RIVALS-Photo-credit-Amanda-Stauffer

On Thursday, July 21st,  the dark pop-rock band, RIVALS , performed  at Stanhope House in Stanhope, NJ.  I had the opportunity to photograph a band who I believe is going to be the next big thing. Formed in 2014, RIVALS originate from Los Angeles, California and are making their way around the states while on tour with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Members of the band include: vocalist Kalie Wolfe , bassist Sebastian Chamberlain , guitarist Micket Woodle and drummer Josh Alves.   

Taking a few minutes, each of the band members took a few minutes to talk with me.  Alves and Woodle talked about their tour life, as well as where they’re heading next after their current The Awakening Tour is over. Also, Wolfe and Chamberlain talked about how grateful they are to be on tour with such a great band, as well as how passionate they are about being on the road. Of course, everyone eventually gets homesick but traveling state to state and playing shows for their fans is what keeps them going and wanting to tour even longer. They had an amazing opportunity to play at this years I Matter Fest which is taking place in Horsehead, New York on August 12th. The festival admission is free and features performances by bands such as Underoath, August Burns Red, Impending Doom, ’68, etc.  RIVALS really looks up to Underoath and have gotten inspiration from them. It’s clear that they’re extremely excited to be performing at the same festival as them.

After getting to know the band, it was time for them to put on their set that I and many others had been looking forward to all night. The band played songs from their first full length album titled, Damned Soul. The album was released February 2nd, 2018 and includes 10 incredible songs that are bound to grab anyone’s attention. Kalie performed the closing song on the album titled “To Leila” that is very near and dear to her heart about her young niece Leila. Wolfe had found out that her sister wasn’t able to have children which inspired the song. Leila is very special to Kalie and  she wanted to write this song to let her know that even if life is hard it is always worth it and that she should never give up. Seeing RIVALS live really showed me what it looks like to be extremely passionate about what you do. Even though being in a band is not always easy, they are continuously pursuing their dreams by playing their music and putting themselves out there.

If you see that RIVALS is coming to your area, I strongly recommend that you give them a listen and go out to support them at one of their shows. I promise you wont be disappointed after seeing them perform. To keep up with the band you can follow them on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/WeAreRVLS/) as well as their website (https://www.wearervls.com/home) to see their upcoming tour dates as well as any new announcements.