2012-11-14 - RNDM - 93XRT Session
On Stage :
Radio session
Setlist :
Modern Times
Hollow Girl
The Dissapearing Ones
Interview
Recording :
2012-11-14 RNDM 93XRT
Review :
Joseph Arthur & Pearl Jam Bassist, Jeff Ament Open Up About Their New Band RNDM And Tear It Up In-Studio (by Emma Mac)
RNDM, a brand new trio consisting of three veteran musicians is anything but random. Singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur, Pearl Jam Bassist Jeff Ament and Drummer Richard Stuverud sound like they’ve been playing together for years, although they’ve only released their first album, Acts, on October 30th, 2012. Prior to last month’s album release, the band has only been playing together since they first formed at the PJ20 Festival at Alpine Valley in September 2011, which is a hard concept to grasp considering the tightness of their sound and the speed at which they’ve been able to write enough songs for two full albums.
In an interview with The Big Beat’s Marty Lennartz, Joe Arthur recalls the events that followed the PJ20 appearance: “The song that Jeff wrote, “When The Fire Comes,” is what brought the whole band together. He wanted me to sing vocals on it and sent me a track out and I sent it back a couple days later, recording it in a motel in Zurich on my lap top…. from there the creative doors just opened up. He had some songs, I had some old stuff and we just kind of, you know formulated what we got now, which is Acts.”
Jeff Ament adds that he saw it coming: “I think we knew in the last year that Joe and I were going to do something together, and so I think the fact that it happened so fast- we have a record out, and we are a band- we’re actually having a really good time. We feel like it’s not a side band. We feel like it’s a band that could make a couple records.”
The musicians say that the band has taken off so quickly because the song-writing seems to be coming from some non-stop, free flowing chemistry that the band creates when they play together. They’ve even had new song ideas spring up while sound-checking for live shows, or when they “should be” rehearsing Acts. “That’s kind of the exciting part of the record, is that you sort of learn not to think too much about what you’re doing and let the song take us where it’s going to take us,” says Ament. Drummer Richard Stuverud explains the band’s strategy: “We came up with a new motto, ‘The best way to rehearse for your tour is to write and record the next record,’” to which Arthur responds, “The people at the first couple shows would probably disagree with that motto…”
Risk-taking seems to be the name of the game for the trio. The guys have recently toured the Late Night TV circuit, appearing on Jimmy Fallon in their iconic orange, sock, animal ski-masks. According to drummer Richard Stuverud, “It’s very refreshing to be on TV with no identity,” and Ament adds, “This whole band has been about daring each other to see how far we can push the band, which has been exciting.”
Right now the band is in the midst of their month-long North American tour, which Arthur says is helping them improve: “The band is evolving, it’s great. On tour we’re already starting to play three new, unreleased songs. There’s an organic evolution taking place, [and] on the course of the tour I could see us developing our sound a lot.” Ament, a veteran to the tour-life, says he’s not akin to the lifestyle but is making a necessary exception for RNDM. “I really don’t like touring that much, I love playing but the other aspects I’ve never really been in to. But I was so excited by the music that we made and the record that we put together that it just felt like we needed to go out and play these songs.”
RNDM’s debut album Acts is out now, but you can also download a mash-up of “Satisfaction” mixed with The Clash’s “Magnificent 7” from rndmband.com to donate to the Hurricane Sandy relief fund.
As for future projects, the guys are already hinting at a few more albums judging by the ease at which they’re pumping out songs, but according to the almost-never-serious Arthur, “Jeff’s going to have to take a break from his side project, Pearl Jam, and really focus on what counts.”
