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Beloved LA-based quartet Rilo Kiley saw their star rise during the indie rock heyday of the 2000s. Now, they’ve returned to the stage this year after a more than decade hiatus. The upcoming leg of their North American reunion tour will see the band stop in Northampton, Massachusetts, for a concert at The Pines Theater on Labor Day. Drummer Jason Boesel has a long resume outside of Rilo Kiley, including stints with other icons of the indie movement like Bright Eyes and the Elected, as well as an album of solo singer-songwriter material released in 2010 and his work with cult Southern California emo band Evergreen in the early ’90s. He spoke with WAMC ahead of the show.
WAMC: A lot of the indie rock movement of the early aughts is sort of unfairly pigeonholed as being a twee experience, when Rilo Kiley, among other bands, really directly confronted politics and confronted a rising tide of right-wing feelings and sentiments and fascism in America. And now you're back again these decades later to sort of return to America at a similar moment culturally, where a lot of right-wing politics and fascism seems to be on the rise. Can you sort of connect the dots there about what it's like to go from those golden days in the Bush era to this new era in the Trump era?
BOESEL: Yeah, not too difficult to connect the dots, I think. And also, as things happen, progress can be negative and positive. And I think that it's a natural progression of the Bush era and those eras, similarly, that came before it, and they just get more intense. It's like this cycle. So, I think we're in a much more intense version of what we were in back in the Bush era. And that, strangely, seems, as many have pointed out, kind of nostalgic almost, that like Bush seems kind of like a, ‘ah, he wasn't so bad, that was the good old days’ kind of thing, which is wild to think and say, and ultimately, probably not true. This is kind of a loud echo of that, but yeah, I mean, I think as artists and songwriters – I'm a songwriter, I haven't written with Rilo Kiley – but I recognize that [main Rilo Kiley songwriters] Jenny [Lewis] and Blake [Sennett] living through the Bush era, and all the sort of consumerism and kind of American experience, the decay of the American dream and experience, you feel that, and in that kind of world that we were lucky enough to be a part of and make records in, the sort of indie rock of that time, it was very free and we weren't trying to write hits. So as artists, they're just writing what they feel and transmuting the country or peer group’s experiences into art songs. And I think that that's why Rilo Kiley was always kind of currently political in sort of not subconscious ways, but certainly not overt protest songs like someone like Conor Oberst did a little more during that Bush era. But yeah, to me, it comes down to the songwriting. Jenny as an artist was brave enough and interested enough to talk about it in a very unique, experiential sort of way. It's happening again, so, I think we're all aware of it, and all sort of- This is almost the negative of it, because we're bringing, I don't know, making people hopefully feel good and safe and comfortable in these kind of uncertain times. A little.
I wanted to turn back the clock even farther back to Evergreen, the excellent emo band that you were a part of back in the 90s. Even for me at this point in my life, I'm like, oh my God, I'm amazed that, a band like, say, American Football is is even more present in the the minds of young people than I ever thought it would be when that band was sort of in its heyday. And now bands like Evergreen, who made this beautiful, delicate, emotional music, that kind of emo is now being celebrated as American folk music and compiled and reissued and re-examined. So what is that like, to have these limited releases back from the early 90s be both sought after and revered by collectors, but also, clearly foundational sounds that are still echoing today?
Thank you for putting it that way, American folk music, because I hadn't thought of it in those terms. And I think you're right. I mean, it's- Because it's very, at the time, it was very underground, small audiences, and it's almost like found sounds now, these records that might have had, like a pressing of 100 are now being listened to quite widely in comparison. Evergreen is interesting because we haven't put our music out since then, and we've kind of, we've made that choice a few times along the way to not put it on [digital streaming platforms] and not do a repressing, though some really cool labels and people have expressed an interest to do so. And it's an interesting thing, because I'm of two minds. I do love that people are listening to that music now, but I also love that there are those things that need to be found and looked for. So, I think it's special to me that Evergreen is somewhat difficult to find. I mean, I know that it's, I think it's on YouTube and it crops up on stuff as like bootlegs, but I don't know, it's an interesting time. And I personally love that that music is being listened to and appreciated, because it is unique. It's special, you know? So, I'm glad it's alive out there.
What were some of the 'holy crap' moments for you when you were like, 'wow, like, this is really happening, I'm really doing it, and I can't believe I'm in this situation.' You've done so many interesting things- What comes to mind as one of those moments?
Sound checking at Madison Square Garden for the first time, 2005, opening for Coldplay. That was a big moment. Just to be in that environment and sort of hit the snare drum and it was the only sound in this legendary, giant venue- I remember that one pretty clearly. I think playing with Conor [Oberst] a couple times, and honestly, watching him play certain songs alone to a big festival crowd, for instance. I was playing with him, but then he would play a song alone, and I would watch, and I just couldn't believe that I was playing with this person, because I felt that he was such an important artist.
Turning to the reunion and this tour, what does it feel like getting back out there with this? Two decades after that moment in Madison Square Garden, you're back out there, playing the late night shows, making the rounds, seeing the fans. How's it feeling out there?
It's feeling great. I wouldn't say I'm surprised, but I feel like everything one does, any sort of big endeavor, there's always an inherent question mark that comes along. You just don't know what it's going to be like. And this was a bigger question mark than most, just because I haven't played in this, none of us have played in this configuration for, like, you say, quite a while, and it has been feeling really great. Authentically, purely just fun and wonderful. And the fans- The old fans, lots of new fans. And it's just been like, kind of better than ever, I think. And I think we all feel that way. It's just more purely easy-going fun. I think we're- I kind of do think we're playing better than we ever did, and the shows are better, and it's just more fun. So, it's kind of all good.
I want to close out on a sort of a classic question that I love to ask folks like you with a broad palette of the musical experience- If you were going to put a record in the hand of like a 14-year-old kid today and say, 'hey, this will really blow your mind-' What's a good example that comes to mind?
For me, Joni Mitchell, "Night Ride Home," is an underrated touchstone record, sonically, lyrically, Just artistically, it's- Even among Joni fans, I don't think that record gets enough love.
Jason Boesel is the drummer of Rilo Kiley. The band plays Northampton, Massachusetts at the Pines Theater on Monday.
