Ivan & Alyosha builds their legend, one thoughtful, exuberant pop song at a time.
Despite nods from Filter, Spinner and National Public Radio, Ivan & Alyosha retains a thin veil of fashionable obscurity. This is probably due to the band’s patience in building its fan base, anthill-style, from the foundation up. Six years, three EPs, and a growing number of high-profile notices into their career, Ivan & Alyosha just released of their first full-length record, “All the Times We Had.”
I’m used to being the “you” in “you probably haven’t heard of them,” so I felt way ahead of the curve last week when I caught Ivan & Alyosha in the wake of their appearance at SXSW 2013. It’s bleakly revealing of southern California’s musical savvy that, following a festival lineup with Ra Ra Riot and Cold War Kids, the band was playing a dive bar in a neglected neighborhood of San Diego.
The upside, however, was that I didn’t have to fight through a crowd of screaming fans–or the fiercely sullen hipster mob that Ivan & Alyosha’s sound is more likely to draw–to get a few words with band frontman and co-founder Tim Wilson.
Like all the press that came before me, I must issue the following disclaimer: there is no Ivan nor Alyosha in this band. Smart kids will recognize the reference to Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, a novel which neither of the band’s founders had read when Eli Thomson, the producer of their first EP, suggested the name to them.
Tim says he honestly doesn’t know what Thomson had in mind, other than “he thought it sounded like a good band name.” He admits that the polarity between these two literary characters is a good metaphor for themes that his band often sings about–struggle, perseverance, and yes, spirituality.
He guesses that Ryan Carbary, who started the band with him in 2007, would probably answer the question differently. “We’re polar opposites in some ways,” he says, hastening to add, “Not in the way Ivan and Alyosha are.”
The spirituality of their music puts Ivan & Alyosha in thematic company with musical acts like Mumford & Sons, Coldplay, and U2. Tim nods knowingly; he’s heard these comparisons before, as in “Oh, I get it–you guys are like Mumford & Sons.”
I ask whether there’s anything in his life that he wouldn’t sing about.
“I don’t think I’d ever air any personal grudge,” he answers, “or something personally specific to a relationship. That always irks me–the John Mayers of the world, where there’s no filter.
“The beautiful thing about writing three-minute pop songs is you don’t have to say certain things [but can] tell the same story. That’s what’s fun about it.”
Download “Glorify” by Ivan & Alyosha
It surprised me to find that comparisons are frequently made between Ivan & Alyosha and the Beatles…sometimes complimentary, sometimes condescending. Musically, I don’t see it, unless it’s in the quality of Tim’s vocals. But maybe what they mean is the band’s sensibility. Agreeing, Tim fondly reflects, “I think we’re just a pop band at heart.”
This may be why my point-blank question about whether their spiritual overtones are indicative of any religious roots sends him slightly reeling.
As I apologize for being so abrupt, he searches for an answer to make. It seems he’s out of practice answering this question, if he’s ever had to answer it all. Halfway into a sentence, he stops, then says,
“I’m going to start over.”
A few of the guys in the band grew up in the evangelical church, he says, and one grew up Catholic. Their band isn’t and never has been a Christian band according to the popular definition, not even in the “church kids made us who we are but we’ve moved past them” sense.
“We don’t skirt around the issue; we’re into Jesus,” Tim acknowledges. “But I don’t ascribe to the evangelical world. I’m more into truth.
“I don’t think people care what you believe as long as you’re good to them and make good music. Then maybe they’ll care.”
Ivan & Alyosha first hooked me with “Be Your Man,” a tune that quickly became the darling of alternative radio. It’s sentimental, boyish, and retro reminiscent, and it isn’t ashamed to be that way. Indeed, many of their songs tip a hat to the early years of rock and roll. But progress–technological as well as musical–puts muscle on that ingenuous backbone. From the Buddy Holly-flavored “Be Your Man,” which opened their set, to the Mazzy Star slide on “God or Man,” to the distortion-heavy “Beautiful Lie” which leads off like Mott the Hoople and gives way to a Lennon-McCartney bridge, every Ivan & Alyosha tune hints at a well-loved record sitting on top of a stack back home.
(Incidentally, I defy anyone to find another song set that references those four bands all together.)
San Diego crowds aren’t known for their responsiveness, unless it’s a beach concert or the band is Sublime. But the crowd is surprisingly warm, as well as large. Bassist Pete Wilson makes wry note of this from the stage.
“It’s good to be playing at the Soda Bar when there’s people here. Thanks to our friends who came when there were only…” He pauses for effect. “Five.”
“The Butlers, mainly,” Tim elaborated, gesturing to some friends of the band, who wave back at him proudly.
That continual gathering of support, says Tim, is the other thing he likes best about their band. It continues to surprise him, maybe even more than the critical acclaim does. On Ivan & Alyosha’s last night at SXSW 2013, they were shocked to see the room empty out immediately after they unplugged; they realized that everyone had been there to see them.
“That’s what this whole tour felt like–people coming for us. Towns we sold 20 tickets in, we’re selling 200 tickets in.”
During the band’s setup, I overhear a guy telling a girl that he flew out from Phoenix for this show. She counters by saying this is her third time seeing Ivan & Alyosha play live. Both are crowded against the stage, waiting for the music to begin.
Despite the boosie fades and the soft vintage clothing, there’s nothing tragic about Ivan & Alyosha’s hip factor. Their show is as free of ostentatious melancholy as it is from charismatic showboating. Band personnel are as connected, comfortable, rambunctious and down-to-business as if they were playing a house party gig in their hometown. They drop into grooves with the satisfying impact of crunching leaves on a sidewalk, building bridges awash in distortion and hi-hat and melodic pulse, giving you that glad-hearted feeling of one too many beers on a really cold night.
“It’s work hard, and do what you want to do.”
Hear the band discuss the making of “All the Times We Had”
Talking to NPR in 2011, Tim expressed his alarm at the number of guys his age who make excuses for why they can’t do the things they dream about. I ask him how he avoided falling into that pattern.
“I don’t know!” he exclaims, looking wide-eyed at the empty street. “Being dumb enough to think I could make money at music?” He acknowledges his parents for encouraging him that he could pull it off, though they never pretended to have any idea how. He also gives credit to a childhood rebellious streak.
“If people told me I couldn’t do something, I just wouldn’t listen.”
He grins.
“That can be destructive; sometimes, it can be really healthy.”
Ivan & Alyosha play several dates in Canada this spring, including the Media Club in Vancouver on Thursday, May 9. See their tour schedule here.
Listen to Ivan & Alyosha here.
See more photos from their show at the Soda Bar.
Download a free Ivan & Alyosha EP from Noisetrade.
