Rilo Kiley
Encyclopedia
Rilo Kiley (ˈraɪloʊ ˈkaɪliː ) was an American indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 band based in Los Angeles. Formed in 1998, the band consisted of Jenny Lewis
Jenny Lewis
Jennifer Diane Lewis , is an American singer-songwriter musician and actress. She was the primary vocalist of the indie rock band Rilo Kiley, and has released two solo albums. She currently performs as part of the duo Jenny & Johnny with boyfriend Johnathan Rice...

, Blake Sennett
Blake Sennett
Blake Sennett is the lead guitarist for indie rock band Rilo Kiley and the lead singer/lead guitarist for his alt-rock side project the Elected. He was born as Blake Sennett Swendson in San Diego, California. He attended La Jolla High School with his Rilo Kiley bandmate Pierre De Reeder...

, Pierre de Reeder, and Jason Boesel
Jason Boesel
Jason Boesel was the drummer for Rilo Kiley and has also played with The Elected. He also drummed in the Bright Eyes touring band during their 2005 tour, and went on to write the liner notes for the consequent Bright Eyes live album, Motion Sickness and contributing to Bright Eyes' 2007 record,...

.

The group released their debut album Take-Offs and Landings
Take-Offs and Landings
Take Offs and Landings is Rilo Kiley's debut full-length album, originally released in 2001 on the independent label Barsuk Records. It was re-released in 2007 and released for the first time on vinyl on March 15, 2011....

 under Seattle-based independent label Barsuk Records
Barsuk Records
Barsuk Records is an independent record label based in Seattle, Washington, started and still managed by the members of the band This Busy Monster, Christopher Possanza and Josh Rosenfeld, who created the label in 1994 to release their band's material. Its logo is a drawing of a dog holding a...

 in 2001. Since then, they have released three additional studio albums and several EPs
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

. In 2007, they were signed with major record label Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

, and consequently made their major record label debut Under the Blacklight
Under the Blacklight
Under the Blacklight is the fourth and final full-length studio album released by American alternative rock band Rilo Kiley. It was released on August 20, 2007, in the United Kingdom - three years and three days after the release of their third album, More Adventurous. Warner Bros. Records released...

.

History

Fronted by former child actors Jenny Lewis
Jenny Lewis
Jennifer Diane Lewis , is an American singer-songwriter musician and actress. She was the primary vocalist of the indie rock band Rilo Kiley, and has released two solo albums. She currently performs as part of the duo Jenny & Johnny with boyfriend Johnathan Rice...

 (Troop Beverly Hills
Troop Beverly Hills
Troop Beverly Hills is a 1989 American comedy film. Produced by Weintraub Entertainment Group and directed by Jeff Kanew, it starred Shelley Long, Craig T...

, The Wizard) and Blake Sennett
Blake Sennett
Blake Sennett is the lead guitarist for indie rock band Rilo Kiley and the lead singer/lead guitarist for his alt-rock side project the Elected. He was born as Blake Sennett Swendson in San Diego, California. He attended La Jolla High School with his Rilo Kiley bandmate Pierre De Reeder...

 (Salute Your Shorts
Salute Your Shorts
Salute Your Shorts is an American comedy television series that aired on Nickelodeon from 1991–1992 and in reruns until early 1999. It was last rerun on Nickelodeon GaS from July through September of 2003....

, Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...

), the band signed with independent label Barsuk Records
Barsuk Records
Barsuk Records is an independent record label based in Seattle, Washington, started and still managed by the members of the band This Busy Monster, Christopher Possanza and Josh Rosenfeld, who created the label in 1994 to release their band's material. Its logo is a drawing of a dog holding a...

 for its first full-length album, Take-Offs and Landings
Take-Offs and Landings
Take Offs and Landings is Rilo Kiley's debut full-length album, originally released in 2001 on the independent label Barsuk Records. It was re-released in 2007 and released for the first time on vinyl on March 15, 2011....

, in 2001. The band later signed with Omaha's Saddle Creek Records
Saddle Creek Records
Saddle Creek Records is an American record label based in Omaha, Nebraska. Started as a college class project on entrepreneurship, the label was founded by Conor Oberst and Justin Oberst in 1993 . Conor soon turned over his role in the company to Robb Nansel...

 and released The Execution of All Things
The Execution of All Things
The Execution of All Things is the second full length album released by Los Angeles-based indie pop band Rilo Kiley. Expanding on their previous musical sound that mostly incorporated guitars, vocals, percussion and pianos, "Execution" contains heavy electronica sampling mixed into the songs in a...

 in 2002. In 2004, it released More Adventurous
More Adventurous
More Adventurous is the third full length album released by Los Angeles based band Rilo Kiley. The album, released on August 17, 2004, marks a significant change in the band's sound with the goal of being "more adventurous" than their previous music...

 on its own imprint, Brute/Beaute Records, which was distributed by major label Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

 The band later signed directly with Warner Bros.

2004 saw a great increase in recognition for the band, as Sennett and Boesel released an album with their band The Elected
The Elected
The Elected are a Los Angeles-based indie rock band. The Elected have released two albums with Sub Pop: Me First in 2004, and Sun, Sun, Sun in 2006...

 and Lewis sang backup on Ben Gibbard
Ben Gibbard
Benjamin "Ben" Gibbard is an American musician known as a member of several successful indie rock bands. He is the lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service, and is also known for his project ¡All-Time Quarterback! and his first band, Pinwheel.-Personal life and career:Gibbard was...

's indie electronic Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Ben Gibbard , Chris Walla , Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr ....

 side project The Postal Service
The Postal Service
The Postal Service is an American electronic indie pop band composed of vocalist Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and producer Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel and Headset.-Background:...

. Lewis toured with The Postal Service before heading out on two tours in support of Rilo Kiley's More Adventurous in the summer and fall of 2004. The album spent late 2004 high on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

s Heatseekers Chart, and was promoted with appearances on the Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...

 and Jimmy Kimmel Live
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Jimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.The nightly hour-long show made its debut on January 26, 2003, following Super Bowl XXXVII. Jimmy Kimmel Live! is produced by Jackhole Productions in association with ABC Studios...

. The band opened for Bright Eyes on the international leg of Conor Oberst
Conor Oberst
Conor Mullen Oberst is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, Norman Bailer , Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, and Monsters of Folk.-Musical career:Oberst began...

's tour for 2005's I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning is one of two Bright Eyes albums released on January 25, 2005, by Saddle Creek Records.-Songs:The music video for "First Day of My Life" was directed by John Cameron Mitchell....

 and was the opening act for the North American dates of Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...

's Twisted Logic Tour in Fall 2005. "I Never" and "Ripchord" (from More Adventurous
More Adventurous
More Adventurous is the third full length album released by Los Angeles based band Rilo Kiley. The album, released on August 17, 2004, marks a significant change in the band's sound with the goal of being "more adventurous" than their previous music...

) have been featured in several feature films, including Must Love Dogs
Must Love Dogs
Must Love Dogs is a 2005 romantic comedy film based on the book written by Claire Cook. It is the third film directed and written by Gary David Goldberg. The film, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, was produced on a budget of $30 million...

, Conversations with Other Women
Conversations with Other Women
Conversations with Other Women is 2005 comedy drama film directed by Hans Canosa, written by Gabrielle Zevin, starring Aaron Eckhart and Helena Bonham Carter....

, and John Tucker Must Die
John Tucker Must Die
John Tucker Must Die is a 2006 American high school comedy romance film, directed by Betty Thomas.The film is about a trio of girls who plot to break the heart of manipulative basketball star John Tucker after they learn he has been secretly dating all three and pledging each is "the one"...

.

The group is also known for its charitable contributions, particularly to the Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith
Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...

 Memorial Fund, in honor of the late singer and friend of the band. Sennett and Lewis participated in a memorial concert for the singer shortly after his death in 2003. Sennett and Lewis also contributed to the 2005 UNICEF benefit song, "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?
Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?
"Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?" is a charity single inspired by "Do They Know It's Christmas?". It was released on October 11, 2005 in Canada on Vice Records by a cast of rock artists and other performers under the name "North American Hallowe'en Prevention Initiative"...

".

The band's fourth album Under the Blacklight
Under the Blacklight
Under the Blacklight is the fourth and final full-length studio album released by American alternative rock band Rilo Kiley. It was released on August 20, 2007, in the United Kingdom - three years and three days after the release of their third album, More Adventurous. Warner Bros. Records released...

 was released August 20, 2007 in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States. Its first single is "The Moneymaker". For the video, the band cast "real-life porn stars", who Lewis says were told they were auditioning for "soft core porn". The second single is "Silver Lining".

On September 6, 2007, the band began a North American tour in support of Under the Blacklight. On this tour, it was joined by Orenda Fink
Orenda Fink
Orenda Fink is a musician on Saddle Creek Records.Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Fink was half of the Southern dream pop duo Azure Ray from 2001 to 2004. Fink is also a former member of Now It's Overhead, another Saddle Creek band. She released her first full-length solo album Invisible Ones on...

 (of Azure Ray
Azure Ray
Azure Ray is an American dream pop duo, consisting of musicians Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink. The pair met at the age of 15 at the Alabama School of Fine Arts...

) and Kristin Gundred (of Grand Ole Party
Grand Ole Party
Grand Ole Party was a three-piece band from San Diego, California consisting of singer-drummer Kristin Gundred, guitarist John Paul Labno and bassist Michael Krechnyak. They started playing in San Diego in mid-2006, having moved from the San Francisco area...

).

In April 2009 Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....

 named Portions for Foxes number 376 in their list of 500 greatest Songs Since You Were Born.

In a 2010 interview with Paste
Paste (magazine)
Paste is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine published in the United States by Wolfgang's Vault. Its tagline is "Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture."-History:...

, Jason Boesel stated that the band is on hiatus but are currently working a compilation of unreleased songs. He also stated that there are no plans to release a new album within the near future.

In an April 2011 interview, Blake Sennett stated that, "I would say that if Rilo Kiley were…hmmm…a human being…hmmm…he’s probably laying on his back in a morgue with a tag on his toe. Now, I see movies where the dead get up and walk. And when they do that, rarely do good things happen."

In June 2011, when asked about his "corpse" comment and whether Rilo Kiley was indeed dead, Sennett said "I never say never. I loved Rilo Kiley—I loved writing with Jenny. I think she’s a great artist and great to write with. I think we’re not there yet. Maybe one day we’ll dust it off and give it a go; I’d be open to it. I think it was fun—for all of the pitfalls, it was great. I had a great time in Rilo Kiley. I always did."

One month later, however, Blake Sennett announced in an interview with Spinner that the band will not be returning after hiatus and said, "I just felt like there was a lot of deception, disloyalty, greed and things I don't really want to submit myself to." As he officially announced the end of the band, he also said, "I had related that frustration to music but I just thought, 'I'm not going to put myself in that position again,' so I said, 'F--- that, I can't do this anymore.' That being said, it was probably immature and that came from a place of ego. I think that stuff will rear its head in anything you do, depending on the personnel you surround yourself with; things change overtime [sic] and people change and relationships change."

Television appearances

The band's songs have frequently been used on television programs, such as The O.C.
The O.C.
The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on the Fox television network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 21, 2007, running a total of four seasons...

 and Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...

. The apparent first use of Rilo Kiley music on a television show was also the last time that Blake Sennett and Jenny Lewis acted on television. In 2000, they played fictionalized versions of themselves (and the band performed "The Frug") on ABC's short-lived drama Once & Again. Both "The Frug" and "85" were used during a third season episode of Dawson's Creek (#46, "Barefoot At Capefest"). Commenting on this, Lewis said, "We felt honored and grateful to have our music on a show with the integrity and credibility that Dawson's Creek has so rightly earned. We feel proud also that they chose to play our songs during such poignant points in the episode." "Pictures of Success" was used in episode #114 of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, entitled "Older and Far Away". In 2005, "Portions For Foxes" was used in the pilot of Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...

 and "With Arms Outstretched" was used in the pilot of Weeds
Weeds (TV series)
Weeds is an American television comedy created by Jenji Kohan and produced by Tilted Productions in association with Lionsgate Television. The central character is Nancy Botwin , a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling marijuana to support her family after her husband dies suddenly of a...

. For a second-season episode of Weeds, Lewis sang the theme song ("Little Boxes
Little Boxes
"Little Boxes" is a song written by Malvina Reynolds in 1962, which became a hit for her friend Pete Seeger in 1963.The song is a political satire about the development of suburbia and associated conformist middle-class attitudes...

") with Johnathan Rice
Johnathan Rice
Johnathan Rice is a Scottish-American singer-songwriter. His first album, Trouble is Real, was released on Reprise Records on April 26, 2005. His follow up, Further North, was released by Reprise on September 11, 2007...

 who was touring with the band. "Silver Lining" was featured in the pilot of "Women's Murder Club
Women's Murder Club
Women's Murder Club is an American police procedural and legal drama, which ran on ABC from October 12, 2007, to May 13, 2008. The series is set in San Francisco, California and is based on the 'Women's Murder Club' series of novels written by James Patterson...

". The song "Breakin' Up" was featured in a fourth season episode of Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...

. "The Moneymaker" was used on an episode of "Nip/Tuck
Nip/Tuck
Nip/Tuck is an American drama series created by Ryan Murphy, which aired on FX in the United States. The series focuses on McNamara/Troy, a plastic surgery practice, and follows its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy...

" that aired on December 11, 2007 and on an episode of Samantha Who?
Samantha Who?
Samantha Who? is an American television sitcom that originally aired on ABC from October 15, 2007 to July 23, 2009. The series was created by Cecelia Ahern and Don Todd, who also served as producers...

 that aired on April 16, 2009. "The Good That Won't Come Out" was featured quietly in the background of the Season 4 Episode 4 episode of Heroes
Heroes (TV series)
Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...

 "Hysterical Blindness" on 10/12/2009.

Origin of the band's name

On the syndicated radio show Loveline
Loveline
Loveline is a syndicated radio call-in program in North America, offering medical and relationship advice to listeners, often with the assistance of guests, typically actors and musicians. Its flagship station is KROQ-FM in Los Angeles....

 in August 2005, Sennett explained that he had a dream in which he was being chased by a sports almanac: "when it got me, I leafed through it...and I came upon an Australian-rules football player from the 19th century named Rilo Kiley. It's kind of embarrassing." When asked by co-host Drew Pinsky
Drew Pinsky
David Drew Pinsky , best known as Dr. Drew, is an American board-certified internist, addiction medicine specialist, and radio and television personality. He has hosted the nationally syndicated radio talk show Loveline since the show's inception in 1984. On television, he hosts the talk show Dr...

 if he had ever seen this name in reality, Sennett said, "I don't think so, I don't think that character exists...If you Google 'Rilo Kiley' you just come back with a lot of pictures of us." On how this imaginary name became the name for the band: "I wrote it down on a blotter, an office desk when I woke up, and, I don't know, I came back to it when we were trying to think of a name and we thought we'd use that for one show then change it, 'cause who'd want that name? Who can remember that anyway?"

In 2005, Sennett told Planet Sound
Planet Sound
Planet Sound was a Teletext music page on ITV and Channel 4 in the UK. It was broadcast on analogue Teletext from page 340, and on digital Teletext from page 820. From May 24, 2007, Planet Sound was also available to read online via the Teletext website...

 Teletext Magazine that the name came from a Scottish athlete. On a 2005 episode of the MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...

 entertainment show MSNBC Entertainment Hot List, the female host stated that the name came from "old Scottish sports almanacs". In the interview segment that followed, Sennett stated, "We just looked in there and the name of one of the star players from the turn of the century was Rilo Kiley."

In an interview published in Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...

 magazine in September 2007, Sennett offered this explanation: "Rilo Kiley is named after a character he'd met in a dream who had predicted the date of Jenny Lewis' death."

Current members

  • Jenny Lewis
    Jenny Lewis
    Jennifer Diane Lewis , is an American singer-songwriter musician and actress. She was the primary vocalist of the indie rock band Rilo Kiley, and has released two solo albums. She currently performs as part of the duo Jenny & Johnny with boyfriend Johnathan Rice...

     – vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass guitar
  • Blake Sennett
    Blake Sennett
    Blake Sennett is the lead guitarist for indie rock band Rilo Kiley and the lead singer/lead guitarist for his alt-rock side project the Elected. He was born as Blake Sennett Swendson in San Diego, California. He attended La Jolla High School with his Rilo Kiley bandmate Pierre De Reeder...

     – guitar, keyboards, vocals
  • Pierre de Reeder – bass guitar, guitar, vocals
  • Jason Boesel
    Jason Boesel
    Jason Boesel was the drummer for Rilo Kiley and has also played with The Elected. He also drummed in the Bright Eyes touring band during their 2005 tour, and went on to write the liner notes for the consequent Bright Eyes live album, Motion Sickness and contributing to Bright Eyes' 2007 record,...

     – drums, percussion

Discography

  • Rilo Kiley (1999) (Also known as The Initial Friend EP)
  • Take Offs and Landings (2001)
  • The Execution of All Things
    The Execution of All Things
    The Execution of All Things is the second full length album released by Los Angeles-based indie pop band Rilo Kiley. Expanding on their previous musical sound that mostly incorporated guitars, vocals, percussion and pianos, "Execution" contains heavy electronica sampling mixed into the songs in a...

     (2002)
  • More Adventurous
    More Adventurous
    More Adventurous is the third full length album released by Los Angeles based band Rilo Kiley. The album, released on August 17, 2004, marks a significant change in the band's sound with the goal of being "more adventurous" than their previous music...

     (2004)
  • Under the Blacklight
    Under the Blacklight
    Under the Blacklight is the fourth and final full-length studio album released by American alternative rock band Rilo Kiley. It was released on August 20, 2007, in the United Kingdom - three years and three days after the release of their third album, More Adventurous. Warner Bros. Records released...

     (2007)

External links


http://www.scenepointblank.com/news/splits/rilo-kiley-no-longer-on-hiatus-but-broken-up
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