It’s not every day that you hear of a band with a drummer that tap dances. In fact, if you’re like me, I’ll venture to say you’ve never heard of one—until now. Meet He’s My Brother She’s My Sister, a band from Southern California that is fronted by brother and sister Robert and Rachel Kolar.
Both bring diverse skill sets to the stage; Robert has the musical background, while Rachel has theatrical and written prowess. Together, with a few of their friends, they comprise a band that is as focused on writing great music as providing an entertaining live performance.
TVD had the chance to talk to the Kolars about their band. Read up on how they grew up, “vaudeville pop,” and how each sibling truly shines on stage!
Tell me about growing up with Rachel. Was there sibling rivalry at all?
Robert: I don’t think there was a rivalry, but Rachel & I had different backgrounds even though we are brother and sister. There were several years where I was at boarding school in England, and Rachel lived in Los Angeles with my folks. There was some time where she was in Hong Kong going to school. In high school, we went to different high schools. She went to a private Catholic school for a while, and I went to a public high school. So we definitely had different upbringings, which brings a different flair for interests. So I don’t know that there was too much of a rivalry. There was definitely biting and scratching when we were kids.
Did you two grow up dabbling in music?
I did much more. Rachel was more drawn to theatre and acting. So she went to NYU for playwriting, and I was busy starting rock ‘n’ roll bands trying get that going. It was much later that she ventured into the realm of music.
Can you tell me a little bit about how the band got started?
Rach and I were both working on different projects, and we decided it would be a fun escape to write some songs together. I was usually the frontman holding the band together, so it was nice to take those reigns and let someone else do some of the singing. I think she liked the idea of exploring a new form of art, and she was always a great writer, a playwriter, so I think she wanted to try her hand at lyricism. So we started the project, and it was just the two of us at first as an acoustic duo.
It’s kind of evolved with various members coming in and out of the picture. Now there’s five of us: Oliver on the upright bass, Aaron on the lap slide, Lauren tap-dancing and drumming simultaneously, Rachel, and myself.
Your music has been described as “vaudeville pop.” Can you explain to me what that means?
No. [laughs] We sometimes make up ones to let critics scramble their brains for a bit. What have we played around with…? Burlesque Blues. Glam-a-Billy. We get tied into the whole Freak Folk movement sometimes with bands of that genre. It varies. Even song-to-song we tend to mix elements, so I think we’ll continue to explore different sounds as well.
What would you say influences your sound?
I like to think of it as a taste from different eras wrapped into this melange or mixture. So different hints of things. You know, I love the new romantic elements of The Smiths, I love the glam rock of T-Rex, the California kind of hippie movement of Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, early Beatles… I think it ranges from different eras. We try to hone a little bit of each and mix it in our own way.
What would you say inspires you when you’re writing the band’s lyrics?
Rachel: My environment, I suppose. Yesterday, Oliver and I went to MIT because we’re in Massachusetts; we went to a great lecture on supernovas. After the lecture, I was so inspired to write lyrics or try to encapsulate what I learned into a song. Whatever my environment provides me with, I seem to just write about. It used to be a lot about movement too—if I’m driving, running, bike riding, melodies seem to just come into my head. When Lauren and I had our theatre company, I was usually writing the plays in rhyme scheme, so I’ve always worked in rhyme. You just look at your environment and pass judgment on it in one way or another, and that somehow translates into song.
I mean, expressive with my writing, definitely. That’s sort of innate. But it has certainly helped me be more expressive with performance; I’m not some kind of shoegazer. I love to fully embody the music. I think the theatre background has helped me to do that. Performing comes quite natural to me. And so, having all the experience on stage, moving on stage, and having to be different characters makes it easier to do the same in music. I think people really enjoy that. I think people actually want to see the music come alive, otherwise they’d just buy a CD, you know what I mean? I think the theatre has helped me more in the performance than the writing. I think the writing is just something that you are born with.
I’m sure you can cultivate a voice, but I think it’s just something you are born with. That’s why people know they want to be writers or express themselves through language.
He’s My Brother She’s My Sister will tickle your fancy if you’re in Cleveland tonight and looking for a raucous performance. They’re playing the Beachland Tavern with Shivering Timbers, and Lowly, The Tree Ghost. Come on out and witness the only band with a tap dancing drummer!
