The Lifeline, who recently played an amazing show at Chicago's Lakeshore Theater, is a band that is an eclectic mix of inspiration and
creativity. They perform with no apologies and are able to produce
everything heard on their album in a live setting. Ryan Hope can sing
like an angel. And Rebecca Faber is able to play the violin
brilliantly, while wearing a pair of leopard print heels that could
make any female jealous. They’re extremely passionate about their
craft and want to open your ears to it.

The Lifeline creates a recipe of music that makes you wonder if you’ll
even like it. But they prove that all it takes is one small bite to
get hooked by their delicious melodies and appetizing emotion. I was
able to interview Ryan and Rebecca and ask how they perfected their
recipe of beautiful music.

Buzz: It’s good to meet you guys. I have to ask, just because of one
my old bands had a female singer: Rebecca, are there still gigs where
security thinks that you are a girlfriend of the band?

Rebecca: Oh, just earlier they didn’t want to let me in. It seriously
happens quite a bit. So, I just said I was in the band.

Buzz: Then they just let you go right through, right?

Rebecca: Yeah, you know they aren’t as nice in certain places. Because
they don’t respect the women that hang with the band guys. They think
I am a groupie or something like that.

Ryan: Tell you what though, as soon as they see her play, they change
their story.

Rebecca: Yeah, you learn to ignore it.

Buzz: That’s cool to hear. Who’s idea was it to have Rebecca play the
violin or to even have a violin player in the band?

Rebecca: It was my idea. [laughter from Rebecca and Ryan]

Buzz: Really? That is awesome! So was it like, “Hey guys I want to be
in a band. Hire me.”?

Rebecca: No, we were friends. After being friends for a while, I heard
a recording of him in his first band and it was so good, it was so
cute. He wanted to get in a different band and a different musical
situation. We just started playing and then I knew the talent that was
in front of me. So then I told myself, “I definitely want to play with
that.”

Buzz: So what made you decide on the violin rather than an instrument
like the electric cello?

Rebecca: This is my instrument since I was 9.

Buzz: So then is it a Stradivarius?

Rebecca: I wish, but no. I actually take around cheaper equipment on
tour because it gets damaged so easily, and that’s why I leave the
nice stuff at home.

Buzz: That would make sense. One thing that you guys do really well is
orchestration. Bands like Metallica are able to take one album and
incorporate parts of the orchestra with every song, but you guys
incorporate string orchestrations on every single song. How do you
guys orchestrate multi-layered stringed instruments with the premise
of a rock band? Does it ever get difficult?

Rebecca: Some songs are more challenging than others.

Ryan: It depends on how we write it.

Rebecca: Yes, especially if we write it with heavy guitars, which make
it harder to incorporate strings and do it tastefully. But most of the
time, I some how make it work. And we sometimes don’t write the songs
the same way either.

Ryan: Yeah and sometimes she’ll come to me with a pretty involved
violin concept. Then we are just able to take that concept and mold
the guitar and drum parts around that. It depends on how the song idea
was conceived.

Buzz: That explains how your song “Romeo and Juliet” was made. You
took a hook from Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet and made it into a
rock song. Are there any other classical pieces that inspire you like
that one has?

Rebecca: That is the most direct way I have taken a classical piece
and really inspired a song. All of my parts are inspired by classical
music, mainly because I love classical music. It’s only natural that I
will incorporate that with our style of a band.

Buzz: What is it about a piece of music that makes you go: “That’s the
song I want to put on our album.”?

Rebecca: For me, it’s two things: how my ears like it and how my heart
likes it. Because, emotionally, I have to connect to the song in order
to really, really love it. Whether I am listening to another band or
whether it’s our own music.

Ryan: I would have to agree with her on that. I mean, for me, I think
the moment where I can say, “That’s it!” is when the hairs on the back
of my neck stand up. You know, when we hit that high note or that peak
of the song, usually that’s what does it for me. I totally agree with
Rebecca. It’s how it touches me emotionally. My lyrics can be pretty
personal. It’s kind of a combination between how the music touches me
emotionally and how the words and everything just come together in the
end.

Buzz: What is the constant inspiration that enthuses your creativity
in writing such great music?

Ryan: Probably each other. We’ve been friends and we’ve played music
together for so long that when it comes down to it, we put our heads
together as a team. I think that’s when we get most inspired. I always
have different bands and movies that I can go back to and get inspired
from. Really, what it comes down to, is that it’s really the two of us
that make this band what it really is. I think that Rebecca is
definitely my inspiration.

Rebecca: That’s very sweet.

Ryan: I mean it.

Rebecca: I always go back to classical music whenever I need
inspiration. There’s such a large amount of it and so much of it so
emotionally charged, that it makes it difficult to write from the
standpoint of a classical piece. It’s easier to feel more emotion from
the classical piece, and use that emotion toward the writing in the
band.

Ryan: Movies really do it for me. Like, The Dark Knight.

Rebecca: I love Hans Zimmer.

Ryan: We even have a song called “Why So Serious” that was inspired
after the Joker theme. Everything about that movie; visually, the
sounds, everything was really inspiring to me. Some of my other
favorites are Good Will Hunting and The Pursuit of Happiness. Movies
are definitely an inspiration for me.