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Back to Part I
Although Ra is a new name for most of us, their newfound success didn't
come overnight. In fact, after spending five years butting heads with an
industry that thrives on conformity Sahaj was about ready to throw in the
towel when fate came calling and gave the band their big break. "I knew
I was able to connect with people, but I felt we were never given an opportunity,"
recalls Sahaj of his early struggles with the band. "After working at it
for five years, I finally told myself that unless something amazing happened
at the NEMO festival in Boston, I was basically quitting. As with the rest
of my life, it all came down to the wire. We played that show, and a month
later we were receiving major airplay."
Sahaj and his bandmates have now been given
that opportunity. Sahaj along with drummer Skoota Warner, guitarist Ben
Carroll and drummer Sean Corcoran have produced one of the most exciting
new CD's to hit the streets in years. And the momentum has just started
picking up steam.
"From One" is not a one trick pony. The
first single "Do You Call My Name" is only the icing on the cake as almost
every track on the album is a potential hit single. It's conceivable
that is the momentum continues and the band catches on in a big way then
"From One" could supply upwards of five to seven hit singles. "Rectifier,"
"Fallen Rock Zone," "One," "Violator," "I Believe," and the beautiful ballads
"On My Side" and "Walking & Thinking," all have the makings of monster
hits.
That's not to say the other tracks like "Parole," "High Sensitivity," "Skorn,"
and "Sky" is filler. In fact, "Parole" is a rock solid rocker that sounds
like Soundgarden at their best moments. The Middle Eastern music influences
in "Skorn" make it a real high point of the album but it just doesn't have
the "big choruses" that most of the other songs on this album have that
make them so appealing to radio. "Sky," with its slow haunting intro that
gives way to a full power rocker was the perfect way to cap off the album.
Armed with a full arsenal of incredible
songs, Ra hit the road ready to win over converts. I was fortunate
enough to witness this battle plan first hand, not once but twice, when
the group stormed through L.A. in January supporting Seether. At
both stops, first at the Anaheim House of Blues and then at The Roxy in
Hollywood, the band came out strong and just got stronger as their sets
progressed.
Sahaj started out the shows by asking the crowd how many people owned the
CD. A few hands shot up each night. But you wouldn't know that from watching
the crowd's reaction to the band on stage. Especially at the seemingly
sold out show at the Roxy where almost everyone in the standing room only
crowd seemed mesmerized by Ra's performance. It was a bit unusual
to see such a strong fan reaction from an LA crowd because typically LA
fans have a lukewarm attitude towards what's happening on stage, even for
bands they shelled out major dollars to see headline. It's not unusual
to see a line of fans with their arms crossed, watching the show with an
attitude that says, "ok prove it!". There was none of that with Ra
and if I didn't know better I would have guessed the entire crowd has shown
up their to see them not the headliner.
One huge thing in Ra's favor is their ability to almost perfectly reproduce
their songs live. Most bands have a hard time capturing the sound of their
studio efforts when they hit the stage without the aid of studio effects
to help them out. The only other groups I have seen pull this off almost
perfectly would have to be Boston and Tool. (Although on some night's Tool
seems to go off in other directions, which is always fun to watch). It's
an amazing accomplishment when you consider the dynamics of the music and
the difficult harmonies. But Ra made it appear effortless and they easily
won over the tough LA audiences.
It isn't just LA though, I've recently
seen postings on message boards for various unrelated bands where fans
talk about happening across a Ra show and being blown away. It doesn't
take much exposure to the group to won over; they are the real deal.
Now it is time for this article to come
full circle, as it has already gone on twice as long as I originally intended.
The Roxy show was the group's last night in LA so Happenin' Harry invited
the guys in the band and crew over to the Cat Club after the show for an
after-show party.
The Cat Club was a mad house as Gibson guitars was sponsoring a party for
the Namm show that was going on that weekend in Anaheim. It seemed like
half of LA was packed into the club and the bartender Kenny was practically
pulling his hair out trying to keep up with orders. John Corabi(Motley
Crue, Brides of Destruction) eventually jumped behind the bar to help him
out.
Harry and I had walked over to The Cat
Club from the Roxy right after Ra left the stage. We got in the door and
worked our way towards the back where C.C. DeVille was holding court. Say
what ever you want to about Poison but C.C. is a real character and a blast
to hang out with! C.C. entertained us with his banter and time seemed
to fly as more and more drinks were ordered. (I was joking that night that
C.C. should be given his own talkshow. If you've ever spent even five minutes
with the guy you would understand just how much fun that would be.)
Ra and their entourage showed up about an hour later and made into to the
back where we were hanging out. Right away Harry introduced them to C.C.
who became even more animated that usual. "Ra! You guys are supposed to
be the best band in the world! Harry keeps talking about you. Ra this and
Ra that! It's great to meet you guys," exclaims C.C. who reaches down into
his coat pocket and pulls out a Ra CD, "Hey see how he is," says C.C. as
he points to Harry and holds up the CD. "He just slipped this into my pocket!"
It was great to meet the guys in the band
and they ended up being really cool and down to earth. I learned afterwards
that it's not uncommon for them to hang out with fans in the audience after
they perform. Ra is definitely a band that believes in connecting directly
with their fans.
We basically hung out at The Cat Club until closing, exchanging stories,
laughed at C.C.'s antics and watched as Harry sung their praises to every
"rock star" who walked by. After the Cat Club closed we walked down to
the Rainbow and hung out there for a bit. Sean and Ra's road manager Jim
didn't want to leave because they were having so much fun. They stood there
in the parking lot shooting and posing for pictures with various people
while someone from the crew would walk over every few minutes telling them
that they had to get on the bus and go to the next gig.
Eventually they said their goodbyes, took
a couple of last minute photos and boarded their bus to head down the road
that hopefully leads to the success they so richly deserve. There wasn't
a sunset for them to ride away into but they did ride away on Sunset Blvd
which is kind of fitting for a band named after the sun god. Hopefully
the fates will smile upon them and their momentum will continue to build,
making them the superstars. Ra knows they have what it takes!
(Ok sorry for the Ra/God pun, I couldn't
resist. Now that you've sat through my blatherings, check the band out
for yourself with the links below)
Photo Galleries
Check
out the photo gallery for the full size versions of the photos used in
this article plus lots more (39 photos in all)
Want More RA?
Shout outs:
I don't normally do this
but in this case some shout outs are appropriate for helping make this
article possible. - I'd like to thank Ra's road manager Jim Roese
for hooking me up with tickets and photo-passes to the shows. A big thanks
to Alan Meier and Kristi High from M80 for sending Ra's CD over so I could
discover this incredible band. Thanks to my partner Happenin
Harry for helping hook up the show coverage and for hosting one hell
of an after show party! Finally a huge thank you to Ra for hanging out
but most importantly for creating some amazing music! The sky is the limit
for you guys and I want to further thank you for helping resort my sagging
faith in the future of rock!
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Photos by Keavin
Wiggins
Copyright 2003 - Iconoclast
Entertainment Group
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