Royal Bloodline Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 11th 2010 4:19PM by Sarah Vasquez
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Royal Bloodline is a perfect study of Who's Who in the world of Latin rock. Each member is or was part of distinguished groups such as Molotov, Los Dynamites and Cafe Tacuba. Taking a different direction from these bands' electronica pop and indie rock, these four guys have produced straight-forward rock and roll.

Founding member, Randy Ebright chatted with Spinner to discuss his band before they head down to Austin for SXSW.

How did Royal Bloodline form?

Royal Bloodline formed through the necessity I found to write songs in my mother's tongue that were more about the simple things and simple emotions in life that one goes through. The overall vibe is a lot more personal and intimate than my other band. I was producing a Mexican artist in Mexico City in December 2008. Because the artist's guitarist had flaked, we ended up calling a hired gun, Felipe Botello. I had very little previous knowledge of his musical style, but seeing him play and the parts he was playing, I saw a really great guitarist and found later, he was a really great writing partner. Shortly after, Miguel Hernandez joined the group sending his bass files via internet to LA while recording demos. Jay de La Cueva was the next to join as the drummer, but shortly thereafter left the group because of schedule conflicts. In January 2009, Luis Ledezma joined the band.

Where is the band from originally?

Los Angeles and Mexico City. From all over basically. Luis and Miguel are from Mexico City, Mexico. Felipe was born in San Luis Potosi. I was born in a town called Ithaca, Michigan and grew up in Slidell, Louisiana and Mexico City, and moved to Los Angeles.
How did you come up with your band name?

The band name comes from a short journal entry I wrote about my family. How I come from a long line of royal dipshits, but were lucky in love and had really good women.

What are your musical influences?

Wow. Anywhere from the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Johnny Cash, T-Rex, to newer bands like Queens of the Stone Age, Kings of Leon, etc.

What is your musical guilty pleasure?

I'd have to say Los Angeles Azules, but they're pretty awesome or kitsch, to say the least.

Describe your sound in your own words.

Tight musically. A lot more melodic than what somebody would assume looking at the line-up of the band. Being that all of the members are seasoned musicians, we all know our limits, and sometimes heed to them. Or not.

What's in your festival survival kit?

Vienna Sausages and Baked beans.

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

I don't know if this is going to sound mean or not but when boredom sets in on tour, everything is entertainment. A girl with a hilarious tick in her neck which made her head bob as if she was saying, "Hey, baby." Had hours of fun at the catering with unsuspecting males whose testosterone levels were through the roof after being on tour for so long. Obviously they found out after about 5 minutes when she would have another fit of head bobbing, that she was not checking them out.

What's your biggest vice?

Cigarettes and coffee.

Beatles or the Rolling Stones?

Both.

Sarah Vaquez is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.