Rodeo FM
Berlin-based alternative country band Rodeo FM have been playing their brand of Americana since 2005 - in dingy cellars and at vernissages, at weddings and funerals, in beer tents and night clubs, at country festivals, symposiums and demonstrations.
They have been filling dancefloors from the South of France to the Russian border and self-released two albums and a few singles on the way. But more than that – they have been exposing the foul status quo of late capitalist society with influences ranging from Bob Dylan or early Springsteen to Karl Marx and Antonio Gramsci.
Rodeo FMs music is for and about the lonely and the dispossessed. It is about how the devil pays the bills and how the carpet underneath which the bad shit goes keeps growing. All this with a sound reminiscent of Whiskeytown, Gram Parsons and Tom Petty.
Interview with Pat Carter, Berlin based singer songwriter and bandleader of Rodeo FM.
Who are the musicians behind the band Rodeo FM and how did you get into music?
Rodeo FM is basically my baby. This means I write all the music and lyrics and run the show. The band has been going for over 15 years with line-ups and musicians changing over the course of time, I think there must have been close to 20 people in the band all in all.
At the moment the line up consists of Luis de Cicco on guitar, also main man of Italian Hillbilly Blues band Caboose (check them out by all means), Alessandro Guida, a Napoli born session player and teacher and drummer in various bands and projects and Daire MacMághnuis, multi-instrumentalist and Rodeo FMs bass player, also a conductor and man behind the Dark Room Orchestra, a progressive folk project showcasing some of Berlins best session musicians. We also had some guest musicians like Justine Jardin on pedal steel who will also join us on our next tour.
When I was a kid I wasn’t really into country music at all, I was raised on 60s/70s rock, you know Exile on Main Street all the way, as well as on 80s hardcore and Punk bands like Hüsker Dü, Black Flag and Dinosaur Jr. After Nirvana broke through, in 1991, I sort of started losing interest in this, I never liked Grunge.
But by then I had discovered Alt-Country, actually by accident when I was going to a concert in the late 80s featuring two bands I had never heard of. I just went as one of them on SST, the No1 Punk label at the time. The SST band was Soundgarden who didn’t impress me much, the other band was Giant Sand, sort of the Godfathers of Alt-Country, playing as a two-piece set, just Howe Gelb on guitar and John Convertino on drums and they totally blew me away. After that I started checking out the bands at the time, Uncle Tupelo, Jayhawks, Long Ryders, Whiskeytown and got into classic stuff, too. Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison is still one of the best albums ever I think.
What can we and our readers expect from your new album "Right Wing Planet"?
Well, the press release says: „Rodeo FM's new album Right Wing Planet laments the despicable state of the world and why so many seem to either embrace or deny it. Again, the band points their guitar picking finger at climate disaster, exploitation, class war and the line between the rich and poor. In classic toe-tapping, dancefloor-shaking, left-wing attitude Rodeo FM style. The Berlin based alt-country band's fourth album finds them at their best. In summer 2022, Rodeo FM hit the studio fresh from the road off their first tour in three years with a collection of nine new songs. Classic country, epic Americana, motown inspired pop tunes and stonesy anthems all held together by the consistent sound and style of these four excellent international musicians (plus a couple of guests) and the distinguished and immediately recognisable songwriting of singer Pat Carter.“ That pretty much says it. It is always hard to describe your own music but certainly there is some folk-rock, alt-country in there. I actually like to call it Commie-country as I am trying to make sense of the world (and write songs from here) through a Marxist lens.
So instead of just lamenting the aforementioned despicable state of the world, I’d like to add that I don’t really see any way out of that state as there is no way private property, the means of production and all the things that constitute the given power relations will go away anytime soon, I think it is much more likely that we descend into fascism again before this happens. So, there you go, it’s a right wing planet, the future is pretty dark and this is not necessarily an album of hope. It comes with some pretty accessible, you might even say heartwarming tunes, though.
New album means gigs (hopefully), when do your fans have the chance to see you live on stage?
Yes, the shows, endless effort and another full time job. Sometimes it seems, I do nothing else but booking (if I don’t do promo like this). But yes fortunately we have some shows lined up in March, May and July. Check them out here: https://www.rodeo.fm/shows.
I am really hoping to come to Austria at some point, I also have some vague connections there, it is just a matter of cost and logistics. Usually, we do like „mini-tours“ of 4-5 shows in row and I try to get at least one or two gigs with a fixed fee, so I dont run the risk of losing money.
I mean, the guys in the band are all pros and do this for a living so there needs to be a certain amount of money on the table each night. In the summer, this is easier, as there is the occasional festival you can play, but doing the club and bar circuit is sometimes harsh because of competition, people staying at home (and watching Netflix or whatever) and clubs struggling if not closing. It is not so easy for musicians and there is a lot of hard work involved. This was much easier 10 years ago.
Rodeo FM was formed in 2005, how would you describe your musical evolution as a band?
We started out as a kind of barn-rocking country band, playing Jerry Lee Lewis, Hank Williams and Johnny Cash covers and playing anywhere we could. Over the years, the musicians, mainly the guitar players came and went and with each one we sort of raised the degree of sophistication. We had a Jazz guitarist from Ukraine who went to New York. Another jazz and fusion guy from Macedonia. Now we have Gigi, who is a blues guitar player at heart but can put up a pretty good Joe Pass impression and has for a long time picked up African folk music. Sometimes he sounds like Ali Farke Toure meets Daniel Norgren. How this fits into a country band? Well it sort of does and adds some interesting angles, I think.
Personally, I simply like the genre for writing songs, but ultimately I write pop songs and disguise them as country by adding that distinctive sound or rhythm. As for where we are now, this part of the journey only really started in 2020. We were in the studio in January 2020 so when Corona hit I had like 13 new songs that I released one after another over a period of nearly 2 years. At the same time - in lockdown - I started reaching out to people and doing promo for the first time putting some thought into it, trying to polish the act and spread the word of Rodeo FM. It has done us pretty good I think, and we are getting some nice attention now from radio and magazines.
What three songs would you suggest to a listener who never heard Rodeo FM before?
Of the new album, definitely „Right Wing Planet“, maybe „Listening to Country“ and if you are looking at the more indie-pop side of Rodeo FM „open wide“. If you cant get enough after this - and maybe you like a good ballad - check out „summer rain“ of our 2020 album upgrade of truth.
You have played more than 200 shows, are you still nervous on stage?
Nervous - no, not really, I know that pieces fall into place on stage and I can rely on these great musicians. I get restless the last 10-15 minutes before a show though.
What are your most useful talents besides music?
Hm, I dont know about talents, but I have always been reading a lot, discourse, sociology, environmental, you name it - and tried to make sense of the world and why it is organised the way it is and of course that leads you to check out discourses of power and oppression and that of course leads you to Marx (as a sociologist but also as a revolutionary).
It never hurt to read some Marx, to quote Rodeo FM ;-) I can only advise everyone to be kind to the people you meet, get organized and resist the man – no matter the disguise he’s in – the greedy landlord, the corrupt local politician privatizing communal services or the asshole boss discriminating you or your colleagues at work. I know this is easier said than done. Keep your eyes open and your wits sharp.
... and finally, what's next?
2023 I will try to do more shows, probably quite a few as the duo, as many as possible with the full band and just reach out to as many people as possible. I have started writing a new album, half of those songs are pretty much finished and I want to go to the studio in early 2024 again. But lets what happens until then…
