Royal Forest Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 2nd 2010 10:10AM by Jessica M. Alexander
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Royal Forest, formerly known as Loxsly, are set to make their fourth appearance at SXSW. With a new EP that will be released in late April 2010, the Austin-based band recently spoke to Spinner about changing names to avoid confusion, avoiding fights in New York City and getting out to the beach as soon as possible.

How did your band form?

Well, it all started in 2003 with Cody and his computer. It was a very organic process. Our first record was basically just Cody, who felt the music he was writing happened easier as a full band as opposed to just Cody with a computer. We were all living in Waco, Texas [in the early 2000s] and were influenced by the scene that was emerging there, which was melody-driven music. At the time, there were several math-rock bands around, and we had a studio with our friends bands and they would tell us what and who to listen to. We would all go to shows together basically every weekend in either the Dallas area or Austin, and we just came together with this same love of music during that time. In 2004, Loxsly officially became a full five-member band.

Describe your sound in your own words.

We have to agree it's a pretty '70s pop-inspired sound, but with a different spin. For example, our last record had a pretty dark feel to it which was a bit more on the slow side.

How did you come up with your band name?

Well, this is a pretty interesting question to answer, seeing as we decided to change our band name in the past six months. Although we are "officially" recognized by SXSW [as of 2/16] as Loxsly, our new name is actually now Royal Forest. We are sure this might lead to some confusion, but it has [been] tough in the past as Loxsly because there is another band with a very similar name [Locksley]. As we have been told that this has been confusing and we know the other band isn't going to change their name, we just outright changed ours.

What are your musical influences?

We definitely are inspired by melody-driven bands, such as the Beach Boys. We feel everything we write can relate to a pop tune in some way.

What is your normal band setup?

Normally, we are just a five-piece. We take the same line-up on the road. There isn't much room for deviation. But in our live shows in the past, we have also included homemade projector footage. We have done a show or two without our drummer, Chris, and had videotaped him playing drums, and projected that while we had his drum tracks playing back for us to play along to.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

We dig what's playing right now [Meat Loaf]! And what about that new Miley Cyrus and Notorious B.I.G. mash-up?

What's in your festival survival kit?

Backlined shows and parking at our friend's studio on the Eastside when we are playing shows over there! Parking is always the biggest nightmare for SXSW year after year.

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

At the CMJ music festival in New York City at the Team Clermont party, we met a drunken Irish guy who was about 6'7" -- no joke! He wanted to fight us, and then after a friend of ours managed to make peace with him, he acted as though he was an old buddy of ours and begin telling us about how he hated whiskey and he killed someone with a broken Jameson bottle! We couldn't get out of there quick enough. But, seeing how he wrote our band name down before we left, maybe that's the real reason why we changed our band name!

What's your biggest vice?

Chris is addicted to Skittles -- but only Chris! We think he needs an endorsement. And we love swimming holes. Regardless of where we are on tour, we go swim.

What makes you get out of bed first thing in the morning?

Coffee for almost all of us, and Chris is a tea drinker. We eat lots of breakfast tacos too. On the road, it's three sleeping and two awake to drive, so that dictates who is up first thing in the morning.

Who or what do you want to see for SXSW 2010?

We love the day parties because of all the free food and drinks. There will be so many great bands there this year, though, to see: Band of Horses, Deleted Scenes, Pattern is Movement, Real Estate.

Anything else you feel the world should know?

We are releasing our new EP in late April, and it will be a free digital release. We plan to do a 10-14 stop East Coast tour, followed by a regional tour and then a West Coast tour. We live for tour, as it's the most fun -- and especially for going back to the beaches!

Jessica M. Alexander is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.