Tere is a lot of on-stage buffoonery that keeps everything light-hearted and fun at our shows.
I love that you were picked to play the Vans Warped Tour, yet you’re so atypical from the other bands on the line-up. Do you get a kick out of seemingly winning over punk, rock and metal crowds? Tis world is not atypical for us. We have a lot of peers in the punk, rock and metal scenes. Te hustle that a lot of bands in that musical sphere possess is something that we all came up enduring, when we first started touring. I think we naturally fit in. Looking past the smokescreens a little further, which kids seemingly do more often now, allows us to be given the chance to win them over... in my opinion.
I know that Boston has a good heritage of music schools – did any of you attend? Do you think their association as such hotbeds of different music had anything to do with the rich musical tapestry you reference in your work? None of us went to school to study music theory specifically. Some of us were in off-shoot majors like music business or music technology, but I don't believe that you can totally learn the music business or even be totally independently creative, unless you try to navigate through it yourself. We got in a van, played in front of nobody, got booed off stage and have made terrible decisions that taught us things that a book nor a professor would have ever been able to prepare us for!
You all used to be in Te Eclectic Collective, but that band obviously wasn’t giving you the freedom to explore the new avenues you wanted to. Which one of you raised the issue first? I think it was a "collective" issue but I think I was feeling it first. Tere were too many of us in the band contributing
too many things. It was hard to navigate and really be happy with things because there were just too many things going on. At one point there were 10 or 11 of us in the band. We could never really focus our sound or energy, which is always a challenge when so many inspired people are involved in all of the process. Tat band taught us a lot and provided endless memories, which we are forever grateful for. Te band name stunk though!
R&B (loosely termed) was in danger of being swallowed up by computers. It was becoming something you could fabricate entirely artificially. How important is it for you guys to bring a live band back into the genre? I don't think it's something that holds a lot of weight on our shoulders, but we are aware that there may be a lack of R&B bands in the mainstream. I don't even know exactly what R&B is anymore. Te genre has evolved so much - in a good way - that it makes room for a band like us to even consider ourselves "R&B". For example, I consider a band like Te 1975 an R&B band, but someone else would think I'm crazy for thinking that.
Twitter kindly informs us, via you, that you’re working on three albums at the moment. What can you tell us about each one? Tey are all a work in progress. We just got out of the studio for a sort of acoustic album; recorded re- interpretations of five of our previously recorded songs. We are writing songs for another EP that is going to be heavy, soul crushing and hopefully very loud, if it ever sees the light of day. And, most importantly, we are in the midst of writing / demoing songs with James Fauntleroy and one of his teams, 1500 or Nothin, which will be for our next full length.
From a non-US citizen, the outside
view of the American dream is it’s something to strive for, but is never quite attained. It seems ironic that your own ‘American Dream’ is an album that you’ve worked so hard on, but hasn’t seen the light of day. Can you tell us why? Tat album was a dream and a nightmare, which is sort of ironic I guess. We dreamt of making the songs we did on that album with Teddy Riley, but a lot of other things that came along with it, were a nightmare. We are still trying to navigate our way through the nightmare side of things but we hope those songs see the light of day before the world ends!
I love the story that without meeting B. Lewis before, a quick chat post-gig saw you playing at his house the next day. To me, it indicates a band that moves to the roll of a dice, that takes their chances. Would you say that’s true? Yes and no. We are definitely a risky band in many ways. Trying to put a little more calculation to the risk-taking is what I would say is a true statement about our band, at this point in our career.
Chino Moreno was brought in to do some work for you on ‘American Dream’, I read. Tat’s an awesome, heavyweight appointment. What did he bring to the mix? As cliché as it sounds, it was surreal. To have Teddy Riley and Chino in the same room working with us... man! Deftones are one of our biggest musical inspirations, so to have Chino in the mix of things for a day was a blessing. He helped write a song called ‘Feet on the Ground’ with us and Teddy, which is currently unfinished. We still have to get Chino's vocals on it. I can't totally describe that moment.
Emma R. Garwood
As cliché as it sounds, it was surreal. To have Teddy Riley and Chino in the same room working with us... man!
MORE INFORMATION Bad Rabbits come to the Waterfront Studio on May 9th.
For tickets, go to
www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk. Read the full interview online at
Outlineonline.co.uk
outlineonline.co.uk / May 2014 / 45
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64