Reading Rainbow Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 2nd 2010 11:01PM by Billy Maupin
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Rather than one single band, Philadelphia's Reading Rainbow likes to point to certain time frames as a major influence on their blissed-out sound. The aesthetics of the 50's, 60's and 70's hold promise as inspiration for the guitar and drum duo. Formed when a drummer couldn't tour with their previous band, Rob and Sarah referred to themselves as Reading Rainbow long before they played their first show. With just two weeks to prepare for the tour , Sarah put together a drum kit of just a snare and floor tom and taught herself to play. The success of that first tour led the band to write and record their 2009 debut 'Mystical Participation.' With their first appearance at SXSW on the horizon, Spinner recently talked to Rob [guitar/vocal] Sarah [drum/vocals] about the dangers of house shows, nostalgia and alliteration.

Describe your sound in your own words

Rob: We are blown out sonic love! [laughs]

Sarah: 1st song we ever wrote had lots of animal imagery. I am in art school and a lot of my art is drawn from visual representations of animals, so I think of our music the same way sometimes, as a crossover for visual images.

How did your band form?

Sarah: We were in another band that had a series of shows booked, and the drummer called about two weeks beforehand and said he couldn't play the show. So rather than cancel we decided to start a new band. We renamed ourselves Reading Rainbow, wrote some songs, and I kinda learned to play the drums [laughing]!

What are your musical influences?

Rob: We are mainly influenced by music of the 50's, 60's and early 70's.We like a lot of current music but don't feel we are influenced as much as we are by things like the Velvet Underground, Urinals, Beatles, Devo, Bo Diddley and even the Everly Brothers.

Sarah: Rob's really into a jazz phase with Sun Ra, who are from Philadelphia by the way.

How did you come up with your band name?

Sarah: We referred to ourselves as Reading Rainbow long before we were playing as a band. We thought it was funny and ironic and stupid. But then when we started playing music it made sense too -- taking the name out of context, the multiple meanings and redefining the meaning. And we really like the alliteration.

Rob :I think there is a certain amount of nostalgia that goes with it as well.

What's your biggest vice?

Sarah: I'm stumped. [long pause] I'm sure if I thought long enough I could come up with something.

Rob: I mean for me I have a full time job as a green engineer so by the time I come home, I really don't have the time or energy for a vice.

What's in your festival survival kit?

Rob: We have only played one festival and it had twenty-two bands in it, so I am going to say burritos and a bottle of rum [laughs].

What do you think about playing about SXSW?

Sarah: We are completely ecstatic about it. Last year we really weren't ready to do it, but this year we are. We are ready to play and show everybody who we are!

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Sarah: Smashing Pumpkins' 'Siamese Dream.' I was so into grunge in the 90's, things like Nirvana, Hole, Smashing Pumpkins. We recently found some mix-tapes that I had made from that era and listened to them on a road trip. I totally enjoyed it!

Beatles or Stones?

Sarah: Beatles by far. Really good friends bought the whole catalog recently, so we have been listening to them a lot and they are so good.

Rob: The Stones are a little two bluesy.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

Rob: Actually last weekend we played a house show in Philly. And the deal was we had to be finished by 10 PM so as not to upset the neighbors. So we finished right on time and then people wanted more and the kid who had put on the show jumped up in my face, told us to stop and called me an a--hole while waving this baseball bat around.

Sarah: He was a little crazy. Then we all went outside and had a big snowball fight.

Rob: We were also on tour once and were supposed to stay with this group of friends and the woman whose house we were staying at was totally messed up and tried to make a pass at us for a threesome. We ended up getting "lost" on the way back to her house and just got a hotel room instead.

Billy Maupin is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.