The Royal Arctic Institute — Look at my records!

You may not have known it, but The Royal Arctic Institute quietly disbanded, only to reform within the blink of an eye. And thank goodness they did because this new era of the project is something to behold.

Our first brush with this Hoboken-based instrumental group came back in 2018, when they were comprised of three indie-rock veterans: Lyle Hysen, John Leon, and Gerard Smith. The three musicians cut their teeth in several notable groups, with Hysen drumming for Das Damen, John Leon backing Roky Erickson, and Gerard Smith playing with Phantom Tollbooth. That lineup released two full-lengths on New Jersey’s Rhyme and Reason Records, Accidental Achievements in 2018 and The French Method in 2019, and a handful of singles and EPs. Though their output in such a short period of time was bordering on prolific and quite impressive, the band slowly “fizzled out,” as Leon described in a recent interview.

That fizzle quickly turned into a spark, though, as Leon and Hysen picked up the pieces and reassembled the band during the pandemic. They recruited Lynn Wright on guitar, Carl Baggaley on keyboards, and David Motamed on bass and released a gorgeous five-song EP called Sodium Light in April of 2021. The vibe amongst the five musicians was just right, so they kept going, playing a string of gigs last fall and less than a year later, released their second EP as a quintet, From Catnap To Coma. If you’ve followed the band since its inception, you’ll notice a definite evolution in their sound. Their first two albums had some rocking tunes, but as a quintet, the band’s sound has mellowed considerably. The songs on From Catnap To Coma are almost somnambulant, from the lulling opening notes of “Fishing By Lantern” to the final, fading guitar lines of “Anosmia Suite.”

We were eager to catch up with this new version of The Royal Arctic Institute, so we chatted with Hysen and Leon on the heels of the release of From Catnap To Coma:

Thanks for answering these questions. How have these insane last two years been for The Royal Arctic Institute?

Lyle Hysen: Uh, where to begin? I guess the interesting thing for the band is that two of the dudes (John and Dave Mo), work in hospitals so they were getting tested all the time, and we were actually able to practice throughout most of the pandemic. Masks, six feet apart, sanitizing the drum sticks, but it was actually a great coping mechanism for all of us.

The Royal Arctic Institute existed as a trio for its first few years. Now, you're a five-piece. You've been playing with this expanded lineup now for a bit. What prompted expanding this project to a five-piece from a trio? How do you think it's altered the band's sound?

John Leon: The extension to a five-piece was a real natural thing. It just felt really good. We brought Carl (keyboards) on after I had met him jamming with Gramercy Arms. His sound blended so well with the stuff we were writing. Then Lynn came on originally as a session guy doing some stuff on our last record. It went so well and was so fun that it just stuck!

I remember when we spoke in 2018 on the Look At My Records! podcast, you and guitarist John Leon seemed pretty committed to keeping it as a trio. What do you think changed?

John Leon: The whole world? But seriously, it progressed naturally. By the end of 2019, we had hit a wall and it sort of shut down. Then right before the pandemic, we got together to jam and it clicked. The whole thing was just so easy. And still is.

How's your songwriting process changed now that you're a five-piece? The songs on From Catnip To Coma seem very free-flowing, as do the ones on Sodium Light. Do you find yourselves piecing songs together by jamming/improvising? Is it more collaborative now and were there any adjustments that you needed to make to your processes?

John Leon: It has become far more of a collaborative process. It is very much a “band” in that sense. Everyone brings things to the table and we manipulate those things until it feels right and everyone in the room goes “Yep, that’s it.” It is a very natural progression.

Lyle, you and Dave were bandmates in Das Damen. What was it like reuniting with him to play music again after 20 years? Did you two gel pretty quickly given your history? How's it feel to be playing music again with someone who you have that kind of history with?

LH: Well Mo has been sort of on a musical hiatus since Two Dollar Guitar, but Das Damen reformed about three years ago for a weekend to record a cover of a Flamin Groovies song for a film/compilation that never came out. It was so great playing with him again for those sessions that when theTRAI opportunity presented itself it was all very natural.

Getting back to playing with Mo has been a treat. We aren’t (hopefully), the exact same players we were as with Damen, so it is kinda fun challenging each other with whatever weirdo things we’ve picked up over the past couple of decades since we’ve played together last. We do have a common bond on all the music we share, but he definitely has been listening to a lot more dub (and ska), than I have the last few years, so that definitely brings some different elements to the table.

Also, I think it is important for the music to represent where you are currently. Since we aren’t playing songs we played 20 years ago, we get to pick from more current influences, whereas if we were still playing Das Damen songs, I don't think my last 15 years of trying to play like Bill Bruford would be appropriate - but who knows? Maybe in the multiverse of rock, we stayed together and crushed being King Crimson.

I noticed that for the most part, the songs on From Catnip to Coma are more downtempo, atmospheric, and slow-moving when compared to some of the band's previous releases. I'm thinking specifically of some of the songs on Accidental Achievements, your second full length. There are definitely some rocking moments on that album, like "The Grubert Effect" and there are definitely others. What do you attribute the project's shift to this overall more ethereal-sounding music?

Lyle Hysen: Well the state of the world played a big part for sure. Nothing was more therapeutic than getting to play the songs that ended up being on From Cat Nap To Coma. That being said we did have a couple of more up numbers on deck, but they just didn’t really fit what eventually became the final five.

In a recent interview with NJ.com, you said that "the record is heavily conceptualized to be listened to as a whole. And we want people to spend the 20 minutes just kind of checking in and helping process how life is. And that I think was a general goal of making the record. All kinds of slower, and very chill.” Tell us a little bit about at what point in the process did you come up with that concept? Was it something you envisioned from the outset or did it come into play later on?

John Leon: That came about a little later on as the songs and sequencing developed. All of us are old enough to remember putting on a record like Sgt. Pepper (the Bee Gee’s version of course), and listening to it start to finish sitting in front of the stereo. It seems like that doesn’t really happen anymore due to the streaming world we live in. But it felt right with this batch of songs.

A bit off-topic, but I'm definitely curious. We recently posted a Das Damen show from March 12th, 1989 on the Mckenzie Tapes site. The band played with Mudhoney. There's also a show from Lansing, MI from I believe the same year that I've yet to digitize. Both shows were recorded by the late, great Jon Reinert. Do you remember anything about that show and/or tour?

Lyle Hysen: The New Brunswick show sounded better than I remember! But honestly, all I really remember is that Mudhoney had no gear (why is that?), so we lent them everything, and they didn't help us load out - talk about a Scorpio grudge! Remember kids, if anyone lends you equipment, you should be there for soundcheck to load in, and be there at the end of the evening for load out.

You have a string of local dates coming up in April. What's the live show like with the five-piece for those who are unfamiliar? Anything special up your sleeve for these upcoming gigs?

Well, the Fox and Crow show is gonna be a blast as we get to do two sets! It is looking like we will have no repeats of tunes so if anyone hangs through both of those sets they should get a nice variety of jams. For this show, we can play some new songs and hopefully a cover or two. We will have to keep the volume in check due to the fact that Fox and Crow doesn’t like it to get too loud (not that we are TOOO LOUD), so our Motorhead cover is tabled for now.

Also, I feel it is important for us to play in JC/Hoboken area. Bands don’t have a lot of options here at the moment and I especially like the Fox and Crow. As shows return to the area - we gotta come out and help kickstart these venues and hopefully, some new ones will pop up as well.

While we are at it - we are of course honored to be opening for Jennifer O’ Connor at Mercury Lounge, she is such a talent, we will definitely have to bring our A-game.

Plus, the end of the month at PINO’s for me personally it is a real treat to get to play with Defecting Grey plus Jim Scheiner and Accomplices. The fun fact at one point in the 90s Vince from Defecting Grey and I were in Gigantic/Viewmaster with Jim Scheiner!

What's next for the band? I heard you're already working on new material.

Lyle Hysen: We haven’t had a ton of time to work on new songs as we’ve been trying to play shows every weekend to promote the ep (Plus, I love playing shows). However, in between the record coming out and now that the shows are slowing down a bit we are starting to put something together. That being said we aren’t in a big rush, we did release two eps within six months! So, what is next? Hopefully more shows, more new songs, and god willing, an album next year? Vinyl gods be damned!

You can purchase From Catnap to Coma on limited edition cassette via Already Dead Tapes. You can also purchase their entire discography via Bandcamp. Their music is available on all streaming platforms. Keep up with the band by following them on Instagram and liking them on Facebook.

Don’t miss the band performing this Saturday, April 2nd at the Fox and Crow in Jersey City! Tickets are available now. Tickets are also available for their upcoming shows at Mercury Lounge, Brooklyn Music Kitchen, and Pino’s.