Ahead of their recent show at UCSD’s The Loft, we got a chance to interview The Buttertones‘ lead singer/guitarist, Richard Araiza.
Only a few weeks after the LA quintet made their stop at Coachella, and shortly after the release of their newest album, the dark and brooding Midnight in a Moonless Dream, we sat down to chat with Richard before the band would embark on the rest of their world tour.
You guys are from LA, and have a huge fan base out there, including other local bands, how much does that support mean to you?
We feel very humbled, we have been a band now for almost 6 years and to see our fan base growing everyday means the world to us.
Who are some of your biggest influences, when it comes the sound of your music?
There are too many influences to count but I’ll give you my holy trinity which would be Elvis Presley, Scott Walker, and Roy Orbison.
Which do you prefer, an intimate show with 100 people grooving to your music, or an all ages show where the crowd is losing their minds?
I think we would all agree that we would prefer a wild, unpredictable all ages show.
Midnight In A Moonless Dream, your newest album, has a little bit of a darker sound compared to the rest; really digging it. What was the writing process like?
The writing process hasn’t ever really changed, it just depends on what we are into at the moment. With Moonless the songs were written fairly quickly so we had a little more time to explore with new sounds and techniques.
If there was an award for best dressed band, I’m sure The Buttertones would take home the trophy. Have you guys always had that sense of style?
We’ve always tried to look dapper in our own way but once there were 5 of us we knew had to have a more unified official look.
If you could grave dig up anybody who would it be?
David Carradine
What did you think about Coachella? And what festival would you want play?
We had a blast at Coachella and they treated us very well and we would definitely like to play it again if given the opportunity. We would love to play Primavera.
Interview and photos by: Nicholas Regalado