As soon as Radiation City’s Cameron Spies answers my call, the relaxed Pacific Northwest ethos is immediately apparent. The band is currently travelling across my home state, a good stretch from their own home of Portland. I ask where they are at the moment. “We’re on our way to Dallas right now in the middle of some desolate looking freeway,” Spies tells me. I can’t even begin to imagine seeing West Texas through the eyes of someone from the Pacific Northwest. “We actually blew a tire last night in the middle of New Mexico in the dark,” he continues. “Luckily we had AAA. It was on the freeway side and as I was walking around the van there was a rattlesnake, like, feet away from me. It started rattling, so it was a dangerous excursion.”
Texas born and bred, even I have yet to encounter a rattling rattlesnake. Rad City is certainly soaking in all the Texas memories they can—the good and the terrifying. After some casual talk about the flat and tour van specifications, our conversation begins to take on a more question and answer format. Spies has no difficulty musing at length about my questions, but it’s not frivolous banter. He’s clearly thought deeply about what his band is doing, why and how.
I ask about all the sound on their new album, Animals in the Median, which contains everything from 60s American pop and Brazilian bossa nova through 70s funk and into contemporary electronic and psych music. “I think once we formed the initial nut of our aesthetic we always tried to stick to that, but lately we’ve been veering into more 70s soul and funk territories.” Spies tells me. “I think it’s something that’s subconscious. I mean we talk about it, but there’s just something that we know works for us. I think it was a combination of years of music listening and things that we liked that led up to it. It wasn’t like we sat down and said, ‘These are going to be our influences and this is what we want to do.’ That being said, a lot of the early stuff was influenced by these 60s bossa nova records we loved so much.”
I ask if each member brings their own stuff that ends up being a combination or if the end product is a more organic thing that emerges through their interactions. “It’s a lot of both, honestly.” Spies says without hesitation, clearly understanding the dynamics that have emerged among his bandmates. “Usually the nut of a song will begin as one person’s idea and another person will add parts or lyrics or melody ideas, and then that way it kind of grows organically. But I think everyone has a good grasp of what the whole picture looks like aesthetically. So getting to that place that’s our sound happens naturally even if it’s one person’s idea.” Spies description sounds completely accurate to the final product that finds its way to their albums.
It’s evident that the musicians in Radiation City work well together, pull together as a team and better each other. I ask about the fostering environment on the Pacific Northwest, which has been a music have and creative hotbed for decades. Spies tell me, “Yes, definitely, a very supportive and solid community of musicians.” He expounds upon this, explaining, “A lot of people who are just so happy and motivated to be making music and a lot of people doing really interesting stuff—all kinds of corners of genre bending goes on in Portland. Randy and I are originally from Portland, so we’re by default proud to be from Portland. Y’know, people will say that the rain causes creative time. But I think that a big part of it is just a cultural phenomenon of relatively low cost of living, high quality of life, a huge creative class, lots of young people. It’s sort of a hub.” Again it’s clear that these aren’t just off-the-cuff answers. Spies comes across as the kind of guy who has spent some time evaluating his surroundings carefully.
I tell him that I haven’t seen the band live yet, but many people I know personally have given high praise to their live performance. I ask what we have to look forward to—what it is about the live show that excites fans. “We’ve been playing together a relatively short time. It feels like a long time though because we’ve toured a lot, practiced a lot, drilled our live show,” Spies says. He continues to explain, “Everybody in the band is a pretty seasoned musician. There’s a certain amount of professionalism, authenticity, and emotive quality to our live performances, because we’ve allowed ourselves to be comfortable with the technical aspects and we can just kinda perform. We pour ourselves into it. It’s a very rewarding part of being in this band and we all love doing it so much. I think that comes across. The arrangements we put on the record are difficult to interpret in the live setting because there are so many layers and subtleties, but we scrutinize them carefully enough and are able to apply our recording knowledge to what we do live. Plus Lizzie has a killer voice and people really respond to that.”
I for one can’t wait to see it unfold. As the interview winds down I ask some parting questions about day to day life on tour. I’m curious what shows have been the best. “I’d say L.A. and San Francisco,” Spies says. “We got to play in the Redwoods at this mini first year festival called Hickey Fest. It was great. A lot of fun, and we made a lot of new friends. The bands from the San Francisco scene were very welcoming.”
I also ask about what kind of music gets played I the van. Are there any records or artist that get regular play? “We were just listening to The Soft Bulletin by the Flaming Lips. It’s a nice band mainstay,” Spies says at once. Then, a poll of the other band members and van passengers yields more data: “We always put on Deerhunter. Dark Side of the Moon, Fiona Apple, Kendrick Lamar, Tame Impala, Grizzly Bear. We have this Roy Orbison tape that’s one of my favorites as well, but we haven’t listened to it in a while.” Spies sounds a little thoughtful about that Orbison tape. Maybe it’s a good time to put it on—after all, the band must be less than 100 miles from Orbison’s birthplace of Vernon in North Texas.
I thank Spies for his time and tell him again I’m looking forward to the band’s show at the Mohawk Tuesday night. I’m betting it’s a great one, so if you’re mid-week needs some genre-fusing indie rock, we’d highly recommend it. In fact you can win two tickets right here. While you wait to see if you’ve won, stream “Zombies” by Radiation City below.
