HCX chatted to the bassist of Exeter’s up and coming band ‘The Allergens’ and his previous musical ‘claim to fame’.
Name: Ross Rondel
Degree: English Literature
Year: 2
Hi Ross! So I here that you have a ‘claim to fame’ of some sort in the music industry. Can you elaborate on this for me?
Yes, I do have some claim to fame… its more of a collective claim to fame actually. Back home, my welsh choir entered Britain’s Got Talent in 2012, and we managed to finish 3rd, singing quite classical traditional welsh songs!
That’s impressive! Did you get to meet anyone famous whilst you were on the show?
I brushed shoulders with Ant and Dec back stage a few times and obviously met all of the judges at the time. After we finished on the show, we had a fair few things lined up. A couple of members performed on Jeremy Kyle and some of the choir performed at the X factor final which is where I met Keith Lemon and I’ve even got the photo to prove it!
You clearly have a passion for music! I know that you are also in a band here in Exeter. Can you give me a little bit of background to that?
I joined The Allergens in my first year and originally joined as rhythm guitarist. We are sort of known for our ‘arrogance’, not me specifically, I’m definitely more of the quieter member of the band. Our front man, Olli Rose, is rather enigmatic with his controversial statements! Billy Brooks is our lead guitarist, a very elegant player and our drummer Vinni Kaul is very chilled; he knows how to hit the symbols well! I used to play rhythm guitar, but we had a band switch around when our lead female singer left, so now I’m in charge of playing base player.
Have you had any gigs recently or anything new coming up in Exeter?
We have had a busy September! We had a couple of gigs at the stat of the year, one at the firehouse and another at the Phoenix where we played with the headliner Kamikazi Girls. We had a gig last week for the yearly launch of Pear Shaped Magazine, which was a big success. We are currently working on some new material as well; its an exciting time to be in a band in Exeter!
Thanks for chatting with me Ross! We hope all goes well with the band!