Rags On Paper

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.

What do you consider influences, musically? From your youth to today, what acts shaped your development?


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.

What are your earliest musical memories?


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.

Do you try to recreate the sounds of the album live, or did you try to capture the live sound for the album?


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. 

Talk a bit about the excellent video for 'Even Matter'.  


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.  

Do you practice on your own time, or do you try to only work as a group?  


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. 

Home Alone 2

Alright, gang.


Like I said, today is Part 2 of my feature on Homeless. Below is the whole of an email interview I did with the rapper. Take a look at the first part of the feature here, then read on to get know the man in depth.


First off, how tall are you, exactly?
Exactly? 6'4" and 3/4. But I tell people 6'5". Just easier to round, and that way I don't feel like a five year old by getting overly specific with my statistics...

Do you have much of a set "process"? What comes first most often, the beat or the hook? An idea or a rhythm?
To be honest, my process would probably be considered by most artists as totally disorganized. Well, maybe we're all that way. But yeah. Piecemeal. Chaotic maybe? Form comes along eventually, but most of the time, my starting point is just a thought. I do a lot of writing in my head. I'll get an idea for two bars, maybe even just one, and it usually won't be in a convenient place. I carry around a Moleskine notebook, and I'll record lines into my phone if I'm driving, or about to fall asleep. Then later, I compile those, pick and choose, mash some together, and that usually gives me enough clay to start sculpting. Either as a hook, or a start to a verse, and I start to write off of that. I don't think I've ever sat down with a beat, and just wrote a track. God, I wish I could though. I'd be doing one a day. I'm working on the discipline to get better at that though. I'm a huge procrastinator too, which isn't always helpful. I'm about two thirds of the way through a song, just tonight. And I bounced over to this interview as a good distraction. I swear I'm undiagnosed ADD or something.

What was the first piece of music you bought? Cd or tape? Do you think it established a course?

It definitely would've been a tape. I think I got given Jock Jams Vol. 1 on tape as a present, but then I got the Space Jam soundtrack for myself. I'm not sure exactly, that was awhile ago, but that's gotta be close to it. Did it establish a course? I'm not sure, I don't think I'd blame the Space Jam soundtrack for my love of hip hop. But it definitely played a role in my early fascination I'd say. That movie came out in '96? I woulda been 9 years old at that time. And even though it was definitely for kids, that tape had Busta Rhymes, Method Man, D'Angelo, Jay-Z, R. Kelly, and more on it. I remember the hip hop tracks on Jock Jams being my favorites too. I guess what I'm trying to say, is any course I've landed on has certainly been influenced by small steps along the way, and I'm certain that those tapes being some of the first music that really energized me, and made me wanna pay attention, definitely contributed to my love of hip hop onward into the years when I discovered real music (i.e. not cartoon soundtracks).

What's your earliest musical memory?

I will be the first to admit that my memory is garbage. I'm terrible with dates and times and associating the when and where of situations. Outside of playing plastic instruments in school, or a rainbow colored xylophone as a baby? One of my clearest musical memories is listening to CD's in my cousins' room when I was in elementary and middle school. My cousins were older than I was and I didn't have that "cool older brother" type of musical influece, but my eldest cousin was the one who was actually old enough to own and buy CD's. He's 6 years older than me? Something like that. Anyways, he was the one who introduced me to The Fugees, The Beastie Boys, Jay-Z and eventually Atmosphere. I'd say he was the one who really gave me my musical education for the most part. I remember being young, and wowed by that music. It was aggressive and calculated and eloquent and it made you listen intently to it to pick up everything that was being said. I likely wouldn't have used those words back then, but I think the sentiment remains, that I was in awe of hip hop at a relatively young age.

Who's been the biggest influence on you, musically? Personally?

Man, tough questions, but important. Musically? I'm gonna say some thorough combination between Slug and Jay-Z. I'd say Slug, just because musically, he's influenced this entire city, whether people like it or not. He was also a pretty big shift in my interpretation of music as well. I was reading and writing a lot of poetry, and listening to a lot of hip hop, but had never really understood the fusion, until someone like Slug delivered and I understood hip hop was bigger than what I knew it to be. Not to mention, coming from Minneapolis from the bottom, as an independent artist, from a looked over city, gave a lotta kids around here hope that they could come from a place where music "doesn't come from" and make something of themselves. As for Jay-Z, it was the first full rap CD I ever owned. Hard Knock Life Vol. 2. I got that CD when I was probably in 4th grade? 5th grade maybe? I just played it until it was scratched and unplayable, and I had to rip it onto my parents computer (external CD burner of course) and make another one. I just banged my head, played basketball to it, and loved that record. Still do to this day. As far as my biggest influence personally? I still attribute a lot of my aspirations to my grandfather. My middle name is his first name. I was inspired by his wit and his charm and his wisdom and his skills. He was an alcoholic before I was born, and quit cold turkey one day and never went back. He really turned his life around. I think what inspired me about him, beyond all of his fantastic characteristics, was that he was an early example for me that people can change, no matter how old they are. And I've held onto that.

Do you have another artists career in mind for your own path, as a rough outline of what you want to accomplish?

I would love to have Blu's career ("It's B-L-U and if you see the E drop 'em). That dude has been eating off of music for a long time now. He's well loved by pretty much everyone in the game. And a ton of people don't know who he is. He's never, to my knowledge, fully signed on with a label, so every project he's dropped has been completely his own. Below The Heavens is probably the most classic hip hop album to come out in the past five years, and I know so many people who've never even heard of it. But yeah, that would be dope. I'd love a Rhymesayers career. I don't care if that sounds cliche. Again, hardworking people who love their art and eat off it. At the end of the day, that's all I really wanna do. Outside of that, I'd love to have a Lupe Fiasco type career, or somebody like Black Milk or Mac Miller. Independent. Solid. Eating offa art. Yeah.

Name a guilty pleasure, musically or otherwise.

Musically? Commercial hip hop and old poppy R&B music. I'll get down with some super ignorant or poppy hip hop with a good beat if I'm in the right mood. Sometimes it annoys the piss outta me, but some days it's just what you wanna hear. I also love me some Carl Thomas, R. Kelly, Trey Songz, etc. That type of slow, crooning, "Let's make love girl" music. I always have. Outside of music? I probably shouldn't make a public list of them, but I bet most people could guess them. We all sort of share the same seven or so guilty pleasures, don't we?

Is there a trend in modern music you love? One you hate?

It's hard not to bring up Odd Future when you talk about trends in music these days. They're the definition of trendy, and the bandwagon filled up super quick for those guys. Regardless of what you think of their music, their style, or their subject matter, you have to respect the grind. The fact that they're as young as they are and have come up so quickly as a 100 percent DIY hard working interesting unit, giving away free music all the time is impressive as hell. I think that trend, the idea that labels are dying, and artists are having to work harder to forge independent routes to success is something that I really dig. I think it's going to open the playing field and your radio is going to slowly but surely start to sound different. I think it's putting power back in the hands of the masses to chose what they like and want and the labels will have to follow suit. The internet has done that for everyone. As far as a trend I hate? Dubstep? I'm sorry, I know it's the new craze, but after 15 minutes, that stuff all sounds the same to me, and it makes my jaw vibrate. I've never been a huge fan of electronic music. I'm seeing it in hip hop too, where artists are trying to fuze electronic elements for faster paced hard hitting songs. I personally don't think it's working. Hip hop doesn't need to be more like other genres, it just needs to diversify within itself, and people need to understand that hip hop is many, many things, not just the dumbed down commercial version they're often fed.

Any local artists you want people to know about, or compatriots?

If you search for each of these things on the internet individually, it'll be worth it: The Tribe and Big Cats, Illuminous 3, Dumnfoundead, Big Quarters, Chantz Erolin, Grind Time Now, Miles Mendenhall, The Van GoBots, Evan Drolet Cook, Just Riley, Blu, Guante, Man Mantis, Mally, Analyrical, Daniel Switch, Max Selim. Yeah. That should give you some things to look up if you're bored and unfamiliar with those names. Emcees, producers, painters, writers, directors, rock bands, guitar players, all in that list. If you don't find something in that list that's aesthetically pleasing, or at least interesting in some facet, you might not have a soul.

What do you want an audience to know about you that might not be expressed in your music?

I'm really curious. I work really hard. I have a huge heart and I hate seeing people or things in pain. I want to travel the world. I have big dreams but I don't have delusions of grandeur, I just wanna be an artist and live off my work. I'm a huge people person and I would go insane without being social and friendly with friends and strangers. I talk to random people on the street. Oh yeah. And I'm still trying to save the world. I'll let you know how it works out.