The members of Ra Ra Riot first came together in 2006 as undergraduate students at Syracuse University in Western New York. Boasting a lineup configuration that mixed a lightning-quick rock rhythm section with strings and other baroque instruments, the six-member was initially lumped in with the other big-band indie groups who emerged in the wake of Arcade Fire’s massive success. But thanks to a series of memorable studio albums—particularly 2010’s The Orchard ¬—and a jamband-worthy road warrior mentality, Ra Ra Riot have carved out their own niche in the in the modern-pop landscape. On their new release Beta Love, they truly declare their independence, replacing many of the signature string parts and guitar-hooks with unexpected, synth-oriented soundscapes. Beta Love is also the band’s first album since the departure of band co-founder Alexandra Lawn, whose cello parts were some of the band’s most unique calling cards. Shortly before Beta Love’s release, violinist Rebecca Zeller discussed Ra Ra Riot’s change in sound, their new studio approach and how the band shares some musical DNA with the club Funk ‘N Waffles.
Let’s start by talking about Ra Ra Riot’s forthcoming album, Beta Love. When did you first start working on the album and how did the songs initially take shape?
We started working on the album in the summer of 2011. We were still touring The Orchard but had time off that summer and—for the first time in the band’s career—everyone had their own apartments and spaces in New York. We didn’t temporally relocate to a studio somewhere to record. It was the first time we could all come to work and go home as opposed to what we did for The Orchard and The Rhumb Line —just living together and that sort of thing.
In the summer of 2011, we started working on songs and people brought in different ideas. We finished touring The Orchard that following fall, in November 2011. And then once we were done with that, we started to pile straight ahead. During that summer, we had met with a few producers and had a really great meeting with Dennis Herring [Modest Mouse, Counting Crows, The Hives]. Then during that time, we had decided that we wanted to work with him. And after the November tour, we worked on the songs a bit more, and we sent [frontman Wes Miles] down to Oxford to sort of take the demos that we had worked on as a group—or that he had brought to us—and let him and Dennis go at them. They spent a week working on a batch of songs, and the songs came back to us in New York. We played through them and worked on them together a bit more. In January of 2012, they went back down, worked on more stuff with Dennis, then they came back up, and we worked on it more as a group for maybe two months. Then we all went down to Oxford to record the record.
It sounds like there was definitely a lot of back and forth, both physically between work spaces and conceptually between Dennis and the band. Do you feel like this new approach ultimately helped this set of songs function more as a conceptual album?
There was definitely a lot of time to let them breathe. I think because we were not living together [in a studio setting], it was probably less of a stress [situation] to maximize every minute. It seemed like more of a casual and slower process with no real pressure to finish things immediately because of time constraints. I think everyone being able to go home at the end of the day—and just be people away from each other—probably helped everybody’s metal health and perspective. Life is all about balance and this is no different.
In the process of recording Beta Love, Ra Ra Riot released an EP. Were those songs you were working on with Dennis or from an earlier recording session?
That was more stuff associated with The Orchard.
As many journalists have noted, your new album has something of a shift in sound. It moves away from the baroque, orchestral sound that Ra Ra Riot were known for from their earlier days to a more synth-based, electro sound. How conscious was this stylistic change and was your initial goal to move into a more synth-oriented space?
It was definitely an intentional change to do something different. Reading a lot of reviews of the songs, instead of calling us chamber-pop, now everyone calls us synth-pop. [Laughter.] The whole synth-pop-driven thing…that was not a goal at all. But when we started off as a band, I remember people asking how we ended up with strings in the band in the beginning. It really was because we wanted to increase the possibilities of the music that we could make. By adding different instruments, we’d be able to create [a wider palette of sounds]. But over time, it became the opposite—it was actually becoming a bit of a limitation. We were feeling bound by every song needing to have violin and cello. And not even violin and cello but even guitar. Really, what we wanted to change [with this album] was the feeling that the instruments that we first brought to the table have to be included in every song. We have made a deliberate decision to approach it a bit differently instead of saying, “What will the violin part be for this song?” Now it is, “Okay, well does this song need a violin party and if so, what would be most appropriate?” Maybe before I was servicing myself by writing a violin part for the entire song instead of just one part? So the goal of this album was to take that idea and run with it—taking that release and running with it. That was something that we probably did better in the early days—not trying to overthink things and just trusting out instincts. Really, our goal this time was to not over think things.
Between Beta Love and The Orchard, cello player Alexandria Lawn left the band. Do you feel that her departure shifted the band’s sound into this new synth-oriented space more than, as you said, another variation with strings?
I think that her departure was sort of like a result of this intention of wanting to change and also something that allowed us to go with it.
As a band, you have literally grown up together: you all met in college, moved to New York together and have spent the past six years touring the world in close courters. Have you felt that as you guys have grown up and the band has evolved, that your musical interests have stayed the same and have all evolved together? Or is it something that, as it’s changed, everyone has brought different influences and if that’s so, can you mention some of the influences individual members have brought in?
Obviously because we spend a lot of time together, if someone’s really excited about something, it spreads. Something that comes to mind is the [psych-rock] Delicate Steve record. I think it was [guitarist] Milo Bonacci who first found it and was instantly like, “Check out this band! They’re amazing!” They’re incredible! And fortunately, we did get to tour with them on the last tour behind The Orchard. That’s pretty common. I think some of us listen to a bit more new music than other members of the band. When something catches, everyone becomes passionate about it. Everybody really loves the last two Dirty Projectors records. It’s hard to say how they influence this record in particular. Obviously stuff has to be influencing us—whether you’re conscious of it or not, these things do influence and inspire but it’s hard to say directly how. I think some of maybe the more electronic parts to the record are probably more inspired by older things as opposed to newer ones.
Not the newer electronic-revival going on in dance music but some more retro synth sounds you have discovered?
Right! Exactly.
Speaking of varied influence, I actually heard that Miles and [founding drummer John Pike, who tragically drowned in 2007] started off in a jamband. Is that true?
Wes played in a funk-jamband when we were in college. It’s funny because Wes’s good friend, we were all really into funk and actually opened a funk and waffles restaurant—The Funk N’ Waffle –in Syracuse, which is awesome. I’m not sure how into that style of music he was into before he met them but he played drums with them when we were in college.
Shifting back to the album, given that this Beta Love was work-shopped in so many different settings over a long period of time, did you shy away from playing these songs live before you finished the album? Conversely, given the varied instrumentation on the album, what has the process of tweaking these songs for a concert setting been like?
We started playing them in August. We finished the record in May and knew that we wouldn’t be releasing it until January. We did take a few months off and then, when we started playing them, we knew it would be a massive challenge. The songs off The Rhumb Line and The Orchard were challenging to recreate live but as we wrote thse songs, we all learned how to play them. We could essentially perform them, and then we recorded them. This has been the first experience where, because we intentionally wanted things to be spontaneous in the studio, we tried to prepare things enough that we could record them but not prepare too much so that there wouldn’t be room for improvisation and that sort of thing in the studio.
So come August, we had our work cut out for us. Everyone’s sort of doing different things. Milo’s playing keys and guitar. Matt’s playing guitar and bass. And I’m now playing violin and keys and singing—and sometimes doing it all at the same time! So it’s pretty exciting because everyone has these new challenges but getting them to feel good in a set has been difficult. We’re playing songs like “Dying is Fine,” which we’ve actually been playing for several years, and it has taken a lot of work and time. I’m actually in our practice space right now. We’re currently still practicing. We had a tour last week and we were able to play seven of the songs and we felt really good about them but we’ve had to be really diligent about putting the time in.
Have you felt that some of the band’s new instrumentation and each of your new roles as multi-instrumentalists has shifted or changed some of the back catalog songs that you still play? Have you incorporated some of the new sounds to the old songs?
No, not really. The older ones, aside from not having Alexandria as our cellist, are all the same.
Some advance promotional material from your new album pointed out that, lyrically, the album has something of a futurist theme. Was that something that a clear goal when the album was being written and can you talk a bit about where that concept initially came from?
Wes can do a better job talking about it but I will do the best that I can. I know when we were recording The Orchard, Matt had just gotten the book The Singularity is Near. And I think that’s something that just fascinated all of the boys. I think from touring The Orchard, we were talking about these concepts and how they were sort of escape tactics for the boys. I think it’s something they’ve really felt inspiriting to think about and something that changed everything. When it came time to write lyrics for Beta Love, Wes had it on his mind and found it really inspiring. I think he said that possibly in the past, he would have felt too self-conscious to write about something essentially dorky. But to him, it’s so fascinating and interesting that it was maybe liberating to just go with something that he’s sincerely interested in and inspired by.
Since you have a few records under your belt and toured so much, there probably is a freedom to try different things and experiment more and do things that you feel passionate about doing. It is a piece of a catalog now instead of defining your reputation.
It’s easier said than done. As I said, trying to go with our gut in the studio was a goal but it was hard to actually do that. It was nice to have Dennis there because it was his job to help us achieve that. I mean we’re sincerely excited to get back on the road. It’s been over a year since we’ve toured, and we’re basically starting our tour to Hong Kong and Taipei and Tokyo. We’re pretty excited about that. I think everyone’s in a really great place right now and everyone’s really happy. We’ve put so much time and ourselves into making this record that we’re excited to get out and tour it and play it and share it with everyone.
