Ra Ra Riot’s Wes Miles is ready to play Webster Hall on Mar. 4, Talks New “Need Your Light” Album and Plenty More

by | Feb 22, 2016 | Culture, Entertainment

RaRaRiot_ShervinLainezRa Ra Riot formed in Syracuse in 2006, drawing attention just months later with its appearance at New York City’s annual CMJ conference. Fast-forwarding a decade, Ra Ra Riot has released four-length albums through Barsuk Records, a label that has put out titles by Death Cab For Cutie, Rilo Kiley, and Nada Surf. Need Your Light – the latest from Ra Ra Riot, as released on Feb. 19 — was produced by Ryan Hadlock (The Lumineers) and former Vampire Weekend guitarist Rostam Batmangli. “Absolutely” and “Water,” the first two singles released, both have over a million streams on Spotify, in addition to approval from tastemakers at Sirius XM and KCRW.

In support of Need Your Light, the quintet – which includes vocalist Wes Miles, bassist, Mathieu Santos, guitarist Milo Bonacci, violinist Rebecca Zeller, and drummer Kenny Bennard – will be headlining Webster Hall on Mar. 4. Wes spoke to Downtown about the past, present and future of Ra Ra Riot, all of which busy and exciting. The band can otherwise be followed on Twitter via @rarariot and on the web at www.rarariot.com.

How would you describe Need Your Light to a fan of Ra Ra Riot who hasn’t yet heard it?

Wes Miles: It’s a reinvigorated Ra Ra Riot.

Your band has stayed with Barsuk Records for all of your recordings since The Rhumb Line. Was there ever any temptation to try and find a deal with a major?

W: There’s always temptations, but most stories we’ve heard of major label experiences are mixed, at best. We’re very happy to have a label that is actually interested in our success in more than a trivial way. If you never have disagreements with your team then something is wrong, but we’ve been really happy with Barsuk, and that’s why we’re putting out Need Your Light with them.

How did you wind up working with both Rostam, who I know worked on The Orchard, and Ryan on Need Your Light? Had the two of them ever worked with one another before producing Ra Ra Riot?

W: They were involved in the making of Need Your Light in very separate ways. In fact, I don’t think they’ve ever met. We made the record in a bit of a modular way. When I was writing “Water” and “I Need Your Light” with Rostam, we didn’t have any set ideas of where the songs would end up or who would be performing them. But after they started to solidify, Rostam really pushed to make them Ra Ra Riot songs and for us to finish tracking them in L.A. after we left Seattle, where Ryan is. The other eight songs on the record were recorded mostly in Seattle, but with some post-production in Brooklyn with Andrew Maury, and some upstate at [our bass player] Mathieu’s house.

Where was the music video for “Water” filmed? L.A. and its outskirts entirely?

W: We shot that whole video in one 16-hour day. The opening is in Joshua Tree, and from there we slowly moved through Southern California towards the Santa Monica Pier, picking up the other bandmates and shooting along the way.

Some of the faces in the “Water” video are blurred out…

W: We had to do the downtown shots guerrilla-style. In fact, the scene with Milo holding the newspaper was the only take we did. It was just too crowded to get another good take so we had no choice but to blur out the bystanders.



Do you have any goals for Need Your Light?

W: Of course we have lofty and realistic goals for this record, but mostly we’re just excited to tour it and put on the best shows we’ve been able to play since The Rhumb Line came out.



I remember five years or so ago that Ra Ra Riot did a remix of an OK Go song. Where did the idea for that collaboration come from?

W: Not 100% sure, to be honest. I think both our managers had been talking and Milo took the lead on that remix, which ended up being really fun.



What do you remember about Ra Ra Riot’s first-ever gig in New York? Where was it?

W: We played at Pianos about nine and a half years ago. We were booked to play upstairs in the lounge, but there were no drums allowed and we were like “What? No drums?!” So somehow we worked it out to play downstairs and it was all sold-out and all our friends — and some strangers — were there, and it was the most fun show ever. At least at the time.

RaRaRiot_ShervinLainez2

Regarding your upcoming show at Webster Hall, what should be expected? A mix of songs from all four of your full-length albums?

W: We’re still figuring out the set, but we’ll be playing some songs from all of our records, for sure. We have so much pent-up energy for this tour, and Webster is near the beginning, so I’m sure it’ll be a raucous, exuberant night.



What’s ahead for Ra Ra Riot after this upcoming tour wraps?

W: Probably more touring! There’s a lot of places we won’t make it to on our first run, so hopefully we’ll be able to get to them soon.

What is your favorite part of touring? Is it simply being on-stage?

W: I always say that the day begins at the show. Everything else is just aftermath of the previous show.

What is the worst misspelling of your band’s name that you’ve ever seen on a marquee or show flyer?

W: We’ve seen “Ra Ra Riots” and I think “The Ra Ra Riots” before, but it’s usually pretty rare.

When you’re not busy with the band, how do you like to spend your free time?

W: Making music!

Finally, Wes, any last words for the kids?

W: Don’t let school interfere with your education.

-by Darren Paltrowitz

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