AmeriCymru: Hi Dion and many thanks for agreeing to this interview. What can you tell us about The Routines? How did you settle on the name?

Dion: Well, we are The Routines, a three piece from Caernarfon in North Wales. I play guitar and sing, we've got Jamie on Bass and Gethin on Drums and backing vocals. We grew up together through school but only started playing music together around 2014. We formed the band in 2015, playing locally while taking that time to write as many songs as possible. The name comes from the everyday lives of people around us. We all work 9-5 jobs and a lot of what we wrote revolve around the characters we see while following the daily routines of jobs.

AmeriCymru: Care to tell us something about your recent single releases?

Dion: We have just finished recording a set of 3 Welsh singles. The first of those is called 'di Arfar which translates to 'used to this'. A song about the mundanity of a 9-5 job, not really living. The song was released on all major digital stores and streaming services on the 31st October. The video for 'di Arfar can be found on our facebook page and on our youtube channel. We were able to use the factory that Geth works in to film the video, which, for us, was a nice touch. We also have released videos for two English songs via Youtube previously, 'Chrsitening' and ' Twice In A Blue Moon' which remain to be favourites in our live shows. Two more Welsh singles to be released in the coming months with a view to get back to the studio to record our first English album in 2018.]

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The Routines - 'di Arfar

 
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AmeriCymru: You have played in the US before. Care to tell us something about your experiences?

Dion: Well between Feb 2014 and sometime in April 2015, I actually was living out in California. I was playing a lot of solo shows at that time in places like The Riptide and Neck Of The Woods in San Francisco as well as The Starry Plough in Berkeley. I met a lot of brilliant musicians out there such as Jeff Desira and Vessna Scheff who continue to release really interesting tunes. I also used to busk quite regularly around San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf meeting all kinds of weird and wonderful people. I played a few times down in LA and San Jose while out there. For a few months before heading back to Wales I lived in New York state too, playing on Caroline Street and at Cafe Lena in Saratoga Springs was a highlight. Although I would love to go back there and play a decent rock n roll show with The Routines as I know that town loves a loud, 100mph show, The amount of acoustic talent for a small town was unbelievable.

AmeriCymru: Any plans to revisit the US?

Dion: We all would love to go and play some The Routines shows out in the US and we've received an offer a while ago from a place in Big Sur, California, which is a place that reminded me a lot of Wales while I was out there if I'm honest, but unfortunately, we were unable to travel to fulfill that show at the time. We are most definitely open to play some US shows while I think working with a promoter out there for a tour sounds like something that would really work for us to be able to make that happen.

AmeriCymru: Where can people buy your music online?

Dion: Everything's available on our website iawncont.com

AmeriCymru: Care to tell us a little about the Welsh language music scene in your part of Wales?

Dion: Well, to be honest we are quite new to the Welsh music scene really as we have only released one Welsh language tune to date. We are hearing a lot more Welsh bands than we knew we around so it seems to be having a resurgence while there are a lot of Welsh music festivals happening each year alongside the Eisteddfod and other various things.

AmeriCymru: What's next for Dion Jones and the Routines?

Dion: Gigs, Gigs and Gigs. We are currently working our b***s off behind the scenes booking as many shows for 2018 as possible. A couple more Welsh tunes on the way which are ready to go and hopefully we'll be able to record and finish our first album not too late in 2018.

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?

Dion: Keep your eyes on us for the coming months as a visit out there I feel is inevitable. I experienced the Welsh stuff you have out there and was extremely surprised at the amount of people who could also still speak Welsh. We feel you here at home. Iechyd Da.