Diandra Interviews Bandits On The Run: The Power of Live Music
With the release of their new live EP, Bandits On The Run: Live At The Power Station, and their upcoming, Mercury Lounge show, on August 16, the good hearts of Bandits On The Run are feeling good. I like to see good people get greater things, and these bandits stole my heart. They are good people trying to spread their music as if it were love, and, after interviewing them, I truly believe it is. There are those that say, “What you put out into the universe comes back at you.” Bandits On The Run are putting out FANTASTIC music.
Diandra: What about being a “Bandit on the run” attracted you as an image and influencer in style?
Roy Dodger (Adrian Enscoe): (giggles) Well, we are all kind of misfits by nature. We like the idea of being bandits: going against the norm. Also, we were doing these little “train hold-ups,” and it was a neat, little metaphor for what we were doing playing on the subways. Plus, you always want to be running to the next, great thing.
Bonanza Jellyfish: (Sydney Shepherd) Yeah, we are more like running to rather than from.
Diandra: Your music sings to going to great lengths for something: love, a dream, or a point. How do you feel your music has pushed you to great lengths?
Bonanza Jellyfish: Great Question!
Roy Dodger: I think it has pushed us to be confident and always stay open and positive. To always say, “Yes!” when we can and to accept people.
Bonanza Jellyfish: In a practical way, I think I have become a better cellist. I have learned more and I write more. Also, being in a band is difficult. It is a leap of faith, and that has pushed us, as well, to keep going because there is not a guarantee.
Diandra: Singing on the NYC subway system, you meet and see a lot of people. How did your music journeys, through the New York trains, inspire how you see and write about humanity?
Clarissa (Regina Strayhorn): That’s a great question. I think it gives you a sense of positivity about people. If given the chance, people will open up to you and tell you beautiful things, you’d never expect. Playing on the subway, people don’t owe us anything. So it’s really nice. Also, you meet fellow musicians. Like, one time we met this man that played recorded. Long story short, he played three recorders with us and came up with a line we used in a song. It’s a very affirming experience.
Bonanza Jellyfish: One thing that has been a trademark of Bandits On The Run is building a community, and it started with that.
Roy Dodger: One of our things is that anyone can be a bandit. So we have met a lot musicians who have collaborated with us and become apart of our community. We went to Europe and played on the streets. It is amazing to see music unite people under a common thread.
Clarissa: I always feel bad for artists who get mad that people are not listening to them.You always have to keep an eye for what people need and what you give in a performance. It’s an exchange, but its not, necessarily, monetary. You have to ask what do people need. Do they want to be “seen?” It’s about building a community and asking what you can give of yourself to people.
Roy Dodger: As an artist, you are always going to learn as you go along. You always face a new challenge.
Diandra: You have described your performance style as a theatrical piece. Do you see a concert performance as equal to a theatre show, and does that mean to get on stage is to build a character?
Clarissa: I think its safe to say that. We have a strong desire to transform whatever space we are in, and have it feel surprising. In that way, that is theater; to disrupt the narrative and do the unexpected. We, definitely, have a theatrical flare.
Roy Dodger: We have talked about this, but I don’t, actually, see our characters “someone” we have to put on. We never wanted to make characters that were different than us. It was moreso building the fantasy version of ourself.
Bonanza Jellyfish: Yeah, like an expansion of ourselves.
Diandra: You have called yourselves modern-day troubadours. What about today, this era, do you think calls for more troubadours?
Clarissa (Regina Strayhorn): I think it’s desperately needed today.
Roy Dodger: I think because we live in a Digital Age, the asset is ubiquitous. Like people can find us wherever we are in the world but seeing us perform live that’s different. The age old acts of singing with someone a song, which is who we are at our core, that is kind of absent in the digital age.
Bonanza Jellyfish: I think it embodies the traveling spirit. What we do, I guess, is not anti-technology, but we are of the moment. There are a lot of cool things you can do with technology, but the fundamentals, for us, in music is essence. I think the troubadour spirit is to kind of strip everything away.
Roy Dodger: Also, to be selfish, troubadours travel a lot. We get to see places and meet random people. We have had some really wonderful moments because of music.
Love in the Underground, a Subterranean Tiny Desk Concert
Diandra: You have built your career, in a way, very “guerilla style,” how do you feel your journey represents the growing idea of “self” and independence as in the music industry?
Bonanza Jellyfish: One of the reasons we started Bandits is because we wanted control over our now outlet. We wanted to be ourselves. What started out as a side project has become what loved most. We built this safe space with three people that really enjoy and love each other. Bandits gave us the stability to build ourselves and our own individual projects.
Roy Dodger: We have worked with each other for so long, we have gotten stability. It feels good to grow with somebody like that.
Diandra: How do you feel the new EP, Potted Plant, represents you best as artists and performers?
Roy Dodger: I think it is the best portrait of us so far because the live setting is the natural environment for us. Our first album was about learning to use a studio and pushing our boundaries. This small EP was a joyful process because it was about doing what we do, exactly, how we do it.
Clarissa: We wanted to record us, as ourselves. It is like our origin story in an EP.
Love that last line because it really is! At four tracks, Bandits On The Run: Live At The Power Station, is like a flower bursting in color at the opportunity to blossom. After seeing their live show, I HIGHLY recommend you see them at Mercury Lounge on August 16, especially you are feeling down. Their live performances represent the best of life: good stories, good laughs, and the ability to sing and dance without any self-consciousness. Just have FUN! Click Here to buy tickets.
