[Note: This interview was originally published via audio format last April. However, since I can't host the mp3 forever, I'm revisiting the interview in article format, for internet posterity.]
Rogue Wave are quickly moving up in the world. They played the Paradise here in Boston twice in the last year, selling it out on the April night that I interviewed frontman Zach Rogue. And as soon as they finished their headlining tour, they went out on the road some more, opening up for Death Cab For Cutie and Jack Johnson. They are, indeed, working hard to achieve the success that they’ve been enjoying. The latest fruit of their labors was Asleep At Heaven’s Gate, which came out last September. On it, they continued to solidify and improve everything that makes them great, and it’s certainly their best album yet. Zach noted that while he’s the credited songwriter for Rogue Wave, the entire band’s contributions are monumental. "A lot of things that Pat, our drummer, has been doing, especially on this last record -- I mean, he created this whole sonic palette to work with that was running in parallel with some of the things that I was doing. Yeah, I wrote the song, the words or the melody -- I guess what a publisher would call writing. But what’s making them songs is more than that, the experimentation, the free will, the messing around with noise and feedback, or talking about reduction, just the collective consciousness of what we’re doing and throwing ideas out there – it’s kind of a group effort. So far, I write the song, I demo it, I bring it to the band and say ‘Here’s how this song goes, what do you think?’ It seems like that’s what makes sense, and it seems like everyone is comfortable with that. I mean, I never know what’s going to happen the next day, let alone the next album – but for now, it’s that way.” Zach also talked about how the recording process was improved since their last album, Descended Like Vultures. “It’s always changing, because we’re changing, the things that turn us on and the music we listen to, the experiences we have, that affects what can happen when you pick up an instrument. But in terms of becoming a little more sophisticated with understanding how our gear works and understanding what works with us when we’re bouncing musical ideas off each other, it’s always evolving. I think this time we really wanted to let go of the pop structure a little bit and sometimes make the songs a little more abstract or experimental. It’s always changing. And I hope it always changes.”
The band also worked with some guests on Asleep At Heaven’s Gate, which was a first for them. “We’d never done that before, never brought anyone in. Matthew [Caws, of Nada Surf], he was in New York, and we were in California, so we had to do it electronically. With John [Vanderslice], he came into our studio in Oakland. And if you’ve ever met John before, he’s a unique individual, he’s so great. He came in with a million ideas, moving a mile a minute. He made the harmonies on ‘Christians In Black’ take on a really dark tone. The sound of his voice in there was really creepy and dirge-like, it really added a new dimension to it. So I was really happy about that. It was great working with both of them.” On the more permanent side of band collaboration, Rogue Wave got another member in the last year. “There’s five of us now, there used to be four. I’ve actually known Dominic [the newest member] longer than I’ve known anyone else in the band. When I did the first album on my own, he was a friend of mine and he played pedal steel on ‘Postage Stamp World’. He was one of my buddies that would I would play open mic nights with in shitty clubs. So when we wanted to expand the sound live after this last record, I asked him to come along. And it’s a perfect fit – he’s a really good friend and everybody loves him. But the rest of the guys – it was Craigslist. Everyone I knew that played music was already in bands. I wanted to start over with people that I didn’t know when this whole project started. I changed my last name, everything needed to be new to me. I wanted to be a new me, or a me that I was trying to find from before and that couldn’t be through connected to people that I already knew. I had to start over again and start a new life. So I just threw it out there [on Craigslist] and these really cool people got back to me. I’ve been really blessed.”
While Rogue Wave were signed to Sub Pop for their first two records, they recently moved to Brushfire Records, Jack Johnson’s label. “I never expected to stay with Sub Pop past our contract. We fulfilled our contract with them, and it seemed it was the time to try something new. Times are changing in terms of what bands need and what they can do and what they need to survive. As you change in the stature of your band, it’s important to try new things I think. For us, I didn’t expect to sign to Brushfire when we were first talking to labels. I mean, my friends work there, and it just kind of happened out of the blue. Other than the fact that none of their bands sound like us, everything they were saying sounded pretty right on. I was thinking, does it even matter that we don’t sound like G. Love or whatever? To me, I think I’d rather be aligned with the ideals of the label than sounding like the bands on a label. Especially if there’s fifty bands on that label. I’d rather feel a homey vibe with everyone getting behind it at the release. So, it’s been fun so far. They’re great people who work there, I like every single person there. I feel like we are very much in this together.”
The past year was a rough one for the members of Rogue Wave, as drummer Pat Spurgeon had a kidney transplant, keyboardist Gram LeBron lost his father, frontman Zach Rogue had a daughter and the band recruited a new bass player (Patrick Abernethy, formerly of Beulah). “We took basically a year off from touring. It’s funny, I told myself I was only going to do two weeks at a time. But now we’re going out with Death Cab for a month, Jack for a month… But I think in the future I really want to try to do that. When I look at my schedule, we’re basically busy ‘til November. I think if you’re interested in being a part of this business you have to go out and play.” “If I’m still sane by year’s end, I’d like to take some time off in the winter, make this beard be really bushy, hang out with my family. I’d like to start working on a new record in the late Winter, early Spring of next year. So that’s what’s gonna happen, I hope. If we’re all healthy and happy and able to do it.”
Rogue Wave - Chicago X 12 (from Asleep At Heaven's Gate)
Rogue Wave - Publish My Love (from Descended Like Vultures)
Rogue Wave are quickly moving up in the world. They played the Paradise here in Boston twice in the last year, selling it out on the April night that I interviewed frontman Zach Rogue. And as soon as they finished their headlining tour, they went out on the road some more, opening up for Death Cab For Cutie and Jack Johnson. They are, indeed, working hard to achieve the success that they’ve been enjoying. The latest fruit of their labors was Asleep At Heaven’s Gate, which came out last September. On it, they continued to solidify and improve everything that makes them great, and it’s certainly their best album yet. Zach noted that while he’s the credited songwriter for Rogue Wave, the entire band’s contributions are monumental. "A lot of things that Pat, our drummer, has been doing, especially on this last record -- I mean, he created this whole sonic palette to work with that was running in parallel with some of the things that I was doing. Yeah, I wrote the song, the words or the melody -- I guess what a publisher would call writing. But what’s making them songs is more than that, the experimentation, the free will, the messing around with noise and feedback, or talking about reduction, just the collective consciousness of what we’re doing and throwing ideas out there – it’s kind of a group effort. So far, I write the song, I demo it, I bring it to the band and say ‘Here’s how this song goes, what do you think?’ It seems like that’s what makes sense, and it seems like everyone is comfortable with that. I mean, I never know what’s going to happen the next day, let alone the next album – but for now, it’s that way.” Zach also talked about how the recording process was improved since their last album, Descended Like Vultures. “It’s always changing, because we’re changing, the things that turn us on and the music we listen to, the experiences we have, that affects what can happen when you pick up an instrument. But in terms of becoming a little more sophisticated with understanding how our gear works and understanding what works with us when we’re bouncing musical ideas off each other, it’s always evolving. I think this time we really wanted to let go of the pop structure a little bit and sometimes make the songs a little more abstract or experimental. It’s always changing. And I hope it always changes.”The band also worked with some guests on Asleep At Heaven’s Gate, which was a first for them. “We’d never done that before, never brought anyone in. Matthew [Caws, of Nada Surf], he was in New York, and we were in California, so we had to do it electronically. With John [Vanderslice], he came into our studio in Oakland. And if you’ve ever met John before, he’s a unique individual, he’s so great. He came in with a million ideas, moving a mile a minute. He made the harmonies on ‘Christians In Black’ take on a really dark tone. The sound of his voice in there was really creepy and dirge-like, it really added a new dimension to it. So I was really happy about that. It was great working with both of them.” On the more permanent side of band collaboration, Rogue Wave got another member in the last year. “There’s five of us now, there used to be four. I’ve actually known Dominic [the newest member] longer than I’ve known anyone else in the band. When I did the first album on my own, he was a friend of mine and he played pedal steel on ‘Postage Stamp World’. He was one of my buddies that would I would play open mic nights with in shitty clubs. So when we wanted to expand the sound live after this last record, I asked him to come along. And it’s a perfect fit – he’s a really good friend and everybody loves him. But the rest of the guys – it was Craigslist. Everyone I knew that played music was already in bands. I wanted to start over with people that I didn’t know when this whole project started. I changed my last name, everything needed to be new to me. I wanted to be a new me, or a me that I was trying to find from before and that couldn’t be through connected to people that I already knew. I had to start over again and start a new life. So I just threw it out there [on Craigslist] and these really cool people got back to me. I’ve been really blessed.”
While Rogue Wave were signed to Sub Pop for their first two records, they recently moved to Brushfire Records, Jack Johnson’s label. “I never expected to stay with Sub Pop past our contract. We fulfilled our contract with them, and it seemed it was the time to try something new. Times are changing in terms of what bands need and what they can do and what they need to survive. As you change in the stature of your band, it’s important to try new things I think. For us, I didn’t expect to sign to Brushfire when we were first talking to labels. I mean, my friends work there, and it just kind of happened out of the blue. Other than the fact that none of their bands sound like us, everything they were saying sounded pretty right on. I was thinking, does it even matter that we don’t sound like G. Love or whatever? To me, I think I’d rather be aligned with the ideals of the label than sounding like the bands on a label. Especially if there’s fifty bands on that label. I’d rather feel a homey vibe with everyone getting behind it at the release. So, it’s been fun so far. They’re great people who work there, I like every single person there. I feel like we are very much in this together.”
The past year was a rough one for the members of Rogue Wave, as drummer Pat Spurgeon had a kidney transplant, keyboardist Gram LeBron lost his father, frontman Zach Rogue had a daughter and the band recruited a new bass player (Patrick Abernethy, formerly of Beulah). “We took basically a year off from touring. It’s funny, I told myself I was only going to do two weeks at a time. But now we’re going out with Death Cab for a month, Jack for a month… But I think in the future I really want to try to do that. When I look at my schedule, we’re basically busy ‘til November. I think if you’re interested in being a part of this business you have to go out and play.” “If I’m still sane by year’s end, I’d like to take some time off in the winter, make this beard be really bushy, hang out with my family. I’d like to start working on a new record in the late Winter, early Spring of next year. So that’s what’s gonna happen, I hope. If we’re all healthy and happy and able to do it.”
Rogue Wave - Chicago X 12 (from Asleep At Heaven's Gate)
Rogue Wave - Publish My Love (from Descended Like Vultures)
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