Mini-Interview: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Our prettier and more demure sister site Radio Free Chicago recently caught up with LA's Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, who are currently touring in support of their latest album, Baby 81.

After taking a slight acoustic folk detour on their previous album, Baby 81 has been heralded as the band's "return to rock" or, in less favorable terms, a "return to form." Here's RFC's Brad Knutson quick conversation with guitarist and vocalist Peter Hayes about their new material and how its holding up so far live.

So, are you guys already tired of fielding questions about how Baby 81is your "return to rock?"

[laughs]...umm, it's come up a lot. I dunno...I didn't know we had left! [laughs again]

But you know what I mean right? Literally almost every piece written about the new record so far makes some reference to that.

Yeah, yeah...but as far as I'm concerned, Howl [the last BRMC record] was as much rock and roll as anything else to me. Maybe I'm off-base, maybe I'm way out of touch, but to me [rock] encompasses more than just loud guitar.

Speaking of those loud guitar parts on Baby 81, how is the new material coming together live?

It's good...[but] still working on stuff as far as putting it all together.

What songs are clicking the best so far?

Weapon of Choice...and 666 Conducer, we just figured out how to do that yesterday.

We weren't sure if that was going to work. We were trying to make it sound too much like the record and it wasn't really working as far the acoustic guitars. So we're probably going to amp it up a little more and make it more of a space-out kind of jam.

Looking into the future, how many more albums you think BRMC has in them?

Wow, that's a good question...I'd love to keep on making it as long as we can, [but] I really can't say you know? I think it's interesting as far how you see The Stones still going, you see Dylan still playing music...I really dig the idea of living this until you die.

That's kind of where I started, there's no back-up plan. You know, like mom and dad saying, "make sure you have something to fall back on"? That didn't happen [for me]. It's living this until it's over and I'm in to that idea, you know? And I'm hoping I'll be able to do that...and I'm hoping in this band, but you never know.

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