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Pepper Rabbit is an experimental band from Silver Lake, CA comprised of lead singer Xander Singh, bassist Shay Spence, and drummer Luc Laurent. Having played about twenty shows in the last few months, including SXSW, the trio is scheduled to open for Local Natives on April 20 in Tucson, Arizona, making it their most momentous performance to date. Xander and Luc graced Artist Advocacy with spiritual anecdotes, a breakdown of how they’ve progressed as a band, and a secret hint as to what the future holds for them.
How did you come up with the band name Pepper Rabbit?
Xander Singh: When I lived in Boston at the time I met Luc I had a rabbit named Dr. Pepper who was really mean. Every time I would leave the room he would jump out of his cage, jump up on my couch and pee all over it. But I loved him unconditionally. Then I went to the vet to get him neutered and he died during the surgery. So I thought that naming the band after him would be a nice, fitting tribute.
Luc Laurent: So this band might pee on your couch [laughs]. And it might jump out of its cage sometimes, but we still love it.
What was your experience like playing SXSW this year?
Xander: I didn’t like it.
Luc: I’ll take this one. Two years ago we went down there before we were 21 so we couldn’t really get into any shows. So this time around it was like ‘cool, we’re 21 now!’ We were already kind of acquainted with the city, and the city of Austin is awesome. We played on Wednesday in a really low-key place that wasn’t in the midst of everything, on 6th St. across the highway. We didn’t have a sound guy so that was pretty difficult. As a band we are still trying to get comfortable with the shows that we play, it’s one of those things where we’re paying out dues right now, SXSW being a huge part of that. Then we played a show Friday, which was the first time we had played outside. That Saturday we played the exact same room we played on Wednesday. It was raining and freezing outside, so that time we were blessed to be playing inside because a bunch of people came to see us to stay out of the rain. Taylor and Kelsey from Local Natives came out to see that show as well. It was definitely the best show we’ve ever played.
Did you guys get a chance to check out any bands while you were there?
Xander: We saw one band that we all collectively didn’t like, but I won’t mention their name [laughs]. I saw Here We Go Magic, and I’ve already seen them twice before, but the sound was really bad for some reason.
Luc: We saw Arms, which was amazing. We were among six other people watching it, which was such a shame because they were seriously so great.
In your songs there are a variety of instruments being used. Is that difficult to translate into a live performance?
Xander: It’s tough. We started this band and there was a huge lag period in which Luc was still at school in Boston and I lived here in LA. So after we finished the record we couldn’t really play any shows, being across the country from one another. It gave me a lot of time to kind of map out exactly how to do the live show, which was incredibly challenging to figure out. I had to rearrange a lot of the songs for a live setting, which I think is actually awesome because whenever I see a band that I really like and they literally just play note for note the exact same thing as the record, I always leave unsatisfied. My favorite live shows are ones where the band gives me as an audience member something different than what I’ve come to love on the record. What I love about our band is that we can’t replicate what we’ve done on the record, so it forces us to step out of the bounds of the recordings and take the songs as they are and rewrite them for a live setting. It’s a lot of looping and jumping around on different instruments. It keeps us busy during the live set, which I like. It keeps me focused.
Luc: We are still in the process of reworking everything. With the recorded songs we already set the bar with the instrumentation, so we have to bring it to the same uniqueness live.
Xander: Every set we play it totally different. For instance, we played a show tonight, and before we left to go Luc made some new samples to put on his drum trigger pad, and we had been talking about a vocal harmony that we could add to one of the songs. So we threw those things in the show and it worked out really well.
How did you three meet and end up living in LA as a band?
Xander: I was at school in New York when I met Luc through a mutual friend of ours. I moved to Boston for like six months where we met out bassist Shay. I was doing solo music at the time and I needed a backing band so I asked Luc and Shay to fill that void. When I started writing songs for our record I went to record in New Orleans and I called Luc to fly down and play drums. I never wanted to be a solo artist; I always wanted to be part of a band. When it was time to materialize the album live we were really lucky to have Shay move to LA.
Luc: Shay and I really understand and trust each other musically, so it was a treat when he was excited to play with us.
Xander, you play keyboards, clarinet, trumpet, guitar, and ukulele on stage. How did you become so proficient at all these instruments?
Xander: I play a lot of instruments because I have such a short attention span. I get locked into an instrument so heavily to the point that when I’m writing songs, I find myself repeating things I’ve already done. It’s really just a need for inspiration to try something new. When I get stuck in a rut with one instrument, I just have to go and find something else. First and foremost the instrument that I’ve had longest and I think I’m most proficient at is definitely vocals. I started out playing music because when I was younger I did a lot of musical theatre so I had vocal training. The instruments serve as vessels in support of my vocals.
Taylor Rice from Local Natives has said that Pepper Rabbit is their favorite band right now. How do you feel about that and are you fans of theirs?
Xander: We’re big fans of theirs. We first met them playing in a church basement in Colorado Springs almost three years ago when they were a different incarnation of the band. They’ve been really supportive of us. First and foremost they are just really great guys.
Luc: Of the bands that have become popular as of recently, they are definitely my favorite. They are such strong musicians. They go on stage and they know their parts and know exactly what they’re doing. They are just an admirable band all around.
Xander: They’re definitely the most deserving band that has gotten big in recent years.
Best show you’ve been to lately?
Xander: I know what it would have been if I had gone to this show: a couple of weeks ago Chicago played in Palm Springs, which I missed. I’d have to say the Arms show that we saw at SXSW was absolutely incredible. Todd, the guitarist was previously in the band Harlem Shakes. We have been huge fans of his project ever since we found out about it.
Luc: It was everything and more than we expected. When we saw them it seemed like they had been playing together for a really long time, but as I understand they haven’t. It was really impressive. Their musical talents just shine through.
What are you guys listening to right now?
Luc: I’ve been listening to the Portishead album a lot. Also the new Liars album, but I don’t know how much in love with it I am. I’m very interested in it though.
Xander: I recently just got into Eminem. I was never allowed to listen to Eminem growing up because of the explicit content and just about a week ago my friend Cameron introduced me to it. We’ve also been listening to the Surfer Blood album a lot lately.
What, besides other artists, influences you guys as musicians?
Xander: I’m way more influenced by other things than actual music. I write a lot about stories and experiences that my friends have had. I write a lot about stories and experiences that I make up that I wish had happened to me. “The Spirit of Beauregard” is one of those songs. When we flew out to make the album I had brought a piano with me to the recording session. The guy who was tuning the piano was freaking out because my friend’s dog apparently looked exactly like his old dog Beauregard. He thought that my friend’s dog was the reincarnation of his old dog. After he left my friend Adam and I were officially on a race to write a song about the experience.
Luc: We called it “The Spirit of Beauregard” because there was a glitch with the keyboard. It was making this weird noise that we’ve never heard before so Xander unplugged it and it just continued to make the noise. It was really creepy.
Xander: I love little stories like that.
Luc: The thing that influences me overall is the fun in it. We have such a good time making music. This band pushes us to places where we want to be. That’s why we play music, because it’s really fun.
Xander: In reality I’d love to be a professional golfer, but I kind of took my focus off of that when I started playing music.
Favorite song from the 90’s?
Xander: It’s gotta be a Fastball song. I can’t pick though.
Luc: I love that song that’s like ‘He’s going the distance. He’s going for speed.’ I don’t know what it’s called though.
I’m pretty sure it’s called “Going the Distance.”
Luc: Yeah, that makes sense [laughs].
What’s next for Pepper Rabbit?
Luc: We’re just going to continue playing as many shows as we can. A label at SXSW approached us, so we’re in the process of working things out with them but we can’t really talk about that yet. But we’re really excited.
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To find out more about this artist, check their MySpace page.