3 weeks ago
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For many artists, music is the ultimate vessel for transcendence—when the foot hits the pedal, the hands hit the keys, or the drumsticks strike the head, something speaks directly to the soul. The whole body lights up like a Christmas tree, and three-piece powerhouse Divergent aims to channel that undeniable intoxication as they chase the next great rock classic. After a lifetime of grappling with tormenting what-ifs, an enduring love for music (and a bit of perfect timing) ultimately prevailed, reigniting a 40-year-old dream once pushed to the wayside. Lead vocalist, guitarist, and keyboardist James Richards, bassist and vocalist Mike McAlister, and vocalist, drummer Paul Richards (James’ brother) exist in a constant state of creative fixation, dreaming up intricate soundscapes layered to their heart’s content.
Last year, they took the ultimate leap of faith: choosing a name that reflects their untamable curiosity, establishing a collaborative process that encourages each member’s vision to shine, and refusing to let the trends of a volatile industry dictate their path. Now, with their debut album already under their belt, the band is more poised than ever to show that there’s no fear in making music that stands out—and that it’s never too late to fulfill a raison d’être. Grounded, confident, and brimming with new ideas, they are already evident in every new project, and their sophomore record, Rev It Up, shifts from promise to full-throttle execution.
Few things in life complement each other better than rock and racing—they’re both thunderous, adrenaline-pumping, and tinged with danger. On a late-night joyride—windows down, pedal to the floor—“Rev It Up” is the anthem to crank, a simple staple that embodies the effervescent staying power of good old-fashioned, golden era rock. Wailing guitars, commanding drums, and gritty vocals swagger with the rebellion of bands like Boston or Kansas, capturing the restless attitude of a true rocker: someone who’s only “got one life,” so they “need to live it fast.” Each blazing guitar solo and soaring harmony strikes an impressive balance between a studio-polished and arena-ready sound, revealing musicians driven to push their songs to the absolute limit. A sense of constant motion permeates through the raucous riffs, emulating a world where “stoppin’” simply doesn’t exist. At the heart of it all lies an instantly memorable sentiment: an ever-chantable three-word refrain that hums like an engine roaring to life on the open road. Much like their narrator, Divergent knows that there’s “no way they slow” now that they’ve picked up speed. Whether or not they’re “Hellbound for Mexico” or racing toward Rock and Roll glory, there’s “no way in hell” anyone in their rearview is catching up anytime soon.
It’s one thing to write about the cool cars and roaring motorcycles of fantastical, mythical rockers long relegated to the dustbin of the past—but it’s entirely another to be the kind of people who actually own them, Mike’s Ultra Limited Harley and James’ Iowa “LESPAUL” license plate says it all: Divergent’s rocker lifestyle extends far beyond the stage, seeping into everything they do. While their previous two music videos found the band hard at work in the studio, building confidence as they solidified their identity as an original force, this brand-new visual—brought to life with the help of HIP Video Productions—puts the fantasy front and center, with Divergent happily in the driver’s seat. It’s exactly the scene they envisioned while writing the song: a trio of rockers in their element, tearing it up as they absorb each buzzing note, surrounded by miles and miles of open road—the kind of thrilling escape everyone has daydreamed about at least once. It’s a refreshing snapshot of rock ’n’ roll as a contemporary way of life, and with Divergent at the helm, “Rev It Up” is the kind of scene that makes classic rock mythology feel unquestionably present tense.
After all these years, what made now the right time to fully commit to the band?
James: We reunited our high school cover band, Chautauqua Road Band in 2016. Mike, our bass player, was really the one who was responsible for instigating our reunion. I’m so glad he did! To be honest, I didn’t see it ever happening. I was so surprised when he was willing to come out to Iowa from New Jersey to spend a few days putting the band back together. We had so much fun playing together that we decided to start playing gigs again. We had a terrific eight-year run playing all the great classic rock songs that we grew up on. During those eight years, I was really inspired and dove headfirst into buying a lot of new gear, setting up a home studio and writing a lot of new music. When the reunited Chautauqua Road Band came to an end, I was highly motivated to do original music. The time was right as I wasn’t getting any younger! It was now or never. So I asked Mike and my brother Paul if they would be willing to work on original music with me. They said yes, and away we went to Sweetwater Studios to record our first album, Runnin’ Free. It was a life-changing experience! So much so that we decided to keep going, which led to the recording of our second album called Rev It Up. Now we have plans to record our third album this coming September. There’s no turning back now!
Mike: To me, there are two aspects to answering this question. The first is committing to bringing the original cover band back together in 2016, which set everything in motion. Being committed to making that band work led us to Divergent. The second aspect is when thinking about the band Divergent and what we are now, the commitment to recording original songs was when we committed to taking it in this direction. We were all in a place a few years ago when we needed to decide to keep doing covers, which was becoming more tedious, or do originals and stretch out our creative legs. It has been so much more gratifying to create our own music.
Paul: Once we were able to hear some of the first demos for the first record — Runnin’ Free — we knew we had something good going on. When we went into the studio, it was solidified for me.
The name Divergent really stands out. What does it mean to you as a group?
James: All three of us are serious musicians who have an appreciation for many genres of music. We also value being free to create without commercial constraints. We aren’t trend followers who are cranking out widgets just to make a buck. Our goal is to create iconic songs that will hopefully stand the test of time to become classics on their own right. That’s a truly lofty goal and we may not succeed. It’s the effort and desire that matter the most to us.
Mike: I suspect it means slightly different things to each of us, but to me it means we are unafraid of trying new and different approaches to our music. It also means we don’t want to be married to one style or genre of music. We all like lots of different genres and we want to reflect that in everything we do going forward.
Paul: To me, it means feeling free to not be bound by any specific music genre.
Your debut set the tone, and now Rev It Up feels louder and bolder. What changed between the first record and this one?
James: We had more confidence in the studio for the Rev It Up album. I was interested in creating a huge sound with this album. I wanted a big, loud rocker to open the album to project our confidence and our ability to rock hard. I wanted to make a big statement that we are serious and here to stay.
Mike: The first album was something of an experiment for us. In other words, we needed to convince ourselves we could actually make the studio experience work for us. Before then, we had never been in a place where we could try different instruments, e.g. a Fodera bass or a Hammond B-3 organ, to get different sounds and textures. We had also never been able to layer sounds and voices to get an effect. It really opened up our eyes to the possibilities. Sweetwater Studios was an amazing partner in helping us find our voice. On the second album, we knew we could make it work and didn’t have to be concerned with how it would work out… we knew it would be amazing once we got it recorded and worked with Jason Peets, our producer/engineer. And… James likes it louder and bolder, so it came naturally.
Paul: Some of the songs on the second record have been around since we first did our initial demos three years ago. So the louder and bolder songs had been percolating for a bit. We have loud rockers like Little Lovemaker and What Are You Gonna Do? on the first record, too. You’ll always find a lot of musical diversity in our catalog.
“Rev It Up” is all gas, no brakes. How did the idea for the song come together?
James: I’m always writing new material, and I always have a few hard rockers that I’m working on. I came up with the riffs and chord changes for Rev It Up in my home studio. The more I worked on it, the more parts I came up with. It was fun linking the different parts together to create a whole song. I had so many parts that the song ended up with two choruses! When I had it worked out, I showed it to Paul during one of our rehearsals. As usual, we played it together a lot of times over the course of several rehearsals. After we had the song locked in, I mentioned to Paul that maybe I would write lyrics about racing since the song has such a hard-driving rock groove. Paul and I grew up in a family that loves cars and racing, so racing is in our blood. Paul agreed, so that’s how I came up with the lyrics for Rev It Up.
Mike: James will have to answer on the origins of the song, but from bringing it together as a band, James and Paul worked out the basics, i.e., guitar, drums, and vocals and they sent it to me to work out the bassline. Initially, I believe I had a different idea in mind for this song, but when we all talked about it, James and Paul said it needed a ‘driving’ bassline. When I went back to the drawing board, I came up with the bassline in the song and I think it really does help drive the beat. I recently listened to the original ‘demo tape’ of the song and it’s pretty amazing how all of the elements came together to create what we now know as ‘Rev It Up’.
There’s a strong classic rock feel in the guitars and harmonies. What inspired that sound?
James: Well, that is what we grew up with, so it’s second nature. I remember growing up and seeing all the guitar players that I looked up to were playing Les Pauls. So that was my dream guitar and I knew one day I had to get one. I’ve owned my Les Paul Goldtop for over 20 years and I just love it. I love the big, beefy tone of my Goldtop. When I turn it up, I get beautiful sustain and that rich, saturated crunch that is the staple of classic rock.
Mike: I tell the people who ask us how we got started back in the 70’s that we played classic rock before it was classic. I feel that most of the songs we do have some roots in the music from the mid to late 70’s. James and I grew up in a time when there was so much amazing rock music out there that we were ‘spoiled’. I think it’s the reason we still hear songs from that era all around us… it was all amazing. So many bands had great guitar players and 3-4 part harmonies were not unusual. We loved playing Doobie Brothers songs because we all got to sing.
Paul: We grew up listening to what is now considered classic rock. It’s ingrained in our DNA. We’ve had some people liken our harmonies to bands like Boston and Kansas. That’s a great honor in my opinion. Harmonies are a huge layer to what we do as well. Bands like Queen, The Beatles and The Beach Boys were huge pioneers and that’s the benchmark.
As a three-piece, how do songs usually take shape for you?
James: I write the music and come up with the songs. Then I show them to Paul during rehearsal and we work out the final arrangement. Since Mike lives in New Jersey, we then send him a rough demo so he could work out his bassline. Once we agree on which songs we’re going to record in the studio, I then go to work and start working out guitar and keyboard solos and any other layers of sound we might want to use. Then Mike comes out to Iowa for a few days to rehearse live with Paul and me before we go into the studio. It’s a process that we have repeated several times, and it works well for us.
Mike: Perhaps the analogy is overused, but we are a 3-legged stool when it comes to playing our songs. We all carry our own weight, or it isn’t going to work. Looking at a few of the songs we did on the Runnin’ Free album and on the Rev It Up album, James plays both guitar and keyboards on the same song. His genius, in my opinion, is that he can hear and execute both the guitar and keyboard parts on the same song once we are in the studio. James and Paul work out the vocal arrangements together in the practice space, and James will come to me and say that he has a vocal part that I will learn during the rehearsal prior to recording. From the bass guitar perspective, I bring my contribution to the table and then Paul and I work on the rhythm section aspect. It all comes together naturally in the rehearsal and gets polished during the recording process.
Paul: James writes the lyrics and comes up with the main structures of the tune ready to go. James and I will hash out the details in rehearsals to develop the tune. We hand that rough cut to Mike to run with the bass lines. Then from there we add vocals, etc., and collaborate until the tune is right.
That hook feels made for a live crowd. Do you picture the stage when you’re writing?
James: For the song Rev It Up, I was definitely thinking about a big, live crowd. I wanted a big sing-along chorus for the song, and I was definitely picturing a live crowd singing along. People love to sing at concerts, and that was certainly in my mind.
Mike: I can’t answer for James on the writing aspect, but I can vouch for the feeling we would get performing gigs back in the 70’s. We would get the crowd going, and the energy we would get from everyone was wonderful. I remember doing Peter Frampton’s ‘Do You Feel Like We Do’ and the crowd responding during the call-and-response part of the song. I’m pretty sure we would get the crowd singing ‘Rev It Up’ given the opportunity.
Your love of bikes and cars is real, not just an image. How much does that lifestyle influence your music?
James: Well, I love anything fast and loud, and that definitely applies to my rock and roll!
Mike: My contribution to the video was riding my Harley. I am fortunate to own such a nice bike and live in an area where I can enjoy beautiful scenery and feel the freedom a motorcycle creates. I think music is like that in a lot of ways: when playing or creating, there is a lot of freedom to explore the space. We do this in a place where there is so much beauty, i.e., other music and influences and when it all comes together, it feels great.
Paul: I love auto racing, particularly IndyCar racing. I love muscle cars and had a Mustang back in the day. Mike is the motorcycle guy. I used to race BMX and still collect and build bikes. Anything mechanical pushes my buttons.
The new video puts you out on the open road. What was your favorite part of filming it?
James: Getting to drive the 1970 Chevelle Super Sport was definitely the highlight for me. That car was beautiful and was such a beast!
Mike: For me, the best part was being able to create the scenes knowing we were being filmed at the street level and from above by a drone. I knew that the visuals were going to be very cool, and having multiple points of view was going to create interesting visuals.
Paul: We had people threaten to call the cops on us while we were filming. We might have stepped on a private lot or two. It doesn’t get more rock ‘ n ‘ roll than that.
With this momentum building, what’s next for Divergent—and anything else you’d like to share with fans before we wrap up?
James: We’re going to be heading back to Sweetwater Studios this coming September to record our third album. The hardest part will be deciding which songs to record. We have a lot of music already in the bank and I’m writing new music all the time. We’ll be looking to enhance our sound even more with the experience we have already gained from our first two albums. Divergent is still ramping up, and we haven’t hit our full stride yet. We have more to prove to the world, and we’re excited to take our music even higher! Stay tuned!
Mike: We are very psyched about getting the rest of the Rev It Up album out in the world. There are a few rockers on the album, but there are other songs that reflect our love of different musical styles. Every song has a different feeling and they are all amazing. Beyond this album, we are working on the third album and plan to be back in the studio in September. We can’t wait to create more Divergent music!
Paul: We’re really looking forward to sharing the rest of the new music on this new record with our fans! There’s more music coming in 2026! We’re just getting started.
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