

Words and interview by Hugo Ferreira