A Conversation with The Hardest Working Man in Punk ‘N’ Roll, Dominic Rabalais – HuffPost

Mike Ragogna: We have Dominic Rabalais here who is the essence of a little group called Little Ruckus. But he is a ruckus in himself, and he’s going to prove that in mere moments.

Dominic Rabalais: (laughs)

MR: Dom, give us the update. After this interview, you’re off to play for a benefit for Ms. Wheelchair Iowa?

DR: Yes, Ms. Wheelchair Iowa. Ms. Wheelchair USA is happening in Connecticut and it costs $1,500 to enter and you have transportation fees. We’re playing as Little Ruckus at this benefit show for her.

MR: How did you get involved in this?

DR: Nate Logsdon, aka the main man in Mumford’s, and a member of Little Ruckus and the Sandwich Eating Crew. He goes by “Beefcake.”

MR: If our readers saw this kid…you get the idea. By the way, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him with a shirt on.

DR: Yeah, he is the beef. We always make these beef puns together and I can’t believe we haven’t made a “where’s the beef” reference.

MR: Eh, you’re creative guys, you can come up with more.

DR: Yeah, but there are plenty of beef references already. His other band, Mumford’s, got asked to play and they couldn’t. He was like, “The full band can’t make it, I could play a solo set.” But they wanted it to be a total party environment. That’s what full-band Mumford’s can bring, that’s also what Little Ruckus can bring. He was like, “Since the full band Mumford’s can’t make it, Little Ruckus could totally play.” That’s why it’s happening.

MR: There’s other news, right? Maybe something that happened to you out of nowhere recently? Maybe something involving Europe?

DR: (laughs) There’s multiple really cool things falling together. There’s Europe, which my friend Neil Fridd from the band the Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, he’s on David Byrne’s record label, he’s got this total cred going for him. This festival in Germany is flying him out and he was like, “yeah I’ll come play a festival if you fly my friends out too.” So he’s flying me and one of his friends out, and I’m going to play in his band and play some Little Ruckus and Terror Pigeon shows around Europe in that period of time.

MR: Sadly, you’re not going to have the whole Sandwich Eating Crew with you.

DR: Unfortunately, not. But it will be me, Neil, and our mutual friend Tyler who’s from Tennessee, as is Neil. They can be members of the Sandwich Eating Crew.

MR: Actually, everyone can be part of the Sandwich Eating Crew. It’s like being six degrees of Kevin Bacon.

DR: Yeah, you just say you’re in the Sandwich Eating Crew, then you are. On that note, that seeds into another really awesome thing that’s going on which is that we got asked to open for Girl Talk, which is a really awesome thing.

MR: Love Girl Talk. HuffPost had a video exclusive, and I finally got what Mr. Gregg Michael Gillis was about.

DR: Yeah, it’s amazing, it’s so good! So we’re opening for him along with Trouble Lights. I’m going to get six or seven Des Moines kids into that show so they can be members of the band and be backup dancers. I even emailed them my set and was like, “Listen to this over and over, learn the sing-along parts and make up dance moves for it,” so when we get to the venue, we can just play the show. They’re in the show, so they’re members of the Sandwich Eating Crew.

MR: I’m surprised you’re following this route. I thought when we visited that PBS station together, you wanted to dedicate your life to public radio funding drives.

DR: It was a close call.

MR: Shall we finally talk about your new album?

DR: Cool, sounds awesome.

MR: Tank Girl Vs. Cape Girl?

DR: Tank Girl Vs.Cape Girl. As far as an album of music, I’m super proud of it. I think We Love Evil is really good.

MR: That’s your first album.

DR: Yeah. It was a really good way for me to find the best way for this band to exist and then Tank Girl Vs. Cape Girl is basically taking that and running with it more. I’m just really proud of it. I think it sounds better and the songs are better written, and I feel thatWe Love Evil brings you down this road and keeps you there the whole time, but Tank Girl Vs. Cape Girl is all very constant energy. It brings that constant energy and brings it in slightly different directions throughout the album, which I’m really happy about.

MR: Your video for “SomeDay” is killer, oh by the way. And I felt like on the first album, there was this level of energy that just kept going on every track.

DR: Yeah, totally. I guess it’s one of those things where I come out with a new album and I’m like, “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.” Then you’re like, “I can’t believe I made that old album.” Then I’ll make another album and be like, “I can’t believe I made Tank Girl Vs. Cape Girl.”

MR: It’s always going to be like that, you know. Someone is going to ask you in an interview if you’ve compared your latest album to your other albums and you’ll be like, “I don’t even listen to those anymore.”

DR: Yeah. Another thing that me and Nate are doing is we’re writing a Sandwich Eating Crew album, which is not even going to be Little Ruckus or Beefcake or a Slaydrien or a Lane Weaver album. Of all the members of the Sandwich Eating Crew that actually appear on tracks, it’s not going to be a solo album from any one of them. It’s going to be a Sandwich Eating Crew album where most of the songs don’t have one distinct singer. Someone sings one, another sings another, everyone sings the chorus. We’re going to start it and end it with a song each just getting vocals, everybody singing, which we haven’t really figured out exactly how to do. We have the chorus phrase for it, but how to build a song out of that will be interesting.

MR: Well, let’s bring up that you have your fingers in so many pies. You’re also in the band Surgery. Lately, Surgery and Trouble Lights have definitely piqued some Iowa’s interest, especially on the college level.

DR: Yeah, a quick note on Trouble Lights. Phillip, my brother, from an objective standpoint? I listen to his beats and they’re so good. I make beats and think, “Oh that’s a good beat, it’s got some qualities that are awesome to it.” But then I think about his beats and it’s like, “Oh my God, they’re so next level!”

MR: And your brother also focuses on production in addition to being an artist.

DR: Yeah, exactly.

MR: Whereas you, you’re creating performance art all the time.

DR: Yeah, but definitely, his art is production and he’s really into the ideas of songs. Something that he talks about a lot that really blows my mind and makes me think about when I create stuff in an awesome way is that it has to be very high quality. You have to have a great idea and the idea and passion that powers the song is what makes even the most well-produced song. If the ideas aren’t there in quality, then it’s not going to be super compelling.

MR: Dude, you’ve lived your whole life with your brother, you constantly make music with him, and you’re saying all these awesome things about your brother. I know he says the same type of stuff about you. But how can you stand each other after all this time?

DR: I don’t know, we’re just bros.

MR: (laughs) It’s great to see that in action at your performances together. And there’s this real fraternity of musicians and musical satellites that you’ve formed.

DR: That fraternity exists within every community in Iowa, and it exists between every community in Iowa.

MR: Nate Logsdon was trying to explain that the other day when I had him on my television show. He was talking about the relationship between the Ames groups and other Iowa groups, which is very tight, it branches out from there to the rest of the state. You guys are pioneers, it’s really an amazing thing to watch. I have tried to weasel in and be a mentor–that’s such an overused, random word now — when you guys have question. But it’s really better that you guys develop your own thing, you’re your own entity, figuring out how to be creative on your own terms. It’s something to really, really be proud of. What do you think this scene is going to evolve into, like what’s your ultimate vision?

DR: First, I’ll just speak for myself and Little Ruckus. Honestly, I feel like every musician dreams about this kind of stuff, but I’m going to go ahead and admit it publicly: I would like to play shows as big as Bruce Springsteen and Lady Gaga do.

MR: Dom, stop, no.

DR: If I could reach that many people, that would be awesome. And I mean to play shows as big as Girl Talk plays would be super amazing, too. I think, partially, just within the context of Iowa music in general, I feel like it’s garnering this reputation and it will continue to, and I feel like there’s a certain amount of extreme energy that gets put into all Iowa acts, garnering a reputation amongst the rest of America. Meaning bands from Iowa go this hard.

MR: How does Iowan music become a national experience, or does that even matter?

DR: Well, I think basically just keeping on doing what we’re doing and continuing to blow minds in Iowa and around the country, just going on tour. Sadly, I’m not going to be able to go, but Mumford’s is going on a two-month tour. There is this amazing band called the Poison Control Center form Iowa that went on a yearlong tour. I played a show with them once and they were like, “Oh this is show number seventy-two.” And then I played another show again with them a month later and they were like, “This is show number one-hundred-three.” Then we ended up playing a show in Rochester when we were on tour the same night. Our show ended early so we went over to their show and they were like, “This is show two-hundred-ten.”

MR: Did it ever end?

DR: It sadly finally did end. It was so cool though to meet them on tour because whenever we were on the road, they were also on the road. They were always on the road.

MR: You run into the same bands often?

DR: Totally.

MR: As you’re working your butts off and repping Iowa, it would be nice if a bone was thrown out there since you guys so deserve it.

DR: Totally. Me and the Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, before we got this offer to go to Europe, we were going to set up a pool party at a YMCA in New York, which would have been really fun. I feel like it would be really, really fun to do that, but I really like work. I really like doing work. It’d be awesome to play a bunch of shows in New York but I feel like what’s gotten me and my friends to the places that we are, opening for Girl Talk, being asked to play at “80-35,” being flown to Europe… It’s all stuff just from putting work in, from putting the man-hours in.

MR: As far as I’m concerned, you’re literally the hardest working man in punk ‘n’ roll, maybe along with your brother Phil. Okay, let’s get into “80-35.”

DR: “80-35” started a couple years ago. It started because Des Moines didn’t have a super thriving downtown economy. It was started by this Des Moines music coalition organization and also put on GDP, which is Gross Domestic Product. It’s in this amazing hotel–Hotel Fort Des Moines. They put it on in this ballroom. It’s world-class sound, world-class hospitality for bands, but it’s all Iowa bands. It’s really good and then they also put on “80-35.” They do all that and put on a couple of other shows on a yearly basis. It’s all an economic, creative arts stimulus package for downtown Des Moines. It’s definitely through their efforts and probably a lot of other efforts that downtown Des Moines is becoming amazing. There are a lot of great bands, there are a lot of great shows going on all the time, AND there are all these awesome art projects that are constantly happening.

MR: You guys all know each other too, as far as the cross-section of bands over there?

DR: Yeah, totally.

MR: Awesome.

DR: So they also put on “80-35,” which is the big outdoor festival of Iowa. Lollapalooza always happens in downtown Chicago or Pitchfork festival always happens in downtown Chicago. But yeah, just like the big outdoor, huge stages that they build just for that day festival, it’s the only festival like that in Iowa.

MR: So it exists to celebrate Iowa bands, but do they bring some other acts in, like big name acts?

DR: Yeah. This year, The Avett Brothers and Death Cab For Cutie. Come to think of it, Girl Talk headlined one time, Public Enemy headlined one time. And I’m pretty sure Bob Dylan played.

MR: Really? At “80-35”?

DR: Yeah at the end of the day, Bob Dylan is like, “I am a living legend.”

MR: He so is. Dom, what advice do you have for new artists?

DR: Work super hard, all the time. I would say work, think about your project and pour your passion into it constantly. You don’t have to be writing new songs or recording new albums, but just make your own merchandise. Put in hours towards booking shows–it depends what you define as work because you could try to hustle yourself on Facebook or sending emails to booking agencies and management agencies. That is also work but I would say just work where you can just directly see your project prosper from it. Put in the hours to play the shows and put in the hours to make your own merchandise and put in the hours to record your own music and to just work on that project.

MR: Nice. When is “80-35” going to be?

DR: July 6th-7th. We’re playing on the July 7.

MR: Also, my other very important question to you. You got anything else to say about that newbie, Bruce Springsteen?

DR: I would say that the two biggest influences for Little Ruckus are Bruce Springsteen and Lady Gaga, definitely.

MR: (laughs) Uh-huh. So. Any parting words of wisdom?

DR: Stay free.

MR: Stay free.

DR: Yeah, stay free and sweat as much as you possibly can. Live your life like you’re falling in love every day.

MR: Alright. Deal.

DR: (laughs)

MR: Stay gold, Ponyboy, aka Dominic Rabalais of Little Ruckus. When’s the new album coming out?

DR: On June 28. Then I’m going to start selling it at shows now, but it’s going to be available on the internet, therefore real, on the 28th.

MR: Tank Girl Vs. Cape Girl. There. I said it and I can’t take it back. And of course, there’s that first album…

DR: …We Love Evil.

MR: By the way, I didn’t ask, how did Dominic grow between the two?

DR: I feel that one thing is that I’m really happy with the sequencing of the album, the way that it goes from one song to the other. I also really like the diversity of the people who I ask to do things on this album, to be features on this album. It has saxophone solos, it has trombone solos, it has rappers, it has singing people, I’m just really happy about it. And it has more samples, actually, which is interesting.

MR: Dom, my dream is to one day…one day, have my own Sandwich Eating Crew nickname.

DR: You can make it up right now on the spot!

MR: I have to make it up? Yikes!

DR: Yeah, I mean I can give you one like “Royal Family.”

MR: Royal Family? Yeah! I’m in!

DR: Royal Family right here…WHAT? Actually, one thing I’m trying to establish, real quick is that I want people to send what city they’re from and their Sandwich Eating Crew nickname to http://www.littleruckus@littleruck.us and then I’ll give a list of that and every time we play a show in that city, we’ll just read the list and shout, “Give it up for ‘H20,’ give it up for ‘Protective Sunglasses,’ give it up for ‘Royal Family.'” I feel like that would be awesome, have a list of who lives in what city and their Sandwich Eating Crew names.

MR: You’re making the world a better place with your Sandwich Eating Crew, Ponyboy.

DR: Yeah, totally. The Sandwich Eating Crew, in addition to being our crew of collaborators is just anyone who just throws down and falls in love at shows that we play.

MR: Nice. I’m looking forward to doing both. This has been a blast. Dominic, thank you very much for coming and for my new Sandwich Eating Crew name.

DR: Thank YOU!

Transcribed by Narayana Windenberger