SPEAKER 1: Woohoo!

SPEAKER 2: Welcome to Austin.

SPEAKER 1: Welcome to Austin.

SINGER 1: Welcome to Austin!

SINGER 2: Check, check, check, woo!

JOHN SCHROCK: We’re at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas for South by Southwest 2006 in the Gym Hog Room, if you can believe it. I’m here with Kyle, William, and Caithlin from the band Rainer Maria. And they have been working on a new recording which should be coming out next month.

KYLE FISCHER: April 4th.

JOHN SCHROCK: April 4th. Right. Right around the corner and the title is “Catastrophe Keeps Us Together”.

KYLE FISCHER: Very good

JOHN SCHROCK: I guess we can start out with some of the songwriting questions. When you guys work on the songwriting, how does that usually go and how do you demo them up and get the ideas going?

KYLE FISCHER: Well, take them, I mean, as far as songs go, you just take them any way you can get them. I mean, so in that regard we’re open for anything. But I’d say that most of the time, 90% of the time, we all stand in a room together and play music and then that’s how a song is made. I mean, I think that’s the definition of what writing a Rainer song is, the three of us standing in a room.

JOHN SCHROCK: Okay.

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: Yeah

JOHN SCHROCK: So it’s collaborative from the start usually.

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: Actually.

KYLE FISCHER: Pretty much so. Yeah.

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: The lyrics are kind of the last thing that comes on. I mean, they’ll be, I’ll start with the vocal tones or you know, what key on or whatever. But lyrics are last.

JOHN SCHROCK: Great. So the melody and the kind of riffs come together and then...

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: Definitely.

JOHN SCHROCK: ...the lyrics come on top of that. Okay. For you as a lyricist, is that easier to work with, once you’ve got kind of a phrases worked out musically?

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: Yeah. Yeah I like to hear the sound, I like the sound, I like the sound of words, you know, sort of figuring out where a jumping off point. And then definitely what these guys, you know, what we’re creating together will, will influence me for lyrics as well, a lot.

JOHN SCHROCK: Right. And singability is always a challenge right?

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: Yeah.

JOHN SCHROCK: Words should mean something and sound good and that you can also sing.

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: Yeah

KYLE FISCHER: Syllabic emphasis. I hate it when like someone sings that’s, that’s like, puts the emphasis on the wrong syllable to make it fit, you know what I mean?

JOHN SCHROCK: Right. Yeah.

KYLE FISCHER: Like [SINGING] “Violence”

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah.

KYLE FISCHER: You know what I mean? That would drive me nuts.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah. A little contrived. Yeah.

KYLE FISCHER: Yeah.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah. Right. So wait, for guitars, amps and all that kind of stuff do you guys have preferences? Kyle, do you, what do you like in that area?

KYLE FISCHER: Well, that’s an interesting question because it actually, the whole, the whole, what do you call that? The whole enchilada just changed for me, I guess.

JOHN SCHROCK: Okay.

KYLE FISCHER: I played, I mean, historically I’ve always played American amps.

JOHN SCHROCK: Okay.

KYLE FISCHER: Like Fenders and then Ampegs. Then just sort of like torn those apart and put them back together to make the sounds that I wanted. And I also played Fender guitars. And then when we recorded this record, we used like, a wide variety of sounds and a whole palette of amplifiers and instruments.

[RAINER MARIA PERFORMING]

JOHN SCHROCK: Okay.

KYLE FISCHER: And in trying to recreate the sound of this record it’s I felt like it’d be better to, to pick up a different amp like a British style amp. Like the Vox style amp. So I bought a Matchless, Clubman 35 I think it’s called.

JOHN SCHROCK: Okay.

KYLE FISCHER: And I -- we got a little hookup through Gibson that we can buy guitars from them at a reduced rate. I bought an SG, which I’m still getting used to. It’s like very rock and roll sort of a guitar.

JOHN SCHROCK: Is that the shorter scale too, the neck or is that?

KYLE FISCHER: I think it’s normal scale. The SG, it’s almost the same like a Les Paul.

JOHN SCHROCK: Okay, let’s, yeah. But shorter than the Fender?

KYLE FISCHER: Oh, I think it’s a 24” scale.

JOHN SCHROCK: Okay.

KYLE FISCHER: Versus a Fender like a Strat’s like 25-1/2”

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah, got you. Okay.

KYLE FISCHER: I think, maybe it’s -- Yeah.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah, okay. And on the bass side?

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: Well, I had this little treat one day. Kyle flew home from Texas and he’d found a Fender precision bass at a pawnshop for like $200. So that is just the most beautiful instrument and playing it through Ampeg B4B. I haven’t changed it in a long time because it just has a nice, warm sound.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah. So you found that sound and you’re sticking with it. Okay. So how about the drums?

WILLIAM KUEHN: How about drums?

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah. What do you prefer? What do you use?

WILLIAM KUEHN: Well, I -- anything that sounds good. I mean, I played Slingerlands for the past eight years. But yeah, it’s I mean, modern drums I mean boutique drums, everyone uses Keller shells. So it’s just a matter of I think flavor and taste and down to how people cut edges.

JOHN SCHROCK: Right.

WILLIAM KUEHN: These days.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah.

WILLIAM KUEHN: I think there’s more variation in cymbals than there are actual drums themselves. So.

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: Will is a crazy cymbal collector.

WILLIAM KUEHN: For the most part, yeah.

JOHN SCHROCK: Excellent. Does that give your recording engineer a fits?

WILLIAM KUEHN: [LAUGHING] Fits?

JOHN SCHROCK: I always find it hard to record cymbals. I don’t know.

WILLIAM KUEHN: Really.

JOHN SCHROCK: They get really splashy with that, with what I’m using. I don’t know.

WILLIAM KUEHN: You just throw them like up and go.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah. Okay. Great.

WILLIAM KUEHN: That’s what Malcolm said anyway. Like, “No compression. Your drums sound great. The cymbals sound great. No compression”.

JOHN SCHROCK: Great.

WILLIAM KUEHN: So...

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah.

WILLIAM KUEHN: ...you should talk to Malcolm.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah. [LAUGHING] Is he here? No?

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: He was. He just played with us actually.

JOHN SCHROCK: Excellent. Okay. And you guys, if on a similar note, you guys have a consistent line-up for the duration, is that right?

WILLIAM KUEHN: Yeah, for the entirety.

JOHN SCHROCK: Do you think that brings anything to the music in that sense?

KYLE FISCHER: Absolutely.

JOHN SCHROCK: Can you talk a little bit about that?

KYLE FISCHER: No, I mean, it’s interesting, you were talking before about melody and phrasing and things like that. And I think, I hope that, I feel that more so than the other bands, the, like a melody line or like a harmony like can carry through the instruments in our band. You know like you, there’s like a little rhythm in the guitar or in the drums and then they echo each other. And then, you know, any little melody that is in one is picked up in the vocals, you know, Caithlin has a very melodic sensibility with the bass guitar...

JOHN SCHROCK: Right.

KYLE FISCHER: ...as well. So it’s sort of like, you know, melody would just normally, the -- you know, taken over by the vocals primarily. Then perhaps why the guitar is like really like moves throughout the band in any given song which I think is a pretty great way to do it.

JOHN SCHROCK: Okay. Can you kind of anticipate each other’s moves at this point or things?

KYLE FISCHER: Somewhat, yeah. But I mean, it’s totally, this record was like full of surprises. Everyone was not only playing the way in their own style but like really adapting quickly to new things and you know, like Bill would come up with -- we’d start playing, Bill would like the drum part, “Where’s that coming from? Wow, I haven’t heard anything like that before.”

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah.

KYLE FISCHER: For our band, you know. And we all try to push that I think...

JOHN SCHROCK: Okay.

KYLE FISCHER: ...with this record.

JOHN SCHROCK: Do you see a progression or evolution in the sound of the band from the first album through this one? And can you talk about that a little bit or in terms just of the sounds of the song or?

KYLE FISCHER: Well, I mean, certainly, there’s like a, I think there’s like a feel to the Rainer Maira and that’s where the sort of, I don’t want to call it like branding, but that’s like the recognizable sort of Rainer Maria...

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah, yeah.

KYLE FISCHER: ...thing is that there’s kind of a feel to it. That like it gets carried out in like all kinds of different ways. Now I could say, “Oh in this song, it’s like accomplished to this sort of chord change,” or, you know here, like you know, we’re playing this or that but it’s, it’s kind of like ineffable but it’s totally undeniable.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah.

KYLE FISCHER: It’s hard to say in a band like what makes that up. I think it is the tendencies of the players, you know, the way people tend, the things that you tend to do together. But that said, like there’s like, there’s also a great variety in everything we do, I hope.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yup. Great. And I understand that you worked with a new producer in this album. Is that right? Can you talk a little bit about that relationship? And did that change anything for you in terms of the kind of back and forth between the band and the producer?

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: We worked with two producers; Peter Ka-tis, Katis, sorry, who’s on Interpol and the majority of the record is done with Malcom Burn who, in both situations, these men have their studios in their homes which is just such a great way to play music, to wake up in the morning, go downstairs or upstairs, either the attic or the living room and just pick up instruments, and it fostered so much creativity and spontaneity for us.

JOHN SCHROCK: Is that located in Brooklyn, too, this...?

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: No.

JOHN SCHROCK: No?

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: Malcolm is in Kingston, New York...

JOHN SCHROCK: Oh, okay

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: ...and Peter’s in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

JOHN SCHROCK: So did you guys like camp out at his house for a while?

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: Yeah. That is exactly what we did.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah.

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: And ate their food and met their pets.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah.

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: So it’s real personal. I think that -- you just undeniably become closer to your producer, I think.

JOHN SCHROCK: Right.

KYLE FISCHER: It’s also like a little more, I mean everyone says organic. But it is more organic, sort of environment to make music in because it’s not like you know, I mean this like, very [SOUNDS LIKE] “moderne” sort of room that’s soundproofed a certain way. And you feel like you’re very, you know, acutely aware of the $1,000 a day like melting away...

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah.

KYLE FISCHER: ...as the hours go by.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah.

KYLE FISCHER: It’s not like that at all. It’s much more freeform and loose and anything goes. And so, I mean, in a way like you can log less actual hours of playing but you get so much more done because you’re not, you don’t have that really click tracking under the gun kind of feel.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah. Great. So how long did the recording session take?

KYLE FISCHER: How long were we at Peter’s? It’s like five days?.

WILLIAM KUEHN: Yeah it is. For almost a week. Yeah.

KYLE FISCHER: Yeah. It’s always longer than I think.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah.

KYLE FISCHER: And then at Malcolm’s, it was like 15 days. Or was it three weeks?

WILLIAM KUEHN: I think it’s three weeks with weekends off.

KYLE FISCHER: Right. So 15 days.

JOHN SCHROCK: Okay, so and --

KYLE FISCHER: Some mixing later as well.

JOHN SCHROCK: Okay. When it comes to demoing, do you guys kind of record your own demo and get all the parts flushed out pretty, pretty meticulously and then just go in the studio or you?

KYLE FISCHER: Yeah, once we write, we sort of record stuff in the practice place then just not so much for you know, demoing as much as just, to like listen back immediately...

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah.

KYLE FISCHER: ...and say oh, that’s too long. That’s too short. Oh, we should go back. It’s pretty useful tool in that regard.

JOHN SCHROCK: What kind of setup do you have for that?

KYLE FISCHER: It’s a small Sony handheld tape recorder.

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: [LAUGHING]

JOHN SCHROCK: Okay. [LAUGHING]

KYLE FISCHER: I can’t tell you the exact model number.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah. I think everybody. Yeah. We talked to Luminous Orange this morning and she’s got the same little microtrack. Yeah, like a lot of musicians. The immediacy of that is just great.

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: Yeah.

JOHN SCHROCK: You just, there’s play and record and rewind.

KYLE FISCHER: I have a feeling we’ll jump to like a laptop, little preamp kind of setup soon enough.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah.

KYLE FISCHER: But we haven’t done that yet.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah. Okay. Great.

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: I think it’s always important for me to write the vocals while everyone else is playing. So that, you know, not to go off into a room with a -- like what did we use for when we were living in Connecticut, you know?

KYLE FISCHER: A four tracker.

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: Yeah, like a four track. Because then I would feel the vocals are too separated.

JOHN SCHROCK: Okay. So, as you, as you work out the songs, you are also kind of coming up with the lyrics...

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: Mmm hmm.

JOHN SCHROCK: ...and the melodies on. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Great.

Your new album, how you are going to support it if it comes out April 11th you said?

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: April 4th.

JOHN SCHROCK: April 4th. Sooner than I thought. Great. And then a tour after that for you guys?

WILLIAM KUEHN: Yeah, we’re on tour right now.

JOHN SCHROCK: Oh, yeah.

WILLIAM KUEHN: We’re going to be leaving for a tour two weeks after it hits stores. And we’ll be out for another four weeks.

JOHN SCHROCK: Okay.

WILLIAM KUEHN: In April and May, well into May.

JOHN SCHROCK: Great.

WILLIAM KUEHN: And we’ll be out this summer as well.

JOHN SCHROCK: Okay. Is this all U.S. or?

WILLIAM KUEHN: All U.S. and in the fall. The record won’t come out in Europe or in the UK until late this year or maybe even January next year. So we won’t go over there and start singing up until September or October.

JOHN SCHROCK: Great. Okay. Any other bands you’ve been seeing at South by Southwest, or you’ve already seen since it’s already Friday?

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: Oh, we’re excited about this other band on our label, Mohair.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah.

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: Who had just played from the U.K. They seem like a lot of fun.

JOHN SCHROCK: Great. Okay. William, anybody that sparks your interest?

WILLIAM KUEHN: I mean there are tons of them that sparked my interest but I’m kind of jaded because I live in New York. So I’m saying.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah, you seem like

WILLIAM KUEHN: Oh, I’ll just go to the hotel because I’m tired from playing all day, you know? It’s like these bands are going to be in New York in the next two or three weeks anyway.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah.

WILLIAM KUEHN: So, I mean, there -- yes and no.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah, yeah.

WILLIAM KUEHN: Yes, I’m excited to see a lot of bands but no, not here.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah, yeah.

WILLIAM KUEHN: When I’m like in New York.

JOHN SCHROCK: Not necessarily this week.

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: I hope I get the chance to see Lady Sovereign.

JOHN SCHROCK: Okay.

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: She seems cool.

JOHN SCHROCK: Okay. Kyle?

KYLE FISCHER: I was really pleased and also disappointed simultaneously that we played our first show. Was that Tuesday night?

WILLIAM KUEHN: Wednesday

KYLE FISCHER: Wednesday night. We droove in, we drove in Tuesday night. We droove in, we droove in Tuesday night and we played Wednesday night and our friends the band Say Anything were playing. It was like an outdoor stage, and their stage was outdoors like literally back to back with ours, like a wall in between and it was the exact same set time so we didn’t really get to see very much of their set.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah.

KYLE FISCHER: But it was great to see them and I love their band. I mean they’re really, really cool.

JOHN SCHROCK: Yeah.

KYLE FISCHER: Max and the whole crew.

JOHN SCHROCK: Okay. Excellent. Okay. Well again, the band is Rainer Maria. They’ve got a new album coming out April 4th, “Catastrophe Keeps Us Together,” and thanks you guys for taking a little bit of time to talk to us at Gearwire. I appreciate it.

Kyle Fischer: Thanks so much.

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS: Our pleasure.

JOHN SCHROCK: Very nice.

[RAINER MARIA PLAYING THEIR SONG, “LIFE OF LEISURE”]