How sibling duo ALT BLK ERA are smashing down guitar barriers on debut album ‘Rave Immortal’
ALT BLK ERA might be smashing down barriers everywhere they turn, but the Nottingham sister duo’s rise to become one of the most talked about names in music has been harder fought than most.
The older of the two, Nyrobi, spent the majority of her teenage years in bed due to having chronic fatigue syndrome, while Chaya – who is three years younger – tried her hardest to get her sibling out of the house. While this was predominantly unsuccessful, Nyrobi would spend her time singing and writing break-up songs; a self-confessed music and drama nerd who once took acoustic guitar lessons so she could skip maths, her primary school classmates had voted her as ‘most likely to win The X Factor’.
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But it wasn’t until suggesting that Chaya – who had started to play piano – sing with her that such an accolade seemed possible, though it took some persuading on Nyrobi’s part. “I said ‘no, I don’t want to do it’,” Chaya recalls. To their surprise, “we actually sounded good”, as Nyrobi says; “People would say your sister-harmonies are incredible”.
However, their potential was put on pause due to drifting apart as they followed different paths during secondary school. “Because of homework and the different schedules, we weren’t together,” reflects Nyrobi, who originally envisioned herself going to musical theatre.
Consequently, it wasn’t until the Covid-19 lockdown of 2020 that they “started to get back into it” by posting cover versions to YouTube. Their mum soon suggested that, if they were serious about making music, they should try to learn as much as possible about the industry. They didn’t think twice: “we honed in on the learning”, Nyrobi attests, recalling that she even completed photography courses to aid their DIY approach.
When it came to forming their own sound, they didn’t think about genre, particularly as their music tastes are different. “We never set out to be different, but our music is where our worlds collide,” Nyrobi summarises citing everything from Gil Scott-Heron, reggae and UK grime to One Direction and JLS. “It wasn’t that we wanted to be something totally new”, Chaya adds; “it was just what we liked.” Despite such a dichotomy of influences at play, their ethos is simple: “just write songs and make sure that the music suits the song”.
However, perhaps surprisingly, it wasn’t until one of their first studio sessions as a band that the pair “stumbled across” rock. “The song was just missing something, it didn’t feel gritty. So I had the revolutionary idea, because the guitars were just there on the stand, to suggest we add a guitar to the track,” Nyrobi recalls of the lightbulb moment. “As soon as we got it in, it just clicked, and that really opened the doors for us.”
Although they didn’t know who the big bands in the scene were – “we were new, we had no clue about Slipknot”, laughs Nyrobi – the pair researched the genre’s pioneers and discovered the “immense influence” of Jimi Hendrix on modern music. “We thought ‘let’s just go back to the roots and build our way through,” she adds. There was one guitar band that Chaya grew up a fan of, though: Nine Inch Nails. “I always watch their Woodstock performance and one day I realised why I like it so much – because of how they play guitar; they do it so dramatically, it’s not just strumming, it’s a whole acting kind of thing.”
Ever since taking a deep dive into alternative music and all its sub-genres, they’ve been huge fans of rock and metal, especially Chaya, who has admirably and openly documented her process of learning to play guitar, Epiphone Les Paul Modern in hand, via social media.
“Some people get really upset that we’re a rock band but we’re not playing all the instruments ourselves,” Nyrobi, who generally moves between a Les Paul or Telecaster on stage, reflects. “But they just need to remember that Chaya is a 17-year-old girl who just wants to play guitar!” she adds defensively.
Nonetheless, ALT BLK ERA have already stormed some of the biggest festivals in the country, including Glastonbury, which they were chosen to play at when they were just 15 and 18. “That was ridiculous,” Nyrobi reflects, adding that neither she nor her sister had heard of the festival back then. “We trained really hard but it felt natural to be on stage for thousands of people performing at 1am in the morning when everyone’s lost their minds.”
Artwork for Alt Blk Era’s single ‘Come On Outside’. Image: Press
Similarly, they didn’t quite realise the magnitude of playing Download Festival: “Our band were in tears and their families were crying because it means so much culturally”, Nyrobi says. To ALT BLK ERA, however, it was just another, albeit “awesome” and moshpit-heavy, gig.
Despite their short career to date, the sisters have twice been nominated for a MOBO Award, although the first tip in 2023 (for their debut EP Freak Show) came totally out of the blue. “I got a notification on Twitter saying that MOBO had mentioned us and I thought it was a mistake at first,” Nyrobi recalls of the surreal moment. “I ran downstairs – the adrenaline hit me like a bus”. She says their red carpet moment last year was “out of this world” too; “we were worried that nobody was going to take pictures of us, but everyone was like ‘ALT BLK ERA! Look over here’!”
This pinch-me moment made the duo feel as though they had truly arrived – and surreal experiences have followed ever since, including witnessing their audience crowd-surf at 2000 Trees festival and being hand-picked by guitar legend Tom Morello to join his tour. Alongside this, Nyrobi and Chaya have not only amassed a dedicated legion of fans, but built a singular community that their followers can become a part of. “When we do our own shows and look in the crowd, we both think ‘these people are never going to be in the same room again’,” Nyrobi considers. “We have generations of people there, including grandmas with their granddaughters, which is very fulfilling.”
Now that ALT BLK ERA’s debut album Rave Immortal is out in the world, things are only going to get bigger. Having distilled their loves of alternative, metal, emo and electronic music, the record – on which the guitar and bass are played by producer Natt Webb of RatCat Studios – lands sonically somewhere between Evanescence, Billie Eilish and The Prodigy.
The narrative behind it, however, is deeply personal – perhaps more so than one might realise upon their first listen. “It’s a story about my disability,” says Nyrobi; “it’s a really human album, with big emotions – whether it’s me being afraid to go outside and be public with my disability, to going through rejections in friendships because of my disability.”
The way in which Chaya has unwaveringly supported her during these tough times is poignantly brought to life on the stirring yet anthemic Come On Outside. “I’ve often felt that my body and soul don’t line up because my soul is on 10 and I’ve got a huge personality but my disability keeps me on a three,” Nyrobi considers as Chaya nods in agreement. The progression of the album, then, reflects Nyrobi coming to terms with her condition and, by the end, sees her reach a level of “transcendence” – a feeling that is encapsulated by the album’s title.
“Rave Immortal is about me transcending boundaries and the physical barriers that I personally face,” she says, adding that it’s also an encouragement for people to pursue their own dreams and “be something beyond what society may have forced upon them”. By sharing her own story, Nyrobi hopes it will encourage others who might be in a similar position to open up. “I didn’t want to share that part of me, but now I’m owning it,” she says confidently, adding that they often receive comments from other disabled people saying that the band’s success has inspired them; “we’ve had messages like ‘it’s great to see you play Download and I feel like I could do that too’, which is amazing,” Nyrobi says.
Beyond its powerful messages about diversity, inclusion and the importance of safe spaces, the boundary-breaking Rave Immortal not only bridges the gap between different subcultures, but stands ALT BLK ERA in their very own artistic lane. “It’s for sad people who need a hug,” Nyrobi summaries – “but also for people who want to make as much noise as possible!”
ALT BLK ERA’s debut album Rave Immortal is out now via Earache Records
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