Culture Uncut interviews new boy band The Relations


From left to right
Luke Adams, Brandon Grey, Deneil Khan, Phoenyx Blue

It's safe to say that boy bands have taken over by now with their charming personalities, good looks and of course great voices the likes of Weekend, The Stat Nerds, The Zone etc have been taking the music industry by storm lately and now we have yet another boy band that go by the name of The Relations the reason for the name is because all of the boys happen to be related to singers in other big pop groups such as The Zone, Weekend and SYNCO the group consist of 16 year old Phoenyx Blue who is the youngest and also happens to be the younger cousin of Weekends Dustyn Blue, Deniel Khan 17 who is the brother of Weekends Billy Khan, Luke Adams 18 who is the younger cousin of Chris Adams of the Zone and the eldest member Brandon Grey who is 18 and is the (adoptive) brother of Alex Grey from SYNCO three of the boys were previously all set to start their careers as solo artists but instead were put into the group together they are currently being managed by leader of Weekend Oscar Ward the boys were only recently put together and

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What is it like going from being a solo artist to being put into a group?
Brandon: I think it's pretty cool I never really thought about being in one before but it's nice to be in one
Phoenyx: It was a little strange at first but I've got used to it now. Sometimes I miss the freedom of being a soloist because in the band, you have to make compromising and cater to everyone's needs. However, being in a group gives you a feeling of security and there's always a helping hand if you ever need one.

Okay that's nice and how well do you guys get along?
Brandon: Well I actually really hate all of these guys a lot (laughs) nah they're alright they seem pretty cool I'd say we get along well
Deneil: We get along really well and I think that's important for a group. Before we got together, we still sort of knew bits about each other because of the connections we had and I followed these guys on Twitter before we even met so it's not like we've been suddenly thrown together and had to form relationships there and then, it's been a gradual thing.

What was your first thoughts of the others?
Brandon: My first thought when I saw Phoenyx was "This guys isn't Dustyn Blue's cousin he's his twin brother" When I saw Deneil I kinda just had a feeling he'd be cool and Luke well he was really quiet I'd say he's opened up a bit now though
Luke: I thought they were all cool and I was a bit intimidated I guess (laughs)
Brandon: Intimidated?
Luke: Yeah because you guys were all experienced with singing and stuff and seemed really cool and I well didn't really sing much so yeah.
Phoenyx: I knew that I'd get on with Brandon because, like Deneil said, we followed each other on Twitter and I would always see Brandon's tweets and it seemed like he had a great personality which is true! Luke seemed a little quiet and I thought he'd be really shy but he's opened up now. To be honest, I was intimidated when I first found out that I would be in a band with Deneil because the Khan's are given this hard, thuggish image by the media but when we met he was so chilled and he's a great guy.
Deneil: I know...I know.....I still don't like them to be honest. I'm only here for the money (laughs)

Who's dating and who's single?
Luke: Single
Brandon: Same
Phoenyx: I'm single and loving it
Deneil: I'm the only one dating. I'm dating Mandy Williams and I have been for like a year or so

Oh and any celeb crushes?
Brandon: Too many to count but here are a few Serenity Scott, Isabel, Vara Gallo, Lyrica Ocha, Ellie-Grace there are more but yeah I'll stop there
Luke: Tisha Jackson is hot I like her
Phoenyx: I really like Michelle Green but she's taken....I curse Riley Hamilton! I also like Layla Sanchez and Ashli from G2L.
Deneil: I'm already dating the hottest celebrity out there.

Oooh okay moving on from there how long do you guys think you'll be together?
Brandon: Forever these guys just can't seem to get enough of me (laughs a little)
Phoenyx: As long as we enjoy making music, we'll continue on as a group. The day that our hearts aren't in it will probably be the right time to end.
Deneil: We've only just started and people are asking us about splitting up, for f**k sake! I think we shouldn't focus on that and just focus on this moment in time and enjoy ourselves. Right now we're in a band, messing about in the studio and just having fun. I don't want to depress myself by thinking about it all ending.

And when can we expect some music?
Luke: We don't even know yet really
Phoenyx: We have no idea when anything official will be released but we'd like for everyone to hear something in the summer even if it's like an acoustic/acapella cover or a demo of some sorts.

Speaking of music what kind of sound should we expect from you guys?
Brandon: Probably a R&Bish popish sort of sound
Deneil: Yeah and I think we'll lean more towards the R&B side since we're incorporating my rapping on a few tracks.
Phoenyx: Oscar Ward is also our manager so he knows what sounds good, what's best for us and he has a lot of top producers in his contacts.

And where do you all see yourselves 5 years from now?
Brandon: I see myself being 5 years older than I am now
Luke: Still together maybe touring
Deneil: Hopefully our careers would have kicked off and we'll still be doing what we love.

So you're known as 'The Relations', who exactly are you related to?
Luke: I'm the cousin of Chris Adams from The Zone
Brandon: I'm Alex Grey's older brother I just realized we're all related to people in pop groups
Deneil: Wow, you're really slow. I worry, I really do. Anyway, I'm Billy Khan's baby bro.
Phoenyx: I'm the younger cousin of Dustyn Blue and Lyrica Ocha. If you haven't figured by now, I'm Irish.

OK; do you think it's a compliment or an annoyance being compared to Weekend, The Zone, etc?
Luke: Both I mean we're our own group and we'll have our own sound but at the same time getting compared to other boy bands who've done so much and are so huge is pretty cool
Phoenyx: Obviously we want to establish ourselves as our own band and although we're related to members of other groups, our sound is completely different. The comparisons are inevitable really. Since Weekend revived the boyband trend and put it back on top, everyone boy band that comes out will always be compared to them. It happened with The Zone and now they've finally broke out on their own, it also happened with The Stat Nerds and ELMNT.

You're four guys of different ages, from different places and backgrounds so you're all bound to have different musical tastes. What are your favourite genres?
Luke: I'm more into rock any form of it really
Brandon: I don't have one I love just about every single genre of music Pop, R&B, Rock, Dance, Country, Rap and so on and so on I think there's good and bad in every genre.
Deneil:: I prefer my R&B, rap and soul.
Phoenyx: I love my pop music, I hold my hands up. I love some Izzy, Weekend, G2L, SYNCO, Suzie, Teen Titans, you name it.

Whose idea was it for you four to form a band?
Brandon: The funny thing is it was actually thought up by somebody on Twitter the person runs a celebrity gossip account so yeah thank you person from the internet.
Deneil: Yeah, it was all a joke at first. We were all planning on making it on our own at the time but deals weren't really coming in and we thought it would be a great way to finally break into the music world so why not?

Are you hoping to become more successful than your famous relatives?
Brandon: Success doesn't bother me too much I just plan on doing what I love with these guys...that didn't sound wrong did it? I meant make music
Deneil: Brandon, we all know you meant 'make love to them'. I've seen you staring....
Brandon: Aww you've noticed?
Phoenyx: This is what I put up with....Anyway, back to the question; I don't plan on becoming more successful because this project was never made out of bitterness and to rival them. We love them, we're proud of what they've achieved so why would we want to take that away from them? Plus I think it will be virtually impossible to recreate the amount of success they've had.

Will there be a lead singer in the band?
Brandon: Probably not we're all good in different ways
Deneil: Yes and that'll be me, obviously!

And thanks for visiting boys can't wait to see what you have in store
Brandon: No problem thanks for having us