Ra Ra Riot life and biography

Ra Ra Riot is an American indie rock band, consisting of vocalist Wes Miles, bassist Mathieu Santos, guitarist Milo Bonacci, violinist Rebecca Zeller, and drummer Kenny Bernard.

Combining indie rock with chamber pop flourishes (courtesy of a small string section), Ra Ra Riot formed while the band's six members were attending college in Syracuse, NY. Milo Bonacci (guitar), Alexandra Lawn (cello), Wesley Miles (keyboard/vocals), John Pike (drums), Mathieu Santos (bass), and Rebecca Zeller (violin) first came together in January 2006, creating an eclectic sound that allowed them to play alongside the Horrors, Bow Wow Wow, and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin within a year of the band's formation.

After pulling up stakes and relocating to New York City, the band recorded a self-titled EP and prepared to release it during the summer of 2007. That June, however, Pike died after disappearing one night from a party in Fairhaven, RI. His body was later found in nearby Buzzard's Bay. Several weeks later, the mourning bandmates issued a statement confirming their continuation as a band.

Ra Ra Riot joined the roster at V2 Records later that year before switching their American operations to Barsuk Records, who signed them in May 2008 and released their debut album, The Rhumb Line, in August. Reviews were positive, and Ra Ra Riot spent the better part of a year on the road, where they toured with bands like Death Cab for Cutie and headlined their own performances as well. During a lull in their schedule, the musicians decamped to a peach orchard in upstate New York, where they spent several weeks writing songs and recording demos.

On May 19, 2008, the band announced that they had signed to Barsuk Records. Their debut album The Rhumb Line was released on August 19, 2008 in the United States and Canada. It was released in Europe via V2/Cooperative Music on September 22, 2008.

The music video for "Can You Tell" won Best Music Video in the 2009 Finger Lakes Film Festival on November 7, 2009.In the spring of 2009, Barsuk released an EP, Can You Tell, featuring remixes, early demos and live recordings.

The band released their second album called The Orchard on August 24, 2010. "The Orchard" was produced by Ra Ra Riot and Andrew Maury, and 9 of the ten tracks were mixed by Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla, and one mixed by Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij. The band played several new songs from the album during a February performance in Brooklyn, NY.

In January 2011, Ra Ra Riot were nominated for The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards under the Pop/Rock Album category for The Orchard. in 2011, their song "Boy" was played in the background of a Honda Civic commercial.On February 10, 2012, cellist Alexandra Lawn announced that she would be leaving the band.

Albums:
-The Rhumb Line (2008, Barsuk)
- The Orchard (2010, Barsuk Records)

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