Bones UK’s US rock single “Ride” addresses male cockiness with satire.
UK rock and US rock might share the same name, but the sounds are not interchangeable. According to Rosie Bones of small rock outfit Bones UK, UK rock is “a bit more scrappy,” and she claims that her rock group has more of a “US sound,” which is how they came into the scene, although they’ve kept “UK” in their name.
The UK is where it all began, especially for Rosie Bones, who worked closely with legendary UK guitarist and rock musician, Jeff Beck, on his final studio album, “Loud Hailer” (2016), before he died at 78 of meningitis. Eight-time Grammy-award-winner, Beck was ranked fifth in Rolling Stone magazine’s 2010 list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.”
Bones calls this collaboration, which involved performing with Beck on tour just two years after her band had assembled, a “dream come true,” and says that the experience did “nothing but inspire and better every bone.”
Compared to someone like Beck, the rock band Bones UK is itself relatively new, although it already has garnered significant attention from its first eponymous album, Bones UK (2016). It won’t be long until the Bones name is in the Rolling Stones pages. Already, you’ll be hearing these rock and roll tunes in the strip clubs, especially the latest release, “Ride” (2023).
“Ride” is the eighth single from Bones UK, a song denouncing “toxic masculinity,” as much as its an anthem for a cooler guy who doesn’t need material goods to feel confident.
“Less about BIG DICK ENERGY and more about DON’T BE A DICK energy,” Bones explains, adding that she hopes exotic dancers feel “empowered” when this track comes on.
“We think stripping is incredibly powerful,” states Bones.
ED Magazine spoke with lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of Bones UK, Rosie Bones, courtesy of Bob Chiappardi and StripJointsMusic.com, about creative influences, song-writing, their (critical and) empowering single “Ride” — and of course, strip clubs!
Spoiler alert: These rockers love strip clubs! In her StripJoints interview, Bones testifies that the differences between UK and US strip clubs are a lot like the music: “the girls usually have had a couple more pints before they have gone on stage.”
(Note: The interview was conducted by Ilan Fong, Danny Meyers and Bob Chiappardi, with questions courtesy of ED Publications.)
ED: How did you come together as a two-piece rock outfit?
BONES: We met in Camden town London at a blues Jam Carm was playing. I said she was rad, we hung out all night and the rest was history.
ED: Who are your musical inspirations, sonically and aesthetically?
BONES: Carmen’s a massive blues head and I’m massively in to songwriting, story telling, lyrics. Both are huge fans of the all round rock star icons, Prince, Steven Tyler, the people who live eat and breath their vision.
“Less about BIG DICK ENERGY and more
about DON’T BE A DICK energy.”
– Rosie Bones
ED: What was it like working with Jeff Beck on his final studio album, early on in your career? How do you think that collaboration influenced your style?
BONES: It was a dream come true. Complete pinch your self experience from beginning ’til end. Grinning every step of the way. Carm met him at a party and then he came to see us play with like three other people in the audience and then suddenly we are playing the Hollywood Bowl.
Working with someone like Jeff does nothing but inspire and better every bone in you. We are very proud of what we created together and honored to be part of his legacy.
ED: What is your song-writing process like?
BONES: It varies greatly. USUALLY we like to know what the message is and then build the sonic world around it. So like with “Beautiful is boring,” I had the lyric, then we sat with our producer Filippo and chatted about how we wanted the track to make you FEEL. Do we want people to dance to it? Or to fuck to it? We knew with that one that we wanted it to feel like an anthem for the underdog, being played in a nightclub full of vampires and monsters raving, covered in sweat — the freaks, animals arms and tentacles up in the air.
ED: What’s the story behind your song “Ride?” What message do you hope the song gets across?
BONES: Ride is about toxic masculinity. It’s about how a lot of men are taught bigger is better. Faster is better. Stronger is better. And we wanted to undercut that. Spending money on fancy things, big cars, doesn’t make you happy. Less about BIG DICK ENERGY and more about DON’T BE A DICK energy.
ED: Given that a major theme in “Ride,” according to your previous statements, is toxic masculinity, what’s your view on men raining money on strippers, especially to the tune of this new hit?
BONES: We think stripping is incredibly powerful. Women can definitely have the power in that situation, and I feel like there is great power in men being subservient to that. Better to spend their money on amazing dancers than things that they think are going to make them more manly.
ED: When this song gets played in strip clubs, how do you want the dancers to feel as they perform to “Ride”?
BONES: Empowered.
“We go to strip clubs CONTINUOUSLY. Heavy, our drummer, is KING of the strip clubs and always ends up there on tour.
Once again, strip clubs in the UK are a bit more scrappy...the girls usually have had a couple more pints before they have gone on stage.”
– Rosie Bones
ED: How does UK rock compare to US rock?
BONES: I think UK rock is a bit more scrappy. The bands have usually had a couple more pints before they go on stage. Sonically, we always thought we suited the US sound more. That’s why we came here.
ED: Have you ever been to a strip club? How do UK strip clubs compare to US strip clubs?
BONES: We go to strip clubs CONTINUOUSLY. Heavy, our drummer, is KING of the strip clubs and always ends up there on tour. Once again, strip clubs in the UK are a bit more scrappy…the girls usually have had a couple more pints before they have gone on stage.
ED: What role does humor play in conveying messages like “Ride”s? Does dressing in drag, as in this comical music video, and others, help to convey your socially-concerned themes?
BONES: A HUGE part. It’s always very important to us that we don’t seem preachy when putting our messages out there. People don’t like feeling like they are being preached too. A sense of humor is always important, we think. Show we don’t take our selves too seriously.
ED: What is Bones UK working on right now?
BONES: Getting this new album out there. x
