5 Questions for… DC Fav RaRa Rasputin
By Chiara DeLio
It was the spring of 2007 when three guys and a girl from all over the country accidentally got together in the Capital City to form Ra Ra Rasputin. Since then Ra Ra Rasputin – which owe their name to the greatest Russia's love machine, monsieur Rasputin, celebrated in the Boney M song “Rasputin” – have performed 41 live shows and have ingrained their presence as a District local favorite.
Ra Ra Rasputin are: Anna Rozzi - vocals, keyboards, guitar; Brock Boss - vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass, percussion; Ken Quam - drums, percussion and Patrick Kigongo - guitar, bass, percussion. They will be back on the stage tonight for their first show at DC’s legendary 930 Club.
I spoke to Patrick from Ra Ra Rasputin, who pitched Bandsintown some gossip, insights about D.C. live music scene, and spoilers about their upcoming show.
1) The most recurring adjectives used to describe your music are loud and experimental. It means that on stage you...
Loud – We are most certainly a loud group. Volume is crucial to one’s enjoyment of live music. That’s what makes going to see a band in concert so exciting. On stage we dance a lot. It’s awfully boring to see a band playing dance music and not having a good time. Some groups can get away with it, but we can’t help ourselves. We’re all about having fun.
1b. and the public below the stage is...
The crowd is usually sweaty and dancing. There is a fairly common misconception that DC audience doesn’t dance. Nothing could be further from the truth. DC has a terrific history of audience participation, going back to the punk era. And in recent years there have been quite a few talented dancey groups to come out of the District. Look at the Dismemberment Plan or Q and Not U!
2) Let's gossip: the weirdest thing that ever happened to Ra Ra Rasputin during a live show.
Hmm. I’m not sure. I tend to be in another world when I’m performing, so I often miss a lot of the interesting things that are happening in the crowd. I seem to remember being hit in the head with a large bottle of rum when we played at that warehouse show in November ’07. But I don’t know…. It seems like most of the chaos comes after the shows! I won’t name names, but DC bands definitely know how to party.
3) You are definitely local favorites here in the District; you already performed in all the most important music venues – The Black Cat, the Rock and Roll Hotel, now the 930 Club. I guess you also gave your friends intimate shows in your own living rooms or random garages. In your experience, which gig did you enjoy the most so far?
We’ve played about 41 shows in the last two years, and I must say, it’s been a very interesting road. Every performance has been a terrific learning experience.
That being said, there have been a few really exceptional nights in there. In November 2007, we played to several hundred people at a very crowded warehouse in DC. People were drinking, dancing and hugging – it felt like a rave. We’ve played a lot of great shows since then, but playing at the warehouse was like a religious experience. I don’t think that we’ve played a house show, but we’d really like to do one soon.
4) From the point of view of an emerging or soon-to-be-famous band - what do you think about the live music scene in D.C.?
The live scene in district is very exciting right now for the following reasons:
1. There is no “DC sound” - DC has never been the sort of place where people move so that they can start dressing a certain way and play particular style of music. There’s no pressure to fit a certain mold. As a result there’s a terrific amount of musical diversity here.
2. There are a lot of places to play – Not only do you have traditional venues like Black Cat, 9:30 Club, Rock & Roll Hotel and Velvet Lounge, you also have quite a few bars (Sollys, Wonderland) hosting shows. In addition, there are still a lot of DIY shows in the District as well as in the surrounding suburbs. I’ve also heard that the DC Mini-Gallery is hosting shows.
3. There is still a spirit of community here – The activism of the old DC punk/hardcore scene definitely left a mark on the local music scene. I felt it back in April 08, when we played a benefit for the victims of the Mt. Pleasant fire. The show was organized at the last minute by some of our friends who live in the neighborhood. There were a lot of bands on the bill, but we all shared equipment and a lot of people donated money. It was very heartwarming.
4. Local media is supportive of music – DCist, Brightest Young Things, the Washington Post, as well as countless blogs, have really helped generate a buzz in the live music scene. And it’s great that DC101 still sponsors shows and plays local bands on the radio.
5) Any anticipation regarding your next gig at 930 Club tonight?
There has been plenty of anticipation about this 930 Club show. It would foolish for us to treat this as just another gig. The 930 Club is a local institution. We are truly humbled and honored to be playing there.
That being said, we’ve been working pretty hard to prepare for July 10th. We don’t just want to get on stage and play a bunch of songs. We want to put on a SHOW: songs are being rearranged and new equipment is being unveiled. On the promotional end, we’ve been handing out hundreds of flyers, touching up our MySpace, sending out Facebook invites. It’s a laborious process, but it’s totally worth it.
Will you be at the show tonight? Fill us in on the sweaty, dancey details in the comments below (or include #live in your twitter updates!)
