Where are you from originally?
We originally formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A fine steel town in the Mid-Western United States.

When did you move and where did you move to?
We moved to London England in the summer of

2006 - we now reside in a house in North London.

Why did you decide to move there? Was the decision related to your music?
The Pittsburgh local music scene was falling apart, and touring across such a vast land was proving extremely expensive and time consuming...with little reward. We knew we had to set up home base in a major market if we had any intentions of really having a go at it. So it came down to New York or London. A lot of bands from Pittsburgh move to NYC to crack the scene...most of them end up back home in a year. London was sort of our way of taking away an easy escape plan - if the going got tough...well, just throwing in the towel isn't as easy after moving across an ocean. I guess it was a way of showing each other just how seriously we take the music.

In what ways is your new home country different from your old one?

It is a different place, no question - this is a topic I could go on about for hours - and do occasionally. The music scene is amazing in London. World-class bands around every corner. The history of the place is inspiring as well. Silly example, but there is something nice about being able to walk down to the Archway Tavern and have a pint at the bar where the legendary Kinks album cover photo for "Musswell Hillbillies" was taken, or do some tracking in a basement studio on Denmark street where the Stones used to rehearse. Not much of that in Pittsburgh.

Did you have any particular difficulties when you first arrived?
The things that were the most difficult were also the most basic. Getting things, simple things,

when you needed them without a car in a place where stores close at 6pm on Saturdays and the expansive one-stop-shopping jumboplexes are nowhere to be found. I hate the degradation of the independent shop at the hands of the world's Mega-Stores as much as the next guy, but access to external hard drives, pasta sauce, and Velcro at 3am on a Thursday has its merit.

How has moving to a new country influenced your music?
The music has changed a lot over the last 2 years - but it is difficult to assign any of that change directly to the new environment. We certainly haven't adopted faux accents or littered our new songs with references to hip Shoreditch night-spots. With that said, I am certain that had we moved elsewhere, the music would have evolved differently. The influence is surely there - but the impact is subtle.

What tips would you give to a band/artist considering moving to a new country?
Do your research. Make lots of new friends and don't lose sight of your roots.

Interview by Paul Madden
Photograph from www.myspace.com/theoutsideroyalty
www.theoutsideroyalty.com

Watch the video for 'Falling' by The Outside Royalty