In 2006, at Syracuse University, Milo Bonacci (guitar / architecture) had an itch to start a new band, something different from the bands he'd played in most of his life. Bonacci met Rebecca Zeller (violin / music business) in an electronic music class, and invited her to join his new project. Zeller recommended Alexandra Lawn (cello / music business) who she knew from various classical ensembles. Mathieu Santos (bass / painting) had played in one of Bonacci's earlier bands, so he was a natural choice; John Pike was a well-known drummer on campus, and through mutual friends found himself, along with his good friend Wesley Miles (keyboard, vocals/physics), at Ra Ra Riot's first practice.
What quickly developed in that winter of 2006 was exactly what Bonacci was craving - a healthy dose of dance-party-inspiring rock 'n' roll - but also contained more dramatic and unexpected elements that grew from Zeller and Lawn's dueling strings and the remarkable, Morrissey-meets-Tom Verlaine voice of Miles.
What quickly developed in that winter of 2006 was exactly what Bonacci was craving - a healthy dose of dance-party-inspiring rock 'n' roll - but also contained more dramatic and unexpected elements that grew from Zeller and Lawn's dueling strings and the remarkable, Morrissey-meets-Tom Verlaine voice of Miles.
