Rilo Kiley performed their first concert at Spaceland in Los Angeles in January 1998.[2] Their debut EP, Rilo Kiley (later reissued as The Initial Friend EP), was released in 1999. In 2000, Sennett and Lewis played fictionalized versions of themselves on ABC's drama Once & Again, with the band also performing "The Frug" on the episode. The band signed with independent label Barsuk Records for its first full-length album, Take-Offs and Landings, in 2001. The band later signed with Omaha's Saddle Creek Records and released The Execution of All Things in 2002. In 2004, they released More Adventurous on its imprint, Brute/Beaute Records, which was distributed by major label Warner Bros. Records. The band later signed directly with Warner Bros.
The band's fourth album Under the Blacklight was released August 20, 2007 in the United Kingdom[3] and the following day in the United States.[4] Its first single is "The Moneymaker". For the video, the band cast "real-life porn stars," which Lewis says were told they were auditioning for "softcore porn."[5] The second single is "Silver Lining."
The group was also known for its charitable contributions, particularly to the Elliott Smith Memorial Fund, in honor of the late singer and friend of the band. Sennett and Lewis participated in a memorial concert for the singer shortly after he died in 2003. In 2007, the band contributed a t-shirt, which was designed by de Reeder for the Yellow Bird Project to benefit the Elliott Smith Memorial Fund.[6]
Hiatus and breakup
In a 2010 interview with Paste, Jason Boesel said the band was taking a break but working on a compilation of unreleased songs. He also said there were no plans to release a new album in the near future.[7]
In an April 2011 interview, Blake Sennett said, "I would say that if Rilo Kiley were ... hmmm ... a human being ... hmmm ... he's probably laying on his back in a morgue with a tag on his toe. Now, I see movies where the dead get up and walk. And when they do that, rarely do good things happen."[8]
In June 2011, when asked about his "corpse" comment and whether Rilo Kiley was indeed dead, Sennett said, "I never say never. I loved Rilo Kiley—I loved writing with Jenny. I think she's a great artist and great to write with. I think we're not there yet. Maybe one day we'll dust it off and give it a go; I'd be open to it. I think it was fun—for all of the pitfalls, it was great. I had a great time in Rilo Kiley. I always did."[9]
A month later, Sennett told AOL Spinner: "I said, 'Fuck that, I can't do this anymore.' That being said, it was probably immature and came from a place of ego. I think that stuff will rear its head in anything you do, depending on the personnel you surround yourself with; things change over time [sic], and people change, and relationships change."
In February 2013, the band announced a collection of previously released rarities and unreleased material, titled Rkives, to be released in April 2013 on DeReeder's label, the Little Record Company.[10]
In a 2014 interview with the National Post, Jenny Lewis confirmed the band had officially broken up.[11]
In April 2015, Blake Sennett joined Jenny Lewis and her band on stage at Coachella for a performance of the Rilo Kiley song "Portions for Foxes."[12]
Since embarking on a solo career, Jenny Lewis has enlisted the help of drummer Jason Boesel for percussion on studio recordings. He was also part of Lewis' live band for her 2019 tour.
Origin of the band's name
On the syndicated radio show Loveline in August 2005, Sennett explained that he had a dream in which a sports almanac was chasing him: "When it got me, I leafed through it...and I came upon an Australian rules football player from the 19th century named Rilo Kiley. It's kind of embarrassing." When asked by co-host Drew Pinsky if he had ever seen this name in reality, Sennett said, "I don't think so, I don't think that character exists...If you Google 'Rilo Kiley, ' you will just come back with a lot of pictures of us." On how this imaginary name became the name for the band: "I wrote it down on a blotter, an office desk when I woke up, and, I don't know, I came back to it when we were trying to think of a name, and we thought we'd use that for one show then change it, 'cause who'd want that name? Who can remember that anyway?"[13]
In 2005, Sennett told the teletext magazine Planet Sound that the name came from a Scottish athlete.[citation needed] On a 2005 episode of the MSNBC entertainment show MSNBC Entertainment Hot List, the female host stated that the name came from "old Scottish sports almanacs." In the following interview segment, Sennett stated, "We just looked in there, and the name of one of the star players from the turn of the century was Rilo Kiley."[citation needed]
In an interview published in Q magazine in September 2007, Sennett stated that Rilo Kiley is named after a character he'd met in a dream who had predicted the date of Jenny Lewis' death.[citation needed]
