Freda chats with David from LA power-pop band Romance & Rebellion
All American Pop-Rockers Romance & Rebellion are the product of four individuals believing that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Brought together by Manifest Destiny and unified under the principle that the song is king, songwriter David LaViola (Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar), Aaron Medina (Lead Guitar, Harmony Vocals), Kyle Jordan Mueller (Drums), and Brandon Davis (Bass, Harmony Vocals) formed the quartet in late 2015.
It was wonderful to get the chance to ask R&R a few questions about their EP and where they’re heading next! Read below:
Hi there! Hope you’re all doing well. Congratulations on the release of your first EP self-titled “Romance & Rebellion” that came out in June. You’ve been getting a lot of great reviews on it and rightly so – it’s quite a masterpiece for your first release! How does it feel to finally have it out?
Firstly, thank you for your words of kindness. When we set out to make this record we really just wanted to capture the elegance of the songwriting, the honesty of the emotions being expressed, and the raw energetic excitement inherent in our sound. Now that it’s been released and received some critical acclaim we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief/accomplishment in knowing that we got the point across. We really worked very diligently to ensure that, we were doing everything in our power to make it as polished as possible. Anytime an artist is afforded the ability to look back in hindsight and smile you are left with a sense of self satisfaction. So we feel good!
How did you originally get acquainted with Stefan Litrownik (Andy Grammer, One Direction) who produced your EP? Did you get right into recording after that relationship was established?
I was originally introduced through a mutual friend that was interning with Stefan. He had passed along my solo EP and it wasn’t long before a dialogue was opened up about recording. It was a bit of a “holy shit” moment when I realized that we were actually gonna get to do the record with him simply because of his pedigree and client list. When you’re swimming in the same streams as mega stars you start to realize that you’ve come a long way from home demos and bar shows.
After introductions were made between Stefan and myself (David) we got right down to business. We started by combing through all of the demos I had in my treasure chest of songwriting. We settled on 5 tunes that were both well written, and had potential to withstand larger, more grandiose production arrangements. Oddly enough “Empty Space” was never even intended to be on the record. After seeing us play live Stefan approached me after the show and said that it was a must have for the record…so we decided to add it in. It’s been in my song catalog for quite some time…it’s like my crown jewel. All together we started recording the record in late October and finished in April. So it took roughly 6 months with another 2 months to design graphics and press.
What’s the story of the birth of Romance & Rebellion? Did you all meet in Los Angeles or were you friends before?
The band was formed as an outlet for the songwriting. Up until proclaiming the project “Romance & Rebellion”, I was releasing everything under my birth name David LaViola. The act of being a singer songwriter had left me feeling unsatisfied. I was missing the accompanying instruments that were present on record but non existent live. I started filtering through ads on the internet to try to build a band to play the songs with me. It’s always been about the songs…not me. The “Dream” isn’t to be this rock star lead singer, it’s to write, record, and play beautifully written songs. Aaron Medina was the first to join the ranks of R&R. He’s 26 and has a masters in classical guitar from the University of Denver. The thing that I loved about Aaron from the beginning is that he is a perfectionist like myself so, we got along quite well. The next to join was Kyle Jordan Mueller. In a previous life I was an accomplished drummer so, I can be very harsh when picking drummers to play with. I had seen a post Kyle had placed on Craigslist and it linked to his youtube channel. I spent about an hour watching his technique (which I think is fantastic) on the many drum cover videos he has posted. He and I also share a similar affinity for POP music. After playing with those guys for about a month I knew we had something special. Aaron was the first to approach me with the notion of being in a band as equals as opposed to “the back up band for David LaViola”. I spent about two days going back and forth until I had defeated my ego and settled on a name…Romance & Rebellion. I wanted to give the project a name that had both a femininity, and an unrest to it…and I’ve always been a fan of the fashion industry and it’s trend setting attitude so, the name had to be something that could potentially sound like a trendy clothing line. I dubbed the project Romance & Rebellion. Once Aaron and Kyle were on board we started a search for a bassist…the most illusive component to the band ecosystem. We ran through a couple of auditions but nothing stuck so, I called my dear friend/bassist Brandon Davis who was living in NYC at the time. It took a little convincing but, after a few days flights were booked for Brandon to come and audition. Bran came and auditioned, and the rest is history currently being written.
You’ve said yourselves that the sound of your music is “very throwback with an updated side to it.” Do you think this is always what you will want to strive for? Do you imagine your musical composition will vary as you progress as a band?
Any songwriter or musician will tell you that their musical tastes were derived from what they listened to during the their developmental years. I grew up listening to that old stuff…The Beatles, Dion, Elvis, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Ben E. King, Etta James, The Zombies…the list can go on… When I first started writing songs I emulated those cats. I don’t even fight it anymore…the throwback thing happens whether I like it or not. It’s in the timbre of my voice; it’s in the scale step melodies that I tend to gravitate towards…it’s a part of me. I think there will always be echoings of retro in the R&R sound, but like any good artist the idea is to constantly evolve. I don’t think any artist wants to do the same thing for their entire career. What’s funny is that a larger percentage of the songs that get written never see the light of day so, the variety is already there in the song writing…it’s just that when you make a record (especially you’re debut EP) you’re looking for cohesion between songs and in the sound…and to give people a digestible representation of who you are.
Do you have any other earlier material before the EP?
As the band Romance & Rebellion…NO. However because the band is an outlet for my writing you may be able to find a song or two or three in our catalog on my solo EP.
Before recording the EP, you were promoting yourselves by playing shows around LA, is that right?
Yes, we started by playing small shows at venues like The Pig N’ Whistle in Hollywood…a notorious hangout for emerging sounds.
What do you love about playing live? Were there any of those shows that stood out from the rest?
Playing live is a great opportunity to re connect with the feelings you had when you first wrote a song. Every time we do a song like “I Don’t Believe In Love” live I’m slightly emotional. Performances are also a different animal than recorded music. Recording a song is so deliberate…it’s exactly how you want the song to sound and when it’s finished that what people will default to and remember. Live is different because it’s one take and then it’s gone forever. Playing live is also great because you can deviate from the original composition…change up the melody…create a unique moment that people will remember, and hopefully make them want to come to the next show.
With every show we do there’s always the performance and then the post performance analytics when you dissect everything you can remember that happened. There aren’t any shows that stick out in my brain above all of the rest. We prepare and rehearse for each show as if it’s the most important show we will ever do. Some shows are just inherently better than others…the crowd might be more responsive…the sound might be better…you never know until it’s already happened.
What are the goals for Romance & Rebellion, musically and personally?
I can only speak for the band goals when I say that everything is consistenly been on an upward forward moving trajectory. Momentum is building and we want that to continue. Long term goals include a tour and a full length record in 2017. Short term goals include a second single and music video, and an increase in the fan base. Life isn’t a destination…it’s the journey, and having said that…the biggest goals is to continue on our journey and continue to produce beautiful music to the best of our collective abilities while still challenging ourselves.
What’s next up for you guys on the R&R calendar?
In the not so distant future we will be filming our second music video this month for the single “Vanity Fair” which will be released in late August. Other than that we have a Tuesday night residence at the Silverlake Lounge for the month of August…so, if you’re around on a Tuesday night and you want to see what the buzz is about, come check us out!
http://romanceandrebellion.com
https://twitter.com/romanceandrebel
https://www.facebook.com/romanceandrebellion
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