Indie rockers Ra Ra Riot will come home to Syracuse to play their first concert since releasing their second album, ‘The Orchard.’ They’ll perform at the Westcott Theater on Thursday at 8 p.m. The Daily Orange talked to guitarist Milo Bonacci about the band’s history in Syracuse, its future plans and expectations about the upcoming concert.

The Daily Orange: How did Ra Ra Riot get started?

Bonacci: I was in an electronic music class competition, and Rebecca and I talked it over one day, about if we were starting a band or something. We were all living in the Euclid and Westcott area and started playing at our friends’ houses and a lot of parties near campus. We played at Syracuse, really, until a few months into it. When we were playing, we caught a break and got our first show in New York City.

Did the Syracuse music scene help the band achieve success?

It definitely gave us some momentum to start with. You know, we were basically doing it as a hobby, and the scene wasn’t that big, and there weren’t many bands around. So, yeah, it gave us the courage to play a lot of shows. What I like about Syracuse is that there was a lot of room to grow, and at least when we were there, there wasn’t a lot happening in the way of live music, so we didn’t have too much competition.

What is your favorite venue where Ra Ra Riot has played?

The Westcott wasn’t around when we were playing, so this will actually be our first show at the Westcott coming up. But some of my favorite shows I’ve played here were at small houses, really intimate settings, personal shows that we all remember. It’s funny looking at recordings and pictures from those days.

What’s it like playing hometown shows?

We tend to play Syracuse once or twice a year, whenever our tour schedule lets us. We play Syracuse more often than your average touring band, but that’s largely because of our roots. It’s always great coming back.

What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about Syracuse?

I was an architecture major and spent most of my time studying and doing homework, so I didn’t get out that much. But there was always a great opportunity to meet new people and play at new places, and we always enjoy coming back.

I grew up in upstate New York, so I’d be the last person to complain about the weather, but the snowy and cloudy days make the sunny days that much better.

What are your expectations for your upcoming show?

I don’t quite know what to expect, but we’re excited to be visiting and playing here again. We’re doing a run of shows in April, so this is the first for a week or two of shows until we go to Japan, which honestly may or may not happen. We’re continuously on tour. Even when we have time off, we find time to go out. We’ve been trying to get one of the bands opening for us, The Generations, to come out and play some shows with us, so we’re excited to play a show with them.

How would you say you’ve progressed as a band since your time at Syracuse?

Largely what has changed for us is the context of how we write our music. Early on, we wrote music we would want to play at a party, and that shaped our sound for a while. So what we were writing music for changed. We were more open to exploring a more dynamic range in our music and not necessarily just something high-energy for house parties. I think we’ve embraced a kind of different perspective from our audience.

Do you feel like you’ve ‘made it’ as a band?

It’s all about perspective for us. Some days we feel like we’ve made it, and other times it doesn’t. It all depends on the context. We’ve definitely made it further than any of us have ever expected. Like I said, it started as a hobby, and here we are now, five years later. We’ve gotten to see the world and had the opportunity to play all kinds of places. We’re extremely lucky to have gotten to this point, and I think we just have to enjoy how far we’ve come and be grateful for it.

The definition is always changing. Early on, ‘making it’ meant being able to play shows and still make enough to eat regularly, so our perspective has definitely shifted.

What do you have planned for the rest of 2011?

It’s a little bit up in the air. We’re working on writing new material and playing new shows, and we’ll hopefully work on writing and recording, but we’re touring a lot this year.

What’s your songwriting process like?

An idea will be brought up by pretty much anybody in the band. It might be just an idea for a song or a more fleshed-out picture. At some point, it becomes a collaborative process, so everyone can offer feedback and input, and even songs that came to the table more fully developed come together with collaboration. It’s different for every song. The context of when and where we’re writing is always evolving and changing.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?

Not off the top of my head, but if I think of anything, I’ll say it in person at the concert.

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Published on April 3, 2011 at 12:00 pm