Words: Linn Branson
It's hard to know where to start with The RiceCrackers. Quirky lyrics, the mash-up of grunge, punk, garage, a touch of reggae here, some obvious Asian influences there - and a vocalist who when she goes for those high notes, well...hang on to your ears!
The quartet are a Boston-based outfit, all from Asian backgrounds, who just last week released their four-track debut EP, 'Kelohe Kid' which, combining all the aforementioned elements, makes for something slightly off-kilter, a bit weird and intriguing - and - an absolute cracker, in fact. From the insanely catchy 'Fish' ("Feeling like I don’t even matter/Swimming up stream/served on a platter") to the frenetic punk of 'My Asian Grandma' ("she’s only 4 foot 9/ but she knows judo/and she’ll manhandle ya"), there's something that is immensely agreeable, yet also provocative, about each of the tracks on this fierce little EP.
Little Indie spoke with their outspoken frontwoman and lyric writer Olivia West about their songs and background, and first of all asked her to run through the rather global background of the band's members.
"Well, I am mixed Korean/German. My mother emigrated from Germany and my father is an American, but also born in Germany - very complicated! My father is half-Korean, half-Irish/English mix. I was born and raised in the South sound of Washington state. Our bassist Yoshi is half-Japanese/half white. He was born and raised on Oahu in Hawaii. His dad is from California and his mom is from Japan. Drummer Andy was born in Korea and is a 100% Seoul bruddah through and through, but he moved here as a child, so he is American too. And lastly, guitarist Huxley, who is half-Russian, and his parents are Jewish New Yorkers. Everyone thinks he is Asian and he has lived in Singapore since he was a very small child. He is Caucasian by blood, but understands the cultural nuances and people often treat him as an Asian man. People will often be confused when I say I am Asian and look to Huxley to make sure it is okay with 'a real Asian'. If they only they knew!"
The background of the band, and Olivia in particular, not only has an influence on their songs, but as she explains, it is also where the band and EP's names came from.
"When I was growing up, people didn’t treat me very well since they couldn’t put me in a racial category that satisfied them. They came up with names to hurt me and one of them was 'rice cracker'. I reclaimed it and used it as a compliment. Hell yeah, I am a RiceCracker! At least they were creative.
"I used the name Kolohe Kid because it came from a story about a boy I knew growing up. Everyone at my high school treated me like total shit. The only kid that treated me like a human being was this one boy in my math class. He used to get into fights with other kids and everyone liked to shake their finger at him. One day he got into this huge fight with another boy before class. After that I don’t remember seeing him very much. In math class that day, there was this kid who liked to talk mad stink and kept calling him a 'kolohe kid'. I thought, what a juxtaposition: everyone here are little terrors in their own right, and the only person who treated me like a human being is considered a kolohe kid. 'Kolohe kid' means rascal kid or troublemaker."
With her writing inspirations ranging from The Gits and Nirvana, to Kate Bush and Mitski -"I guess it came out sounding more like a punk Joni Mitchell or Cranberries! - here Olivia gives a lowdown on each of the EP tracks.
Mall Girls
"I think as women, we owe it to each other to support women and not tear each other down. That being said, we also need to keep ourselves in check. If feminism isn’t for everyone, then who is it even for? This song is against women hating on each other.
"I am a huge fan of Kathleen Hanna and I kept hearing her talk about being nice to the 'mall girls'. I thought about it for a while and it kind of bothered me. Of course we should hold fellow people up and try to keep an open mind about everyone, but just blatantly saying, 'be nice to mall girls'. I didn’t agree with that. It is because if someone is being problematic by being racist, classist, or really hurting someone, I shouldn’t feel the need to cater to them."
"Tearing people down for superficial reasons of vanity is disgusting. This song is about women buying $50 flannel shirts and then turning around telling other women that they can’t be apart of the movement since they don’t have enough money. The irony being that they are imitating a movement and aren’t currently apart of it. They look envogue and obviously don’t care about the children making their clothes, the cultures they hurt, and the societal impact that dilutes real activists and their messages. This is NOT a tear girls down song, it's a 'don’t be a jerk' song."
Fish
"I wrote this song in two minutes while practicing for my guitar proficiency. The lyrics are open for interpretation."
Perspective
"This one is heavy. The night before I wrote this I was listening to a lot of reggae. I also read this collection of articles about sexual abuse victims who had their abusers call them and leave messages on their phone. The messages almost all said the same thing, 'I am sorry you feel this way and the reality is that your sexual abuse didn’t happen.' Of course they were all coming from manipulative abusers, so it was extremely hard for the victims and just confirmed how absolutely malicious their abusers are. The reggae part is from the abuser’s point of view and the chorus is sung from the victims. Usually people don’t understand what this song is about, and it is hard to tell them what it is about. Abuse is not okay and if anyone ever hurts you, do not let them tell you otherwise."
My Asian Grandma
"People kept telling me that I am not full Asian therefore invalid as an Asian community member. So I said, 'yeah? Well you can’t deny that my Asian grandma is just as Asian as your Asian grandma, so what are you going to say about her?!' Then I just went on to explain all of the things my Asian grandma did that are stereotypically Asian. I am just as valid a member of the Korean community as someone who is 100%."
Check out three additional tracks not on the EP via Soundcloud.
The RiceCrackers play the following upcoming dates:
August
06. Oak Harbor Tavern (Whidbey Island) WA
07. Ground Zero (Bellevue) WA Werewolf Vacation (U-district Seattle) WA
09. The Affirmations House (Bellingham) WA
10. Hattie’s Hat (Ballard) WA
11. S.M.A.R.T. Collective (Portland) OR
12. The Boreal (Eugene) OR
13. Olympia WA
14. Cellar Door (Port Townsend) WA
15. 733 (Tacoma)
WA Repair Revolution (Seattle) WA
The RiceCrackers are: Olivia West - vocals, Huxley Rittman - guitar, Yoshi Ady - bass, Andy Jung - drums.
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