Ra Ra Riot Interview

by Jacob on May 16th, 2009

Hometown shows always seem to get the biggest hype. Rumors of extended setlists, more intimate connections with fans and better live musicianship buzz around in the local scene until the night of the show comes and the main artist doesn’t disappoint. But how is the opening act suppose to live up to the expectations to the show? It seems like a daunting task. Ra Ra Riot took the challenge to the ground and with a majestic onstage performance, got the audience’s heart racing for Death Cab For Cutie. After their set, I had the privilege to meet and speak with the multi-talented Alexis Lawn for a few minutes on a cozy couch with the concert swelling in the background.

Thank you for your time to come out for an interview. Would you please state your name and role in the band?

My name is Alexis Lawn, and I play Cello.

How are you doing?

I’m pretty good, how are you?

I’m doing fine. How is the current tour going? How is it to tour with a band as big as Death Cab For Cutie?

It’s awesome. They’re really sweet guys and treat us really well. Which is a really important thing, because big bands sometimes don’t care about the opening band so, it’s really cool. It’s awesome really to kind of be friends with them. You know, when we were a lot younger, they were a pretty significant band so it’s kind of a big deal [laughs].

Well that is pretty cool. So is it a “dream come true” sort of feeling?

Yes definitely, and my little brother is super into them so it’s kind of cool to be like “we’re hanging out with Ben Gibbard right now, what are you doing?” [laughs].

On to the next question: you’ve caught on fairly quickly in the industry and have released an impressive debut on a good record company. How would you say the journey this far has been?

Um, well I’d say it’s been…well I wouldn’t say it’s been fast and furious. It hasn’t felt very fast. I know we very fortunate for everything we’ve accomplished and all that. We’ve worked really hard and we do take it as a job and put everything into it that we can. We don’t feel like any mass explosion of success or anything. We also really try to have a really organic approach to it. We don’t want this mass explosion, we don’t want any hype in that we want real fans and loyal; not that middle kind of thing.

The Rhumb Line has the right amount of variety on it, from string-laced tracks to the song ‘Too Too Too Fast’ which hinges on a synth progression. Who would you say has influenced you the most for writing an album with such diverse sounds? Does this reflect different songwriters in the band?

It’s definitely different songwriters in the band. Also, no matter who wrote the song, everybody writes their own parts as well, which adds a little color. We also write together. You’ll write your own part to someone’s song in front of everyone else. So there’s a lot of positive critiquing, advice and direction, so it’s very collaborative to say the least. And also we’re all very different people and we all like very different music. We all have common like U2, The Police, Kate Bush and then you know, we really separate off. That also plays a role in it, we all come from very different backgrounds.

Having consistent cello and violin sets Ra Ra Riot apart from other artists of the same genre. What helped you to decide to add two string instrumentalists to the band? How does it change the songwriting process? Or does it?

It doesn’t change the songwriting process because we’ve been a part of it all along, and we’ve pretty much established our roles from the start. It was Milo’s idea to have strings in the band because he wanted to start a band his senior year of college just to kind of have fun. Becca was in a class with him and he knew she played violin, and I had a class with her and in orchestra and she brought me along. Everyone had kind of played with each other here and there but for the most part, we didn’t really know each other until we played together. It was pretty cool in that way.

Which song off the album would say is your favorite or best song? Are there any that were particularly difficult or easy to write or record?

‘Oh, La’ is definitely my favorite and I therefore think it’s the best. That one actually was a really old song of ours and it was way different, and we kind of put it on the back burner. And when we were in the studio there was a really vibey off-night and we just started jamming to it, and it just came together in this power and there were candles lit. I don’t know, it’s pretty dorky to say it’s ’so vibey’ but it was just one of those magical moments. I think I’m most proud musically how that one came together.

Many fans as well as myself are wondering: what are the plans for a future album so far?

There’s definitely plans and I can definitely say that it’s fact they are always changing. The album is catching on in different spurts so we don’t want to cut its life short so we’re really going to cater to that. But we’ve all been writing individually and together. There’s a lot of stuff we’re really excited about for the next album. Hopefully by spring or something next year, we’ll have an album coming out but I really can’t say that for sure.

Has there been any interest from any major labels? Would you consider joining one?

I don’t think we would consider one. We’re actually signed to V2 before they were bought out to Universal then a few months later so technically, we are on a major label. Yeah, I think it just goes from band to band, to label to label, indie to major, who cares about who and how they are going to treat them? I can’t say it is a mistake or it’s a positive to be on a major. I don’t think we would seek out a major, but if the right one came along and we knew we would be taken care of, we could go.

So you’re happy where you are now on Barsuk Records?

We love Barsuk. They are like an extended family. You really could call like any of them up and be like “hi” and they would talk to us. Whenever we come out here, we hang out with them. It’s so comfortable and warm. It’s really nice to have people behind you like that.

You’re on the lineup for one of Washington’s biggest festivals Sasquatch, and Lollapalooza. Do you look forward to playing these big festivals? Are there any artists you are hoping to watch perform?

Oh yeah! Lolla just got announced and that one is pretty amazing. The other day we all realized that we hadn’t even looked at the lineup of Sasquatch, and we were just excited because we just heard it was really pretty and we all like being outside. So then we looked up at the lineup and the lineup is really exciting, and I know that he boys are really excited to see Tim and Eric do some comedy skits and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and so many. We really love big festivals. They’re the most fun, just hanging out in the parking lot and you’re cooking all day. For the most part, I love festivals. They’re just a blast.

Which albums have you been enjoying thus far from 2009? Any standouts who’ll make an end of the year list?

Definitely, and I’m sure everyone says this, but the new Animal Collective is pretty amazing. [laughs] I’m going to be perfectly honest, I can’t think of any other bands whose new stuff I’ve been listening to. I know Becca is really into the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs, I haven’t actually sat down and listened to it, but I’ll put that one out there for her. I’ve been kind of going in retrograde with music and I’m in like a really big Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nix thing right now and I just really haven’t been into the indie thing lately to be completely honest [laughs].

A tradition of a ‘gratuitous’ question in interviews is being implemented. So here is mine: Would you rather have the superhuman power of being able to communicate with animals or speak with any language fluently?

Well I know Becca answered this one for me earlier saying I’d talk to animals and I think that’s it. I think they’d have, and I don’t mean this in like a negative, “I’m a realist” way, I just think they’d have a lot more interesting things to say. And you know, as much as I’d love to speak French and sound all sexy, it would be really cool to talk to animals and see what’s up with them. And I love animals. I’m always wanting stuffed animals. I’m a weenie for stuffed animals [laughs].

Any final words for fans?

I’m really bad at this.

You can say anything, it doesn’t have to be some catch phrase. [laughs]

Yeah, “don’t worry, be happy” right? [laughs] Yeah, just be happy doing what you’re doing, and if you’re not, you got to change that.

Interview conducted by Jacob Price