INTERVIEW : 2016-03-04 “For this record, we’re more in the relationship than the dating phase…” hmv.com talks to RNDM (by Kim)
“For this record, we’re more in the relationship than the dating phase…” hmv.com talks to RNDM
It’s a bit of an overstatement to call them a super-group. But the members of alt-rock trio RNDM – Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament, celebrated NYC singer/songwriter Joseph Arthur and veteran Seattle drummer Richard Stuverud (see the Fastbacks, Three Fish et al) – have enough back story to warrant a look.
The trio’s second and just-released album, Ghost Riding, is a cut above, featuring a level of songwriting and musicianship you’d expect from guys who’ve been playing music professionally for years but stacked with enough sonic curveballs to keep it interesting.
The title track, for instance, juxtaposes chugging synth against almost sing-songy vocals while the focus track ‘Stray’ appears to reimagine David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ as a loose sort-of ballad propelled by strummy acoustic guitar and Arthur’s conversational vocal. Similarly, the vaguely ambient ‘Stronger Man’ frames its fragile lyrics with moaning bursts of guitar and backing vocals.
There’s scorchers aplenty, too. Standout track 'NYC Freeks' is a straight-up, chorus-driven rock shuffle complete with sirens and other aural ephemera lifted from the Manhattan ether. There’s little doubt the group would be dynamite to see live – a small spring tour brings them to Toronto’s Mod Club March 13th.
hmv.com chatted briefly with Arthur ahead of Ghost Riding’s release.
How are you feeling ahead of release?
“I’m proud of the record.”
Logistically how did this work with you in New York and the other guys out west?
“Well Jeff is in Montana a lot as well as Seattle and Richard is in the Bay area near San Francisco, so we get together sporadically.” [As the story goes, the trio met in 1999 when Arthur opened a show for Ament and Stuverud’s side project Three Fish]. “And of course with Jeff being in Pearl Jam, it would be hard to find time even if we lived in the same city. So there are hurdles to overcome but it’s worth it.”
So how does it work – do you record ideas on your iPhone and send each other voice memos?
“The first record (2012’s Acts) was us just trying to make anything work that could work. It’s a lot like when you first start dating someone; the first date is kind of awkward and tentative and you’re like, ‘Hey this thing is supposed to be sort of magical!’ Especially at this level where Jeff is so established and I’ve got my own thing going on. For this record, we gave it a lot more time, more like in the relationship phase you might say. We actually chose on purpose not to send each other voice messages or even write anything on our own. We wanted to make it up in the room together. And that’s what we did.
“We got together in Missoula for a couple of weeks. Jeff was playing Mellotron keys and I was singing and Richard was playing drums and we’d approach it from all these different angles. Also, there was no pressure on me to come up with words right away. I was allowed to get the sound I wanted. We really let the melody lead the whole thing. Sometimes you write the words first. This one was all melodies first and making the words fit to that. It felt like the words were revealing themselves from the melodies. And the words on the record weren’t overthought; they were often first thoughts.”
Let’s drill down a bit… tell me about the song ‘Stronger Man’ and a recording of what sounds like a collect call placed from prison.
“That started with Jeff on the piano working on that riff. I came up with that ‘Stronger Man’ chorus idea and something about it was kind of off-putting. I didn’t know how we were going to approach it. Then when we got to Seattle, there was this microphone, like a telephone receiver, in the studio. It sounded like I was singing through a phone. Ever heard that story about H.R. doing the vocals to a Bad Brains song from jail over the phone? So that was kind of the inspiration for that… ‘What if I sang this vocal from the perspective of a guy in prison trying to call his lady and appeal to her by saying he was going to be a stronger man?’ From that perspective, I was able to dig into that chorus and sing those words convincingly.”
The song ‘Stray’ has a Bowie/‘Heroes’ vibe… tell me a bit about that?
“I was actually afraid it sounded a bit like U2. I never even thought about Bowie in terms of that song. But that’s cool if it reminds you of ‘Heroes.’ But the message in that song is very open, almost hippie-like I would say. But more hippie of the John Lennon variety – let’s make peace and let’s make love. That song has grown on me. It’s weird the way songs work and what stands out to people. I would definitely say there is a Bowie influence overall in the record.
“The nice thing is we built this thing from the group up without it having to BE anything. It’s quite open-ended. Jeff and I talked a lot about bands that experimented with sound and with arrangement. That’s how we wanted to approach this and why it’s pretty different from the first record.”
The trio’s second and just-released album, Ghost Riding, is a cut above, featuring a level of songwriting and musicianship you’d expect from guys who’ve been playing music professionally for years but stacked with enough sonic curveballs to keep it interesting.
The title track, for instance, juxtaposes chugging synth against almost sing-songy vocals while the focus track ‘Stray’ appears to reimagine David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ as a loose sort-of ballad propelled by strummy acoustic guitar and Arthur’s conversational vocal. Similarly, the vaguely ambient ‘Stronger Man’ frames its fragile lyrics with moaning bursts of guitar and backing vocals.
There’s scorchers aplenty, too. Standout track 'NYC Freeks' is a straight-up, chorus-driven rock shuffle complete with sirens and other aural ephemera lifted from the Manhattan ether. There’s little doubt the group would be dynamite to see live – a small spring tour brings them to Toronto’s Mod Club March 13th.
hmv.com chatted briefly with Arthur ahead of Ghost Riding’s release.
How are you feeling ahead of release?
“I’m proud of the record.”
Logistically how did this work with you in New York and the other guys out west?
“Well Jeff is in Montana a lot as well as Seattle and Richard is in the Bay area near San Francisco, so we get together sporadically.” [As the story goes, the trio met in 1999 when Arthur opened a show for Ament and Stuverud’s side project Three Fish]. “And of course with Jeff being in Pearl Jam, it would be hard to find time even if we lived in the same city. So there are hurdles to overcome but it’s worth it.”
So how does it work – do you record ideas on your iPhone and send each other voice memos?
“The first record (2012’s Acts) was us just trying to make anything work that could work. It’s a lot like when you first start dating someone; the first date is kind of awkward and tentative and you’re like, ‘Hey this thing is supposed to be sort of magical!’ Especially at this level where Jeff is so established and I’ve got my own thing going on. For this record, we gave it a lot more time, more like in the relationship phase you might say. We actually chose on purpose not to send each other voice messages or even write anything on our own. We wanted to make it up in the room together. And that’s what we did.
“We got together in Missoula for a couple of weeks. Jeff was playing Mellotron keys and I was singing and Richard was playing drums and we’d approach it from all these different angles. Also, there was no pressure on me to come up with words right away. I was allowed to get the sound I wanted. We really let the melody lead the whole thing. Sometimes you write the words first. This one was all melodies first and making the words fit to that. It felt like the words were revealing themselves from the melodies. And the words on the record weren’t overthought; they were often first thoughts.”
Let’s drill down a bit… tell me about the song ‘Stronger Man’ and a recording of what sounds like a collect call placed from prison.
“That started with Jeff on the piano working on that riff. I came up with that ‘Stronger Man’ chorus idea and something about it was kind of off-putting. I didn’t know how we were going to approach it. Then when we got to Seattle, there was this microphone, like a telephone receiver, in the studio. It sounded like I was singing through a phone. Ever heard that story about H.R. doing the vocals to a Bad Brains song from jail over the phone? So that was kind of the inspiration for that… ‘What if I sang this vocal from the perspective of a guy in prison trying to call his lady and appeal to her by saying he was going to be a stronger man?’ From that perspective, I was able to dig into that chorus and sing those words convincingly.”
The song ‘Stray’ has a Bowie/‘Heroes’ vibe… tell me a bit about that?
“I was actually afraid it sounded a bit like U2. I never even thought about Bowie in terms of that song. But that’s cool if it reminds you of ‘Heroes.’ But the message in that song is very open, almost hippie-like I would say. But more hippie of the John Lennon variety – let’s make peace and let’s make love. That song has grown on me. It’s weird the way songs work and what stands out to people. I would definitely say there is a Bowie influence overall in the record.
“The nice thing is we built this thing from the group up without it having to BE anything. It’s quite open-ended. Jeff and I talked a lot about bands that experimented with sound and with arrangement. That’s how we wanted to approach this and why it’s pretty different from the first record.”
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