From classical violinist to indie rock

Ra Ra Riot: (from left) Alexandra Lawn, Milo Bonacci, Mathieu Santos, Wes Miles and Rebecca Zeller. The chamber pop group performs a Halloween show Monday in Memphis at the Hi-Tone.Doron Gild

A week out, Rebecca Zeller, violin player for the New York chamber pop group Ra Ra Riot, was still mulling what costume to wear when the critically acclaimed group performs a Halloween show in Memphis -- their first in the Bluff City -- Monday at the Hi-Tone.

"It's still to be determined," says Zeller. "We will see."

One suggestion we could offer would be to dress up as a classic rocker -- jeans, black concert T-shirt, sunglasses, maybe some black eyeliner and a bandana. Such an outfit would certainly be appropriate, given how in just a few years time the classically trained player has, along with the rest of the band, found herself cast in the unlikely role of indie rock darling.

Raised in northern New Jersey, Zeller started playing violin in second grade and was immersed in only classical music until she went to Syracuse University.

"I would say I was only classically trained before this band," she says. "Actually, freshman year of college I played a little violin with some girl who played acoustic guitar, but that doesn't really count."

In her senior year, though, Zeller met guitarist Milo Bonacci in an electronic music class.

"Whenever (the teacher) would use the violin as an example in class, he would look in my direction," recalls Zeller. "And Milo, I guess, was looking for a violinist. So he said 'You know, by any chance do you play violin? I notice he always looks at you when he talks about it. And if you do, would you be interested in playing in a band?' That's how I got roped in."

Bonacci was looking to craft a specific sound, an eclectic fusion of inspirations ranging from the World Beat of the Police and Ra Ra Riot's friends and contemporaries Vampire Weekend to the string-drenched etherealness of Kate Bush.

"He had a vision in mind," says Zeller. "I know he had played with other violinists before, and he was really adamant about having a violinist who would write parts as opposed to sort of droning on notes and be more of a padding. He wanted more melodies, and that was pretty evident in the first band practice."

In January 2006, Ra Ra Riot came together with bassist Mathieu Santos, vocalist Wes Miles and cellist Alexandra Lawn pairing with Zeller to complete the string section. Transitioning from the rigid classical world to the more freewheeling, collaborative format of a rock band was a big adjustment for Zeller.

"With classical, in terms of playing, you're always interpreting other people's parts," she says. "So writing parts was new. And also taking everything I had learned in my theory classes and using it but also tossing it aside a little bit."

Six months after forming, Ra Ra Riot had a breakthrough, performing at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York City. Faced with new opportunities, the band members, including Zeller, who had been accepted into the training program at the William Morris talent agency in California, had to make decisions to forego their education and career plans.

A year later, those decisions were cast in doubt when original drummer John Pike drowned. But the band decided to persevere and spent the second half of the year writing and recording The Rhumb Line, a bittersweet tribute to their late bandmate that despite only selling 60,000 copies landed on Rolling Stone's list of the best records of 2008.

Last year, the group followed up with its second full length, The Orchard. The album's title comes from the Penn Yan, N.Y., peach farm where the band decamped to write the material between games of bocce ball and knee hockey.

Once written, the band went to Albany's Black Dog Studio to record, producing the album themselves. The result is a more musically ambitious, more sophisticated effort than their first record.

"There were definitely no real intentions going into (the recording of The Orchard), except trying to do something a little bit different than what we did with The Rhumb Line," says Zeller, adding that the band is already at work on a third album that she describes as more spontaneous. "Not because we didn't like that record or anything, but we just don't want to make the same record twice."

Ra Ra Riot with Delicate Steve and Yellow Ostrich

Monday at the Hi-Tone Café, 1913 Poplar Ave. Doors open at 8 p.m. Admission: $12. Advance tickets available at hitonememphis.com. For more information, call (901) 278-8663.

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