After one quick YouTube search for music mashups, it should be no surprise as to why these quirky eye-opening mixes have become so popular. Combining songs you never imagined would fit together – like this bizarre Ed Sheeran and Disturbed concoction for example – mashups have become a fun and creative way to incorporate all styles of music in ways some never thought were possible.
Taking a stab at blending the electric rock vibes of Bring Me The Horizon with the eclectic pop sounds of Halsey, up-and-coming post-hardcore outfit RYLS (pronounced Royals) are teaming up with The Noise to share their riveting mashup of “Doomed” and “Gasoline.”
Describing the mashup as “the perfect marriage” between their obsession with Haley’s BADLANDS track and their love of Bring Me The Horizon, RYLS clearly had a blast fusing the two songs together telling The Noise, “Creating the mashup was really fun! We love sitting behind a computer and writing music, but something about reconstructing some of our favorite tracks was also really enjoyable. It was a bit more of a stress-free situation, seeing as we didn’t really have to worry about coming up with some cool hooks and lyrics. The songs were already written and great, and our only job was not to fuck them up and butcher them! We then filmed and edited the video ourselves in our rehearsal space, right where we had the idea to do the whole thing in the first place.”
Touching on the inspiration for the mashup, soft-spoken vocalist Sahar said, “We were sitting around after running our set, throwing around the idea of covering a song for fun. We were debating whether we should do a ‘punk goes pop’ kind of cover, or cover something that was more in our scene. It actually took a minute to figure out, but when we nailed it, we knew it was something special that not many bands have thought of doing before.”
“At the end of the day,” she added, “it was just a cool experiment we did for fun but we’re hoping that it shows just how similar the rock and pop worlds can be. There seems to be a divide between the two, but good music is good music and we’re hoping fans of both of these artists take a bit of a dive into the other’s catalog and eventually branch their musical tastes deeper in both directions.”
To check out the impressive merger of Bring Me The Horizon and Halsey via RYLS’ vibe-heavy mashup as well as an in-depth explanation from their guitarist Jade as to why the band picked each track, be sure to look below. Afterward, for more from the band (including info on their upcoming EP live:love:lose), head here.
Halsey - “Gasoline”
“You’ll catch Sahar listening for the words, the stories, the between-the-lines of songs and the lyrics of ‘Gasoline’ spoke to her. When she suggested the song, Sahar had been feeling spicy and tired of people in her life – folks questioning her identity, her morals, values and her loyalties. ‘Gasoline’ was her hype song to give people a big ‘I know exactly who I am, who I want to be and where I want to go. So. Fuck. You.’ If we could afford it, we’d take that $100 bottle of champagne and pour it down the drain, because why not?
Halsey is also a strong advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, mental health awareness, women’s rights, and human rights altogether. So aside from loving her music, her overall message and what she stands for align perfectly with our band and is something we are proud to stand behind. She’s also constantly tweeting about being an ‘emo kid’ which we support and relate to 100%.”
Bring Me The Horizon - “Doomed”
“As for Bring Me The Horizon, they’re a band we all grew up on and watched as they evolved from a smaller ‘scene band’ to an absolute world-class rock act. There’s no hiding their influence on us. They’re amazing songwriters and musicians, and in our opinion, they’re a perfect example of how a band should evolve and grow which is something we aspire to follow.
I thought the song ‘Doomed’ is one from their catalog that really resonates with the message of our EP live:love:lose which is set to release in January. As Oli Sykes described it ‘It’s about how most of my life feels like an unmanageable monster that I can’t keep at bay. Rather than trying to fight these demons, I should embrace them. It’s about celebrating the darkness.’ People often want to push blind optimism on other people and it might be a sort of defense mechanism, but for me, someone who suffers from depression, anxiety and OCD, it’s almost insulting. We need to acknowledge that sadness and darkness are a part of life and try to find productive ways to channel them. There’s no absolute cure for most mental illnesses but learning to cope with them doesn’t start with dismissing them and brushing them aside.”
