On Saturday, August 16, garage mod revolution punk rockers Ravi Shavi will release two EPs — Courage and Independent — at the legendary Columbus Theatre featuring special guests and a party atmosphere. I chatted with the band’s funky frontman Rafay Rashid about putting out two EPs in one night, the changes in band members and many other things.Rob Duguay: It’s pretty unique that you guys will be releasing two separate recordings in one night. What made you want to go about it that way when most bands would have just released one EP now and another one a few months later?
Rafay Rashid: The decision to release two EPs simultaneously was basically driven by the fact that the two sets of recordings were engineered, mixed and mastered by two separate people — Jesse McFadden and Atlantic Thrills’ Eric Aguiar — at two very different stages of the band’s evolution. We just figured we’d put ’em both out while they’re still fresh and exciting to us. The two EPs basically cover the last year’s output and I reflect upon it as a pretty experimental stage for us. We kinda tried a bit of everything. I’m not one to sit and covet something for long; it’s usually gonna be out there as soon it’s done or never at all. Plus, we’re going on a tour to Atlanta and we’re excited to share everything we’ve produced.
RD: In addition to Ravi Shavi, you are in another band with Christopher Ryan, Dennis Ryan & Ian O’Neil from Deer Tick called Happiness. How is it being in a band with those guys and can we expect a debut record from Happiness anytime soon?
RR: Playing with Happiness has been a really fun time. I didn’t expect the amount of dedication and involvement we’ve been putting into the project because of our respective groups, but things are moving along! We’ve played out-of-state shows with Los Lobos and R.E.M side project “The Baseball Project”- both of which were pretty surreal experiences for me. They’re just a great group of guys with whom I am fortunate to play and learn new writing, playing, and recording techniques with. It’s a very DIY project in its current state and I’m just pumped that it’s getting increasingly more collaborative every time Deer Tick is home from tour. Look out for the release — it will happen in the very near future.
RD: I remember when I first started seeing Ravi Shavi play that your catalog was around 15 songs and now it seems as if every time you guys perform live you always have at least a couple brand new songs to unleash. What drives you to be so prolific?
RR: The fact is that Nick Politelli and I really love writing new material more than anything. I think the future always holds something better if you’re learning from the past. Nobody in the group is a formally trained player. Most of us have never played our instrument in a band before Ravi Shavi so in that way we’re constantly building upon a creative momentum that is fueled by a desire to create something better. We’re lucky to work with a group that is just excited to perform the latest material and even luckier to have the continued support of people who still dance to songs they’ve never heard before at shows.
RD: With Bryan Fielding on bass, Nick Politelli on lead guitar and recently Andrew Wilmarth joining Ravi Shavi on drums and Muggs Fogarty becoming the backing vocalist, you have been playing with a completely different cast of musicians since Ravi Shavi first started out. Are there any contrasts or similarities between playing with Bryan, Nick, Andrew and Muggs versus when you first started out with Wilson Keithline, Jim Galvin and Ben Tucker?
RR: I think of the two groups as almost completely different entities. It’s been a gradual process toward where we are now, but I think now that we’ve found a bit of an identity we can focus more on songwriting and planning our trajectory as opposed to just finding our footing. I will say that the songwriting and musical arrangement is more collaborative than any previous incarnation of the band. That could be time or the players involved, but it’s great to bounce ideas back and forth til the song’s right.
RD: Where do you hope to be as a musician in five years?
RR: Making a living off music would be ideal. You know, raising moderate hell in Europe and Asia — livin’ the dream. Getting a back massage, raising relief-funds, spreading neutral vibes, having fun more comfortably. Mostly just alive and still really, really into it.
Ravi Shavi’s website: ravishavi.
More Posts by The Author:
Album of the Week: Hop Along – Bark Your Head Off, Dog
Interview: Nick Panken from Spirit Family Reunion
Album of the Week: Yamantaka // Sonic Titan – Dirt
Interview: Nick Sanborn from Sylvan Esso
Tiny Diamond Returns, News Café, Mar 30
