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Forming a band in high school has always been a cheat code for adolescence: it cemented status, created healthy group dynamics and most importantly allowed you to creatively expunge so much of the anxiety & awkwardness native to teenage years. What isn’t expected is that you kick off some truly impressive music that resonates with a maturity that has us second guessing its source, but that’s what Riff Wood has done on their sophomore album ‘Butterfly in Black And White’ is a masterpiece of youth anthems for all ages. Wow got to catch up wont this franticly talented three piece in LA, and got to dig into how they got so good so young, inspiration and more:

OnesToWatch: Who are you? 

Hyram Russen: My name is Hyram Russen, and I am one of the guitarists and vocalists for the group. 

Carson Groves: My name is Carson Groves. I am the other guitarist and vocalist of the group. 

Shredder: I am Shredder, the drummer. 


That's a proper drummer name. What brought you guys together? How did you become a group? 

Shredder: School, pretty much. We met at the end of elementary school and we thought it'd be fun to start a band. 

Carson Groves: We saw this show on Netflix called Julie and the Phantoms. It's about this band that comes together and we said, we want to do that. So we picked our instruments and learned with each other. 

Did you guys play in any other bands prior or is this the one and only band you've ever been in? 


Hyram: One and only band. We liked the idea of a band. I just said, I want to play guitar. Carson said, I want to play guitar and then Shredder didn't have any other options. 

Let's get into the writing process. Obviously group dynamics are always interesting. Do you guys have assigned roles? Do you mix and match between melody, top line? 


Hyram: I wouldn't say it's assigned roles. It's kind of just what happens for the most part. It ends up being me and Carson usually starting the melodies and sometimes we work on lyrics together or we do it all by ourselves. But then we bring it into the studio with everyone else, including Shredder, we make the layout of the song, maybe we'll add a bridge somewhere or add an instrumental part in another place. So that's kind of how it finishes. 


Shredder: Yeah, I think it's all just subjective per song. It's all different. Always. 

From when you guys start to when you end, how different are the songs?
Do they change remarkably when you kind of get to the studio and start mixing it up? 

Hyram: I don't think they really change that much. They get better, but they don't really change that much. 

Carson: For the 2nd album, Butterfly in Black and White, we had it completely written before we went into the studio and it was basically the exact way we were imagining it. We added a few instruments, but other than that, we stayed pretty true to the original of what we wrote down. 

I know some older bands that could use your efforts in creating an album. 

Hyram: Well, the reason that happens is because the way we write songs is not really “push them all out.” I know that would probably be a good way to get more practice, but we're so particular on how our songs sound and how good we want them to be.
So if we have an idea that we really like, we'll just focus all of our attention on that. Then we end up having 12 really good songs that we're proud of, instead of 50 songs and cutting 40 bad ones. 

Carson: We basically write with the intention of it going on a record. And if we don't think it has potential for it, we scrap it. And like Hyram said, it could be good or bad, but it works for us, so it's what we just do. 

Obviously, you guys are celebrated already for being a good live band, is the intentionality with the songs because of that? Do you envision them being performed live?

Hyram: I think that's always something we consider when writing, is how we're going to play it live. Sometimes I'll be writing a song and just think like, what can I add that's good for the song, but also makes it better live, whether that's adding in some sort of vocal line that that the crowd can sing and I can encourage them to sing, but it also makes the song better. We look for that a lot. 

Carson: It'll obviously progress, but our sound right now doesn't even require anything outside of what we can do live. So we're not adding a bunch of synths, extra noises or background music. Sometimes we can add little things, but we can always play it live. 

Do you guys envision a period when you would have a much more layered sound? 

Hyram: Some songs, definitely. But I think we'll always stay true to our root. 

Carson: I mean, we could someday down the road, an album or two away, try something completely new.

Hyram: The Beatles, the Beatles went from “I want to hold your hand” to “Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds.”
But then they made their way back to “Let it Be.”

Carson: I think we're always trying to get better and already starting to try some new things. 

Shredder: I think it's really cool that 3 or 4 guys just get up on stage and it sounds exactly like it does on the record. But we have experimented with strings and stuff already, and I can see us doing more of that. 

I do love the idea that when you put out an album, sometimes it is foundational to the “universe” of a band. Are you building towards the next record? Is it a bookend? Is it a chapter? Do you guys already know where you're going or is it more exploratory? 

Shredder: I think it is more chapter based. 

Carson: It always feels like a bookend when we finish an album. 


Hyram: At least for just the 2 albums we’ve written. It's funny, we had the entire name and album cover for the second record before we had our first album. We just knew that this was going to be our second. 

Carson: We also write songs a long time in advance. So we had some of the songs on this album written when we were writing songs from our first album. While we are releasing this second album, we are writing a ton of songs for a third album. So we're kind of a little ahead. 

With this upcoming record, how did you guys already have it mapped out this far ahead? 

Shredder: A coincidence. The album cover is not released yet, for Butterfly in Black and White, but essentially Hyram was pouring cereal and the milk splattered all over the table. And it made a cool shape. 

Hyram: And I took a picture of it and put it through a bunch of filters on my phone that made it black and white. That was literally when we were 13. Ever since then, we wanted to make that an album cover. Eventually it turned into calling it Butterfly in Black and White. Then we figured out the meaning behind it. Carson came up with a riff and we made that a song and then we put the whole concept of it and symbolism towards the rest of the album. It just worked out really well. But it all came from that milk spill. 

Prodigious. Most of life is great accidents, so that's a fun one. For this album specifically, did you write to that concept, from the milk spill? How did the songs fit together? 

Carson: I think it was more a place we were at the time of writing songs. They just all happen to fit together. 

Shredder: I think it helped that we knew what we wanted the album to be beforehand, so we would write songs to fit that slot. 

Hyram: We were also taking inspiration from different bands than the first album. We were just rapidly finding new artists. 

Carson: But still keeping some of the oldest stuff. 

Hyram: Yeah, so the songs fit together well because we were taking inspiration from certain artists. 


Shredder: I’m thinking about how Blur was intended to be on the second record. 


Hyram: Yeah, it was. It was after we had had most of the first record. And then we just decided to film it and post it in my backyard, and it went viral overnight. So we were like, we'd be stupid not to release this on this first album.
And it was good that we did it because we think it fits the vibe of the first record way more than it does the second. So it was kind of meant to be, I guess. 

I’m curious about your inspirations and influences, because being young musicians, it's such a fun time when you just start exploring and finding more and more music out there. So for this record specifically, what were you guys listening to that helped shape or influence you at all? 

Hyram: We've always been huge, huge Green Day fans, and you can really hear that on the first record, and you still really can on the second. We started listening to a lot more of the Beatles and Radiohead, Shredder listens a lot to The Police and Led Zeppelin, all that. We started listening to a lot of those older bands and some grunge bands, too. 

Carson: Even some newer bands like Djo. 

Do you have an ambition for a record when you put it out there? Do you wish to instill a certain thought or feeling? 

Hyram: We definitely have high ambitions when we think about writing songs, how it's perceived to people and the message that we want to get across. For this album specifically, it's this idea of being in a place where there's a lot of hard things happening, but still coming out with hope. A lot of the songs have that theme, and especially Butterfly in Black and White. 

Carson: Trying to find the positive parts in the darker parts. 

Hyram: Hence black and white. 

I wish I had this balanced intuition when I was younger. 

Carson: We like thinking deep about things. 


Gonna pivot to some more fun questions. Who's the mediator in the band? 

Shredder: Well, that's the hard thing is there's not one of us. 

Carson: We're all pretty good at getting in arguments with each other, but then resolving it. It's easy to get into an argument, but I genuinely think we're pretty good at solving it pretty quickly. 

Hyram: Since we were all just best friends before we even made the band, we really put equal parts of effort into the band. I think the guys would argue that sometimes I get a little bossy, but…

Shredder: We all do, though. 

What about who's sturdy, stable, calm, who's the relaxed member? 


Hyram: I know the answer is the same for all of them. Sometimes the other 2 will be arguing and then you just like step back and be like, I'll just let them handle this. 


Carson: It honestly depends more on that fact that me and Hiram just get into more songwriting arguments. 

Shredder: True, true. 

That's also great equilibrium. When you guys individually need to relax, get zen, what do you do? 

Hyram: I mean, it's not very unique, but I listen to music. Music is just pretty much all I do. We all love to golf too, but a lot of the time that's not relaxing when you're having a bad game. I like to unwind, listen to music or just watch a show or a movie or go outside and hang with my dogs and my friends and family. 

Carson: I just hop on my guitar when I'm when I need to be zen. 

Shredder: Really? I do the opposite. I get away from music. Mostly I turn to art. I draw a little bit here and there. Sometimes I'll turn on a show or read. But I get the most kind of caught up in my head when I'm doing music. 


Carson: Yeah, sometimes it's different though, if you're writing something versus just playing. 

If you guys became a restaurant, the Riff Wood restaurant, what is the band dish, what do you guys serve? 

Hyram: I know what the Hyram dish would be, but I don't know what the band would be. There's this thing from the Great Depression called milk toast. 

Shredder: Way to make it dark. 

Hyram: But it's so good. It's my thing. Basically, you crack eggs in a bowl and then you pour milk in it and then you put it in the microwave and it basically boils the egg. So it's cooked. And then you put salt and pepper in and then cut 2 pieces of toast in it. With cooking scissors. You can use a spoon to cut it. It's that easy. Then the milk gets the toast a little soggy after like 5 minutes. Some people can't handle the texture, but yeah, that would be my thing. 

Okay how's this? You guys are all your own executive chef. So Carson, what's your signature meal? 


Carson: I don't know what food represents me or anything, but I just love street tacos. Some al pastor tacos and maybe some lemonade. 


Shredder: I've been craving kebabs lately. And I would call it riffs and sticks. Riff Wood themed restaurant. 

Hyram: I don't know why, but you do seem like a kebab. 

Shredder: I love a good kebab. 


I like it. Last couple of questions, I would love a non-music recommendation. 

Hyram: I never read in my life, but I just started reading on this tour because I need to do something productive while we're just sitting on the bus. I started reading this book called The Silent Patient, and it's really good. So let me check that out. I'm like halfway through, so I really like it. It's made me want to read more. 

Shredder: Completely way out of nowhere. I've never watched a bad movie with Brad Pitt.

Carson: This is not niche at all, but I really like Marvel, so if you haven't watched any Marvel movies, do that. 

I would also love a music recommendation and our audience is pretty music savvy, so it doesn't have to be something obvious. 


Hyram: I would say Djo, his album, The Crux, it's just a no skip.
It's so good. 

Carson: There's this band that we're friends with on social media called the Paradox.
They're like an upcoming pop punk band. They're super cool guys and I think they're really cool. So check them out. There's also this band in Utah called the Killings. I think they're really good. We just bumped into one of them at the airport the other day. 

Shredder: I was gonna say, pretty, pretty, pretty underground one called The Police… 

Are you a big Stuart Copeland fan? 

Shredder: That's what got me into it. But, I mean, Sting's writing is just phenomenal. But actually, I'll say our openers for this tour, the Cherry Bombs. They've got a really good show. And Willowick, who are opening the other leg of the tour. 

That's great. Lastly, let’s end on your words. 

Riff Wood: Listen to Butterfly in Black and White. Thanks for having us.