Role Model on ‘Cross Your Mind’: “It has a bit of a London vibe to it”

Role Model spoke to NME about new single ‘Cross Your Mind’ backstage at Reading 2022, explaining the track has a “London vibe” to it. Watch our full video interview above.

Released last week (August 26) ahead of Role Model’s (real name Tucker Pillsbury) stint headlining the Festival Republic Stage at the twin festivals, he told NME that the song was written to fill a gap in his setlist.

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“We needed something with that type of energy, just like sloppy rock and roll shit, that I feel like we were lacking in our set this whole tour,” he said. “So it was perfect and it has a little bit of a London vibe to it in my mind, so I was like this is perfect [to play at Reading & Leeds], it feels good.”

Written in the middle of Role Model’s US tour, he explained that while he usually takes a while to release songs, with this one there was a quick turnaround as he was so keen to get it live.

He added that it could be part of a new era, explaining: “I’m very immature in the way of releasing music, I get bored very quickly. And even though the album came out in April, I’m like, ‘Let’s just keep going’. If I had it my way I’d have an album every three months, just to keep people’s attention spans.”

Role Model’s debut album ‘Rx’ was released in April, and he revealed he’s now in the process of writing the follow-up, after a “big dry spell of writing”. It was being on tour helped him get back into the mindset to write music.

“I don’t know what it is, it’s very inspiring,” he said. “I think a lot of artists probably feel the same way, but it just shows you what works and what doesn’t, and it makes you want to keep going.”

He also discussed his love of The 1975. Having recently tweeted about his plan to perform his Leeds set and then sprint to watch The 1975 headline the festival’s main stage, he confirmed that he succeeded with the scheme catching the final 30 minutes of the band’s set.

“If anyone knows me, I’m the biggest The 1975 fan, the biggest fan of Matty Healy,” he told NME. “Matty is the one singer-songwriter-artist-human I can relate to, and see myself in,” he explained of his fandom of the band.

“I love him and his songwriting too, the way he talks and speaks and writes is insane. I went on [Instagram] live the other day talking about it. I understand now what it’s like to be a fangirl, and when someone says, ‘Your music got me through something or saved my life’, I get that now. I get why people are crying in the front rows sometimes, that was me for the whole thirty minutes that we saw them!”

Watch our full video interview with Role Model above.

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