Dead Rider is the Chicago-based project of singer/guitarist Todd Rittman. The seminal post-rock warrior is a founding member of U.S. Maple, a band that, although unknown to the masses, left a big imprint in late ’90s/early-2000s indie rock. The band was notorious for unhinged live performances and uncompromising, genre-blending noise rock. When U.S. Maple called it quits in 2007, Rittman started focusing on his newfound love, Dead Rider.
Though Dead Rider’s sound retains elements of improvisation, dissonance, and atypical song structures found in U.S. Maple, the project is pretty different. Rittman uses Dead Rider as a vessel in his experiments with synths, ambient noise, and a whispery, anxious vocal approach. Dead Rider released their most recent record, Chills on Glass, on Chicago’s Drag City label last March and has done a few small tours since. Filling out the live show is Rittman’s hyper-skilled band: Andrea Faught (keys), Matt Espy (drums), and Noah Tabakin (sax).
Dead Rider will play The Frequency tomorrow, May 8. For fans of U.S. Maple, avant-garde post rock, or the Drag City sound in general, this is not a show to miss. In advance of Thursday night, Jonk Music caught up with Todd Rittman for a quick chat.
What are you up to right now?
“Just had lunch with some friends of mine. Maybe you meant more generally, like in life, and the answer is…I don’t know.” (laughs)
The new album came out pretty recently and you’ve done a bit of touring since then. How have the album release and surrounding shows been?
“The tour went really well. Maybe better than I would have hoped… So yeah, everybody’s super excited about that, and the album has been selling well. Things are looking up.”
And is Dead Rider something you’re able to do full-time? Or do you have other things as well?
“Ooohhhhh…sadly no.” (laughs) “I run a bunch of hustles. Not very interesting but I run a little painting crew and do some occasional audio work. Recording or mastering bands and whatnot.”
In listening to the new album, a lot of people comment on a more groove-based, electronic approach than some of your past work. Have you been listening to lots of electronica lately? Where do the influences come from?
“I don’t really think about things in those terms, you know? Maybe when we first started playing I was really interested in having a synthesizer-based palette. But I don’t really make a distinction between electronic music and, I guess, guitar-based rock music. To me it’s all rock ‘n’ roll. And the more groove-based thing is definitely accurate. But…I don’t sit around and only listen to a certain type of music, and then someday someone gives me a James Brown record and then I gotta start doing funk.”
Have you found it difficult working the electronics into the live set?
“I don’t think there’s been much difficulty at all. Sometimes having an approach that doesn’t rule out anything when we’re writing or recording means there can be problems figuring out the live show. But those are the kinds of challenges that make life interesting. On the album, making each song basically had a different approach, a different jumping off point. If you listen to the record as a whole, it would be hard to say ‘this is a guitar band’ or ‘this is an electronic music band.'”
Back in the U.S. Maple days, certain members of the band would talk about an offstage recklessness that translated to an onstage recklessness. Is this something you think contributes to a better, or at least more entertaining, show?
“Yeah… I don’t know man. I don’t have too much to say about that. That’s a good question but I got nothing for it.”
Well perhaps instead, I could ask — through your 20 or so years of touring, how has your attitude towards playing shows changed?
“I think maybe I’ve become a bit nicer of a guy. And maybe I’m a bit more mindful of all the offstage stuff — where I am, what I’m doing, and how much I appreciate it. The mission is still to bring everybody to the brink of insanity live, but I don’t need to do that or even pretend I do that in my personal life offstage. I used to be more reckless and careless with myself and others, but it seems juvenile to think that’s an ingredient in making great art.
On a lighter note, what sort of plans does Dead Rider have for the rest of the year?
“We’re going to Canada for a week in late May, then we do some West Coast stuff. And then more Midwest and East Coast in September-ish. No plans for Europe penciled in just yet, but it’ll definitely happen at some point.”