The Norm

When the Miller Lite Road to Roo competition started a couple months ago 32 bands had high hopes of getting to perform at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Tonight, at Sports & Social, Chelsea Shag and The Norm and a host of their fans would see which band would move on to the stage at Bonnaroo this June. Judges, with input from the fans, would move on to be featured on the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival’s bill along side artists and bands such as: Eminem, The Killers, Muse, Future, Bassnectar, Dua Lipa, The Revivalists,Thundercat, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Sheryl Crow, Anderson.Paak and more!

I first heard The Norm live at the 40 Watt Club for the Road to Roo Athens City Finals. Before heading to Athens to hear The Norm and the other bands performing at the 40 Watt Club I put Normaltown (the bands debut EP) on for a spin. Listening to Normaltown I was pleased to hear a well put together mix of rock, hip-hop, pop, funk and reggae. On my way down highway 316, with Normaltown on the speakers I thought of the music of NYSYNC, Fallout Boy and Jason Mraz. With those bands in mind, The Norm hit the stage and blew me away and made me a die hard fan! It’s been a firmly held believe of mine that every great band sounds best on stage. The Norm solidified this belief. Without the constraints of the studio or sound engineers and adding in the energy of the crowd The Norm unleashed their music and their passion for performing. The result was breath taking…

Bryan Rucker’s raspy vocals were there along with the smooth vocal stylings of his stepbrother Ryan Bars but, onstage The Norm had a more grunge filled hard edge. Add The Norm to your music library if you are fan of Prophets of Rage, Rage Against the Machine or Limp Bizkit.

The Norm stepped on to the stage at Sports & Social after Chelsea Shag put on a bright and spirited performance and had the crowd bubbling with excitement. The added energy of the crowd may just be the spark that makes The Norm excel. The Norm took this energy and put on a ready for Bonnaroo and beyond performance. This performance made them the judge’s choice to head to Manchester, Tennessee this June to perform at Bonnaroo. - Libro Musica

How would you classify your music?
Our music is a blend of alternative rock, hip-hop, and pop. Although we don’t like being classified by any genre specifically, over time, we have coined the term “hip-rock” to describe our sound.

Who are some of your top 5 musical influences?
As a band, our top 5 influences would have to be the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eminem, 311, Bob Marley, and Strung Out. Bryan would probably say the Bee Gees.

What do you want fans to take from your music?
The experience is what we want fans to take away from our music. Our live shows are all about the transfer of energy between what we’re outputting and what the crowd is giving us. It’s a beautiful thing, and definitely a spiritual experience for us; one of the many reasons why live music is so special.

How’s the music scene in your locale?
The music scene in Athens, GA is very eclectic. Ranging from singer-songwriter to jam to country/bluegrass, to indie-rock. Even the Athens hip-hop has scene has seen a resurgence in the last couple years. No matter what type of music you play, you can find your niche somewhere in Athens. It’s why it’s such a special place.

What is your Creative process?
Our creative process involves submerging ourselves in our passion – creating, writing, and performing music. If you commit to making something your lifestyle, there is rarely any room for failure. The most honest and genuine creative results will be realized.

What is the best concert you have been to? What do you like most about playing live?
The best concert we have been to as a group was our own concert when we opened for 311. This was a bucket list gig as they were such a heavy influence on us growing up. Life is amazing because it’s not linear; things come back around when you least expect them to – especially when it involves sharing the stage with your favorite band. I (Bryan) saw my dad perform with the Bee Gees in 2000. It was the first time I had seen my dad perform a show in that capacity. I realized then I wanted to do the same thing someday. Here I am 18 years later still wanting that same experience night in and night out.

Is there a song on your latest CD release here that stands out as your personal favorite, and why?
Our last single “Good Time” is my (Bryan) favorite. I’ve always been a fan of big, epic hooks, and when our producer, Adam Kapit, sent over the track with what he had added, I immediately heard the hook melody. We had just gotten back from tour, which inspired the theme, good time. The song is about keeping your head down, living in the moment, and enjoying the everyday life of being a working musician; a code we abide by everyday.

How have you evolved as an artist over the last year?
Evolution as an artist involves finding new perspectives and embracing new experiences. Over the last year, The Norm has been lucky enough to have embarked on some great experiences, such as sharing the stage with Moon Taxi and 311, and winning the 2017 Athens Flagpole Artist of the Year. With these accomplishments, it’s only natural to feel more inspired and motivated to work on your craft.

If you could meet, play a gig, co-write a song, have dinner, have a drink with any band or artist (dead or alive) who would it be?
I (Bryan) would want to spend the day with Bob Marley and just talk to him. About absolutely anything. The dude was and is a legend. Anything he’d say would be fuel to the passion.

What’s next for you?
We’re currently playing in a showcase that will send us to Bonnaroo if we win and we’ve made it to the finals. Bonnaroo has been a dream of ours to play since we started going to the festival in the late 2000’s. Eminem, who is Ryan’s biggest influence, is headlining this year. To be able to say we shared the stage with 311 and Eminem in the same year would be unbelievable. - VENTS Magazine

With a myriad of musical influences from The Red Hot Chili Peppers to Dr. Dre, The Norm’s sound is a collection of funk, rock, reggae, pop, and hip-hop. However, their most compelling attribute is their high octane stage presence and crowd interaction.

Their newest single, “Falling Down,” from their Normaltown EP is kind of an anthem to all the post grads out there who can’t stop, won’t stop partying. Or at least that is what it sounds like to us, since, ya know, were still holding on to our youth for dear life.

Check it out on Spotify. Get it on iTunes. - Bro Bible

(Independent Release) Normaltown, The Norm’s first release since the band moved from Milledgeville to Athens last year, is a concise encapsulation of the group’s commercial appeal. Its four undeniably catchy songs all hit different targets on the hip-pop-rock spectrum, playing like an audition for a summer-festival slot.

Opener “Falling Down” lands somewhere between Fall Out Boy and Twenty One Pilots; the following track, “Same Old Thing,” features whispery John Mayer-ish vocals on the verse and a contrasting anthemic chorus. Standout closer “Thought It Was Hard” succeeds with a slinky reggae rhythm, some well-placed horns and a familiar-sounding guitar riff.

The Norm does what it does exceptionally well, even if it tends towards the formulaic, and this radio-ready sound makes a kind of sense as summer approaches, like drinking Bud Light Lime at the beach. (Anyone else? Just me?) Slickly rendered, eager to please and with a soupçon of grit to keep things lively, Normaltown will make for a fine sunny-day party soundtrack. - Flagpole Magazine

The musical hotbed that is Athens, Georgia is generally known as Americana, folk, and jam band central. “Our stuff is very different,” laughs Bryan Rucker, co-frontman of alternative hip hop-infused rock band, The Norm.

“I’ve been around music my whole life; my dad was a member of the Bee Gees’ band, he played with Johnny Cash, Michael Jackson, all kinds of people, and music was always around my house. I probably absorbed it through osmosis,” says Rucker with a laugh. “I played drums first, and I’ve been singing as long as I can remember. When I was about 13, the knack turned into a passion, and I started writing songs.” A few years ago, Rucker, a singer/songwriter, and his stepbrother Ryan Bars, a studio engineer, decided to join forces. “Ryan and I are the frontmen; he always had an affinity for hip hop, and I was doing singer/songwriter stuff. We grew up in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, and there’s a big pop market there. My brother went to school for engineering, so he was doing that, and I was trying to write hooks and get published,” recalls Rucker. “One day we just decided to mesh the two and do something that wasn’t exactly the norm.” See what they did there?

And y’all, here’s the best part of the Florida-raised Georgia-based group’s relocation story; “I was living in Los Angeles pursuing music, and to supplement my income, I did camera work in film and television for a while,” explains Rucker. “I got the chance to fly out to Georgia to work on a show with a little girl named Honey Boo Boo.”

NO. WAY.

“TLC said it would only be about four episodes, no one thought it would get farther than that, but then the ratings blew up, and the show got extended. I never went back to L.A. My brother and I were still writing music together, and I told him he should come live with me in Georgia so we could start a band,” Rucker recalls. “We started playing around, released an album, formed a band, and that’s the beginning of The Norm.”

Of their adopted hometown, he says, “Athens has totally embraced us. We wanted to write the album about being in Athens, we think it’s good to represent where you’re from.” The band is gearing up to release a new EP, Normaltown, on Friday, April 15th. The EP explores life in Athens, the collective struggles of being in a band, staying positive, and persevering. The Norm has a FREE show on the 15th on the Rooftop of The Georgia Theater in Athens to celebrate the release of Normaltown, and from there, the sky is the limit. Literally. “We’re really excited about this year,” Rucker says. “It’s going to be good.”

Pre-order Normaltown: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1097848822?ls=1&app=itunes - East of 8th