Raavi & the Houseplants
By Sam Weisenthal, Contributor
Photo provided by, Raavi & the Houseplants
Meet Raavi & the Houseplants
It’s an awfully grey Sunday afternoon. Why not brighten it up with the energetic and blissed-out sounds of Raavi & the Houseplants? Ever since hearing their 2021 single “Major Tool” I was absolutely hooked on the vibes this five-piece band was throwing down. In our latest interview, our writer Sam chatted with Raavi & the Houseplants about advice, collaboration, and perfect albums.
I was reading some reviews of your past work and came along with the info that you and James met when singing in the Boston City singers. So you guys have worked together for a long time then?
Yes, we were also in a high school band together a little after that, so we met at 15. We didn't interact all that much the first year we knew each other just because we were in choir but not in the same section. So I knew of his existence and vice versa. But we started hanging out more the next year because we joined a band. A lot of my musical journey has been with him.
What's it like to have worked with someone for so long? And how do you think your creative process has been affected by this longtime collaboration.
That's a good question. It's been great - we're very lucky because we're really close friends. We spent formative years together, especially since it was such an intimate relationship with songwriting being in the dynamic. He has a deeper understanding of me as a person because of that. Both of us have grown so much as musicians and as people, too. I really like making music with James. He's one of my best friends and I think it's one of the best decisions I’ve made, to stay in Boston to work with him.
If you were to give that 15-year-old self some advice about working together, what would it be?
I think to respect my work more and to know my worth more as a songwriter and as a writer and musician. I think I took a lot of external validation from other people, and I feel like what I needed at the time was internal validation, being a songwriter and a musician has taught me how to do that and made me a better person. It took me a long time to reach the point where I feel like I don't need to impress other people with my playing, I can just write for myself - that’s how I’m going to get the best result anyway. I think I also relied too heavily on smoking and getting high. I stopped smoking weed for a while and was like, “How do I write songs sober? How do people do this?”
What advice would you give about collaboration?
I'm just thinking back to my high school band. When you're in high school you don't have that much of a choice of who you’re gonna be playing music with - It’s like your friends who also happened to play music. I was really fortunate to have met James at that time because I think us being in a band in high school inspired him to apply to Berkeley. After that, we were suddenly surrounded by all these passionate musicians, which was really cool. So in high school, I didn't have as much of a choice of who I was playing with.
This is a different topic, but I've been wondering when talking to musicians - because we can't see shows - who is in your dream lineup to see live right now.
One band I've been super super into for the past two years now, they actually just put out another record this past month, Pom Poko. They're Norwegian art rock slash post punk math. That band is so so fucking cool.
I would love to see Big thief again. I remember I saw them when I was 16 at the Middle East downstairs of all places. Looking back at that show, it was so funny because I knew who they were at that point, but they weren’t big yet, it was 2016 or something? But they were still popular in the Northeast, they had just come out with their first record. So they weren't the mega stars they are today. But it's really funny to look back on that show because I was there for Frankie Cosmos. Like they're opening for Frankie Cosmos. I think Adrianne Lenker’s one of the most prolific songwriters of this generation, and I think she’ll be recognized for years to come.
I also just started listening to Buck Meeks solo stuff. It's a little bit more country folky which I really love. He has a crazy unique voice, I love it. I would love to see him live as well - just doing his own stuff.
Do you have a piece of art, an album or painting or movie etc., that you go back to for creative inspiration?
I have a perfect albums list on my phone - all those definitely bring me creative inspiration. I’ve been listening to a lot of Tegan and Sarah and music from the early 2000’s rock era - it's weird because it feels like indie music that would be coming out today. I also have been getting really into this band called The Sundays. They’re from the nineties and they have these incredible precise guitar tones that I love. It makes me feel so nerdy, just thinking about how good their guitar and the drums sound, so that’s definitely been inspiring me production-wise in terms of recording.
PERFECT ALBUMS LIST:
Sound & Color - Alabama shakes
Patience - Mannequin Pussy
Ctrl - sza
Capacity - Big Thief
Telefone - Noname
Two of me - Momma
Birthday - Pom Poko
So jealous - Tegan and Sara
Whack world - Tierra whack
Choose your Weapon- Hiatus Kaiyote
Would you say you’re a gearhead, are you into that kind of stuff?
No, not really. I always get shy talking about it - it's such a guy thing to be into. It's just a different thing, you know what I mean? I have some pedals I really like. I'm trying to grow my gear up but I’m trying not to rely on it too much. I want to be able to play and not rely on the tones too much. The guys in my band are super into that stuff.
Justin especially who has been producing the songs and recording them over quarantine. I'm pretty sure he's a luthier, which means he’s legally allowed to fix guitars. He can also mix for us, which is cool because it means I don’t have to. He’s a very versatile person and an amazing player. If you have any questions about mic’s, he’s your go-to guy for that stuff. I do want to get more into it because it’s helpful to be proficient in this type of knowledge, but I also kind of don’t have to be because of the people I work with.
When you’re writing and mixing a song, when do you know it’s done?
For me with writing, I usually come to the band with a song that’s 90% finished. Sometime’s I’ll be stuck on a part and I’ll go to them and say, “Help me please. Let’s figure out how to end this.” I don't really know how I know when a song is done done. I don't know how to describe it, I just kind of feel it. At some point I'm like, “Okay, this wouldn't be too embarrassing to show people.”
I can be kind of private with my work in the beginning. I'm still working on the need for external validation. Sometimes I’ll send a voicemail to one band member, I always switch up who gets the first listen on a new song, and I wait for their response. And it's usually positive because I hold myself to a pretty high standard when I send them stuff. A lot of it is sending it to someone when the lyrics aren’t making me cringe.
Then we get together and arrange the song, the writing is done on my end and then they need to put in their parts. With quarantine, we needed to find a new way to produce music. We have three singles that we recorded remotely during quarantine, and there was a pattern that we started falling into. It’s hard to be flexible with the finished product when you’re in a five-person band. Moving forward, these three singles we have recorded are going to be outliers from the album, we haven’t quite found our footing with production but we're trying to go with the flow with it and make sure that everyone's perspective is heard.
When you’re writing music, is there a place you have in mind for your listener to be located when first hearing the song?
From a sound perspective, if you have a nice car that would be great. I love listening to albums from start to finish on long road trips, so part of me wants other people to enjoy that too. We’re not necessarily party music, even though that would be cool, it would get us more streams - people could just throw it on casually but I guess that’s not really who we are. I mainly listen to music when driving, walking the dog, or in the background at work. At a house show would be ideal, if they were just listening to it live in a basement somewhere.
How are you staying connected to both musicians and fans during the pandemic if you can’t play live?
It's definitely different, right? It's mostly online obviously. We’re supporting people by boosting their stuff. It’s unfortunate that I can't just go out and play a show with my other musician friends.
I have been doing some live streams, and because of that, I have been able to play with some really cool people who I probably would not have been able to book a show with realistically before quarantine because either they don’t live in the country or they’re too big for us right now. I do think I have gained some more connections because of that. Emily Yacina for example, we've never met each other but I listen to her music, and just by coincidence we ended up on three different live streams together over quarantine. Which is great because we know each other now and we know each other's music.
For fans it’s the same, we’ve mainly been interacting online through Instagram. I’m very responsive on social media. We’ve really been leaning into the merch recently. About a year ago, right before the pandemic, I started going to thrift stores to get shirts for merch. That’s where I buy all of my clothes. I was starting to feel guilty every time I got a big merch order and I had bought 50 new shirts that didn’t exist before, I hate contributing to fast fashion so I wanted to make a shift and it ended up being really popular. Now we’re doing thrifted drops that are smaller and slightly pricier, but it’s coming out much more unique and we really enjoy that. Because it’s logistically hard to record music, making the merch has been a great creative outlet. I always like to send out a little note to everyone who buys our shirts to thank them for their support. If I have any details about them personally I can personalize the message a bit, so we’ve been talking to fans that way. Sometimes they’ll post pictures in the shirts, and one person had the not posted to the wall which was super cute. It’s been a great way to interact.
With live streams and the increase in the use of technology to interact with people, have you started exploring other platforms? TikTok has had such a boom since the pandemic, I’m curious if you’ve been utilizing that space.
Oh my god haha, yes I did make a TikTok account. It’s not technically a band account, but I do play little songs on there - just snippets. I’ll play the first minute of a song on there while I’m writing to motivate myself to finish the song since it’s been so hard to get inspired. It’s scary how addictive TikTok can be. I'm really happy that people are blowing up off that platform, especially at a time where it's so freaking hard to get your foot in the door as a musician. Especially if you're just starting up, we're really lucky to have already established a local fan base. If you just started recording your project, you don't have shows to get your foot in the door, so I’m glad TikTok exists for that reason.
Do you have a vision for how your particular scene might recover after the pandemic?
Every time I'm asked that my answer changes, at this point I have a less positive outlook on it, just because it feels like it's never gonna end. I wonder how DIY venues are going to get through the pandemic - so many legit venues are closing down it seems like it's all going to go underground. But also, these are people's homes we’re going into, and it seems like people may be less likely to want a bunch of strangers in their house. But from my perspective, I think DIY is going to come back before other places - I have the feeling that it’s going to be a lot of field shows in the summer. I’m looking forward to doing more outdoor gigs in the springtime with masks and socially distanced. It would be cool to actually see some live music in person.
Have you started booking?
Oh, definitely not. Part of me thinks DIY will be what keeps the scene together. But part of me also feels like those people are the most covid conscious. It's typically the younger crowd, the people who I feel like are my peers in the scene are people who know this is no fucking joke. I know plenty of my friends, James for example, who live in a house venue and they're incredibly covid conscious. They're definitely not gonna let people into their basement again, even though they have a setup.
I kinda worry about what the social climate around that is gonna be like. Even if you feel like you're doing something safe, science shows that if you're outside and wearing masks it is a lot safer than a lot of the things that we are doing right now. Like going shopping inside - even with masks - going into your favorite coffee shop, that is probably more dangerous than an outdoors gig. But I still feel like there may be backlash to playing an outdoor show, and that scares me. It'll be interesting, but I think every one is getting pretty exhausted of this, and understandably so right?
Is there anything you want to say directly to your fans and music community?
I don't have to have a message towards people right now. I hope you're okay. I want to safely return to some type of normalcy but also, we all need to do better so that we can get together again, that just goes to everyone. I'm sure people who listen to my music are doing great, because they're obviously really smart and have good taste. I assume most people who listen to me are somewhat aligned with my politics, because I do be obnoxious sometimes posting about communist left stuff. Just spread the word.
So a soft reprimand.
Right, a soft but loving reprimand. There's no actual going back to brunch right after this. You know, don’t sleep, don’t get complicit.
We went on a band retreat in November. I think it was like the day we got back, we realized that covid was discovered on that day a year ago. I look back on a year ago and it was just really fun. That night we played at this place called Ted House, the night that covid was discovered in China. There’s a music video from that show, and you can tell we were all just drunk and having fun. It’s so wild to look back on that night now.