Hailing from Los Angeles, indie rockers Raised on TV are on the cusp of having a big year. Since starting the band in 2016, the brother duo of Keaton Rogers and Kacey Greenwood lived off a diet of releasing albums and traveling the country. They regularly opened for a smorgasbord of different bands, including Jefferson Starship and Green Jello.
As a band whose first album landed itself in the #1 spot on the NACC Top 200, Raised on TV was not satisfied resting on their laurels. However, with the pandemic, all that touring dried up. Luckily, the brothers outlasted that downtime by focusing on recording and releasing singles.
Now, it’s 2023. What used to be a duo consisting of brothers is now a fully fleshed-out power trio with the addition of keyboardist Chris Clark. Also, the group has started touring again, and they’re about to release their brand new album, Strangers in Pictures, on Sell the Heart Records. There’s lots of positive energy in the Raised on TV camp.
Bearded Gentlemen Music is honored to debut “Wasted,” the latest single from the band’s upcoming album. Written during the pandemic, fans of bands like Modest Mouse, The Strokes, and Death Cab For Cutie should definitely enjoy the tune. Lead singer and guitarist Keaton Rogers stopped by to talk about the tune and answer a few other questions as well.
The latest single off your new album is “Wasted.” What’s the story behind the song?
“Wasted” was written at the height of the pandemic. They were some lonely times indeed! It’s kind of a simple story really. I was just banging away on my guitar one day and started strumming that chord change that starts the song. With the words, I was expressing feelings of isolation and trying to work through whatever negative stuff came about from the COVID days. When I brought it to Kacey, he found a cool groove for it, and the song grew from there.
We’re getting close to the release of your latest album. What can folks expect from it?
Well, we’ll have vinyl copies of it for one thing, thanks to Sell the Heart Records! It’ll mark our first vinyl release, which we were super excited about. It’s our fourth full length album, and we really hope people enjoy it. Ten songs, some a little heavy, some a little atmospheric and beachy. It’s the most we’ve messed with keyboards and electric drums sounds for sure. We never stray too far from the classic distorted guitar indie sound, but this album is probably the farthest we’ve strayed from that, and we had fun with it.
You’ve been a band since 2016 and had to weather a pandemic during that time. How have you grown as a band and as people?
We’ve definitely grown a lot. The pandemic was sort of a hibernation period, as it was for every band that stuck with it. We really had some time to practice, write, think, and get creative as a band. While I guess being busy was better than being depressed, it was definitely depressing not being able to play live.
Since the beginning in 2016, we’ve had an insane amount of touring experience. We’ve played all over the United States, East to West and back, even across Canada. We’re onto our 2nd van now after many breakdowns in our first one. All that playing and traveling has definitely made us better musicians, better songwriters, better performers, and a better band. The road has tested us many times, in many ways, and it’s something that’s helped us grow. It builds the character of your band.
We’ve tracked five albums, and we’re about to release our fourth. We’ve learned so much about what it means to not only write great music, but to try and record great music. There have been times where we felt like we were on top of the world, playing to big crowds, playing with big bands, making decent money. But there have been times that were the total opposite where you feel like you’ve hit bottom as a band.
What keeps Raised on TV going as a band?
We keep getting up, trying, and chasing it. That high you get from playing a great show, or capturing your vision in the studio, or connecting with someone to a point where you feel like you’ve improved their life in some way with your band and your music, there’s nothing else like it.
So whatever else happens in our lives, marriage, having kids, working random jobs, the band also keeps going. Raised on TV is part of who we are. Someone once told me that most bands don’t fail, most bands break up, and I think there’s real truth in that. The idea of your first album being a huge breakout success is really nice, and it happens for some bands, but not for all. Dark Side of the Moon was Pink Floyd’s 8th studio album. What if they had quit at album six or seven?
Solve for X, If I like X, I will like Raised on TV.
If I like pizza, I will like Raised on TV.
For the new album, what touring or promotional plans do you have?
We’re getting out in our van, “Mr. White,” and hitting nearby places like San Diego, Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Las Vegas, and up to the Bay area as well. We’re currently finalizing stuff for a summer tour that we’ll announce soon.
Of course, we’ll be playing a lot in LA. Every other month, we help put on a weekend music and food truck fest called BOOMFEST at a cool spot called Boomtown Brewery in Downtown LA.. So we’ll definitely be playing there. We want to play more record stores and hopefully have them carry some of our vinyls. We also have a few more music videos in the works.
For the uninitiated, what’s a Raised on TV show like?
We try to keep it fun and spontaneous, if nothing else. Of course, we’re playing our songs the best we can, trying to sound our best, but we also try to keep the energy up. We like to talk to each other on stage, say random, ridiculous things, talk in silly voices. That sort of thing. We’re the kind of band that enjoys when people heckle us between songs. It gives us something to play off of, and it becomes part of the show. If we make a mistake, it’s part of the show.
That’s the vibe. For however long our set is, we want people to feel alive, be engaged, leave our problems outside for a bit, and whatever happens, happens. That’s a feeling that’s worth chasing on stage night after night. We’re all in up there, and we want everyone there to feel the same thing.
Outside of releasing the new album, what are you most looking forward to as a band this year?
I think just playing more shows. Playing new places. Meeting new people. Getting back out in the van. Making some new shirts and stickers. Working on new songs and recording more.
At the end of 2022, we did some tracking out in Joshua Tree for our fifth album, and we hope to do some more remote recording again. This time, we think somewhere in the mountains would be awesome.
Any last words?
Shout out to my son Louie Rogers who was born last month on 2/17/23!
Editor’s Note: This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.