Bones UK

Remember, Remember the 5th of November. 

Bones UK hail from rough and tumble Camden Town in London. The duo have been traveling with some big names (Highly Suspect, The Kooks, Band Of Skulls, and new incarnations of STP and  Alice In Chains). They caught some attention at SXSW, and covered Bowie’s “I’m Afraid Of Americans” on Howard Stern. There’s cigar smoking and whiskey swilling (although Rosie tells us they’ve “laid off” due to getting in fights). It’s a whole lotta sex and fury on stage, but sometimes they celebrate freaks with softer tones during acoustic sets. 

This is beautiful

Carmen shreds blues guitar, and Rosie has that smokey voice. If you mansplain to them about rock n’ roll,  they might write a riveting song about it. True story. 

November 5th was a legendary night at the Roseland, as Bones UK, joined by their drummer, Heavy, opened up for Tom Morello (activism and riffs and Rage Against The Machine is back Oh My). Guitars, guitars, guitars. 

ELEVEN Meets Bones:

11: You guys met over “bottles” of whiskey?! What’s the rundown on how you got started as a duo? 

Rosie Bones: I was drinking solo at a blues bar in Camden- drowning my sorrows after some break up. Saw CARMEN get up and start playing with a load of old men blues players and I went up to her straight after and said we needed to do something together. We went back to my place,  got the whiskey and started writing from there. 

11: Rosie, you do all of the band’s artwork?

RB: I love high contrast black and white. It sets a mood over anything. It’s a super easy way to make sure everything is cohesive. And makes us look like gangsters. 

11: What’s it been like transitioning from the UK to the US?

RB: The sunshine is amazing. But it definitely means you get less work done. You just wanna go dick around at the beach all the time. 

11: Since you covered it on Howard Stern’s tribute to David Bowie, What does “I’m Afraid Of Americans” mean to you? 

RB: It’s so relevant at the moment. Not just about Americans… but people…. after a couple of elections/ votes about things that happened in the USA and in the UK recently (the blonde Prime Minister and president and Brexit) you suddenly got this sense of mass stupidity. Which is The scariest feeling. That your surrounded by idiots. 

11: Can you elaborate on your collaboration with Jeff Beck?

RB: Carmen met Jeff at a birthday party. And told him to come to our show. It was one of the first BONES shows so there was like 5 people there and Jeff and his wife. He took is out for an Indian meal after and said he had this huge tour booked with Buddy Guy…. Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Gardens, but needed to write an album to tour with it and would we write it with him? Which was INSANE! So of course we said yes and we DID IT. Wrote it in his house and then toured the world. WINNING.

11: You’re opening for Tom Morello this time around, are you excited for that announcement about the Rage reunion? 

Rosie: OMG was literally talking to him about how excited we were For that last night. WE ARE SO EXCITED. Tom’s a legend.

11: You’ll be back in a few months playing a much larger venue with the likes of Korn and Breaking Benjamin, you’ve also opened for some rock mainstays like STP, Alice In Chains, The Cult—one of these things is not like the other? What’s it like opening up for these well established, male driven bands? 

RB: It’s amazing. We love opening for legendary bands. Male or female makes no difference. 

11: Your songs deal with sexism, ageism, giving love, and straight up fury. What are some of the themes you are sharing with your audience? 

RB: All of the ones you’ve said. We talk about trying to be comfortable in yourself. Who ever yourself is. Trying to be solid. So that people can say what they want about you and it doesn’t penetrate your skin. To not listen to people who tell you what you can or can’t do. You can do anything. 

The best compliment we get is when people say they felt empowered when watching us. We love that. 

11: You’ve found a sweet spot for combining savage dual guitar, rock, blues, pop, and gritty industrial and electronic elements. Who/what are some of your influences/inspirations for your sounds? 

RB: So much stuff influences us in the world. But the BIGGEST influence is the drive to not sound like anything else. 

11: Is it really biologically impossible? 

RB: Come to our show and decide for yourself.

11: What’s next for Bones?

RB: “Pizza.”

“You Got Boned Portland.” 

Bones UK is currently recording a 2nd album and will return to Portland February 27th, 2020 in support of Korn and Breaking Benjamin. 

SETLIST: 

Intro 

Creature 

Choke 

I’m Afraid of Americans 

Beautiful Is Boring 

Black Blood 

Skeletone

Girls Cant Play Guitar 

Pretty Waste