Tiny Riots
An interview with Tiny Riots
by Mike Huberty
September 2011
Tiny Riots
Indie rock that doesn’t sacrifice beauty for intensity, TINY RIOTS, has been kicking around the Madison scene for the past year, ironing out their live show and working out their debut album, Platonic. A deft mix of Built to Spill, Death Cab for Cutie, and Radiohead, with a nice dose of Rainer Maria male/female vocals, TINY RIOTS’ first full-length is a heart-crushingly majestic record with sad, wonderful melodies. Lead singer and bassist, Mike Lau, and lead guitarist, Alex Bruder, met when they were children and as Lau says, “was even shredding then.” The band formed in July 2010, adding Kerri Mack on vocals and keys, as well as Dan (Dan O) Stoffels on drums and Patrick Rolain on rhythm guitar.
Lau started playing bass when he was twelve, “My brother in law gave me my first bass, taught me ‘Crazy Train’ (Ozzy), ‘Money’ (Pink Floyd), and ‘Enter Sandman’ (Metallica, come on, now!). So I feel like all my bass lines are just based off those three songs.”, he jokes. “Every one has their own interests and influences. Though, there are definitely bands that we all love. As far as the name, TINY RIOTS, it’s just something I came up with a long time ago. I love it because people just put their own twist on what they think it means. To me it means anything, and everything, but I have a habit of creating like a hundred band names a day, haha. It’s usually just emo bullshit.” Bruder adds with a laugh, “I think about this thing that Mike said to me once, he pointed at his head and said: ‘The riot’s in here,’ then he pointed at my chest and said: ‘And the riot’s in there.’”
For people new to the band, the track that they recommend to listen first off Platonic is “Replacements”. Bruder describes it as “a perfect summary of the things that our band aims for. There’s very subtle and ambient things mixed with powerful lyrics and an aggro rhythm, kind of what we aim for every time we begin working on a song, lots of dynamics.” “Whose side are you on?” opens the chorus and the upbeat rhythms, catchy guitar melody, and strummed acoustics almost disguise the painful “emo bullshit” (as Lau repeatedly calls the raw lyrics of their songs) that lie at the heart of the track.
Other highlights include “The Friction”, which serves as the album opener and highlight Mack and Lau’s gorgeous vocal harmonies. “Here To Stay” focuses on the bassline and groove, while “Death and Recollection” builds so smoothly, you forget that it started out almost as a ballad before ending epically in an orgy of distortion and hum.
The album was produced by drummer Dan O, who recorded it in its entirety with the students he teaches at the Madison Media Institute. One of the reasons that the album feels so organic is that the instruments were recorded virtually completely live. As Dan O says, “the entire album was mapped out in preproduction and performed in sequence. Essentially, all the songs were played consecutively in one take for overall album cohesion.” Solos, keys, and vocals were overdubbed later, but one of the reasons that the album feels well done instead of overcooked because of the process they used to record it.
Platonic will be released September 16th at The Frequency where they will be launching the record as well as their first tour. Lau elaborates, “Expect an awesome show with The Type, and our buds Omninaut are playing. Check these acts out if you haven’t, they’re two of the coolest bands in town in my opinion. Expect drinking, and lots of it, responsibily of course. It’s very fitting to me that or record release/tour send off is at The Frequency. It’s kind of become our clubhouse. We love Darwin a lot. He hooks us up and treats us like little gentlemen.” The tour will take them to Florida for a week, performing dates with Bulgarian/Floridian songwriter and performer, Geri X.
Guitarist Bruder adds about what people can expect at the show, “A drunken good time, maybe some shirtless Tiny Riots.” Shirtless is kind of how they roll, the guys at least (Mack left the group a short time ago to pursue other interests and the band is currently seeking a female vocalist to replace her.) One of their most memorable performances according to Lau was when “we played this show in Chicago in a really tiny apartment. And for some reason most of the audience consisted of lesbians. Long story short, we took our shirts off and got dollar bills tossed at us.”
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CD: Platonic Record Label: Self Released