I was lucky enough to interview Ra Ra Riot a few weeks back, but due to a minor deadline mixup the article wasn't published (No hard feelings, Mark). But here is an unedited version of the preview. Lucky you!
After hitting the fast track to success and releasing a highly acclaimed debut album, Ra Ra Riot are back in action with their sophomore record The Orchard.
Some might believe appearing on the CMJ music marathon, touring the UK twice and headlining a United States tour all in the first year of a bands formation might be considered fast, but guitarist Milo Bonacci shares quite a different sentiment when looking back on his band’s success.
“We all feel we have been working hard for the past four-and-a-half years,” says Bonacci. “It’s been a gradual climb to where we are now, but every step there has been a reward.”
One of those rewards was the opportunity to spend six weeks on tour with the revered indie rock sweethearts Death Cab for Cutie last year, which resulted in a solid friendship between the bands and guitarist Chis Walla mixing nearly every track of The Orchard.
“We discovered we had similar values and Chris made it very clear that he wanted to help out with our next album in any way,” says Bonacci. “When it came time to make the album, we decided he would mix it.”
This collaboration has a deeper meaning than it may seem, as some members of the band admired Death Cab prior to touring them.
“They were an example of the dream,” says Bonacci. “Early on we referred to their albums as an example of good recording and if anyone told us we would have been touring with them a couple years later, it would have been unbelievable.”
The band began writing new songs two years ago while still touring their first album Rhum Line, which came out in the summer of 2008.
“We began writing new songs and it got to the point that we needed a new record,” says Bonacci. “We thought ‘We’re not going to be touring Rhum Line forever.”
Though all the songs were already written when the band headed into the studio, it still took over a month to record the final product.
“You could record an album in a couple of days,” says Bonacci. “A lot of the time, I’m in the studio trying to paint a picture of the sound I have in my head. But other times I really know what it sounds like. But I spent a lot of time recording with different instruments. It’s easy to get lost in the studio choosing a mic and preamp or using a bass and different strings. Being in the studio can really shape an album.”
But it wasn’t just Bonacci and Death Cab’s Walla who put a vast amount of effort into the album.
“Ideas come from different places,”says Bonacci. “Somebody is always contributing in one way or another. Songs end up being collaborative and developed by the entire band.”
Now the band is continuing their tour and, thanks to Halifax’s Wintersleep, will be coming to Calgary for the first time to take in the local scene.
“We try to take in the local scene whenever possible,” says Bonacci. “We hardly have any time between shows, but whenever we have more than an hour to spare we see the city. Sometimes any time out of the hotel is just what we want.”
Post the first comment: (Login or Register)