DeadJournalist.com Exclusive Interviews
The Rosebuds
EXCLUSIVE Interview: The Rosebuds
Chuck Norton, DeadJournalist.com
01.27.07
Based out of Raleigh, NC, Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp have been performing as the Rosebuds since 2001. Their 2003 release, Make Out, was picked up by Merge Records who (along with Goodnight Records) also distributed 2005's Birds Make Good Neighbors.
On the verge of releasing their first new album since 2005, the Rosebuds are looking forward to getting back on the road and performing.
Touring with Yo La Tengo, the band will kick off a limited East Coast tour on February 6 in Carrboro, NC that extends to SXSW in March. The band also announced that they are set to play a February 24 show in Moscow, Russia.
For more information on the Rosebuds, visit their Web site www.therosebuds.com or their MySpace.com page at www.myspace.com/therosebuds.
DeadJournalist.com is proud to bring you this exclusive interview with Ivan Howard of the Rosebuds.
The band's new album is expected to be released in April, what can people expect from this new record?
IH: It’s a change musically for us. Darker, dancier and way more bass heavy than our last record. Kelly and I made a pact with ourselves that we were going to make the record we truly wanted to make this time around. And I think we did it!
How did the recording process go? Who produced the album?
IH: We produced the record ourselves. We recorded most of it in our house except for a few drum tracks which were recorded by the engineer on our last record and our friend Mark Paulson.
Are you excited to get back on the road with your upcoming tour?
IH: Yes! We miss the interaction with the crowds, and being able to play music everynight.
Are you excited about SXSW? How many times have you been?
IH: This is our third time and it is good to see a lot of our friends there. But it feels lately like just a corporate get together. Down to the way the venues will make people stand in line out in front of the clubs to make them appear like they are sold out. Then you have the whole badge fiasco. There is no hopping from club to club to see bands like it appears in the SXSW guide. But I still feel lucky to be performing there for Merge Records.
What is your favorite part of performing live?
IH: Hearing the songs come together that loud and big, and seeing people dance and sing back to us.
The most bizarre thing that happen on your last tour was ... ?
IH: Playing live on Radio 4 in Vienna, Austria. We don’t have a label, distributor, or any form of representation over there. But we were asked to play on one of the four national radio stations there! Up till now, we haven’t even had a record reviewed on NPR in the US before. Pretty weird and ironic.
Are you working on any new projects?
IH: Kelly is going to record a solo project called Rosaline Black, as soon as we find time to arrange and record it. We are working on a Pixies song too for a tribute record they are putting together.
What were you listening to in 1997?
IH: Can I remember 1997? Let’s see….I had probably just quit listening to Supergrass and the Afghan Whigs. I must have been listening to Swervedriver, a ton of Barry White and Ice Cube’s “We Be Clubin'” and whatever else the dejay played at Oasis bar while Kelly and I played foosball.