Today American pop band R5 announce they will be hitting British soil to play their first ever UK show. R5 are siblings Riker, Rydel, Rocky and Ross Lynch, along with best friend Ratliff. They are set to play Dingwalls in London on Friday the 5th of July Tickets on sale here.
R5’s recent Hollywood Records EP, aptly titled ‘Loud’ will be followed by the band’s debut studio album later this year. Check out the official music video for title track from the EP ‘Loud’-
If Riker and Ross look familiar, it’s because the former is a regular on "Glee" (as a member of the a cappella group, the Warblers) while Ross stars in the Disney Channel Original smash hit series, "Austin & Ally." Each band member is a virtuoso musician and all write, especially lead guitarist Rocky and bassist Riker, who serve as R5’s in-house songwriters.
R5 worked with producer-songwriters Emanuel “Eman” Kiriakou (Selena Gomez, Hot Chelle Rae) and Evan “Kidd” Bogart, who won a Grammy for writing the Beyonce hit, “Halo.” The team wrote three tracks for the band while R5 members Riker and Ross contributed an original.
“Our basic mindset was that we wanted to make everyone feel excited and happy,” says Riker Lynch of the new EP. “It’s about driving down the highway with the top down and blasting music. We didn’t want anything too deep and dark.”
The R5 story actually begins in the Denver suburb of Littleton, Colo. There, as a child, Riker got things started when he revealed a talent for singing. With Elvis, the Beatles and the Stones playing in background, soon Riker and his siblings started taking music seriously. Once they set on a show business career, the entire family moved to Los Angeles in 2007. The Lynch kids experienced success quickly, finding professional acting, dance and commercial opportunities.
Though the Lynchs had their musical act down, something was missing: a drummer. That’s when they turned to friend Ellington Ratliff, who rounded out the line-up.
For much of 2012, the band honed its performing chops, headlining club shows in Chicago, Phoenix, Toronto, New York, New Jersey and beyond. “There’s something cool that happens when we’re on stage together,” Riker says. “There’s nothing more fun in the world. We try to be very personable, and meet the entire audience after shows. Fans you meet on the road stick with you forever.”
R5 boasts more than 150,000 Facebook page likes. Now that the EP is out, the band is set for a spring 2013 tour, though a national TV audience got a sneak peek when R5 performed at the Progressive Skating and Gymnastics Spectacular, broadcast on NBC.
R5, undisputedly the teen band to watch in 2013. All fans have to do is turn it up loud. How’s that sound?
R5 LIVE - JULY 2013
FRIDAY 5TH LONDON, DINGWALLS
