Now Playing … He’s My Brother She’s My Sister
He’s My Brother She’s My Sister
With Betsy Wells
9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12
The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St.
Tickets: $8
waitingroomlounge.com
Now Playing … He’s My Brother She’s My Sister
By MarQ Manner
Robert & Rachael Kolar are finding not only their music and experiences evolving, but also their ride. The brother and sister in California band He’s My Brother She’s My Sister along with Lauren Brown, Oliver Newell, Aaron Rob- inson, and Satya Bhabha are doing a “Kickstarter” of sorts through the Pledge Music page.
The goal is a new van, and when talking to Rachel while waiting for Robert to join our conversa- tion it sounded like they had at least acquired one, though they are little over half way on their Pledge Music goal. The top pledge level of $100,000 gets a naked skydiving session with the band, and I am sure this group of free thinkers would have no problem following through with it. Evolving was a theme that came up often in our short chat with Rachel ending a shopping trip at a grocery store that sounded unlike anything that would be found here in the mid-west and with Robert hopping on from an undisclosed location shortly afterward. The siblings talked about how they really don’t know where their music is going to go on stage in a night, through the tour, and through the writing process for their EP’s and upcoming full length album. This was not a band I was going to ask “so what do you sound like?”
He’s My Brother She’s My Sister have a full and organic sound that can skirt roots, indie-pop, and even chamber pop at times. It’s just nice to listen to. Sometimes as light and shimmery as the coast from which they currently reside and at other times taking on darker and more haunting tones. They also have something in common with Omaha band Tilly & The Wall in that Lauren Brown tap-dances and plays percussion during the recording and performances. Here is what Robert & Rachel had to say during our phone conversation this past week.
Shout – How did the band form?
Rachael – Rob and I met in October of 1983 when I came screaming out of my mother’s va- gina.
Rob – I was only three so I didn’t know much about the home birth.
Rachael – My Jamaican grandmother was there painting the birth.
Lauren, I met in New York on 9-11 and we became best friends. Rob moved to New York a few months later. They had a interesting story of seven years and I moved to Spain at the same time that Lauren had moved back to Los Angeles. We had this experimental theater company where we were working with musicians and we were creating this rock opera and that is how we met Oliver who was the bass player. Me and him were making music together already and his other band was moving a long and making music and we moved on from there.
Shout – There is a lot of personality that comes through in the live videos and from your dress. How important is that to your stage show? What happens with the band on stage?
Rachael – I think we were laughing today and talking about the Spice Girls and how each of the members is their own character. Each show is different depending on what side of the stage you are on. It is pretty much like a dance party and we just want to have fun. It is totally joyful and we are still singing about difficult concepts and why they are difficult, but at the end of the day we are still smiling and joyful.
Robert – It is a celebratory atmosphere with social influence lyrically so you can take it on different levels musically. There is a lot of fun and inspiration. The songs have each their own scene meaning so you can take from it what you will.
Rachael – There was a stage that at each show to me there was a communion where I was at a higher sprit, and now I just want to connect with everyone on a real level. It’s all evolving. I am trying to still understand the true meaning of my new voice. It’s the same with Lauren and her tap dancing and now she is learning to play the drums at the same.
Shout – So you are using Pledge Music to raise funds for this tour. Do you feel like this is the model going forward for the band?
Rachel – For me it’s like everything is mov- ing how it should be. The old music model did not work and so it crumbled and that is when new species appears and that is what we are. We are an experience, a life, and a community and a band. We start to know each other and they know us and they know what we are doing. And they go to their favorite festivals every year and know each other and we will become a part of their lifestyle we don’t need the middle man that had no back bone.
Shout – You have been on tour with Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zero’s. How big of places have you been playing?
Robert – We were playing some pretty big spots-anywhere from five to six hundred peo- ple to fifteen hundred people. They were a lot of fun and were a bunch of nice people. They have been very supportive of our band.
Shout – What do you want people to come away with from your live shows?
Robert – for me it is just a feeling to be affected to have some kind of emotional reaction.
Rachael – I want them to have a sense of hav- ing an experience that they are familiar with but that they haven’t had in their life. For them to see something new that may resonate but has this youthful thing to it, a progressiveness to it.
Shout – Are there any songs on the new album that have a particular meaning to you? That stand out for you?
Robert – I wouldn’t go with any special song. I feel that the new album in general paints the various sides whether it be various inspirations and it captures what we have been doing for the past year and the energy that we are touring with right now. Next album might be a different energy. Some songs are dark and summer are kind of summer fun, and it expresses what we are feeling at that moment.
Rachel – I totally agree. I am really excited. I feel so proud to put out this album . Especially for Rob and I coming to together to put out something together. It is feminine and masculine and we have this magically mysterious orb surrounding us at this moment and I think we are going to have a fantastic year.