Altsounds - James Rotondi, The Bad Eliots frontman

James Rotondi is a genre-bouncing jack of all trades. From the ambient electronica of AIR to the freak rock stylings of Mr. Bungle to the old school garage rock of his latest project, The Bad Eliots, Rotondi knows that flexibility and diversity are essential when it comes to surviving in such a fickle industry.

It's near impossible to predict what projects will be successful and what projects won't, which is why it shouldn't come as a surprise that what started as friends playing in a studio to write a song for a Snapple commercial has turned into one of the hottest bands without an album in music today.

I had the opportunity to speak with James Rotondi, creator of the Bad Eliots, to get a glimpse into the mind of this Renaissance man and get more details on his current projects.

So with each member of the Bad Eliots having such a long resume, the obvious question here is- is the Bad Eliots a real band, or just what's going on right now?

It's an actual band. It's not that uncommon, certainly I can speak for NY musicians, to find yourself involved in different projects and different bands all at the same time. You play with one group and someone is like, "We need a sub for this show." So you end up playing a show with one of your band members and some other people you don't know yet. There is a certain musical chair aspect to the music scene in NY. You find yourself involved in a lot of creative collaborations. Some are strictly for fun, some are strictly artistic and some are strictly commercial. For the Bad Eliots, the Snapple thing was the catalyst for us deciding to become a band, but the way we came together is just as organic as any other band. We know each other, we like each other, we are musically like-minded. It's a very real band.

Let's talk about 'The Cat's Meow'. That song is huge because of a commercial. I read on your personal MySpace that is was a bit of a studio project. How did it all come about?

The usual way that these things happen is- existing band A is out gigging and making music. Commercial client B comes along and asks to use the song for a commercial. The band says, "No, major corporation! You will NOT defile our art." I get asked to come in the studio and help out with writing or recording songs or commercials. I was working with someone to write this Snapple song, we needed a band to record this thing. Who do you turn to when you're looking for a band? The people you just played with last Saturday. The song came first and I picked friendly faces and like-minded people to be the band.

There is so much chaos in NYC about how projects come together. This is just another way. It was pretty light. When you do music for a TV commercial, you're competing with other people. In a way, you don't get that uptight about it. You mess around and have fun with it. You know, throw things against a wall and see what sticks. In a way, I think this band was meant to come together, we just needed that pivot point. 'Cat's Meow' was the excuse for us to become The Monkees. [laughs]

Will there be an album? Will there be any touring?

In a weird way, now that the band is a band, it's almost immaterial to me what happens with the commercial end of it. We enjoy each other's company and we enjoy playing music together. There's no doubt that an album is coming. We have 3 or 4 songs...we get together and play some of our favorite cover tunes. Psychadelic Furs, Echo and the Bunnymen... the real 80s chestnuts. We have every intention of moving forward and making more music and building the structure we need to go on tour, like any other band. We feel fortunate that it's all coming into play. There are so many different ways to fry an egg in NYC. I'm always surprised by how things happen.

Do you find advertising to be creatively satisfying, as an artist?

Yeah...I have friends who do music for TV commercials full time. Some of those people are people who have been in bands for years and for whatever reason decided they didn't want to be on the road as much. In some ways I don't envy them, but as sort of a moonlighting gig, to get called in and come up with ideas for a tv commercial, I think it can be creatively fun.

There is this idea that if you're working on a commercial, you put on a lab coat and make something unoriginal and not fun. Nobody from a creative agency comes in and says 'We need music for a TV commercial. Can you make something as dull and unoriginal as possible?' Sometimes they'll be cheesy and ask for something 'edgy and street,' but the direction is usually to 'do something original, experiment, play around and give us something we wouldn't expect.' That's a creative challenge. It's a creative impetus. Creating something is great, but finishing shit is even better. While it may not be as artistically fulfilling as making the next PJ Harvey record, and probably isn't art on that level, it's a total creative challenge most of the time.

You have a solo album, Summer Home. Is that actually out? I have read conflicting details.

It's sort of pre-out. At the moment it's going through all of the usual stuff that the get-your-record-out-independently world requires. It's out there. I don't expect to consider it an official release until early 2009, when I'll hopefully get more distribution and more density. Finishing a record, as anybody who has ever done it knows, is hard. Records do not make themselves. The Roto album is quite different from the Bad Eliots. Roto is like an homage to everything I grew up with and everything I've done. 70s and early 80s songwriters and bands, everything from Pink Floyd to CSNY. And I've taken some things from AIR and Mr. Bungle. People who like the X album, Mutations will like it.

How do you decide what genre to dabble in? Or does it just happen?

Good question. There are different kinds of artists. There are those who are completely focused on one voice for themselves. Other musicians take enjoyment out of exploring a lot of different sides of their musical backgrounds and what they hear everyday. One thing that is great about NYC is you're surrounded by different cultures and sounds. It's appealing. I don't find anything inauthentic about making a power pop record on one hand and a post punk record on the other hand. These genres don't mean much to me. I feel the Bad Eliots music just as much in my gut as I do the Roto music. They're both authentic impulses for me.

So when does your rap album come out?

That's expected in 2018. [laughs]

[laughs] I have read some of your articles on The Huffington Post. You're a pretty funny guy! When did you start writing for the site?

Pretty recently, actually. During the campaign. I was checking out The Huffington Post and Real Clear Politics obsessively. I come from a political family but I had never really written about politics in a funny way, which is something I have always wanted to try. Just one day I had an idea for this piece. I saw some Republican lawmaker on the campaign trail warning an audience that "You better make sure you don't give Dems a majority in Congress!" I mean, how ridiculous? Could the news be any worse than it is right now? I sent the piece to what I thought was probably Arianna Huffington's email. I guess I got the address right, and the tone of my piece right because she posted it.

I know my readers are going to be pissed if I ask you political questions. It seems like every artist I've talked to in the last couple months has wanted to talk politics. People are sick of my Palin jokes. But you're legit, so let me just ask this- Are you generally optimistic and what do you think is going to change?

Good question. I have a bitter-sweet outlook on things right now. I have a great deal of guarded optimism about Obama. But, I think everyone recognizes the depth of the shit hole we're in right now. To be honest, if I had my way we would move closer toward a European-style democratic socialism...but that would...

...make you a terrorist?

Yes. [laughs] No, really, I think we should know what's under the Capitalist tophat. I think we've all been pretty well reamed by the economic elite. The latest post I did is We're In an Economic Repression. We've been getting screwed repeatedly. We know what has happened.

Let's switch gears a bit. There's something you seem to know more about than other artists I speak with and that's opportunity. This is so incredibly important right now considering there is basically no organized music industry any more. How do you make opportunity happen and how do you know what to do and not do?

Another good one. I'm still trying to answer those questions for myself. I've been at it a little while and those questions don't get any easier to answer. Some things are always going to be true, like you should work the way normal people work. Just because we think of ourselves as 'bohemians' or 'creative types,' the fact is, if you want to survive doing this, you have to get up in the morning and get to work. I always feel like bands who do that can always carve out a good career for themselves. It might be wise if bands and artists go out there thinking that 'making it' is more a matter of building a good, smart cottage industry for yourself, rather than some idea that at some point someone is going to come along and rescue you. The bands I consider successful are the ones who tour year in, year out, keep making records, maybe not even affiliated with a label. A lot of bands can do that if they take the responsibility to make it happen. I think you need a team to make it, but that team is like...think of it as like starting your own business. Don't look for handouts. This is my art, but this is also my company. I'm going to build it.

Well the flip side of that question is- loyalty to a project. How do you know when it's over?

This is where being in a band is like being in a relationship. I think loyalty to a project or a band is a powerful thing. Bands can go a long way just by sticking together. But I've also seen bands that are like jealous lovers. If anyone else does a side project or takes an opportunity just to do something, get work, meet people, they take it as a personal slight. That's crazy. You have to let the individual members develop, even in ways that don't include the band. You have to have faith in the relationship to know it will improve your band overall. Give each other enough freedom that you don't feel stifled, but you want to keep it strong and move forward. The project is over when the fat lady sings...and I'm not talking about Romeo Void.

[laughs] Excellent. Well, thank you so much for speaking with me. I think a lot of people will get something out of what you had to say. Good luck with everything!

The Bad Eliots