Review Fix chats with Ra’s Sahaj Ticotin, who discusses the band’s new album, “ Intercorrupted†and the creative process that powered it.
About Ra:
Formed in 1996, Ra took off in 2002, when their song “Do You Call My Name” from their album From One was released. Their music was described as “exotic yet familiar, heavy yet funky, direct yet sophisticated, sensual yet soulful, unrelenting yet cathartic.”
The band is known for their hit songs “Do You Call My Name,” “Fallen Angels,” “Don’t Turn Away,” and “Broken Hearted Soul.” To date, Ra has sold 400,000+ albums in North America alone.
Review Fix: Why was there an 8 year break in between album releases?
Sahaj Ticotin: In 2006 I started to include being a producer/writer into my career plan. As that progressed I focused less and less on the band. By the Time we put out Critical Mass I was fully immersed in that part of my work. After that, producing became a full time job and I never really thought I’d do another Ra record but I ended up fronting Meytal in 2018 for an album cycle and it gave me the itch to do it again.
Review Fix: What makes your latest release, Intercorrupted, so special?
Ticotin: Well for me, the real answer is planning. In the past, making these records was something that had to be done in a short period of time with a lot of shooting from the hip. Intercorrupted was something I had a clear vision for way before the album was in motion. There’s also a much more complex approach to the sound design. I attribute that to my work with Starset.
Review Fix: How did you first get involved in music?
Ticotin: My family is very musical and I started singing when I was 5 to everything from Elton John to Return to Forever. It was very organic and consuming.
Review Fix: What makes your brand special?
Ticotin: The band has always stood for passion and consciousness. We have some fun songs but we mostly have tracks about growth and hope.
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Ticotin: Since I regularly produce music for many bands I have a somewhat formed system of creativeness and a regular template on how music should feel and hit you. Typically it will start with a set of chords and a melody and if all of that starts to feel special then it will get fleshed out and fully realized.
Review Fix: What makes you different?
Ticotin: I think our approach to music in general is fearless in that we are not afraid to adapt and grow while maintaining our identity but I suppose my voice has a lot to do with the identifiability of the band.
Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?
Ticotin: Throughout the history of the band The goal has always been to try and get people to think for themselves and to pull hard at their preconceived notions about everything and anything. I hope this music gives people a sense of peace within the chaos of life.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Ticotin: I think the follow-up to Intercorrupted will be fairly quick within a year or a year and a half but at the moment we are focused on getting some tours and continuing to grow our fans.
Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?
Ticotin: We have a hard time reaching people through social media because our name is very hard to search so we hope that anyone who really enjoys our music takes a moment to share and like and follow us so that we can grow our reach and be able to do this for another album or two.
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