Royale [the band] seem to love Christmas, brackets [as a stylistic choice], and a surreal, dance-inducing, melancholic vibe. Unfortunately, they have released only a small amount of music so far. But among their SoundCloud collection, you’ll find calm, spirited Christmas songs, a really good cover of The Strokes, “Is This It?” that robs it of its grittiness while helping it come alive, and a simple, sparse song that includes the lovely vocals of one of our Local Spotlight acts: Anjimile.
They take influences from many recent indie rock bands, as well as some old artists. They compared their music making process to cooking a meal: “As a band, we usually boil up a pot of The Strokes, add some diced Young the Giant, toss in a pinch of Vampire Weekend, and serve the combo over a bed of Sesame Street with a glass of Miles Davis.” Read the interview, give them a listen, and before you even realize it, you might just transform into a Loyale [a fan].
Nitesh: Tell me about yourself.
Royale: All of us love communicating and connecting through music. We contribute our widely varying influences and multi-instrumental talents to create music that will keep both of your ears listening, both of your feet dancing, and all four chambers of your heart continuing to pump blood throughout your body as per the subconscious instructions received from your autonomic nervous system.
Nitesh: Without using genre names, how would you describe your music?
Royale: We aim to make our music pack a punch lyrically and melodically. We are constantly working on our songwriting so that our listeners can come to our music for relaxation, motivation, catharsis, something to dance to…we try and cover all the bases lyrically and support the songs with memorable melodies in order to share a complete picture of our life experiences.
Nitesh: Can you tell me the story behind your band name? (By the way, I love how you call your fans Loyales)
Royale: A long time ago, when we were but young boys strumming a few chords, we were called Royal Manatee. We shortened that to Royale when we began seriously writing and recording, and added [the band] to journalistically designate our separation from Royale [the venue in downtown Boston].
A pun-inclined friend of ours came up with Loyale [the fans], which should make for some great merchandise in the future. She also came with the tagline “Royale [the band]. [the band] is silent.” to tell the Loyale how to pronounce our name.
At our wilder shows, Manatee – our alter ego – sometimes makes an appearance. Manatee is our everybody-switch-instruments-and-pretend-you-know-what-you’re-doing jam/cover band.
Nitesh: What’s your favorite Boston venue to play at?
Royale: We have been know to hop on the T – particularly the green line- and whip out a few originals and covers that generally get the entire train car singing along fairly quickly. Keep an eye out for us when the weather gets warmer! We’ll announce secret MBTA shows on our Facebook and Twitter when the time is right.
Nitesh: What’s the greatest experience you’ve had in Boston?
Royale: This year we moved into a house that we share with some friends who breakdance. One of our greatest experiences in Boston is being able to jam and practice while our friends dance, rap, film, etc…all without leaving the place where we live.
Nitesh: How would you describe the Boston music scene? Have you had trouble fitting in?
Royale: The Boston local music scene is definitely one of the most vibrant in the country. Berklee School of Music draws in a huge music community, and the rambunctiousness of Bostonians ensures that musicians can count on enthusiastic support from everyone around them. Being college kids, we share this rambunctiousness and feel right at home in Boston.
Nitesh: I like your EP cover — it seems to fit with the name of your EP “Long Gone.” What influenced you to choose this theme?
Royale: This EP is a statement of our unique sound. We released a full album in September 2012, and then decided to hunker down, work on our individual talents, and think through our songwriting. In a way, we were “long gone” from the music scene for a year or so, and we are now ready to reintroduce Royale [the band] to our supporters.
Nitesh: What are your future plans for your music?
Royale: In the future, we want to get more involved with The Murdock Manor, which is a local booking and event management agency that knocks our collective socks off with its professionalism, skill, and general awesomeness.
Nitesh: What are some things people would never expect about you?
Royale: We have never even been to the top of Mount Everest or crushed gnarly waves on the back of a giant squid like seriously what are we even doing with our lives who even knows.