http://www.centredaily.com/mld/blue/2003/09/08/entertainment/6728416.htm

Centre Daily : Rilo Kiley

Centre Daily Times
Tue, Sep. 09, 2003
CHUCK MYERS

THE PATH TO MUSIC SUCCESS can often follow an unconventional trail. But that leads to trailblazers right?

For the band Rilo Kiley, the road has taken the indie pop group from a Los Angeles living room to a Nebraska recording studio -- and a breakthrough album.

Rilo Kiley (singer/guitar Jenny Lewis, singer/guitar Blake Sennet, bassist Pierre deReeder and drummer Jason Boesel) has been riding a wave of popularity created by its latest album, "The Execution of All Things" (Saddle Creek). The album has received positive marks from music critics, with some even crediting the foursome with giving indie pop a fresh spark.

But the band hardly sees it this way. It's simply a case of following a well-worn path traveled by other indie groups.

"I think we're just following closely behind some of out heroes, you know," Lewis says. "We take examples from bands like 'Modest Mouse,' who toured their butts off for years and years and years. They came to Los Angeles a couple of times a year, and that sets out as an example of how you survive as an independent rock band."

Rilo Kiley's origin began with one-time child actors Lewis and Sennet recording with guitar and organ on four-track tapes in Sennet's suburban L.A. home. The living room session initially didn't amount to much. But a few years later in 1998, the pair took another crack at it, this time with a DeReeder on bass and the group's first drummer, Dave Rock.

The band's first record, "Take Offs and Landings," was a self-produced, self-released effort that revealed a talent for through-provoking tunes. In 2001, Barsuk records in Seattle picked up "Take Offs and Landings," and re-released it. The band headed out on the road for a national tour, and soon caught the attention of another label, Lincoln, Neb.-based Saddle Creek Records.

When Rilo Kiley landed in Nebraska to work on the melodically rich "The Execution of All Things" for Saddle Creek, it soon discovered it had a label willing to allow creative space.

"We wanted to make something that ultimately pleased us," Lewis says. "We wanted to make a concise pop record because we like pop music. But there was never any pressure from the label, or pressure within the band, to make something that's accessible."

The studio experienced also produced an additional, unexpected benefit -- artistic feedback.

"I think we were more prepared in going out to Nebraska and working on a record in a real studio with a real producer," Lewis says. "I think also in Nebraska we had access to other musicians. So we weren't as isolated making the record at home in Blake's living room. ... We were around people that played violin, cello, French horn, and so it was more of a communal atmosphere."

Rilo Kiley has crisscrossed the United States almost non-stop this year in support of the "The Execution of All Things." Although backed now by a label and marketing power, very little has changed fundamentally when it comes to the band's nature and its approach to touring.

"We still have a lot of responsibilities," Lewis explains. "It's very insular in that we kind of keep it between the band. We don't have management. ... I think it's changed in the sense that we can see the growth at the shows."

After wrapping up a few tour dates in Europe, Rilo Kiley plans to head back to Nebraska and begin work on a new album in November.

 

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