Sheffield hardcore band ROUGH JUSTICE are set to release their debut album next month, and we sat down with Elliot and Harry from the band to chat about the record, the latest single and their first UK tour supporting Malevolence.

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Your debut album ‘Faith In Vain’ is set for release in January. How excited are you to get it out there?

Harry: Too excited. We’ve never released anything this big before.

Elliot: I am more excited for it to be out there now as it has been such a long time coming. Harry: We’ve not even had time to think of the aftermath of it being out.

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Rough Justice has been a band for over a decade. Why does it now feel like the right time to release an album?

Elliot: I think there has been quite a few factors. Primarily, the band was formed just to have some fun really. With Josh being in Malevolence, we were just happy to do stuff as and when really. We all live busy social lives and work lives so we always did bits when we could.

Harry: It was never anything serious at the start. It’s purely for the love of music at the end of the day.

Elliot: We have always been playing and attending gigs in the local area. Me and Harry played in In Arms before Rough Justice, so we have been part of that culture for so long. Rough Justice played a show with Malevolence where they recorded a music video and we had such a great response, people were asking for photos which was absolutely mental. It made us realise that a lot of people liked us more than we thought. It made us want to push the band more than we have ever done before.

Harry: When lockdown happened, we had so much time to sit down and write something together which helped too.

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Are you looking forward to heading out on your biggest tour yet in February?

Harry: It will be the first time we have done that many shows so close together in 12 years. The longest we have been on tour for was four days.

Elliot: I am absolutely stoked for it. I think two weeks is a decent amount of time to be playing shows, and it’s going to be really cool to be in that position of every day is going to be a gig day. It’s going to be a nice adventure for us all.

Harry: It’s essentially like going on holiday with your mates, getting to visit new spots. It’s going to be wicked.

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How do you think Josh [Baines] will manage playing 24 sets in 12 days?

Elliot: He is going to be fucked. I remember he once played a show in Doncaster and played in all four bands on the night. The thing I admire about Josh is that he could quite easily take a step back from Rough Justice but he loves it that much and is willing to take on that challenge. He gets just as excited about it as we do.

Harry: He absolutely loves playing shows as a whole, no matter what band he’s in.

Elliot: The good thing about the tour is we are on first, and then he gets a breather when Pain of Truth plays. So he does get a rest before Malev then headline each night. He’s a machine though and will take it in his stride.

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What has the reception been like on the two singles so far?

Harry: Decent. We’ve had a lot of streams online for them. Because we haven’t released a lot of music on Spotify before, it’s hard to gauge what is good and what isn’t but overall I am really happy with how they have gone down.

Elliot: The reception from just the streams is significantly more than our previous release. We’ve had good responses from people who aren’t even die hard heavy music fans that are really into it. It’s interesting to hear their take on it too. We’ve been listening to the songs for so long, you sort of get desensitised to the sound of them.

Harry: We are all really happy with the tracks in general.

Elliot: Someone said the chorus for Faith In Vain sounds like Creed. I was so made up with that.

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What is the meaning behind the new single ‘Faith In Vain’?

Elliot: I realised that being raised as a Christian, when I got older and I was able to think for myself, I fell out of believing in it and ended up holding a lot of anger and resentment towards it for a long time. That affected me in other parts of my life down the line. So as we were writing for the album, we were trying to think of themes and subjects to write about, and I brought this idea to the table. Ed was able to put his own perspective on it as well which was a huge help. It has been quite profound really, like a healing moment for me personally which is quite powerful.

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What other plans do Rough Justice have after the album and tour?

Harry: We have a few extra shows in the pipeline for next year that haven’t been announced yet. We’ve never been a band to tour loads. Trying to get everyone off work together isn’t easy, it’s just about seeing how things pan out over time really.

Elliot: We have been quite chill about it really. We’d like to go to Europe next year which would be a whole new experience for us.

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Your upcoming tour with Malevolence is your first official tour, what will you be requesting for the rider?

Elliot: I have always wanted lamb madras on our rider. Harry: It will end up being ham and cheese sandwiches. Elliot: Beer is an absolute must.

Harry: You don’t want to play a show and spend £20 on four beers do you? The more beer I have the better I play.

Elliot: We’re just humble folk who will be happy with anything.

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How does it feel to be able to pack out rooms like you did at this year’s Outbreak Festival? Harry: That show was crazy.

Elliot: Harry was shitting himself. It was really funny to be fair; everyone was really quiet before we played.

Harry: We didn’t expect anything like that. You know the festival is always going to be busy, but then there’s other bands playing at the same time so you could get a small crowd. That room could hold nearly 2000 people and seeing so many of my friends and family up front was wicked.

Elliot: It’s the biggest show we have ever played but you still see the same people which is really nice. A big Yorkshire representation down the front for sure. It is weird going from essentially doing nothing to then playing a show like that, and it makes me feel very fortunate that people like us that much and have faith in us to play those kinds of shows.

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Is there anything in particular you would still like to achieve as a band?

Elliot: For me, the premise is still the same. I am happy with what is happening now. Just writing riffs with my best friends and anything that comes after that is a bonus. Bigger shows and playing to more people is something I would personally enjoy, but as a collective, we love playing DIY and smaller shows – that’s something really close to our hearts.

Harry: What we’re doing now is more than we have ever done before, so at the moment we’re just going with the flow.

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Any final words?

Harry: We are doing an album listening party in Sheffield a week before the release (7th January) so people who come down will get to hear it early. We have our own beer on the taps and exclusive merch. Hopefully it will be a good laugh and people can come get pissed up with us.

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The ‘Faith In Vain’ album listening party takes place Sunday 7th January at Triple Point Brewery in Sheffield between 4pm and 11pm. The event is free entry and open to the public.

A huge thank you to Harry and Elliott for taking time out of their Monday afternoon to chat about the Taped. We cannot wait to hear the rest of this monster.

Pre-orders for Rough Justice’s debut album ‘Faith In Vain’ are available HERE.

The band will be touring with fellow Sheffield band Malevolence in February on the following dates:

2nd February – Stoke on Trent, The Sugarmill
3rd February – Cardiff, Tramshed
4th February – Brighton, Concorde 2
5th February – Wolverhampton, KK’s Steel Mill
6th February – Colchester, Arts Centre
8th February – Norwich, Epic Studios
9th February – Newcastle upon Tyne, University SU
10th February – Leeds, Beckett University SU
11th February – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
12th February – Liverpool, O2 Academy 2
13th February – Edinburgh, La Belle Angele