SPOTLIGHT:

Soundtracks to our Summer: Robotanists

 

all photos by Jessy Plume for TRAffIK

The darlings of our Summer Soundtrack, Silverlake based Robotanists enjoyed a whirlwind season full of sunshine, radio airplay (KCRW), and lots of new friends. Two of the band members Sarah Ellquist and Daniel de Blanke have taken a few moments to bring you firsthand some of the highlights of their summer, as well as how they feel they’ve grown as a band. They even let you us in on what songs they wish they had written.

Robotanists are:
Daniel de Blanke – guitars, keys, songwriting
Sarah Ellquist – vocals, keys, songwriting
Preston Scott Phillips – percussion, drums, iphone
Keith Boyarsky – bass

TRAffIK: Where can we learn more about your band?
DANIEL: Google “robotanists” or go to http://robotanists.com

TRAffIK: How did you come together?
DANIEL: We were all in other bands, and then left those bands and formed this one. The social lubricant was alcohol and a fondness for screaming at the television. That, and Dostoevsky.

TRAffIK: How would you describe your sound?
DANIEL: Up-tempo sad music for amoral intellectuals
SARAH: Make-up sex

TRAffIK: How does the songwriting process work for you? Where does the inspiration come from?
SARAH: Dan and I are a song writing team, but every song is born in a different way, from a different place. I write all of the lyrics, but sometimes, I write the melody and Dan builds harmony from there, or vice versa. If either of us ever thinks that we’ve written a complete song, the other is there to edit and refine. We take everything to the rhythm section for the final seal of approval… and the rest is history. Lyrics come from a very personal place, but I try to craft them in a way that the listener can interpret as they choose. Music is a personal thing, I want listeners to make our music theirs.
DANIEL: I have three thousand song ideas that are half crafted at any given time. I generally force Sarah to listen to them until she starts singing melodic material.

TRAffIK: Lately you’ve been performing acoustically a lot more than we’d seen previously. Do you have a preference for either performing unplugged or plugged in?
SARAH: I think we all prefer the energy of playing as a full band, but performing with just an acoustic guitar is a great way to really showcase our songwriting. It’s liberating to strip things down and just let the melody and harmony dance with each other.

TRAffIK: What started this trend for you?
SARAH: I suppose you could say that most of our music starts out “acoustic” during the demo phase, but we started performing them that way after some friends of ours (the band Vanaprasta) asked us to come to the Bond St. Lounge at the Thompson Hotel in Beverly Hills over the summer and play a few songs. The next thing we knew we were getting weekly invites to perform all over LA.

TRAffIK: Do you feel that the acoustic performances have exposed your music to a different crowd than what you would typically appeal to?
SARAH: Absolutely. That first show we did was in Beverly Hills… we’re a bunch of indie rockers from Silverlake. The last place we expected to charm an audience was at the Thompson. There’s a really great musician from the UK named Jont. He hosts parties in every city he goes and fills them with musicians and music lovers from every walk of life. He was in LA over the summer and hosted two of his “Unlit” parties that we were lucky to play at alongside everyone from Poe to the Like. Everyone just took turns picking up an acoustic guitar and performing in the moonlight, without amps or microphones while gazing down from the Hollywood Hills – we made new fans but more importantly new friends. Those shows were like nothing else.

TRAffIK: More and more shows keep springing up at make-shift venues everywhere, but especially here in LA. Do you have a preference between playing either established music venues or spaces like say galleries? Why or why not?
SARAH: We’re having a love affair with galleries right now. Party spaces are where cutting edge music is really being showcased these days. We love the pro sound and big stages of conventional venues, but you just can’t match the energy of being eye to eye with downtown audiences and the speakeasy vibe. Edgar Valera and IsGoodMusic.com host a monthly party at Junglerush Gallery during the Downtown Art Walk called “The Garden Party.” If you haven’t been before, it’s a must do event! Music + Art + Booze = Magic

TRAffIK: In your opinion, what makes a good show?
SARAH: Every show is good. Some are amazing, but all are exhilarating. We’re at home on stage, so whenever we’re performing we’re giving it our all. Weather there’s one person in the audience or a thousand; every performance is a new challenge and a new success.

TRAffIK: Is there anything that you currently feel the music scene (either limited to LA/Hollywood or in general) is really lacking these days?
DANIEL: No, actually. There are a ton of great LA bands right now. Everyone is friendly, getting good crowds, press, and even radio airplay. And, I think we have the best blog scene in the country, which helps nurture the incredible local talent. From la-underground to rockinsider, laist, buzzbands.la, radiofreesilverlake, there are hundreds of blogs I read every day.
SARAH: I agree, the east side / downtown music scene is at an amazing place right now. And bloggers keep us in the loop, making it possible to check out shows we couldn’t make it to etc.

TRAffIK: This summer you were able to sneak off and play shows in neighboring cities. What was your experience with playing shows outside of LA?
SARAH: We love getting out of town and meeting new people, and the audiences we meet do such a good job at making us feel like superstars… then we come home go back to being locals. Both have their perks.

TRAffIK: Are there any lessons you feel the LA music scene could learn from some of these other places?
DANIEL: In other cities strangers buy us meals and give us wine and bacon. I’d like more of that in LA, although Jon Hershfeld always gives us bacon.

TRAffIK: Do you make it out to see other live music? If so what is a band (other than yourselves of course) or musical artist that we should check out?
DANIEL: I like Wait. Think. Fast. and Deep Sea Diver, and everyone in the Origami Vinyl Family.
SARAH: We’ve seen a few great bands at Bardot in Hollywood this year: Band of Skulls, Warpaint, and Lykke Li. In the same way that we like performing in unconventional spaces, I love to see bands the same way. Stages are old news, I’d rather be eye level with artists and likewise with fans.

TRAffIK: Is there a song (by either an independent or major artist) that makes you think “Man, I wish I’d written that song!” and Why?
SARAH: Lauryn Hill’s “Ex-Factor.” – “You said you’d die for me… Why won’t you live for me” I don’t know who really wrote that song, but every time I hear that last line it breaks my heart.
DANIEL: Mellowdrone, has a song called “Fashionably Uninvited,” and it’s so fucking catchy that I can’t stop listening to it. Another is “Debaser” by the Pixies, “GOD IS SEVEN THEN GOD IS SEVEN THEN GOD IS SEVEN…” that is brilliant. It’s catchy in a terribly psychotic way, and mentions New Jersey.

TRAffIK: Now that summer is drawing to a close and we at TRAffIK are reflecting back to this summer and those of years past, do you have one definitive song or artist (for you specifically) that instantly makes you think of Summer?
SARAH: Our own song “Wait a Minute Here” was really my song of the summer. It was our first radio single and I almost drove off the road the first time I heard it played on “Morning Becomes Eclectic.” You only have that experience for the first time once in your life
DANIEL: “Dance, Dance, Dance” by Lykke Li. We’re covering it on our next record that we’re finishing now. I keep listening to her version and different versions of ours over and over again. I love it.

TRAffIK: What is your favorite part about the summer season?
SARAH & DANIEL (in unison): sweat, swimming pools, mopeds, margaritas and mist.

TRAffIK: Where can we see you next?
SARAH: Speaking of unconventional performance spaces… On 9/26 we’ll be at the Boogie Den. It’s a monthly concert, party and vintage clothing sale all wrapped into one. There’s an open bar, live music and vintage clothes are $4 a pound! You won’t wanna miss it. (Go to http://tour.robotanists.com for all the details!)

 

 

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Special thanks to the Pinwheel Palace in Los Feliz at the LA Zoo for allowing this photo shoot invasion