Diamonds in the Rough 06.07.09: Ra!

Posted by Leo Rivera on 06.07.2009

The definition of underrated!

In the late 1990's and the early part of this decade, rock music was in the midst of a resurgence to pop cultural dominance the likes of which was not felt since the grunge era of the early 90's. This led to one of the most lucrative periods in the music industry, bands were popping up left and right, some really goods one and a lot of really bad ones. Regardless, the majority of these bands were making their mark on the industry (for better or for worse, cough cough Limp Bizkit cough). Fast forward six years and as the dust has settled, it is clear to see that only the strong have survived the "bloated era" of rock music. Imitators and gimmick bands that once permeated and infected our radio stations are either long gone falling into obscurity or have outgrown their genre and have blossomed into mature and impressive musicians making music that is both relevant and timeless.

And then there are the bands that have flown under the radar throughout this ever-changing and un-predictable landscape that has been this past decade in music. Bands that have stayed true to their style, and have survived thanks to an incredibly loyal grassroots following, bands that never quite a fair crack at the big time. Ra fits into this category of bands like a hand to a glove. A grossly underrated band that once upon a time seemed on the verge of breakthrough success only to be brought down to its knees prematurely due to a string of unfortunate circumstances, some of which were beyond the bands control and other which were self-inflicting. This is the story of a band that never quite was, but still hold out hope for a brighter future; this is the story of Ra.



Named after the Egyptian sun god, Ra is an Alternative metal band that has been quietly navigating the hard rock scene for over a decade. Formed back in 1996 in Los Angeles, California Ra's current lineup consists of front man Sahaj Ticotin, drummer Andy Ryan, Guitarist Ben Carroll and bassist P.J. Farley. Ra played together for nearly six years before finally getting noticed and got their first (and arguably their only) big break in 2002 when they played the NEMO Music Festival in Boston, MA in front of a whopping 18 people. Despite the underwhelming turnout, Ra was undeterred and put on the best show possible. The festival turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because as it turned out, one of the 18 people in the audience was a firefighter named Jimmy Garrity. But he was not your average firefighter; he was a firefighter with connections in the music business! Jimmy was amazed at Ra's potential and shocked that they were not signed; he promptly got a demo over to his friend Mistress Carrie of Boston's famed WAAF radio. She played the song "Do You Call My Name" into daily rotation and it immediately caused an uproar as listeners flooded WAAF's phone lines to inquire about this new band that came out of left field with this badass song and an attitude and musicianship that paralleled established bands at the time like Disturbed.

Ra quickly took advantage of the local buzz that they were experiencing and self-released the EP "One" which sold an impressive 7,500 copies in a month and a half. So impressive in fact that Universal Records (Godsmack, 3 Doors Down) quickly took notice and signed the band to a two album deal without even seeing Ra live! Then Sahaj's friend from NYC Will Pendarvis (who just so happened to dj for K Rock) set Ra up with hip hop producer Paul Logus (P Diddy, J Lo, Biggie Smalls and Pantera) to produce their Universal Records debut. Everything seemed rosie, until they found out that they only had 30 days to record the most crucial album of their career! They quickly re-polished six previously recorded tracks and combined them with an updated version of the One to create From One Ra's first full length album which was released in late 2002.



With "Do You Call My Name" leading the way as a single, Ra now had a national platform in which to show off what they were made of, the song hit #10 on the modern rock charts and hit the road. Touring across the U.S. with the biggest bands of the day, throughout 2003 amassing an impressive concert resume that included playing with Powerman 5000, Seether, Trapt, Sevendust, Korn, Mudvayne and Disturbed. Disturbed is a band that many compared Ra too as he had a very similar look and stage presence as Dave Draiman.

From One was as solid a rock record as you could find in 2002 and wound up selling over 180,000 copies also thanks in part to the up tempo rocker "Rectifier" which in my opinion best showcases the talents of this band. As good as things were for Ra on the surface, inner turmoil began to wreak havoc on the band. They began to clash with their bass player Sean Concoran and he was eventually fired. Sean's departure led to a snowball effect due to the fact that Sean was the primary connection to Mistress Carrie. Once he was booted, Carrie stopped supporting the band and stopped playing them at WAAF, which was a huge blow to the band. Unfortunate circumstances continued to hamper the bands development. In late 2003 Sahaj's wife became gravely ill, the timing could not have been worse, as he was set to begin recording Ra's second album which was slated to be produced by Dave Schiffman (Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave), instead Sahaj had to produce the record at home by himself in order to stay close to his ill wife.

When Sahaj submitted the album in its original form to Universal, they were not impressed enough, citing that they needed more "radio friendly" songs. They recommended the use of super producer Bob Marlette (Saliva, Ozzy, Seether) to record more polished (catchy) tracks. These sessions yielded the songs: "Got me Going", "Take me Away" and "Say you Will", and still Universal wanted more. At this point Ra was getting desperate so they went to Los Angeles and promptly recorded "Tell Me" which had the potential to be a huge arena rock anthem. But unfortunately, Universal had soured on Ra after waiting for over a year. So Ra spent 2004 in obscurity unsure of their fate which lay in the hands of record executives.

Finally by 2005, after so many bands had been released from their record deals, someone in Universal took inventory and realized that "hey we still have this band with amazing potential." The executives conceded and Duality Ra's long awaited follow up was finally released in 2005. Duality began ominously enough with a spoken word that underlined the pain and the suffering that Ra had endured throughout the last 3 years. The spoken word immediately blended into a rollicking soldier like drum beat that introduced the bands single "Fallen Angels", it sounded like the song that Sahaj had been holding in for the past three years that was just dying to burst out. The rest of Duality was a solid rock record, but unfortunately too much time had been lost and Ra had lost most if not all of the momentum that they had worked so hard for. Duality failed to make an impact and the band leaves Universal. I shudder to think what would have happened if only those moron execs would have pulled the trigger in early 2004! I guess we would never know.



In closing, as the old saying goes, "You can't stop true talent" in 2006 Ra signed with independent record label Cement Shoes (Godhead, Ill Nino). Under the label they have released a live album titled Raw, and their third full length titled Black Sun. This Tuesday June 9th Ra releases the appropriately titled Black Sheep, a collection of b-sides and rarities, you should check it out, you won't be disappointed.