On Navigating The Music Industry And Centering Joy: We Don't Ride Llamas
This summer, we’re checking in with our members and friends on the meaning of abundance.
As we get ready for The Front Festival, we touched base with the four members of We Don’t Ride Llamas, one of this year’s official festival headliners. In this interview, the group shares their thoughts on making music that feels good and touring as a close-knit band.
For more details on The Front Fest, head here.
MEET WE DON’T RIDE LLAMAS.
Generation Z siblings, big brother, Chase (lead guitar), and sisters, Max (lead vocals), Blake (drums), and Kit Mitchell (bass guitar), make up the L.A. band, We Don’t Ride Llamas (WDRL). Avid readers, self-professed nerds, lovers of sci-fi, anime, fashion, and nearly every musical genre from punk to funk, the members of WDRL cannot resist any good story well told, especially those set to an engaging melody.
The band also recently won an Austin Music Award and has been touring with Willow and Courtney Barnett.
No. 1 — WDRL just put out The Oracle. What went into making that EP? The sound feels so collaborative to the ear; did you all write in a different way for this one?
Well, we actually took each song from multiple weird, spiritual experiences that we had throughout quarantine. All of our projects are normally hands-on but we were marinating this EP for months. We’re super proud of it!
No. 2 —You’ve recently toured with Willow and are preparing for another tour with Courtney Barnett. Any favorite shows on tour so far? Any particular rituals or creative practices y’all bring to tour?
San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, and Houston were some of our best shows, but the whole tour was lovely. The crowds were so warm, welcoming and ready to get loud! We always meet up before every show for warm ups and do a little pre-show meditation to get the vibes going on stage.
No. 3 — What does nurturing abundance in your creative life look like for WDRL as a family band?
We create a lot of spaces to thrive artistically from practice to personal writing! We just wrote two new songs that we’re super excited to release soon, as well as tons of new music. As a family, we’ve always pro-active about creative growth and synergy in our music. We believe that’s part of what makes our art so enjoyable to us.
No. 4 — What has art-making brought to your life? Anything in particular you’d like to share or reflect on?
It’s a pure and substantial source of joy in our lives for sure. We can’t remember a time when any of us weren’t not making something, even outside of music. Going in the studio to performing on stages is always a wonderful journey, but it’s also a job. It’s definitely built up our work ethic and enriched our zest for the industry. We’re really grateful to be able to do something like this and build a community around it.
No. 5 — What do you hope for the future of your creative work?
We are definitely going on a world tour! More tours just in general. We’re currently working on an album as well as our own personal projects outside of music. But, mainly, we want to play Madison Square Gardens, become Kennedy Center Honorees, participate in some movie sound tracks, and a few Grammies wouldn’t hurt either.
WANT TO ATTEND THE FRONT FEST?
Find more information at thefrontfest.com.
You can also keep up with what we’re up to at Future Front—from virtual events to membership—here.