Rebels From Above
Juan Pintor
Issue date: 3/1/08 Section: Arts & Culture
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Wright Times: How did you guys meet?
Rebel Angels: We met through high school. We all played in different punk rock bands and somewhere along the line, I decided I wanted to start a rockabilly band so I found the only other people I knew who knew rockabilly and we just started jamming.
WT: Do you guys go to school?
RA:[School] didn't really seem to take a hold of us. We tried doing a little bit here and there but in the end we'd be missing class because of gigs or not show up for finals because of rehearsal. It's supposed to be a back-up plan when you're trying to be a musician but any time we got momentum in school, the band would pick up momentum. It was like "Am I going to do my homework tonight or go to an out of town show, make some money, and get our names out there?"
WT: What was the record release show like?
RA: It was awesome! This band from Indiana called Lockstep opened up the show. They were this really groovy, really cool, energetic street punk kind. The Deal's Gone Bad headline was just awesome because they were my favorite band. They're one of the best live shows in the city.
WT: What was it like making the album?
RA: It was tumultuous. It was totally self-funded, so it was like play a couple gigs, make some money, start tracking some songs. We really wanted to make sure we went to better studios and use better engineers. Josh Apara, he engineered, recorded, and tracked the whole album. We wanted to make sure we put our own money into this so that we could get good quality. It'd be tough, like at times we wouldn't have money and it'd be like, "I want to get in the studio and finish!"
WT: What's your favorite song on the album?
RA: That's tough because we've been working on this for a while and you write a song and as soon as you record it, that becomes your favorite song. We have this song called You Packed Your Bags, But Not Your Baggage. It's kind of this slow tune. It's a throwback to when we were a rockabilly band but it's still us and it's one of my favorite tunes to play live.
WT: Is there a theme to the album?
RA: Not really. We just wanted to be a straight forward rock record. There's a lot of different sounds on it, though there's some power jam, garage jam, and acoustic jam; then there's some straight-up guitar rock songs. We've never been afraid of our influences.
WT: What are you listening to right now?
RA: The new Mars Volta record is in my rotation nonstop. It's just a drogging, experimental, jazz fusion record, it's wild. I'm also listening to the new Stereophonics record a lot.
WT: How important are the fans to you?
RA: As far as keeping us going and giving the band momentum, they are the hugest thing. The hardest part about being in a band is keeping momentum and in the end it's all about being creative and writing and playing songs and making art. There's not a lot of people willing to go crazy or lose themselves in it and it makes it really hard to keep going. When we do a show like the record release show at the Beat Kitchen where people were into it and having a blast, it really makes you want to go play the next town or go make another record so you could have another show like that.
WT: Who would you like to tour with?
RA: We'd like to hit the road with Deal's Gone Bad. They're great friends and they're an awesome band. As far as any sort of reality, we'd definitely all agree as far as going on the road with those cats.
WT: What are your plans for after the album?
RA: Just hit the road and get the word out. The idea is, late Spring to go on tour. Now that we have an album that we all believe in, we can just hit the road, play shows. Chicago is always a great place for us.
WT: Where do you see the band in five years?
RA: On the road and making badass rock records. Hopefully we'll all still be doing it together and we haven't killed each other by then. In five years time, we'll be able to do all the things we're doing now and pay the rent with it. In the end, every musician wants to make a living playing music.
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