Artist to watch: The Royal Royal

Duo The Royal Royal suddenly appeared on the worship scene in 2012 with nine tracks titled Royal, which they quickly followed with a 14-track encore. Their first single, “Every Little Bit of Praise” dropped a couple weeks ago, and we had a chance to speak to the brothers about its release, their music, and their upcoming tour.
There are a few musical collaborations between siblings floating around now. Is the fact that you’re brothers an asset? How does it help you?
It can be a great strength and a great weakness; a strength because we are very much in tune with each other’s musical intuitions—the creative process is quick and painless; a weakness because we have to fight to stay fresh, find influences other than what would be assumed.
How did “Every Little Bit of Praise” come to be?
Nate was plunking away on the family piano, channeling McCartney at our parents place, and just started singing the chorus out spontaneously. The rest was written in the studio. We had as much fun writing and recording this song as it sounds.
Your music is very eclectic. You seem to collect musical influences. What’s inspiring you now?
Our favorite band growing up was the Beatles, and the massive landscape of the genres they covered has been a philosophical influence on our writing; The White Album is a perfect example of the mosaic they painted, every track as varied as the next. That’s what we intentionally go for on our albums and those are the albums we love to listen to. Recent favorites on our iPod have been Tame Impala, Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, Daft Punk, Lorde, and The Strokes.
Could you explain a little about The Royalty Room, what it is, and why you do it? When can we look for it next?
The Royalty Room is a chance for us to act the idiot and sage with the people with whom our music connects. People want to connect, ask questions, and just laugh with us, so we wanted to have a place for that to happen regularly. The next one will be from the road in a couple weeks on our west coast run with The City Harmonic and Shawn McDonald.
You’re traveling this fall with The City Harmonic and Shawn McDonald on The Heart Tour. What should people expect at that show?
Fresh expression of adoration and amazement at God by a rowdy gang of highway prophets. And a lot of fun. I hope people really come away from the shows thinking, “Wow—God is good and so is music—I should do this too!”
What do you think of The Royal Royal’s new single? Tell us in comments.

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