Neil from Rituals Interview

1. How did your band come to be?

Rituals came about when Julian sent me some demos he had been working on that were missing vocals. When I heard the tracks I asked him if I could lay some down and it kinda just went from there. We were only a two piece for a couple shows or a couple months. We knew we wanted to add a drummer pretty soon after to give us more of an edge, live feel, etc. We somehow managed to convince my good friend Pablo to come back from Australia to play drums in Rituals. Julian and Pablo were then acquainted at a seedy Japanese sake bar in Little Tokyo called "Bar C." It's where we like to go when we have business to discuss. They have a drink there called "The Galvatron." It's 1/3 Tequila, 1/3 Whisky and 1/3 Hate - it tastes like pure gasoline. I made both Julian and Pablo each do a shot with me and at that moment Rituals was born.

2. What was the first time getting the band together like?

Very Drunk. Also very exciting. You could feel the energy at the table.

3. What was the moment that made you think "this is it right here", the defining moment that convinced you this was for real?

The first time we used our signature light show at Club Moscow in LA, when we hit the down beat of "Red Moon" and I turned on the giant fluorescent triangle light around me. It gave me goosebumps.

4. What's your end goal for music? As in, what do you envision yourself getting out of music when all is said and done?

I personally see myself becoming a music producer and or manger in the future, although I don't ever see myself NOT creating music. I've been playing in bands since I was five years old. Music has always been the one and only thing that makes sense to me. As far as Rituals goes, I think we have a very bright future and have only begun to scratch the surface of our creativity. Our best work is ahead of us. The goal at the moment is to open people’s minds and break ground for a new direction in dance/pop music. We'd also like to be the first band that openly admits to hating indie rock... Hahaha

5. Dream tour: who would you love to share a stage with?

Depeche Mode, no doubt. But we also really want to play Live Earth too.

6. What are your 3 main influences on your sound?

Trench coats, blacked out sunglasses, and Gimps.

7. What does the future hold for your band?

Lots and lots of touring... extensively on the international side of things. We don't want to stay in America for too long. Our music will have it's time in the US soon enough but right now we need to be playing in Germany or the UK. It's a matter of time hopefully. Until then we will be in the lab creating the darkest, danciest music to the best of our ability. All the while continuing to explore other textures and sonic fibers that we can stitch into our sound. We are a young band, but all three of us are very creative and talented people. We won't stop until our music is as three-dimensional as our personalities.


8. Word association: when I say [insert word here], you think....

MTV - real world
File-sharing - napster
Radio - death
Touring - booze
Twitter - lady gaga
Fans - Gimps
Special thanks to Neil from RITUALS. check them out http://ritualsla.com/