Revolution, I Love You

So besides reading lectures on Russian literature and geekin’ out in their apartment with carpeting covered walls, Revolution, I Love You has been busy putting the finishing touches on their fourth LP, We Chose To Go To The Moon. They’ve also managed to get a pretty sweet feature in Origivation Magazine (www.origivation.com).

Check out our recent interview with these self-proclaimed everything-nerds.

So how did you two meet?

Rob: We've known each other since high school. A friend introduced us, he said "Hey man, have you heard Jason play guitar? He's awesome!" Our friend had never actually heard J play though... luckily he was right.

Jason: Good old JC

It was meant to be.

Rob: It worked out very well, I think. We played together in another band for years, and then split off on our own in 2009.

How and when did music come into both of your lives?

Jason: Well, for me it started when I was about 16, my Dad had bought me a guitar that I didn't really do much with. Then I met my friend Ryan and he was a brilliant piano player so we started playing music together every day after school, and I started to actually know what I was doing after a bit, haha.

Rob: My first musical memory is a mix tape of Beatles and Beach Boys songs that my dad made in the late 80’s sometime. It started with ' I Want to Hold Your Hand". My mom played guitar, which got me interested, and they started me out on guitar lessons when I was 8.

What are you guys reading right now?

Jason: I'm reading Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. Before that I read Sirens of Titan by Vonnegut

Rob: I'm reading Dead Souls by Gogol, and Nabokov's lectures on Russian Lit

Where did you guys go to college?

Jason: I went to University of Delaware.

 Rob: Towson, in Baltimore.

Majors?

Jason: I majored in History

 Rob: Cultural Studies for me

Jason: And in loitering around campus with my guitar…

Only if that were a real major…

Jason: Oh it is. Independent study… Cultural Observation and Commentary 237

Haha, okay so your majors make sense. I read about your historical references behind the naming of RILY, and your second album in the Origivation feature. Are history and culture topics that interest or inspire you both in a creative way?

Rob: I think it's just that we both have an interest in art and books and philosophy, things beyond the realm of rock guitar and beer and Jameson.

Jason: Yeah I would say, it is more so our cultural interests. Though...beer and Jameson are not lost on us.

Rob: We're making pop music, but we bring a certain self-awareness to the process, something that comes from a lot of discussion of art history and books. Concept is pretty important to us.

Jason: We spend a lot of time discussing what we are doing: style, content, their relationship to each other etc.

Rob: We actually got to totally geek out this weekend, a friend of ours ran a panel at an MLA conference and we went to that.  We got to talk with really, really smart people about really, really smart people things. Like Baltic Theatre and Kundera

Well should we expect a new song on the MLA conference?

Rob: No no no

Jason: No

Rob: Hahaha

Rob: Well back to your question about how this all influences us. J and I agree that the difference between us and a lot of bands is that they're music-nerds, while we're everything-nerds.

Jason: That apply our nerd-ness to making music.

Rob: Discussion on the new record, We Choose to Go to the Moon, swings back and forth between Bruce Springsteen and "Has Modernism Failed?", or Interpol and Rauschenberg. Speaking of which, the new record is pretty cool, trust me.

Jason: And our word is our bond

I believe you. What can your fans expect as far as touring goes this summer?

Rob: Well, we have some shows already booked for Wilmington, Lancaster, and NYC over the coming months. We're doing our first show at Arlene's Grocery, which is cool. Once the record is released, we'll have CD release shows in DE and Philadelphia (we're from DE and a lot of our friends are down there), then we'll be playing up and down the mid-Atlantic, and we'll try to make it out to Chicago as well. Philly, NYC, DC, Baltimore, Chicago- those are the main targets

Tell us about the recording of your next album, having only the two of you what’s the recording process like?

Jason: I do everything while Rob lays on the floor. Wait no, I'm on the floor.

Rob: Hahaha, he naps.

You guys must get so much done that way!

Rob: But really, because we have all that programmed stuff, step one is program the beats and basslines. It gives us a foundation to build on then we record guitars, pianos, etc, and the vocals. Then we go back and endlessly toy with the beats until they're AWESOME.

Jason: We record everything ourselves here in Philly holed up in our room, with the walls and floor covered in green carpet padding. The windows are covered by two inch thick insulation boards.

Rob: The carpet padding mutes the reverberations that would otherwise happen on the flat drywall. It's kinda dark in there.

Jason: It's a little bizarre and disorienting at times

Rob: Not the ideal environment, actually. We should work on that.

Jason: yeah a little ambiance would go a long way in there

Do you have a date you'd like to have the album finished by?

Rob: It's almost done now, all recorded and mostly mixed so it should be out this summer.

Jason: Yup, just in time to blast it with the windows down!

Look out for RILY's upcoming album and stay tuned for tour dates!

Alexis Canary

Alexis@wearemonsterent.com