Welcome back!
As promised, here's the interview I conducted with the band via email. For more info, check out their Facebook page here and follow them on Twitter for tour dates and dispatches from the road and studio.
So how'd the tour go?
Tour was amazing. It was our first time traveling across the United States as a band and getting a chance to play a ton of concerts outside of the northwest. Getting the opportunity to play shows every night for a month straight is perhaps the greatest thing an aspiring band like us can ask for.
I know no band or artist likes to change moniker mid-career, but you guys seemed to make a natural move. Any particular signifigance to the new name, or do you simply like alliteration?
Ha! A very well thought out question JT. We got a little bit of frustration from some of our fan base who had been with us for awhile but after the first several weeks, everybody has seemed to survive. When we first chose our original name, Galaxy Farm, we were starting to play shows in Portland and just needed a title to be known by. We kind of settled on Galaxy Farm. Then two years later, we started getting a lot of feedback that we needed to change our name and we kind of felt the same way. We chose Rags & Ribbons because of the imagery it conveys and indeed, the alliteration is nice. Plus every other name we thought of was taken.
How do the songwriting duties break down - is it collaborative or does someone show up with strongly developed concepts?
Each song is a little different but overall our music compositions are very collaborative. There is no question that Jon has a big hand in the composition process because of his music composition background but often times any one of the three of us will come in with a rough idea and then between the rest of the group, a lot of the final pieces get smoothed out together. We would say, Chris is definitely the rhythm master, Jon is the harmony master, and Ben just tries to screw everything up just enough to make it work.
All of our influences vary a lot and we think that is what gives us such a unique combination of musicianship. Chris grew up with a lot of interest in progressive rock and will site bands like the Deftones and Dredge. Jon has always been a huge fan of well crafted indie music like Sufjan Stevens, Keane, Rufus Wainwright, and a lot of classical music. Ben has been a fan of big pop and alt rock bands from the Killers and Muse to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Overall, none of us really identify with a particular scene. If the music is good, we can be influenced by any genre or band. For example, Jon and I have been listening to a lot of Frank Ocean and the Weekend lately. Totally out of our genre but super smooth and cool music.
Do you have a unified theme or vision for your sound, or do you follow an instinct to create 'whatever works'?
Initially, no. It took us about 2-3 years to figure out a unified sound that we were going for. Additionally, we are just now starting to figure out how to craft songs that share a unified vision. After writing our first record, seeing how people responded to the new material, and seeing how people responded to our live show, we are now really starting to define our vision and sound. Everything is very intentional and thought out. We spend a lot of hours analyzing and critiquing ourselves.
We all started playing the piano when we were young. Jon started when he was around 2 or 3 and he was the only one that ended up sticking with it. Chris picked up the drums when he was 12. Ben remembers being forced to take piano lessons by his mom.
What was the first piece of music you bought?
Jon- Boyz II Men
Ben- Michael Jackson-Dangerous (on cassette, Oh Yeah!)
Chris- YES
Name some (musical) guilty pleasures.
Ben: Last summer, I got free tickets to Kesha, Britney Spears, LMFAO, and Usher. I definitely went to all of them, and I definitely loved them all.
Jon: Is it too soon to like Chris Brown?
Chris: Djent-weird nerdy drum stuff.
You seem to be a pretty sincere, earnest group. Does that set you apart from some jaded, world weary scenesters?
We're just really excited about what we do. We're aware that not everyone gets this kind of opportunity where you can share your music with people. That experience keeps us far away from ever feeling jaded. We hope our optimism translates to our audience, and helps them connect with us.
We really think of the studio and the stage as two different worlds and we try to make the best of both environments. The studio exists to create the best sonic record of our music in a controlled environment. The stage exists for a raw, human presentation of the music through performance.
Name a modern sound/group you adore. Name a modern or recent sound/artist/movement you wish would go away.
Jon: I adore Sigur Ros and Sufjan Stevens. There's a little bit of music that I love, and the rest of it doesn't have to go away, I just won't listen to it.
Ben: There's some top 40 that I love and some top 40 that I hate. If it's done well, I can get down with any genre; if it's done poorly, I'll tell you that I don't like it.
Chris: I love anything techy. With that kind of stuff comes amazing musicians, and most often GREAT drumming. The band has really been loving poly-rhythms at the moment, and we're working on a song in 7/8 that really grooves. I dislike a lot of music. I love some lo fi indie stuff, but being a musician, there's some new thing going on where it seems like people like singers that sound terrible and sing out of tune, believing that they are so original. Country lyrics often make me laugh.
A couple songs from the EP reappeared on the album. Why those tracks and not others?
Prelude and Lady In The Midnight Sun were songs that we felt combined well with our new material and could continue to have significant value to our audience.
Who do you consider your contemporaries/compatriots? Any acts you wish would get a wider audience?
No Kind of Rider and Tango Alpha Tango are other local Portland bands that we are very close with and have had the privilege of going on tour with. Their music is fantastic.
There's a real sense of light and heavy alternating and coexisting/competing in your work - is that intentional or a manifestation of different influences/voices?
It is intentional. We like contrast and the musical roller coaster ride that sometimes comes with it.
We had some concepts slightly fleshed out, one weekend with the lovely Lucy Martin, and we went and filmed one of the ideas on some family property. We had new ideas while filming, and got a lot of content and left the final product up to Lucy, her vision, and her editing. We lucked out with Jasper, the boy in the video. He looked great in the film, and his acting was so genuine. The weather even turned out in our favor. It had snowed the night we came up, and the snow and ice in some of the scenes really gives it an excellent look and feel. Much of what that video is came down to luck and good fortune!
Who decides who sings what part?
Chris does. :) We don't have a specific method on choosing who sings what, but we do try to have our songs alternate nicely from "Jon" songs, to "Ben" songs, and dual vocal songs.
We all practice on our own time, and I think that's integral to the sound we have as a band. Each member practices different techniques and songs they love from genres all over the spectrum, and those different influences come together in the practice room to make something special.
Name some non-musical influence.
We all owe so much to our families for support and influence. Friends, coworkers, relationships, work, play, nature, tour. There is so much that influences us, it's hard to even think about cataloging it all.
