You're Already Winning: An Interview with Lindsay Baker of Radical Dads

Lindsay Baker is the frontwoman of Brooklyn rock band Radical Dads. Their next album, Mountain Town, will be released in May. The single is available on their bandcamp. Over coffee, she spoke to me about her most prominent musical experiences. Catch them at Cake Shop tonight.

What was your high school experience like?

I went to a private, all-girls school in Columbus, Ohio. I spent a lot of time at my local record store and hanging out with musicians and music people in Columbus, and learning how to play guitar and doing that sort of on my own. I begged my mom for a 4-track, a cassette 4-track- this was a long time ago [laughs]. I think it was Christmas when I was 17 or 18. I don't think she got it for me but I ended up saving enough money so I could buy a 4-track and started recording a little bit on my own. It was all in isolation, because I didn't really...by the time I was a senior I started to make friends with some of the musicians in Columbus but there was still the divide of being 18 versus being, you know, in your twenties. Luckily, the bar policies in Columbus were very loose and so I could often get into shows. I went to a lot of shows, and I was just like a music nerd, you know, like really into listening to new music and reading [about it]. I mean, back then, there was no internet, so it was all like reading magazines and I would mail a way for record labels' discographies and catalogs and stuff to order stuff. So a lot of digging through record bins and I also did a lot of painting and drawing. That was sort of another thing I was into.

Did you like your teachers as a high school student?

Yes. I loved them.

Was there a specific moment in which you knew you wanted to play music?

Yeah, I don't know the exact moment but I started listening to music...actually, well, maybe there is a specific moment. So I was like going to all these record stores in Columbus, I mean not, there were like, two of them that I would frequent. One of the guys that worked at one of the record stores said to me, or asked me if I played any instrument, and at the time, you know, I'd taken piano as a kid but didn't really pursue it beyond eighth grade and the guy said, you know, (in lower, imitating voice) "You should play an instrument. You listen to good music, 'cause all the people that listen to good music should start bands." I mean it sounds, you know, like a little corny, but I was like, "Oh! He thinks I should play an instrument! Maybe I should!" And I got excited about playing music and emulating my heroes, so that's when I started.

What was the first song you played on guitar? Do you remember?

I'm trying to remember the very first one. I don't know, I had this guitar teacher, that I would just like bring in a list of songs that I liked and then he would teach me how to play them. But the thing was many of them were, you know, like songs that were just traditional Beatles songs. And he would always get very frustrated and be like "This is the dumbest chord!" Because they weren't musician-y type chords where like, I don't know...indie rock bands as opposed to like the Eagles. He wanted to teach me "Hotel California" and stuff like that. I think I did learn that. That was probably one of the first ones. Maybe some other Beatles songs that he was trying to shove down my throat.

Growing up in Ohio, did that affect the music you write and or did it affect who you are as a person?

Definitely. Yes. 100%. I mean all the people that were playing music in Columbus while I was growing there are people I really admired and when I was in high school was when it was right before Guided By Voices signed with Matador and so they were out on a local label. Their cassette was in the local music section so the whole Ohio music thing was very influential to me, and just that sort of lo-fi, DIY kind of sound that was still...the thing I love about Guided By Voices is that it's still pop music, it's just really weird [laughs]. There's something off about it as well. And then there were a bunch of bands in Columbus that were...it wasn't that they all sound the same or played the same genre of music but just sort of that grubby, dirty thing. I can't explain it except that there were like rats in the records store. It was actually filthy [laughs].

Do Radical Dads' songs emerge out of spontaneity or from a more careful, time-consuming approach?

I think it's like a mix, actually. Some of them happen at practice and some of them...I'll bring in a guitar part. But it all starts with the music part and the lyrics come later. And for most of the songs, I sorta do that in isolation a little bit, but my bandmates will sometimes propose an idea for a topic for a song.

How would you describe Radical Dads' music?

I don't know. It's just sort of what happens when the three of us get together to play music because we're all really good friends as well so I think it's that dynamic that creates the music. It's very influenced by the other bands we love, but I think it's just a different variation of that. It's really hard to put that into words. I don't know...rock music? When the people I work with ask me what kind of music I play, I say, "It's like rock music. It's pretty loud." And they're usually satisfied with that.

You said that you guys have all been good friends. Is it difficult managing friendships and managing business relationships?

No, because we all work together really well so it works out nicely and we all sort of take on different roles. Robbie sort of is the architect of the band, he's the drummer, and Chris and I will bring in guitar parts and he'll shape them and say "Oh no, play that part three more times!" or "Don't play that part there, play it at the end." It's nice. Chris and I just come in with parts and it works out well. Chris and Robbie do more of the business-y type stuff and I spend more time writing lyrics and writing songs. But it works out really well. It's not a problem at all.

What do you consider playing a good show?

It would probably be a good show if we're playing with other bands that we either are friends with and love or are musicians we admire and if it just sort of...it's just like a feeling between the three of us in sync with each other and having fun. I think that's more important because hearing yourself is always a variable and the audience is always a big variable. You might be playing to two people or you might be playing to a packed room. You want to have fun no matter what and you want it to be worth your while to be there and it usually is. Good vibes are also very important which is just...how do you quantify that? That usually just comes from having a bill where there are other like-minded bands with people that we're friends with.

What are you listening to right now?

The new Sea and Cake record, Runner. It's really good. I just got this really great Albert Ayler record. He's like a free jazz guy called Vibrations. I've been on a real Sea and Cake kick. I just saw them at Littlefield's the other day and they were amazing. That was like my favorite band in high school. Some things never change. I'm going to see Metz tonight. They're pretty good.

If you could time travel, what decade would you escape to?

Ooh...that's a good question. I should keep thinking about these things; my time travel options! As a musician, I sort of wish I was a little bit older than I am. Not now, I don't wish I was older, but when I was in high school. If I had a been more a part of when indie music was more of...I feel like now indie rock is a whole different thing from when I was a kid. So, you know, the early 90's. That would be a good time. So that means I would have had to have been born earlier in the 70's instead of the late 70's. It's not very far back.

Do you have any advice for young artists?

Don't worry about where you're going to end up, just keep doing the things you love doing because that's what's going to take you some place, if you're going to go some place, you know what I mean? If you're going to get recognized, you're going to get recognized for doing the things you love doing. So you may as well keep doing them and not really worry where that's going to take you. The thing I always loved doing and never needed any coaxing to do was playing music and writing songs but I didn't think for some reasons that that was something I should really cling to and keep going with. It just seemed like this little side-thing for a long time, but now I'm like "No! This is what I love! I gotta keep doing it!" When we started the band, it was just out of wanting to play music together and my goal was to play a show, and it just sort of grew from there.  So I think as long as you're having fun and doing those things, then you're already winning, you know? You're already fulfilling your dreams because you're doing what you love to do. Sometimes, you have to fill out the other logistics of that, money or whatever, but all that stuff can be figured out. It's just important to keep doing whatever it is that you love.

Photo by Daniel Doherty.