Unassuming and undeniably talented, Ra Ra Riot formed out of simple class networking at Syracuse University in 2006. Only three years later, their upbeat melancholy tunes are taking large festivals like Lollapalooza in Chicago, IL, and Forward Music Festival in Madison, WI, by elegant, classically-trained storm. Alexandra Lawn, cellist of Ra Ra Riot, talks with Eleven days before the band’s St. Louis show at the Firebird on Sunday, Sept. 20th.
Dying is Fine - Ra Ra Riot
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
I know I myself am very inspired by your music and have many personal associations with your album, The Rhumb Line. What are your personal and collective musical inspirations, and how have they bled into your sound?
We all come from really different backgrounds, and we all have very different inspirations. I would say our collective inspirations range from The Beatles to U2, to Kate Bush. Oh, and the Police for sure. For me, I’m definitely most inspired by classical music because it does something to me that no other music could do. I’m really into Dvorak, Beethoven, and Tchaivocsky. As far as rock, Fleetwood Mac is probably my favorite, at least right now. I really love the Talking Heads as well.
It obvious that your music is very classically based. Can you tell me about your own musical background and those of the rest of Ra Ra Riot? How did you start playing together?
I’ve been playing cello since I was three years old, and I was Suzuki trained, and so was Becca, and she also started playing violin at a really young age. As far as the rest, Wes and Milo both had some classical training between piano and violin lessons. Wes was also in band throughout high school, and he played saxophone. We all didn’t really know each other before the band formed; we formed through various networking. Mainly, Milo and Becca had a class together, and he was looking to start a band in his last semester, and he asked her to be a violinist, asked if she knew any cello players. She knew me through orchestra.
What’s it like playing large-scale festivals like Lollapalooza, as you did this year?
Large festivals are definitely fun. Lolla was a really great festival to be a part of. We saw a lot of bands and artists we really look up to, and it was a really great experience. We feel extremely lucky and try to make best of it.
Are there any cities or shows you’ve played that have been unexpectedly awesome/horrible?
Honestly, it’s getting to the point where it’s all kind of mushing together….We’re just playing a lot of shows, and it’s building up; you have good ones, you have surprisingly bad ones, but I can’t single one out. I do look forward to playing San Francisco a lot, though. It’s really always just so much fun to play there. During touring, we try to go camping and hiking during free time. Nothing crazy has every really happened on the road.
What are your upcoming plans in terms of recording and releasing your next album?
We were writing new stuff this summer. When we’re done with this tour, we’ll go back to writing and start recording immediately after that. We’re aiming for late spring to release the next album, but don’t quote me on that.
Taylor Swift or Kanye West?
Taylor Swift is a very talented, nice young lady. I’d say Kanye must’ve been very drunk. What he did at the VMA’s was very childish and unprofessional.
