Ra (American band)
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| Ra | |
|---|---|
| Genres | Alternative metal[1] Progressive rock Alternative rock |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | Republic Records Universal Records Cement Shoes Records |
| Website | http://www.ra-band.net/ |
| Members | |
| Sahaj Ticotin Andy Ryan Ben Carroll P. J. Farley |
|
| Former members | |
| Skoota Warner Sean Corcorean |
|
Ra is an American alternative metal band from Los Angeles, California, taking their name from the Egyptian sun god. The band has been around since the 1990s, but did not actually evolve into its current form until 2002. Their music was described as "exotic not familiar, heavy not funky, direct not sophisticated, sensual not soulful, unrelenting not cathartic." [2]
The are also known for their hits "Do You Call My Name", "Fallen Angels", and "Broken Hearted Soul".
The band released their first full-length album entitled From One in October 2002, containing songs from their demo. Ra released their second album, Duality, that featured a new side of the band, portraying a duality between fear and love. The tracks are divided into two sections, each preluded by a short intro. Before the CD's release, drummer Skoota Warner left the band and did not accompany them on their April–May 2005 tour. The replacement drummer is current band member Andy Ryan. To date the band has sold around 350,000 albums in North America.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] 1996–1998
Abandon Entertainment President Marcus Ticotin finances his little brother's first record while Sahaj was living in Greenwich Connecticut with his mentor and friend, Rob Jones. They held open call auditions to find a drummer, guitarist and bassist. Many of New York City's finest players showed up to audition, but it is Skoota Warner who absolutely bridges the gap between the funk and hard rock in Sahaj's writing. Veteran R&B bass player, Kirk Lyons steps in and on guitar and Ben Mauro who goes on to play with Lionel Ritchie and Britney Spears. The band was amazing but the sound was all over the place. One track did manage to make it through to become . "Crazy Little Voices" was Ra's first commercially released track, as the end title track for the movie "The Rage: Carrie 2".
[edit] 1999–2001
The moderate success of "Crazy Little Voices" led to the band signing with Edel. Ra recorded many tracks including "Rectifier", "Fallen Rock Zone", "Only", "End of Days", "U Need Me", "What I Am", "Sky", "The Foundation" and the first real version of "Do You Call My Name". Edel, unbeknownst to the band, was on its last legs and was weeks away from closing shop upon album completion.
[edit] 2001-2002
"Do You Call My Name" received heavy airplay on WAAF in Boston, Massachussetts. Based on this local success, the band released the EP "One" with the guidance of their then manager, Arma Andon, in the Boston area and sold 7500 CDs in a month and a half, causing Universal Records to sign the band to a two album deal without even seeing them live.
Sahaj's friend, Will Pendarvis (K-rock NYC, Sirius), introduced him to a friend, Hip-hop Producer/Engineer Paul Logus (Puffy, Jennifer Lopez, 112, Notorious BIG, Pantera) with whom the band spent over $170,000 redoing "One" and turning it into "From One".
[edit] 2003–2005
From One gets released, sells 180,000 CDs and "Do You Call My Name" goes to number ten in early 2003.
Originally slated to Co-produce the next LP with Sahaj was super-engineer Dave Schiffman (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Mars Volta). A health condition of a close family member forced Sahaj to produce the record at home alone. Universal was unhappy with the album the band delivered to them and they recommended using Bob Marlette (Saliva, Seether, Shinedown) to record an additional few songs to give the album more radio potential. With a $400k plus budget there would be no need to skimp on production. With Bob, Ra would record "Got Me Goin'", "Take Me Away" and "Say You Will" and would submit these songs to Universal only to receive yet another luke warm reception. Desperate and very unsure of the right course of action, Ra goes out to Los Angeles to make one last attempt at a first single for "Duality". The outcome would be "Tell Me", a huge arena rock anthem shouting out to the world for guidance. The song is submitted and approved by Universal but it is too little too late. Universal executives decide to leave the record unreleased, rather than lose more money on top of what is already an expensive record. It looked very bad for the band but in the winter of 2004, Universal/Republic hired a hungry radio promotion director named Dave Downey. One of his first activities was listening to all the records that he might potentially work. After listening to "Duality" he made the executives upstairs aware that they may have made a mistake with RA and that they were missing out on a potentially great record. Unfortunately Ra's original drummer, Skoota, felt that he couldn't put any more time into the band and moves on amicably in order to make more stable income. Universal reconsiders releasing "Duality" and the album hit stores in late June 2005. Promotion for the album is light but the record sells 80,000 CDs on the strength of tracks like "Fallen Angels" and "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic", a Police cover.
[edit] 2006 - present
The band left Universal Records and signed with Cement Shoes Records. In October of 2006, Ra released their third album entitled Raw, which includes 11 live tracks and one new studio track.
The band releases their third studio album, Black Sun, under the Sahaja Music Records label. "Black Sun" featuring the single, "Broken Hearted Soul",was released on September 9, 2008.
On June 10, 2009, Ra released a fourth Studio Album called "Black Sheep". It is an album with thirteen rare tracks as well as their first single, "Crazy Little Voices" as well as one new song called "Supernova".
There have been rumors of a break up sometime in 2010 that were dispelled on July 13, 2009. However, after the band wraps up its summer tour, they will enter a hiatus. Drummer Andy Ryan stated that they are currently working on side projects right now, but stated that there are also no signs of a break up anytime soon. In November 2009, rafans.net was taken down due to the expensive prices of server costs and software licensing. However, it is said that "The site will be back". On October 19, 2009, Sahaj said on Twitter that his solo album should be finished in a couple months!
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Date of Release | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | One (Ra EP) (Self-Released) | None |
| 2002 | From One | Universal Records |
| 2005 | Duality | |
| 2006 | Raw (Live Album) | Cement Shoes Records |
| 2008 | Black Sun | Sahaja Music Records |
| 2009 | Black Sheep |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | U.S. Mainstream rock position | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | "Crazy Little Voices" | 79 | The Rage: Carrie 2 |
| 2003 | "Do You Call My Name" | 10 | From One |
| "Rectifier" | 30 | ||
| "Skorn" | 51 | ||
| 2005 | "Fallen Angels" | (#29 on the Active Rock Top 40 chart) | Duality |
| "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" | |||
| "The Only One" | |||
| 2006 | "Don't Turn Away" | 36 | Black Sun |
| 2007 | "Broken Hearted Soul" | DNC (#38 on R&R Active Rock) |
[edit] Band members
- Sahaj Ticotin - (vocals, guitar)
- Andy Ryan - (drums)
- Ben Carroll - (guitar)
- P. J. Farley - (bass)
[edit] Former members
- Skoota Warner (drums)
- Sean Corcoran (bass)
- Dave Aaron (guitar)
[edit] References
- ^ Sharpe-Young, Garry. "MusicMight Biography". http://musicmight.com/artist/usa/ra1. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
- ^ The Gauntlet :: Ra - Heavy Metal - News - Ra Videos - Ra Ringtones - mp3s - Tabs - Wallpaper - lyrics." The Gauntlet. 30 Apr. 2008 <http://www.thegauntlet.com/bio/306/Ra.html>.
