The Bay Area Native

What’s the origin of the band name? Have you changed the band’s name before?

“The Republic of Wolves” was actually taken from a conceptual project that Gregg was working on when we all got together. That name seemed to fit really well with the sound of the demos we had been putting together, so it stuck. We’ve all been involved in many other acts but this group as it is has always been “The Republic of Wolves.”

How long have you been all been playing? Self-taught?

Mason: I’ve been playing for about seven years now. I took some lessons at the beginning, just until I realized I could write my own songs.

Gregg: I started playing guitar and piano about eight years ago, and I haven’t had any lessons.

Christian: I’ve been playing for nine years now, and I’ve taken a few lessons but I mostly taught myself.

Billy: I’ve been making music and experimenting with a few different instruments, mostly keyboards, for about six years. I’ve never had any lessons.

Chris: I’ve been playing drums for 13 years, and I took lessons for the first six of them.

Who are your major influences? Any major comparisons to certain bands that your music may receive?

We have a lot of different influences, some of which are more obvious in our general sound. We’ve always gotten the Brand New comparison, but they’re just one of many artists that we draw inspiration from. Some other big ones are Bright Eyes, Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Tool, Anathallo, Coldplay and the Dear Hunter.

How long have you all known each other? How did you meet? When did you form your band? What inspired you to make music together?

Mason: Well me and Christian met back in 9th grade and immediately started playing music together (as Tigers on Trains). We met Billy shortly after that and we all became close friends, occasionally working together on random music projects. We met Gregg in 2008 and started recording with him the next summer, working on a Tigers on Trains full-length album in his home studio (with him doing theengineering/producing/mixing). We became close friends with him as well, and eventually we all just kind of started writing music together. Gregg had known Chris from an earlier music project so we got him to play drums and that was it. It all came together really naturally, since we were all good friends and we were just doing what we loved.

Where have you performed?

As The Republic of Wolves we’ve only played a handful of shows, mostly because we started recording right off the bat and it took us a while to get our performance together (with a bunch of us still in school). As of now we’ve played a couple of bars on Long Island, includingthe Vibe Lounge, and a club in Brooklyn called the Europa. No huge venues yet, but we don’t care a whole lot about that as long as theshow as a whole is good. And we’ve been lucky enough to share the stage with some great bands, which we’re grateful for.

What albums are you currently listening to and would like to recommend?

Mason: I haven’t really gotten into anything new in the past couple months (besides Justin Bieber and Katy Perry), but I’m still listening tothe Monsters of Folk album as well as “Weathervanes” by Freelance Whales.

Billy: “Assailants” by Lydia, Steel Train’s self-titled album, and Kevin Devine’s “She Stayed as Steam”

Gregg: “Flying Club Cup” by Beirut

Christian: The new Colour Revolt album is great.

Chris: “Discovery” by Daft Punk

Which songs do you perform most frequently? Do you ever play any covers?

At most of our shows we’ve basically been playing the entire EP, with the exception of ”Through Windows.” For the last couple shows we’ve added a new song called “Oarsman” to the set, and it’s definitely one of our favorites to perform. We haven’t played any covers yet.

Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs? Do you think these topics will change over time?

Mason: Most of the songs are written primarily by me, but Gregg has written a few and Billy does a bit of writing for some of them. Either way we all share our input and work together to perfect each song. Most of the songs revolve around big themes like death, morality and religion, usually taking a really metaphorical or narrative approach to those ideas. Those topics have definitely expanded in certain ways onthe new album, but the larger questions and themes have stayed pretty constant.

Going along with the last question, the song Spill seems to have some religious themes attached to it. Do members of the band have a religious background?

That song, along with a few others, definitely explores some religious concepts. They’re always shown from more of a questioning perspective, though, and none of our songs are meant to preach or send any specific religious message. So no, none of us are particularly or overtly religious, but the question of religion is something that’s definitely present in our song writing. We’ve all been exposed to religion and are definitely intrigued by it, to say the least.

Does the new album Varuna have a theme? If so, describe that theme.

The album is loosely conceptual, and kind of tells a story which revolves primarily around the sea. So in terms of imagery that’s the most obvious recurring theme, but there’s also the usual abstract concepts that pervade throughout. There’s an especially important focus on the struggle between free will and faith, and the different interpretations of religion and a higher power.

What is the deal with Tigers on Trains? Is this a side-project for two members of the band? An extension of The Republic of Wolves?

Mason: Tigers on Trains is an acoustic folk project which consists of just me and Christian (though Gregg helped a lot with the full-length album, entitled Grandfather). It was started a couple years before The Republic of Wolves and is pretty much responsible for all of us getting together. So really you could say that the Republic of Wolves was originally an extension of Tigers on Trains. It’s a very different style ofmusic, simpler and more mellow, but a lot of the songwriting elements are the same. Right now that project is just kind of on the back burner for us, but we expect to release something else under that name sometime soon.

Many people are wondering about a tour. Any plans for a fall tour this year?

Unfortunately most of us are still in school so an actual tour is pretty much impossible for the fall. We had plans to play all the way downthe east coast in August but a lot of things went wrong and it just didn’t work out. We’ll be trying to get regional shows on the weekends or whenever we can, but we probably won’t get out of the northeast until the winter.

What do you think are the major differences between the EP and the album Varuna?

It’s hard to say just yet, since we’re still in the final stages of creating the album, but one thing we can say with confidence is that the album will be more of a complete story which stands on its own as a piece of art. The EP had a bunch of songs thrown together at different times without any strong common bonds, but the songs on the album were really written to go with one another. We’ve also expanded a lot on thealbum in terms of musical elements, branching out instrumentally and conceptually. The album has a much wider range of things to offer, and we’ve taken a lot of chances which we’re really excited about.

Could you briefly describe the music-making process?

Someone comes in with the general structure of a song, usually with most or all of the lyrics written, and then we all kind of share our input in the studio. Pretty much right away we start laying down tracks and we finish writing and perfecting the song as we record it. We really just kind of mess around with different instrumental parts and technical elements until we get exactly what we want. It’s a lot of trial and error.

What are some challenges you may face playing at a new venue and not knowing what the sound will be like?

Unfortunately that’s been a problem for us at pretty much all of our shows so far. The sound guys at the venues don’t really know our music so the mix always tends to be a little off; either the keyboard is too loud or the vocals are too quiet, or something along those lines. It’s never totally ruined the show, though, not yet at least.

How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?

We’ve definitely grown more experimental as we’ve continued to try new things in the studio. We’re always expanding and allowing new and different influences to affect our music, and that’s really caused us to grow as musicians.

What has been your biggest challenge as a band?

The main challenge for us is the fact that we’ve remained almost entirely independent since we started. We’ve gotten a little help from our distribution companies (Simple Stereo for vinyl and Vintage Hustle for CDs) but we don’t have any real management or anything like that. So it’s a lot for us to handle, always having to think about promotion and publicity and booking shows, in addition to the writing and recording that takes up most of our time.

It seems the band has used the Internet and social media quite extensively to gain a fanbase. What are the bands thoughts on the way musicians can gain exposure via technology while still being independent from a label?

Well the whole music industry is very different now, with the internet playing such a huge part and all. I think we’re a great example of how it’s possible for a band to gain popularity without any help from a record label. It’s really a lot more about the individual these days, and big companies don’t have nearly as much control as they used to. If a band is good and wants to get heard, they can make that happen on their own. We’re really grateful for the opportunities that the internet has offered, and we owe everything to the fact that it’s really a free market for music.

Going along with the last question, think of technology in light of albums leaking early, and people downloading your album somewhere. What are your thoughts on the way technology has changed the way musicians release their music and make it accessible to fans?

It’s definitely a necessary evil. We obviously would prefer to have people paying for our music, but as long as it’s getting out to people then that’s all that really matters. And in terms of digital releases, we’ve embraced that as a convenient way to sell our music but we still put a lot of emphasis on having a complete physical product. Even though CDs are losing popularity we think it’s really important to be able to hold an album, and to have physical artwork that reflects the music and complements it. But when it comes down to it we really just want people to have our music and to enjoy it.

What’s the ultimate direction for the band?

We really don’t know as of now. We just know that we love creating music and putting it out for people to hear, so we’ll certainly keep writing and recording new material. Obviously we’ll be playing more and more shows as well, to support our releases, and as soon as we can we’ll do some wider touring. But ultimately we’ll continue to look at the band as an artistic project, and we’ll put everything we’ve got into continually creating works of art that people can enjoy.

What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands?

Our only real advice would be to make music that you really feel passion for, and that you truly enjoy making. And don’t give up if you think you’re bad, because you’ve got to be bad before you can be any good. We’ve all learned that in our own individual ways.

Is there anyone you’d like to acknowledge for offering financial or emotional support?

We’d definitely like to acknowledge Doug Castro at Simple Stereo and Brian and Ricky from Vintage Hustle Records for helping us out with everything. The people who offer us emotional support are too many to name, but we’re grateful for all of them.

Any last words?

Thanks so much for taking the time to interview us, and we really appreciate everyone’s support. We’re blessed to have people listening to our music and showing an interest in us. Happy Shrek Week!

Photos by John Azzilonna and Dante Crisafulli