Imala sam čast napraviti interview sa basistom američkog indie rock benda iz Brooklyna Ra Ra Riot. Pogledajte šta kaže Mathieu Santos o njihovom prvom albumu, turnejama i što rade dok ne sviraju.
orginal interview made by: Petra Zegnal
How did you came together as a band?
We all met while attending Syracuse University together - but actually, none of us really knew each other before the band formed, which I think is kind of unusual. Assembling the band was Milo's idea - he spent the better part of his winter vacation in December of 2005 recruiting most of us via the internet. He and I were in a band together briefly before that, and when that fell apart, we decided to keep playing together. He knew Rebecca from a class they had together, and she knew Allie from a string quartet. It all kind of came together like that, and we all finally met each other at the first practice.
You have cool name. Can you tell us a story about it?
A friend of ours in Syracuse had actually come up with it, but she didn't have a band at the time. We, on the other hand, had just formed a band and needed a name, so we borrowed it for our first couple of shows around the campus with the idea that we'd come up with something later. Of course, we never got around to doing that, so in the end I guess we sort of accidentally appropriated the name.
You just finished your tour. How was it?
Our last tour was a lot of fun - it was our last tour supporting our first album, and I think everyone feels like we went out on a high note. There were great crowds at every show, and having the chance to watch our tourmates Princeton and Maps & Atlases play every night was incredible.
How was is on tour with Death Cab for Cutie?
It was great - by far the best opening slot we've ever had, and one of the best groups of people we've been on the road with. We got to play in a lot of great venues, and Death Cab's fans were very gracious and supportive, getting to the shows early enough to catch our set night after night. And the band members themselves - just wonderful people. We can't thank them enough for bringing us along with them.
What do you think about indie rock scene right now?
There's a lot of exciting stuff going on. There seems to be a shift heading back towards expertly-crafted songwriting and arranging, which is very exciting, and I feel like a lot of bands are finding interesting ways to balance classic pop sensibilities while moving forward and making sounds that are very new.
Can you tell us something about your first album The Rumb Line?
As you said, it was our very first album, and we recorded it exactly two years ago in a beautiful, rural studio north of Seattle with a great guy named Ryan Hadlock. Being a first album, it was basically a collection of songs from our live set (we'd been playing for about two years at this point), a couple of new songs, and a cover. It was a lot of fun, and we learned a lot about recording and producing and all that. I think we're all pretty proud of it, and we've gotten a lot of mileage out of it.
What inspired Ra Ra Riot's songs?
Well, we first formed to play at house parties while we were at school together, and so that idea informed the music a lot and is an important part of our development as a live band. Musically, our individual influences all seem to be represented, and as far as lyrics are concerned, you'd probably have to ask Wes(vocalist) about that.
How does the audience accept you when you play somewhere for the first time?
We've been lucky - over the past couple of years, we've built up a pretty solid, loyal fan base, and we try to meet as many of them as we can during our travels. As for first impressions, it really depends on where we are. Sometimes it's surprisingly good, and sometimes it's been a lot more difficult to get our footing in a given city.
What kind of relationship do you have with your fans?
We've been lucky - over the past couple of years, we've built up a pretty solid, loyal fan base, and we try to meet as many of them as we can during our travels. As for first impressions, it really depends on where we are. Sometimes it's surprisingly good, and sometimes it's been a lot more difficult to get our footing in a given city.
What do you do when you are not playing? Any hobbies?
When we have a break on tour, we usually like to get out and do some sort of outdoorsy activity. We used to bring all of our bikes on tour, and though we don't have room for them anymore, we still try to explore as much as possible. Lately we've been to Yellowstone, Big Sur, and the Grand Canyon. When I'm at home, which is rare, I like to read a lot, ride my bike, and paint when I can, and, above all else, watch hockey.
What are you plans for future?
We're in the midst of recording our second album right now, and then we're all heading home for the holidays. After that, we'll have a lot of down-time, which we're all looking forward to, and then the album will come out sometime in the spring or summer in 2010, and we'll start touring and touring and touring.
If you could pick one band to tour with, who would you pick?
U2!
What do you think about Rachael Cantu covering your song “Can You Tell”?
It's always cool to hear someone else's interpretation of your work. I think we were all surprised and flattered.
Can you share with us any funny story from tour?
Each of us have our own set of van keys, but we somehow recently managed to lock ourselves out of it while it was running right after our set at a Polish festival in Michigan. It was late at night, and the festival was soon deserted and the scene started to get a little weird. The AAA guy who finally came to help us had actually been to a show of ours a couple of days before! Luckily, we made it back to the hotel safely and for some reason decided to rent the new Transformers movie. There is no moral to this story.
Obožavam otkrivati nove bendove. Mogu reći da mi je to hobi. Netko skuplja salvete, bere polje, krade, laže, drogira se, a ja otkrivam novu muziku. Svakih par mjeseci otkrijem nešto uhu lijepo i ubrzo srcu drago. U potrazi za nečim novim, bez inspiracije, uputih se “velikoj” Sari Quin za glazbeni savjet. Pošto djevojka sama radi iznimno prekrasnu glazbu, nekako vjerujem i u njen privatni glazbeni ukus. "Prijateljica" Sara mi je do šapnula da dam šansu bendu prilično zanimljivog imena – Ra Ra Riot.Nakon prvog/drugog/trećeg slušanja uhvatila sam se da pjevušim njihove pjesme na kavi s frendicom.
Tko su Ra Ra Riot i zašto su tako posebni? Ra Ra Riot su američka indie rock grupa iz New Yorka. Nastali su jedne zime 2006. kad je skupina kolega sa Syracuse sveučilišta odlučili zajedno svirati. Gitarist Milo Bonacci je upoznao violinisticu Rebeccu Zelner na satu elektroničke glazbe. Ona je odlučila pozvat kolegicu i prijateljicu Alexandu Lawn da im se pridruži na violončelu. Basis Mathieu Santos se od prije poznavao sa Bonacciem preko nekih glazbenih projekata, a bubnjar John Pike je doveo klavijaturista i pjevača Wesley Milsa u bend. Svirajući na svim mogućim lokacijama na kampusu, od privatnih tuluma do ulica, bend je ubrzo stekao simpatije svojim energičnim nastupma i nakon samo 6 mj sviranja nastupali su na CMJ Music Marathon. Nakon tog nastupa mediji su ih često prozivali "jedan od najboljih mladih bendova nakon dugo vremena". Do sad su nastupili kao predgrupa Art Bruntu i Bow Wow Wowu u New Yorku, dva puta samostalno nastupali u Velikoj Britaniji. Nakon povratka iz Britanije bili su predgrupa Editorsima, kao i Tokyo Police Clubu na njihovim sjevernoameričkim turnejama. Krajem 2007. imali su svoju prvu samostalnu turneju po SAD-u, a početkom 2008. uslijedila je i druga. Bend je bio pozvan da svira na Iceland Airwaves Festivalu u Reykjaviku gdje su nastupili 2007. Prvi puta su bili headlineri 2007. i 2008. na South Street Music Festivalu u New Yorku. Krajem prošle godine bili su na europskoj turneji sa Vampire Weekendom i Los Campesinos!, a nedavno su završili američku turneju sa mega popularnom indie rock grupom Death Cab For Cutie i Cold War Kids.
U zaletu benda prema uspijehu dogodila se najveća tragedija koja se bendu može dogoditi. U lipnju 2007, nakon nastupa u Providencu, bubnjar John Pike nestao je nakon partyja i pronađen je drugo jutro na plaži – mrtav. Vjeruje se da se John utopio. Tragedija se dogodila samo mjesec dana prije nego što su izdali prvi EP "Ra Ra Riot". Gitarist Milo Bonacci je izjavio nakon smrti bubnjara da njegova smrt im je bila razlog i poticaj da nastave dalje. Osjećali su se odgovorni da snime i sviraju Johnove pjesme kao znak da njegova kreativnost bude zapamćrena. Na njihovoj myspace stranici John je još uvijek naveden kao član benda, bubnjar, pjevač, tekstopisac i životna inspiracija.
U zimi 2007. bend je potpisao ugovor za izdavačku kuću V2 Records a proslavili su to izdajom 7" ploče sa pjesmama "Dying is Fine" i "Each Year" kao A/B singlovi. U prosincu 2007. bend je završio snimanje svojeg album previjenca "The Rumb Line". U svibnju 2008. potpisali su za kuću Barsuk Records i 19. kolovoza izadali album u SAD-u i Kanadi. Mjesec dana kasnije album je ugledao svijetlo dana i u Europi.
Po čemu je Ra Ra Riot toliko poseban? Zanimljivo je čuti indie rock bend sa violinom i čelom koji su se sjajno uklopili sa ostatkom benda i to im daje najveću posebnost. Gudački instrumenti su rijetki u tom žanru glazbe ali to je glavni adut Ra Ra Riota. Energični a opet s dozom profinjenosti Ra Ra Riot je sigurno bend koji ne ostavlja ravnodušnim bilo kojeg fana indie rock glazbe.
