Review Fix Exclusive: Random Ties’ Youssef Salloum Talks ‘Week 39’ And More

Review Fix chats with Random Ties’ Youssef Salloum, who discusses the band’s original and standout work, including some of their upcoming tracks as well.

Review Fix: How did the project start? 

Youssef Salloum: First let me take you back to 2019 which was when I moved to US from Lebanon, I didn’t know anyone or how the music scene was so I started going to open mics with my acoustic guitar & meeting other musicians then one thing lead to another & me the rest of the guys.

Our start defines the type of band we are when I think about it, when we first started we didn’t have a reputation in the music scene & no promoter would return our messages so what I would do is follow all the venues around us on social media & in case a booked band cancelled an appearance last minute & the promoter or venue needed a fill in we’d be ready to hope in our car & be available to play the show.

We have, KD who plays the drums thunderously bringing that heavy hitting power with amazing fills & breaks, Thew whose on the second guitar, compliments my playing with his fills that are all over our EP & Steven originally from Nirvana’s hometown brought a grunginess to the album with some great baselines.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Salloum: Writing music is the best form of expression that hopefully turns into a connection with your listeners & we want them to feel empowered & something they can dance to 

There is so much going on around us good & bad & what better way to channel that energy into music.

Our next unreleased single “No more” talks about the abuse of power with people in positions of authority & politics. 

Review Fix: What’s your standout song? How was it written?

Salloum: If I had to chose a song today it would be “Week 39”  which we just released a video for it https://youtu.be/lk40kyOpIn4  , 

I was terrified, those last few weeks of anxiety starting from week 39 were more than all the previous 9 months put together.  I wanted this, wanted him to be safe, more than anything else in my life at that time.  And then suddenly he was born & in our arms!

Review Fix: What are your goals for 2020?

Given that the future of live shows is up in the air, we are turning to social media more to connect with our fans & new listeners,  keeping them engaged with good content via our Insta page   https://www.instagram.com/randomtiesofficial/ 

Our latest single “Thawra”  released on August 11th is now available on all streaming platforms & if you purchase via Bandcamp link https://randomties.bandcamp.com/track/thawra?utm_source=track_release&utm_campaign=randomties track thawra&utm_content=fanpub_fnb_trk&utm_medium=email all the proceeds from this track will go towards supporting the Red Cross Foundation in Lebanon to support its people against the horrific crimes committed by the country’s crooked politicians & their families over the last 30 years

Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?

Salloum: We’d like to be know as a rock band that was a voice for the less fortunate & defiant to corruption & abuse of power & when you listen to our music you connected with our message & was able to take something with you

Review Fix: What’s next?

Salloum: Our goal is to remain consistent by providing quality music to our audience & reach a wider fan base geographically so a big thanks to you for giving us this interview & a voice.

We just finished our Eastern US Tour a few days ago & we hope to go on the road again as soon as Live Music is back on its feet.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14255 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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