Tennis’ career has roots in the Tampa Bay area, and the Denver-based pop outfit hasn’t forgotten that.
“We'd love to spend time in St. Pete again,” singer/keyboardist Alaina Moore told CL in an email. “There's an amazing used bookstore we used to frequent. I made some excellent discoveries there.”
Moore — along with her husband Patrick Riley — bought and fixed up their sailboat, Swift Ranger, in St. Petersburg, and they went on to sail the Atlantic en route to writing their gorgeous debut LP, Cape Dory. Moore & Riley have moved on from the Shirelles-eque sound that defined Dory, and they arrive in Ybor City on May 1 to support a brand new LP, Yours Conditionally, where Moore candidly talks about love & marriage with a sense of wisdom that would make your millennial-bashing grand-uncle Butch blush.
“Patrick and I try not to base the success of our partnership on longevity. Nothing lasts forever, especially not anything good,” Moore wrote. “I don't know why ‘till death do us part’ is the best measure of love anyone could think of. We left that part out of our vows.”
Moore expounded on that idea in our full Q&A — which also hits topics like tacos, VSCO filters and Moore’s religious influences — below.
How was Coachella? Looks like you enjoyed the Korean Kogi taco?
I enjoyed the hell out of that taco. Also I hadn't eaten anything that day, so what you saw was ravenous hunger. I'm still processing Coachella. The best description I can give you is that it felt like an indie band's rite of passage. I'm really glad we were finally able to play it.
What freaking filters are you using on your Instagram, by the way?
We don't use instagram filters. We use VSCO, but most of our photos are taken by Luca Venter. He has done all of our art direction for this release and has helped make our instagram account artsy af.
It’s been some time since the Swift Ranger/Cape Dory days. Have you been back to St. Pete since you bought the boat?
We haven't! We'd love to spend time in St. Pete again. There's an amazing used bookstore we used to frequent. I made some excellent discoveries there.
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Did you guys use that same boat again four the ocean trip that manifested itself on Yours Conditionally?
Yes. We spent a year preparing Swift Ranger for offshore passage-making. We replaced the engine, the rigging and the sails. We dreamed of crossing the Pacific, but decided the Sea of Cortez was a better first attempt at an ocean voyage.
You’ve said that being isolated means everything to the creative process. How are you able to financially handle going away for long periods of time? I know you really wanted to do this record on your own for reasons that are well documented in other interviews.
I explain our finances thoroughly in our reddit AMA, so I'll just link to it. (Here you go, friends.)
As far as isolation and creativity, Patrick and I have learned over time what environment best suits our writing process. We need less stimuli, less human interaction, more quiet, more focus. Sailing is one of many ways we can achieve this. We wanted to go sailing again because it had been so long since our first sailing trip. We wanted to remember how it felt — and do something immersive that would reset our brains.
Did you still listen to The Shirelles for the new LP?
Nope, our listening taste has evolved along with our writing. I've been listening to singer/songwriters of the early 70s. Laura Nyro, Judee Sill, Carole King, to name a few. I compose on piano so I made an effort to listen to piano-based songs.
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Speaking of influences, Alaina has some background in church music, which she more or less moved away from. Do any of those religious musical references ever manifest themselves in demos?
Absolutely. There's an incredible live album by Pastor T. L. Barrett and the Youth For Christ Choir called Like A Ship. It is transcendent and engrossing. I've listened to it hundreds of times. I write a lot of vocal harmonies and found inspiration in these chorale arrangements.
You’re on tour with Spoon and Jim Eno. Do you guys talk about new approaches to the live set with Jim?
We've asked him questions about integrating tracks or using other means to get more of an album sound live. Generally speaking though, live performances are so different from the studio, we don't usually solicit advice. I do get a lot of ideas about how we can improve our set when we open for more experienced bands like Spoon or The Shins, like pacing, creating an atmosphere, and connecting with the crowd.
You’ve talked about how some live reviews mention how Alaina isn’t looking at the crowd a ton, but she’s actually busy making music. Are you nervous about getting into some of these bigger rooms with Spoon? I think your band is a little bigger these days, right?
(Alaina here!) We've played these types of rooms before so I'm not too worried about it. It's challenging playing to someone else's crowd, so that will require a little extra effort. The comment you're referring to is mostly about the way people tend not to notice me playing an instrument but always notice if I am not actively looking out into the crowd, or communicating with them.
\\<\/iframe\>Alaina has talked about being a little cynical about romance/the idea forever despite being in a pretty healthy, long marriage. Isn’t the essence of love the hard work and boring shit that goes into making a union work?
Patrick and I try not to base the success of our partnership on longevity. Nothing lasts forever, especially not anything good. I don't know why "till death do us part" is the best measure of love anyone could think of. We left that part out of our vows. Also, we resist the idea of marriage as a condition, a state of being. We try to retain the active, collaborative mentality behind dating, which is a verb, as opposed to married — a noun. Conditions and boundaries are important in a healthy relationship. I don't want Patrick to stay with me if I treat him like garbage. Marriage as an unalterable state of being seems wrongheaded.
If Alaina is answering the questions, I was wondering if she felt like being in a long term male-female relationship makes it harder to write about love in the very inclusive, diverse way we experience it in our generation. I mean, is it hard for a straight white person to write to someone who may be in a relationship that is a little more scrutinized in some of the less progressive parts of society?
I think about that all the time. Of course I can only write my own experiences, but I'm very aware of my privilege. This is why I want to speak and write about marriage with nuance and complexity, because I'm not trying to valorize convention, or make my heteronormative relationship into an example. I don't take marriage lightly, it's a loaded subject-- and rightfully so.
Lastly, you’ve been able to get a lot of emotion onto the record with Yours Conditionally. I think a lot of that has to do with the collaborators on the project, but what do you personally want out of your live sets? What do you want fans to get out of seeing you?
I imagine that people go to shows because they want to see an artist recreate songs they enjoy live. That's all I'm trying to do. I see myself as a writer not a performer. Live, I just try to do my best. I try to recreate the songs with as much clarity and sincerity as possible.
Never mind, I wanna do one dumb question. What are the chances of Pat getting a perm?
I'll let you answer that.Get more informatino on the show via local.cltampa.com, and listen to all of Yours Conditionally below.
