Fall is the season to get serious about looking sharp. Crisp tailoring and vintage Ivy League pieces meet fresh, new school details in our fall collection. Check it out in our brand new Fall Collection Video, live on the home page today. Also get a free download of the White Rabbits’ single “Percussion Gun” here and a free download of the video here. Click through for a Rugby Q&A with the band.
Brooklyn’s White Rabbits are a band’s band, serious about their unique sound and known for their musicianship (there are not many groups in this world that can pull off two drummers, each with his own drum kit). They like to make alotta noise and have allotta fun, and they do it all with their unique blend of ska, rock and reggae. Vocalist Greg Roberts talks to Rugby about fronting one of the hottest indie acts around and digs deep to give us some awesome music recs.
Rugby: You guys have a lot going on onstage: six dudes, two drum sets and a piano. How do you all FIT?
White Rabbits: It's easier on some stages than others, for sure. We've been trying to streamline the live setup for this record and subsequent tours. We did away with one of the drum kits in favor of a kind of percussion station, so that's helped out. Being cramped on stage is usually not an issue, though. We almost play better when it's a little tight.
R: Speaking of crowded spaces, we heard you guys all lived together, Real World style, in a Brooklyn loft when putting your first album together… and lived to tell the tale. What was it like living with your bandmates:
WR: When we first moved to the city we didn't really have a choice. I feel like for a while we were branded as That Band That Lives Together. We wrote the first record at that loft after work, late at night, on the weekends, whenever we had a spare minute. There wasn't really an excuse not to be working on music all the time since our gear was staring us in the face whenever we were home.
R: Fans and critics were beyond psyched about your collaboration with Spoon's lead singer Britt Daniel on the latest album. How did that come together? What was it like to work with him?
WR: We met them when our paths crossed on tour. We got along with them really well and ended up touring with them. When it came time to start thinking about record two, Britt's name was being thrown around as a possible producer because he makes great-sounding records and we were interested in the idea of working with a producer who was first and foremost a musician. We sent him songs as we wrote them and he was really involved and dedicated to the project. He came to New York last winter and we recorded in Brooklyn over the course of a month or so. I think it was Britt or Stephen who compared the experience to summer camp. We had a great time and are extremely proud of what came out of it.
R: Reggae and ska are some of your influences -- are there some great classic artists in those genres (more obscure than Marley and Sublime) that we should check out?
WR: Studio 1, Trojan and Soul Jazz all put out some good compilations that cover everything from Rocksteady and Bluebeat to Dub. Those are good places to start for a mix of bigger artists as well as more obscure tracks. An ecclectic and comprehensive compilation is always a safe bet if you're interested in learning about a new genre.
R: If your two drummers — Matthew Clark and Jamie Levinson — were forced into a caged death-match drum competition, who would come out victorious?
WR: Matt and Jamie are both great drummers who play with a lot of energy. They're both a lot of fun to watch and to play with. I'd be hard pressed to have to pick one. Luckily they get along swimmingly.
R: You’ve also got two vocalists: you and Stephen Patterson. How do you decide who gets to be the star of each song?
WR: There's really no formula and certainly no ego involved. Sometimes one of us will write something with the other in mind, sometimes it just comes down to who had an idea and ran with it. Stephen is featured a lot more on the new record than I am because that's just how it worked out this time, but I love everything he did and think he's a fantastic singer. I find bands with multiple vocalists usually yield pretty interesting results and I think some of the strongest records of the year have more than one vocalist, like Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors and Grizzly Bear.
R: You guys seem to have ditched the standard indie rock t-shirt-ripped jeans-beard thing for a sharper look. How does style matter to you as musicians?
WR: My grandfather and his brother opened some menswear shops that my father and uncle eventually took over. They outfitted a lot of the private and Catholic school students in the St. Louis area, so I grew up around a more trad, American look and I think it's always stayed with me. As far as music, I've always been drawn to sharp-looking groups, from soul to mod to some new wave. I really like the way ‘50s and ‘60s jazz artists adopted the traditional collegiate look. As for our band, though, there's no manifesto and definitely no uniform.
R: If you could play a show anywhere in the universe, real or fictional, where would it be?
WR: I'd be happy to play anywhere that had enough mics for all our gear.