âR o c c o w a s b o r n i n 1 9 8 6 . N o w h e m a k e s l o u d m u s i c . T h a t i s a l l.â
Those are the bold words heading Rocco La BÃªteâs About section on his atmospheric black website. Standing next to the notice, sporting leather, silver and aviator sunglasses, Rocco props himself up on a wall, nonchalant, as all the best rockstars areâ¦ and then you notice the tantalising imperative, âEmail Rocco.â Iâd gone searching for Rocco after I heard the best cover of Tinie Tempahâs âFriskyâ Iâd ever come across (not that Iâd needed to hear any others to know this was the best). A proper rock cover which appears to be completely played by Rocco himself, it âbeats the shit out of the originalâ (- satisfied Youtube viewer Godspork), an infinitely more listenable version for me. Another peruse on Youtube and I found songs of his own creation: âSleeping With the Enemyâ is a Muse-style rocker, just slightly less histrionic. Itâs more than fun, a parody of itself and most of modern music. Roccoâs other single at the moment, released in time for Christmas, is âShitty Christmasâ, the subject matter of which I think we can all very easily relate to â or at least could last month. Oh, and his rock cover of Willow Smithâs âWhip My Hairââ¦ But anyway, back to that website: âEmail Rocco,â it had told me, and it was too good an offer to refuse. Hi, Rocco. How are you feeling today? Iâm alrate ta. Sick of this weather. Thick fog outside, canât see arse nor tit. Your new single 'Sleeping With the Enemy' is out now, but what is it about? Yeah, itâs available on iTunes and stuff. Itâs pretty self-explanatory what itâs all about I suppose. Itâs just, like, when youâve got this bird, and sheâs being a proper knob-head, and youâre not getting on at all, just arguing all the time - but at the end of the day you just do rate good sex. What inspired the song? Me ex-girlfriend, Denise Wilks. What would you say if whoever wrote 'Ding Dong Merrily On High' rose from the grave, listened to 'Shitty Christmas' and was really offended? It says on Wikipedia that the tune was written by a French bloke, so weâd probably get on well as I lived in Paris for a year. Weâd probably just talk about French music and shit. Daft Punk, that kind of thing. I donât think heâd be offended by my interpretation of his track â heâs probably sick of it too. What's the worst thing about Christmas in the La BÃªte household? Games. I canât be arsed with fannying about with bloody âCraniumâ or what have you. Whatâs the point? Charades is the worst. Sitting there while your Auntie dicks about in a paper hat, with everyone shouting out nonsensical phrases at her until she eventually sits back down and tells you she was doing âInceptionâ? Waste of time.
Describe Rocco La BÃªte's music using only words relating to chocolate. Intense, dark and delicious. No added sugar. Contains nuts. You have a really cool rock image. Who are your icons? Ta. Iâd say my styleâs somewhere between Slash, The Clash and Wishbone Ash. Except not Wishbone Ash. I only said that âcause it rhymed. Not that I donât like Wishbone Ash - âJust Testingâ is a great album. Musically, I donât really have any icons, but my musicâs influenced by stuff like Death From Above, Justice, Black Keys, Sleigh Bellsâ¦ as well as hip-hop, dubstep, nu-metal. That kind of thing.
Rocco La BÃªte Rocco: photograph by Adam Young.
Where would Rocco La BÃªte like to be this time next year (musically or otherwise)? This time next year Iâll be in my final year, along with the rest of mankind - if what I hear from the Mayans is correct. So I plan to have a mad one. Hopefully Iâll be a global superstar or what-have-you. Iâm not rate arsed to be honest, as long as Iâve got a cock-load of money. What's your opinion on bands that cover pop songs for Youtube with quirky instruments? Iâm bored of it TBH. Maybe itâs vaguely entertaining the first time you see it, but then Iâm just like âstop fannying about with your ukulele and buy a proper guitarâ â do you know what I mean? ââ¦And grow a pair while youâre at itâ. Thatâs why I started doing the YouTube covers Iâve done. Thereâs hundreds of people who do covers of pop songs on YouTube, but theyâre all just a bit wet arenât they? Theyâre all like, âOoh look at me, Iâm playing, bloody, Toploader with a toy keyboard and a fucking, egg whisk...â I wanted to do some covers that had balls. And I picked pop songs that had lots of potential to blow peopleâs heads off. For example, âWhip My Hairâ (which Iâve just covered and is now available to download from iTunes) â Willow Smithâs version is a massive tune as it is, it just never really kicks off the way you want it to. I went and made it massiver, and kicked it off. With guitars and shit. There you go, you heard the man. With guitars and shit. Rocco La BÃªteâs singles are available for download from iTunes. If you want to hear (and indeed watch) more of Roccoâs material, head over to his Youtube channel and enjoy.