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| The Exclusive Ryan Rabin Interview! |
| At the ripe old age of 16, Ryan Rabin already has some great gig stories to tell. Not even old enough to drink and barely even old enough to drive a car, Ryan and his band "The Anthem" have already headlined shows at the legendary Roxy Theater in Los Angeles, and most importantly for Ryan, he made it on his own. That's a special feat, considering that his Dad is one of the greatest guitarists around. If you recognized the last name, it's true, his Dad is Trevor Rabin. But Dad is keeping a comfortable distance and is enjoying watching his Son playing drums for his promising young band. Ryan was kind enough to take some time out of the Anthem (and High School classes!) to answer some questions. Not only is Ryan a bright and talented young drummer, he is already a very good interviewee as well! |
| Q: Ryan, thanks so much for taking the time to join Me here! Congratulations on this great young band you have, The Anthem. How long has the band been together now? A: Thanks alot... We actually started out a year ago as a 3 piece at that time we didn't have our 2nd guitarist Andrew Wessen. After 3 months of being together Andrew joined, and then we got our name "The Anthem". So as The Anthem we've been together about 9 months. Q: I checked out Your MP3 of your single August Valedictions and I was really impressed! If You ask Me, this song could easily be included in the rotations of major alternative radio stations around the country. What kind of reaction have you gotten from all of the people who are visiting your site? A: Haha, well i'm glad you liked the song, its one of my favorites to play on drums. Even though it is a very early recording and there have been some changes, people have so far really liked the song. The website (www.theanthem.net) has only been up for about 2 and a half months now and there have been over 500 downloads of the song so far. Q: I do want to stress to all of the readers of this site that The Anthem isn’t just some high school garage band. Ryan, you guys have already been headlining at a lot of legendary clubs in L.A. such as The Roxy Theater and The Whiskey! What do you remember about your first nights at such renowned places like these? A: Well we've played the Roxy twice now, that is true. By the time this interview is posted on your site we will have played it a 3rd time (Friday, May 31st). The Whisky we haven't played yet but we're scheduled to play it on June 11th around 8 'o' clock. The first Roxy show was incredible. We opened the club, and all of our friends were there not knowing what to expect. I remember first stepping onto the stage for sound check looking at the club from the opposite angle of how I usually view it. Greatest feeling ever, I can't even explain it!! Being on stage in an empty club knowing its gonna be full in an hour and you're gonna be the ones performing.... probably the most anxious moment in my life. By the way for more info on upcoming shows this summer and exact dates and times (cause mine are usually rusty) visit our website and it will all be there. Q: Before I go much further here, I do have to ask the inevitable questions that everybody wants to know, but Your Dad of course is the legendary Yes guitarist and Movie Score composer Trevor Rabin. What does your Dad think about the early success you have enjoyed with The Anthem? Has he made it to many of your shows? A: Yeah, he managed to come see us at our first two Roxy shows. How does he feel about our early success??? Well I don't think we've really succeeded yet. Right now we're just having a lot of fun playing shows trying to get our music out there. I think once we finish our demo that we're in the process of recording right now, and give it out to the crowds at our shows, we will have succeeded in a small way, because, at least from our perspective, we will have completed a goal that we've wanted to reach as a band for a long time now. My dad is happy that we're playing shows, and giving helpful hints about everything we're doing. But at the same time he's feeling sorry for us that we have to go through the same stuff that he went through and that most bands go through when they start playing clubs and small venues. Its a really tough scene you know, but for the most part we've kinda been lucky, so far the clubs haven't been too harsh to us so we're happy. Q: I think it is very much to your credit that the site makes no mention of Your Dad. It seems like you are truly trying to make your own name for yourself, which is very difficult when you have such a famous Dad. Has it been hard for you to kind of achieve that separation from him? A: Actually I've never even thought of it like that. I guess its not really hard at all. Most people that know the band and listen to our music don't really make the connection, and none of us really bring it up or think about it like that. To me my dad is just my dad. The only time we really drop a name is when The Anthem goes to Guitar Center and we wanna get a discount on some drum skins or guitar strings. We usually need to stock up on those, we hold the record for most broken drum skins and guitar strings for the amount of time we've been playing together, I guarantee it! Q: Many people may not know this, but You have done some percussion work for your Dad on his score for the movie American Outlaws. How was it for you to work in a large orchestral type setting like that? A: Actually the ques that I did for that movie were done at home in my dad's studio, and when they took it to orchestra at the WB sound stage they just left the drum track on the recording and recorded the strings and horns and such over it, so I didn't actually record the percussion with the rest of the orchestra, it was done separately... dad would have had to pay me over time if I hadn't done it at home! Q: What was it that made you want to play the drums and who were some of your influences? A: When I was about 6 my parents got me a kids drum set that I used to bang around on. Then I took up the piano on and off until I was 13, which taught me the basics of chord structures and melodies and harmonies, but I'm actually not very good at all technically, its quite a shame. Then when I was 13 I started playing drums again after fully quitting piano. I'm now 16 and it has been all uphill since then. My major influences are of course the great Alan White of Yes, Lou Malino (my dad's best friend and in my opinion the best drummer in the world), Travis Barker of Blink 182, and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin. Q: What gear are you currently using on stage or in the studio? A: Right now i'm using the Ludwig Accent 5 piece set, with a pearl piccolo snare tightened very high. I use Black Hydraulic Evans Skins on all my toms and an EMAD batter head for the kick. I have a variety of different model Paiste Cymbals including the new Signature Series Crashes, which are great. And finally, I use the DW 7000 model double bass pedal. Q: I know that The Anthem was working on an EP for release. Has it already been finished or is it still a work in progress? A: We started working on the EP about 2 weeks ago but we haven't been back yet to the studio because of school nearing an end. Once we get out for summer are gonna record vigorously and try to get it done fast enough to start handing out at shows in the near future. I'm hoping we can have something put together by mid June. Q: Have you been or will you be shopping the EP around to any record labels? Have they expressed any interest in it so far? A: Yes once the EP is finished we are gonna be looking to put it in the hands of some labels. There has been a small buzz around town you could say, and there may be some label interest here and there but I really shouldn't put any names out there yet because nothing is for sure... it is still early days! Q: Ryan, I want to thank you so much for joining Me here and I just want to say that I think that Yourself and The Anthem have a very bright future ahead of you and I look forward to hearing more from the band down the road! A: Thank you for inviting me to do the interview Mr. Donald. The Anthem thanks you for your support and we will for sure be in touch!! |
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