French emo/post hardcore band Rive. have been releasing some of the most relentless music on the planet over the last couple of years. The groups latest E.P. “Confidence” is an absolute banger featuring six of their best songs yet.
I caught up with band members Romain and Charles to talk about their early musical influences, how they started playing together and the making of the new E.P.
CMM-What bands did you all grow up on and who were big influences on you all as musicians and made you want to pick up instruments and start playing?
Charles-For me, it all started when I was 11 years old. A friend handed me an earbud and said, “You have to hear this!” It was French alternative punk—a band called Bérurier Noir. The lyrics were raw, direct, and unifying. That’s when I realized music could bring people together and carry strong messages. Not long after that, I went to my parents and told them I wanted to play drums. My friend picked up a guitar, we found a few guys at school, and we formed our first band.
Later on, bands like Pavement, Mudhoney, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Pixies really stuck with me. But the second major turning point was when Nirvana hit the shelves in France with Nevermind, and shortly after that, NOFX with Punk in Drublic. It was wild and obvious—I wanted to express the same emotions I felt, with loud, melodic music that hits you hard
CMM-How did Rive. form and start writing songs? Where did you all get the name from? Did you all have a similar idea of the kind of band you all wanted to be before you started writing or did it take time to figure that all out?
Romain-We formed the band when I went back living in Evreux 2 years ago. We’d already played in a punk rock band together with Charles when we where younger and it was obvious to me that we had to do it again. I came with a few ideas for new songs with 90s emo punk, grunge and post hardcore influences. We started rehearsing and having fun and we were good to go.
CMM-Over the last few months the band has released two E.P.’s: One called Believing and one called Confidence. What was the recording process for each of them like and do you all prefer the E.P. route as opposed to releasing full length albums? What would you say is the biggest difference between the two releases?
Charles-The first EP was recorded with whatever gear we had available—very DIY. Romain was super motivated and convinced me we could make something clean and solid with the tools we had. The guitars were ready, we had just two mics for the drums, and we went for it. The rest followed that same energy. The goal was simply to hear how those first four tracks would sound.
Right after releasing Believing, we got an opportunity to play a show in Paris at the Supersonic. So we needed a full, coherent set, and that’s when the second EP started coming together—basically right after the first. We wanted to keep things in-house and keep the momentum going with Confidence, while trying to push ourselves to do even better.
Now we’re already working on new songs for a future EP—or maybe a full album, we’ll see. To be honest, the format doesn’t matter much to us. What really matters is moving forward, creating, having fun, and sharing it all as sincerely as we can.
CMM-If the band could make a collaborative record with any other living artist, who would it be and what do you think the record would be like?
Charles-Maybe we’d go with an artist from a totally different scene—to blend sounds and broaden the spectrum, to create something unique. Or maybe a band we’ve shared the stage with. The Last Mile was awesome, or Glimmer—that kind of collaboration could be a bridge between Europe and the US, with the chance to play a few dates on both sides of the Atlantic. That would be amazing. Coming to the U.S. to play a few shows would be a dream project for us.
CMM-What is the local underground music scene like in Evreux? Any other bands from there you all can recommend checking out?
Charles-The music scene in Évreux is underground by nature—it’s a small town, but with a strong rock background. There are tons of bands across all genres, and pretty much everyone knows each other in some way. It’s a tight-knit community with a lot of passion.
CMM-What do you all have coming up? Any new recordings or shows planned?
Charles-We already have some new songs in the works that we’ll probably record as we go, and we’ll see what form they take—an EP or maybe an album. We’ll probably play them live before releasing anything officially. A few shows are already lined up, and we’re booking more. We can’t wait to announce them. Hopefully, we’ll be able to plan a real tour at some point—that would be amazing, whether in France or abroad.
