Rachel Haden grew up in a household where music was as
ubiquitous as Mom’s apple pie. As the daughter of jazz
musician Charlie Haden, one would expect Rachel to have learned
about music in a traditional fashion. However, in a household with
so many varying musical tastes, this couldn’t have been
further from reality.
“My brother Josh listened to a lot of old L.A. punk,
including the Minutemen,” Haden said. “Mike
Watt’s bass playing was like piano playing to me.
That’s how I took up the bass, listening to those old
Minutemen songs. They were like scales to me.”
Haden and her unorthodox style will join former Weezer bassist
Matt Sharp’s band, The Rentals, this Friday at the Henry
Fonda Theater at 9 p.m. This show will be The Rentals’ first
in Los Angeles since 1999, after the band went on a long hiatus. In
October 2005, Sharp reunited the band to not only tour and
celebrate its 10th anniversary, but also to record the band’s
third album, to be released in 2007.
Yet Haden has a history with The Rentals that stretches back
longer than any member of the band aside from Sharp himself.
Haden was approached by Sharp 10 years ago about singing on
songs he had written. While she was unclear on exactly what Sharp
had planned for his music, Haden agreed.
“I wasn’t a member of the band, because there
wasn’t a band yet,” Haden said. “I sang on about
six or seven songs, and Matt started to slowly get a band together
and wanted me to be a part of it, but I couldn’t do it at the
time.”
Rachel’s triplet sister, musician Petra Haden, took over
her vocal duties in The Rentals and became a full-fledged band
member in Rachel’s stead. The songs Rachel had recorded with
Sharp were mostly redone with Petra on vocals and appeared on the
group’s 1995 debut, “Return of The Rentals.”
However, Rachel Haden’s vocals remain intact on one song,
“Move On.”
“It was strange at first to hear all the Petra vocals,
because they sound like me and I originally did them,” Haden
said. “At first I was upset that they redid my vocals, but it
was really my fault because I didn’t want to continue. Now,
it’s like a natural progression ““ like I’m
finishing what I started.”
One of the reasons Haden was not involved with The
Rentals’s initial run was that she was playing bass with L.A.
indie band that dog. with singer/guitarist Anna Waronker for much
of the 1990s. Haden looks back on that dog. and its fans fondly,
but her experience with the group in many ways mirrors
Sharp’s experience with Weezer.
“(Matt) has always had his own musical vision, and I
remember talking with him about that years ago,” Haden said.
“We were both involved with bands where we were very
important to the band but it was ultimately someone else’s
vision. We were both songwriters struggling with that.”
Aside from that dog., Haden spent the years between recording
the first Rentals songs and the band’s recent reunion on a
variety of different projects. She sang with Jimmy Eat World on the
band’s 2001 self-titled LP, and the group took her on tour
for a couple of years during which she provided backup vocals and
played keyboard. Additionally, her tenure with that dog. allowed
her to befriend many musicians, which led to Haden appearing on
songs with various different groups throughout the years including
Ozma, Beck and Nada Surf.
“I took a long break at one point and got a nine-to-five
job and wrote music by myself and didn’t share it with
anyone,” Haden said. “I would get fan mail from people
asking if I fell off the face of the Earth and I would always
ignore that. Now, I’ve realized that this is something I
should be doing, and it gets me excited that there are old fans of
that dog., Weezer and the Rentals who are excited about me
appearing again; I’m able to stop thinking about myself and
just think about making them happy.”
Now that Haden is finishing what she began a decade ago, she
feels lucky to be involved again. Describing what she feels is a
pattern, Haden said she often has a hard time finishing things she
begins. The difference this time is that she has grown as a
musician and a person in the past 10 years and now feels a sense of
accomplishment that she didn’t always get before. In those
years, Haden wasn’t sure if she wanted to even be part of a
band.
“Back then I was confused, asking things like “˜Who
am I?’ “˜Where am I?’ “˜Why am
I?'” Haden said. “Now, I know that music and
singing is what I do, and here I am in this band where the music
and the band are just beautiful.”
Haden’s 10-year, on-and-off journey with The Rentals comes
full circle as the band’s reunion tour kicks off this week.
And as the tour begins, Haden feels that she is finally in a
situation where she feels comfortable both with continuing to
expand as a musician and in returning to play in front of old
friends and fans.
“I think the No. 1 thing people say when they see me is
“˜I miss that dog.; I miss those songs; I miss the
’90s!'” Haden said. “I’m proud that I
was a part of that and that I was able to be an influence on
people. The fans are still there ““ they haven’t given
up.”
For the sake of music fans, it’s a relief that Rachel
Haden hasn’t either.