Getting to Know: Spacey Chicago Prog act, Royale
In today’s Getting to Know, we meet Royale, a Chicago-based band that loves sci-fi and turning the music industry on its ear. If you are in an up and coming band that would like to partake in a Getting to Know feature, contact editor@riffyou.com to receive the questionnaire and instructions. Thanks!
Band Name: Royale
Band Members: Joel Bauman (guitar, vocals), Marc Najjar (bass), and Nate Bauman (drums).
Years Active: 3
City of Origin: Chicago, IL.
Who are you and what do you do?
“We are Royale and we make progressive sci-fi yacht metal. Or in layman’s terms, we’re an occasionally heavy power trio with a science fiction obsession and dreamy musical leanings. And we love guitar overdubs.”
In 100 words or less, tell us how your band has gotten to this point.
“We work smarter, not harder. Our music will always be free because your money is not why we do this. Royale’s goal is to redefine what being a ‘successful’ band means in the new music industry, and using the Internet and social media to put our music in people’s hands…whether or not they’re in the same hemisphere we are. The world is a smaller place than it used to be, and the ‘old ways’ of promoting your band simply don’t matter to us.”
What is your latest release and how would you best describe it to someone who hasn’t heard your band?
“Our latest release was the 1981 EP, a three-song sampler we put out in December. It’s a good cross-section of our music. There’s slick-riffin’ yacht metal (“Robots With Guns”), dreamy/shoegazy retro-nostalgia (“1981”), and quick-moving prog-folk (“Out of Season”). But we’re not interested in ‘albums’ per-se. Moving forward, we’re going to release a single every month the rest of the year, and then maybe when that’s all said and done, we’ll compile them as a collection to release on vinyl early next year. The next track is pretty crazy… it has some Latin percussion, odd time signatures, guitar-synths, lots of phasers and filters. It’s going be fun.”
When making an album, which aspect of the process do you put the most time into and why?
“Well the song writing kind of happens in its own weird way and in its own time. The production is really where we have the most fun. There are no rules…we have technology for a reason. We’re big advocates of the studio and the stage being different experiences, so we don’t feel the pressure of replicating what we do in the studio on stage, and vice-versa. We want to make music that’s substantial and has a lot to chew on for a listener, but is also melodic and instantly memorable on the surface. To that end, we don’t put any artificial rules or limits on what happens in the studio.”
What is the best part about your band and why?
“We’re not serious. At all. I mean, we’re serious about making the best music we can, but we have a sense of humour about it. This is supposed to be fun – for us and for our fans – so there’s no pretention about being an ‘important’ or ‘serious’ band. If you’re good enough, people will make you important. People will take you seriously. But this is just three guys doing what they’re good at and having fun while doing it.”
What makes your band unique from the rest?
“We don’t want or need your money. We all have incredible careers at the most famous and important guitar store in the world, the Chicago Music Exchange, so we’re good. Royale is really just an experiment to see how far a band can go by just releasing good music for free, always; exploiting the Internet to its fullest capacity; and not doing the ‘tour grind,’ which we have absolutely no interest in. Don’t get me wrong, we love playing shows. But we have lives. We’re not trying to spend most of the year in a sweaty van traveling the country.”
How does your band survive the challenges of touring/gigging?
“Like I said before, we really don’t have any extensive touring on the agenda. We’ll absolutely be doing some quick runs throughout 
the States this year, but nothing exhaustive. We want to play fewer shows – but make sure they’re well-promoted – as opposed to grinding night after night. Festivals are fun. We’ll probably do a few of those in the summer.”
Would you rather be critically-acclaimed; rich and famous; or an under-the-radar band with a dedicated fan base?
“I’ll take two: critically acclaimed and under-the-radar with a dedicated fan base. Rich and famous doesn’t interest Royale. But if people agree that the art we’re making is quality art, then all the other details will work themselves out.”
If you’d have to compare your band to another one out there, living or dead, who would it be and why?
“Steely Dan! I’ve always loved that they were a ‘studio band’ and not live band (although they are an incredible live band, when they feel like playing shows). It was all about the music and about crafting incredibly detailed, well thought out recordings…not about strutting about trying to show how cool you are. To that end, I’ve always loved King Crimson as well. It’s all about the music, not the silly stuff that takes your attention away from it.”
Which band/musician would you like to share many drinks with? What would you talk about?
“I’m lucky enough to have met a lot of my idols and other musicians that I respect through my job. But if I could actually just hang out and have drinks somebody and shoot the shit, it would probably be David Gilmour. He’s always seemed like the classiest rock star. He’s never in the news, never getting into trouble, lives on a house boat (with a studio inside), and when he puts out new music, it’s always incredible. Plus I’m sure he’s got some stories, being that he was in maybe the biggest rock band of all time.”
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