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Don’t Bow Down
The Royal We’s guys just want you to show up to their show
by Ellen Mallernee
Chris Tanfield, frontman for The Royal We, looks like a young, mop-headed Bob Dylan, and he plays the motion-motivated theremin like a mad conductor, hunched over and whipping his hands into a blur.
The theremin is a curious box-shaped instrument that is played without being touched. Two antennas protrude from it—one circular, controlling the volume and one vertical, controlling the pitch. In turn, each band member seems jarred by the electric current of the bizarre instrument, as their faces are all caffeine-eyed and stretched with smiles.
Over the phone, their voices are crammed with dreams, and edgy with nerves over being interviewed. “Our band’s getting enough steam so that we’re ready to move on,” says lead guitarist and vocalist Corey Bullman. “We have a really good buzz going on.”
And it’s true; everywhere the quartet goes, local barflies swivel their shoulders, bob their heads and battle the irrepressible urge to dance. The theremin takes the audience in and out of the ether, creating a nice, otherworldly sound, while bass player Wes Jameson and drummer Hunter Sapp tug you back to earth.
Inspired by experimental groups like the Meat Puppets, Frank Zappa and The Flaming Lips, Tanfield says, “There’s moments when we may make some weird experimental noise, and it might be extremely trippy, but then we usually come back down to earth. We don’t stay in space for very long musically. Our music isn’t outwardly weird for the sake of being weird.”
The Royal We is not motivated by money but by the promise of good times around the bend. “We’re a really fun band that enjoys what we do a lot and that translates to the audience,” Bullman says. “There’s definitely an attitude about hanging out and having a good time, a no-worries kind of attitude.”
Sometimes, though, it must be difficult for the band to shed financial worries. The Royal We’s members pretty much have to shatter their collective piggy banks each month to come up with survival funds, but they’re almost managing to make it off the band’s profits alone.
“I still pay the mortgage on time, and I get to fill my time doing stuff that I love, and that’s being creative, playing music, making music, taking pictures and morphing them for our press kit,” Tanfield says.
His voice swells with pride like a child displaying his latest crayon-scribbled artwork. “Yesterday I made our first theremin press kit, saying how it was invented in 1920s on up to the sci-fi movies of the ’60s to today, when people are starting to use it in electronica and rock music.”
Tanfield’s love affair with the theremin has been long in the making, and stands to infuse The Royal We with its distinctive gusto.
Bullman feels that the theremin merits the band much of its initial attention. “It’s quite a unique instrument, and there’s not many bands that use it and use it to the extent that we do,” he says.
Tanfield learned the ups and downs of the theremin while a student at UNC Asheville. “There’s a fellow here named Dr. Robert Moog, and he invented the Moog electronic synthesizer that all the rock bands of the ’70s used,” Tanfield explains.
Based out of Asheville, Tanfield worked for a few years building theremins at Moog’s factory. Despite his current grace and skill with the instrument, Tanfield didn’t find the learning process an easy one.
“It takes so long,” he says. “It’s such a touchy thing. You have to stand perfectly still, and nothing can disturb your environment because every little thing will change your pitch.”
Tanfield began playing the instrument in public two years ago. “That’s when we started noticing how much it gets people’s attention,” he says. “People immediately start asking questions about it. It’s so bizarre. It has a weird influence on people.”
Currently in the middle of tweaking a full-length multimedia CD, Bullman speaks of The Royal We’s newfound penchant for all things acoustic. “[On the album] we’re getting to play the acoustic songs, which is more introspective, and some stuff on the sadder side. Usually with the live shows we want to keep the songs going.”
“We go to a show to have fun, and party, and smile,” Tanfield adds. “We want to lighten the mood, and not get heavy.”
Still, The Royal We has enjoyed straying from its solely feel-good roots. “The songs that seem like they have a lot of meaning and depth to them are the ones that wrap around your heart and take you for a ride,” Bullman says. “That’s something we really pushed for is depth on the album.”
A group of really nice, genuine guys, The Royal We is about as unpretentious as they come. “I think if people wanna have a good time they should hang with us, because the more people are there the better time we’ll all have,” Tanfield says as though he’s inviting you to his next keg party.
July 22, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 30
© 2004 Metro Pulse
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