RIIB is the latest creative iteration of James Mainwaring, a Leeds based musician who has veered from way out jazz to indie and back again.
The project has been ongoing for some time, sits somewhere between those two poles. James' journey has taken him from working alongside Mercury nominees Django Django to the jazz fluidity of Roller Trio, allowing him to tour the country in the process.
James explains: "About once a year I go into isolation/hibernation mode and become a bedroom singer-songwriter, nobody normally hears what I do, but the one leading up to RIIB was long and I felt like I’d reached something I hadn’t reached before, so I decided to share some of the results with a few people including a promoter and a producer. They were very supportive; offering me some solo gigs and recording time."
"Around the same time, I received an email from Django Django who I’d met at the 2012 Mercury Prize show asking me to do some recording and to go on tour with them and I decided to join, hearing their stories, meeting their fans and playing some big shows was inspiring. I also started playing guitar on a couple of their songs."
The difference between Roller Trio and Django Django, it seems, is quite stark. "Composing for Roller Trio and my more jazz inspired projects is completely different to writing songs and the approaches are challenging in different ways. Some of the songs I’ve written intensively over a few days, spread out over months, or in real time. ‘Conveyor Belt’ was one of the real-time ones that was almost improvised after watching a documentary called Food, inc. I think RIIB’s style has some crossover with Roller Trio, within the harmony and the use of odd time signatures and drummer Luke Reddin-Williams who is also in Roller Trio has brought his highly individual style and all round amazing skills to it."
"Now that RIIB’s line-up has settled, I’m looking forward to recording more and doing some collaborative writing, bringing more energy to the tunes and our live shows."
'Conveyor Belt' is a sharp-as-a-tack introduction to where RIIB could lead – check it out now.
RIIB's new single is part of a split release on Come Play With Me – it drops on July 14th.
