Sunn Raga – The Green Room (2018) U.S. Stoner Rock/ Jam Band/ Psychedelic

Hermanos, esta vez toca el turno para una banda bastante peculiar llamada Sunn Raga los cuales se trata del guitarrista Estadounidense Andrew Gomez el cuál nos envió unos demos hace un par de años a Sonidos Primitivos con el nombre de New Freaks, ahora es interesante observar la dirección que ha tomado la guitarra de nuestro estimado primitivo Andrew y la musicalidad en desarrollo de este power trio realmente poderoso. Acompañado de bajista y batería realizan un salvaje stoner rock que logran desplegarse en extensos jams de poder a la vez que mezclan la personalidad de cada integrante de Sunn. Cabe destacar que es un álbum demasiado corto para mi gusto sin embargo es lo interesante de las cosas: poco tiempo, y de vez en cuando… he ahí el secreto contra la maldita ansiedad moderna. Descarguen su disco digitalmente de este power trio o donen dinero al realizar su descarga, para la cerveza y hierba de nuestros queridos hermanos de Sunn Raga!!! jajaja a disfrutar de semejante monstruo psicodélico! Miguel Krieg.

Brothers and sisters, this time we are listening to an amazing band called Sunn Raga; it’s about the band from our dear friend Andrew Gomez who send to us some demos a few years ago to Sonidos Primitivos as New Freaks!, now it’s amazing look the path that he has walked in on the guitar and the musicianship of this power trio truly powerfull. Together with bassist/drummer they do a kind of wild stoner rock with long jamming mixed with misticism and spirituality and the best of stoner rock from the 90’s. Its important to note that for me is a very short album but that is the point: a few times and from time to time… her’s the secret for modern people anxiety disease’s . Download the album, pay them some money for beer and drugs and enjoy this psychedelic stoner rock monster!

LISTEN HERE:

BUY HERE:

https://sunnraga.bandcamp.com/releases

CONTACT HERE:

https://www.facebook.com/SunnRaga/

 

TRES MENTES, UN SONIDO.

El intro inicia con una línea de bajo la cual marca el camino del riff principal o tema para después entrar con la hipnótica voz del bajista Warren mientras en el fondo Andrew nos deleita con semejantes guitarrazos, pero ustedes se preguntarán cuál puede ser la mayor influencia de Sunn Raga, por supuesto que el excelente rock de los 70’s sin embargo todos en Sunn ponen su grano de arena haciendo de su sonido algo cercanamente al recién horneado stoner de los 90’s sobre todo por el tremendo trabajo a la batería y bajo que después se desprende en una sección de solo de guitarra acortada por razones de estudio pero que sin lugar a dudas en vivo debe de ser un excelente pivote para que nazca la improvisación. El sonido poderoso de Sunn Raga me recuerda a los benditos Kyuss, a Fludge Tunnel y a Fu Manchú pero más espiritualizado, por eso mi insistencia del sonido del stoner noventero!.

Y es aquí en donde se combinan las tres influencias de cada uno de los integrantes de cualquier banda, para estas alturas no importa mucho si gustas del post punk, grunge, rock psicodélico o progresivo,… seguramente tocando en conjunto una nueva forma de música nacerá y no se repetirán nunca los clichés.

 

No recuerdo hace cuanto escribí sobre que para mí un disco o música en peculiar es toda una entidad biológica

 

La música debe de ser auténtica y original como si se tratara de una nueva entidad biológica. No recuerdo hace cuanto escribí sobre que para mí un disco o música en peculiar es toda una entidad biológica independiente ya que se reproduce en un medio físico y viaja por la atmósfera, cada banda tiene su identidad propia y si nosotros pudiéramos dibujar o ilustrar a cada una de las bandas que escuchamos les aseguro que tendrían formas diferentes hablando biológicamente. Sunn Raga para mí es agresividad tal vez de un elefante hindú enfurecido pero a la vez con la misma paciencia y sencillez cuando el mismo elefante se encuentra dormido.

Muchos me tomarán por desquiciado pero si alguien realiza ilustraciones mi recomendación es que traten de caracterizar a cada banda que escuchan, la música aquí se vuelve visual y se transforma en una entidad tridimensional, biológica y palpable, asssuumadddddddddddre.

 

El solo de guitarra de Swamp Thing debería de durar horas hermanos!, mi solicitud para los Sunn Raga es que extiendan ese delicioso solo de guitarra!.

Pero dejémonos de pachequeces y respecto al sonido de la banda es excelente y se encuentra en estado crudo y directo como lo mencionaba en el párrafo anterior, no hay ediciones ni cortes ni pro tools, son ellos tocando en directo natural como una auténtica banda de rock, Swamp Thing es la figura de algún blues el cual me llega a recordar a Graveyard Train, sin embargo el riff después de la tranquilidad me recuerda bastante a los Fludge Tunnel, la flexibilidad del riff y la velocidad con que se toca pero mezclado con una maldita dosis de tres porros. El solo de guitarra de Swamp Thing debería de durar horas hermanos!, mi solicitud para los Sunn Raga es que extiendan ese delicioso solo de guitarra!. La magia del blues rock escurre por esa figura melódica en Swamp Thing que si asi lo quisieran nuestros estimados hermanos de Sunn podría ser el tema completo totalmente con el riff del inicio!. Aquí tocamos ya la parte bluesera de la banda en su estado más puro, una simple figura de escalas de blues lo puede con todo!, sin embargo nos sorprenden realmente al despegar con un riff pesado y violento junto a un rugido que rompe con toda tranquilidad y nos hace mover nuestras piojosas melenas al ritmo de Swamp Thing, a esto yo le llamo “feeling”, esa sensación que con pocas notas nos hace recordar para siempre un excelente tema.

 

 

IMPROVISAR, LA CLAVE!

La improvisación es escencial, o lo ha llegado a ser dentro del estilo Stoner Rock, no en improvisación al momento pero si cuando se está creando la música. Es muy diferente a los otros estilos ya que de lo que se habla aquí es de “Feeling” sentimiento que marca la diferencia entre un tema altamente producido y algo realmente puro y sincero, sin máscaras. Morphed es un tema con una voz también hipnótica y relajada, el riff se desliza dentro de las letras y nos da paso a otra serie de improvisaciones que en vivo deberán sonar de cojones!

La guitarra con fuzz de Andrew ruge salvajemente cuando cambian a una variación del tema, es la forma en que el stoner rock ha sido moldeado con el tiempo, si existe algo que te mueve dentro de una figura es válido, sea o no de la tonalidad, pero intuitivamente todo encaja, no se realizan nunca extravagancias. Por ejemplo el tema anterior Mars Eater el riff sigue sonando mientras Andrew sigue con un excelente solo de guitarra con cero virtuosismo, pero sin con toda la maldita pasión.

En la entrevista con Andrew menciona que ellos trabajan como un equipo al 100%, componen, jammean y pulen los temas directo en cada ensayo, y de eso se trata el trabajar en equipo y con una banda de rock, se trata de opinar, sugerir, y velar por el pellejo de cada uno de los miembros en pro del sonido general de la banda.

 

Escuchad que improvisación estilo sítara hindú!, .. me da escalofríos escuchar semejante tema! ¿Cómo fué concebido?.

 

Veins es en verdad especial, cierran con un buen futuro prometedor, la guitarra de Andrew se desliza por notas en extrema tranquilidad para flotar por el maldito espacio. Cuál es el objetivo de la música?. El que ustedes deseen asignarle. Para mi este tema ha llegado a ser terapéutico para tranquilizar el mal humor la melodía es un descanso para la mente, toca esas neuronas alteradas que están siempre de mal humor y me dicen, tranquilo viejo, las cosas relajadas no te preocupes por algo que tal vez ni sucederá… Y es así como la mejor forma de ver la vida es trabajar sobre uno mismo. Escuchad que improvisación estilo sítara hindú!, .. me da escalofríos escuchar semejante tema! ¿Cómo fué concebido?. Qué camino debe seguir Sunn Raga!? La verdad el sonido agresivo de la banda es excelente pero mi tema favorito para viajar es Veins!, y si hacen más trip hermanos Sunn Raga como lo es Veins?

Veins seguramente nace de la improvisacion al 100%, de las larguísimas ragas hindues y del rock psicodélico de los 60’s solo que aquí el frenesí clásico de Hendrix se va al carajo y entra algo realmente bien hecho y que les juro toca hasta el corazón más difícil de convencer,… si no me creen escuchen Veins y comprobarán de lo que les hablo.

Veins para mí es el sonido que Sunn Raga debería seguir, es el track que sinceramente más me impactó y recuerden si algo en el arte te impacta, emociona o perturba, entonces maldición no duden y comprenlo en el bandcamp de Sunn Raga!… Felicidades hermanos!

 

 

ENTREVISTA CON ANDREW GOMEZ, GUITARRISTA DE SUNN RAGA:

 

sunn_raga_sonidos_primitivos

Sonidos Primitivos: I just listened your music yesterday, it’s amazing man!

Andrew: Haha thanks bro.

 

SP: How many time passed since you send to me the new freaks stuff!!!????
ohh I say about 3 years now?

yes maybe

 

SP: They were only demos right?

 

Yeah! That Project started with me and my buddy Collin Roth (he actually engineered, Mixed, and  Mastered the new Sunn Raga Record) We set out to just jam and record hoping to play live but it just never panned out.

 

SP: And how you get from New Freaks to Sunn Raga? I remember that you posted some kind of add about finding band members right?

 

Yes! it was about 2 and 1/2 years where i got wasnt in a band or tried and just didnt feel right. Until i met my current Bass player and friend Warren Lee (that was around 8/26/17 i believe). We connected immediately and i knew a drummer who was interested, a buddy of mine named rich. for a few months we jammed wrote a song or 2 just feeling things out. by the end of December me and warren werent satisfied with Richs performance so we parted ways. We took a break and during that Time I asked my Cousin Robert Rivero (RC for short) if he wanted to play drums. he was iffy about it only just picking up the instrument In January, but i had complete confidence in him and our first jam as a band was on Valentines Day this year.

 

SP: Man you are telling me that your cousin have never played drums?

He was in bands before but as a guitar player, So I believe he messed around with it for awhile but never played live just the basics. He took a 8 years Hiatus from music and came back to It just to play in this band

 

SP: The truth is that I loved your music, is amazing. I find some spiritual meaning to it,

 

Aww Thank you man we really appreciate that ?? Is that truth? Yes and no, the lyrics are done by Warren for the most part and they are very, in my opinion, Enigmatic, Fuzzy, and Psychedelic. alot of the lyrics Deal with Lost, Hope, Loneliness, Lust, Love, and Madness.

 

SP: Yes you are the singer Here?

No actually Warren is the main singer, i currently have only sung and wrote lyrics to one song and thats Swamp Thing Yes because i find some Kind of mysticism On the singer

 

SP: The relaxed kind of vocals Reminds me to hawkwind And Its amazing because Its not the classic stoner rock vocals

 

Yeah! Thats what i thought when he started singing, he also reminds me a bit of Al Cisneros, the bass player from Sleep. His delivery is very ethereal and Invokes a bit of Hindu chants whether he realizes it or not lol Oh btw just talked to RC, he said he never played drums until this year for this band. so anyway you can scratch off that answer i gave you for “man you are telling me that your cousin have never played drums?” dudes a natural

 

SP: Haha sorry man Yeah he born to play drums Haha i told you That because i look at your álbum cover and the name raga What can you tell me about the álbum cover? Theres you three and some Kind of customized backgrounds Acording maybe your toughts?

 

The album art was hand painted by a friend of mine Brianna Lynn Hart, she took about 2-3 months to finish and it came out amazing.

The thought i wanted to Envoke when i was Discussing with Brianna was our band name. The Sun in itself has so many different interpretations Light, the center of life, etc. and Raga being Indian classical music where there are a few melodies but its mostly a jam with those melody’s being the bases. so that was the concept We as a band are a unit Focused into each other Listening and replying to each other on pure instinct.

So we decided to Adept some of The Hinduism Myths and folklore such as I am, in the cover, based off of Ganesha with my grey trunk and broken Tusk. I am on the right Invoking all these different colors which i interpret as the Riffs and Melodies on the guitar

RC Is the bottom as Shiva the the of Creation and destruction of the universe. He is in water which essential to the creation of most living things.

And finally we have Warren Being our bass player, His area is space and the stars around him. in the back a black hole sucking up the light and mars. recycling the energy and beginning anew.

Originally the tree was going to be origin of life type of symbolism but Warren had the idea to make it a Mangrove Tree as a way to show we are here from Florida. Also it parallels the roles of the band, Guitar being riffs and melodys, and the Bass and drums being the foundation of any great band.

 

SP: Amazing description man, it couldn’t be better than that, I was supossing that there was some mystic stuff on your music. indeed, I liked a lot the vocal part and your riffs , so you improvise all the time just put the song structure or how was the creative process on sunn raga?

 

Most of the time either me or warren bring in a few Riffs, we jam, talk about the jam, jam again. see how we feel about it and what the song needs. its is 100% a group effort.
so how you told, you are a one kind of entity right? a kind of biologic entity when you are on stage?
Thats the goal, to be a tight unit ala Cream and Jimi Hendrix

 

SP: Amazing, how many years have you been influenced by the 70’s rock man, I can hear a lot of clapton-hendrix guitar solo on raga sunn.

 

For about a good decade, i discovered Hendrix when i was 16 at the beginning of my guitar journey and ive been worshiping him ever since lol after a few years of listening to Cream, The Doors, Mountain, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath etc, i decided to search deeper and in that search i found bands like Budgie, Hawkwind, Stack Waddy, Lucifer’s Friend, JPT scare band and so so many others. and also around that time i discovered stoner doom so the first band i listen to without knowing the context was Acid King, Electric Wizard, Kyuss, and Sleep

 

SP: yeah man the same path as me,  so you have been a follower of sonidos primitivos blog?
because I remember of you since we had the blog about 2009!10 years of music!

 

Wow that far back lol o remember round that time was my transition to heavy 60’s 70’s music. I think maybe 2010 or 2011 I’ve been aware of your blog

 

SP: hahaha these were the years of re discovery man! so you have the mix between classic rock and stoner rock. could you tell me what are the best things about each genre talking about musicality?
because each have their best things!

 

Lets see, the era of the late 60’s was kinda of a perfect meet between the level of creative people and the technology at the time. Everything was still pretty primitave and raw for the most part.

As for stoner rock i feel its a mix of that era of bands but pushed the edge more of volume and distortion. The technology had caught up where it wasnt a limitation anymore. The artist also had the benefit of knowing what musically didn’t work back then.

I also think the people from the 90’s and even today have had a rougher time with the exposure of the internet people couldn’t just ignore what’s happening around the world and what’s happening around them and i think that comes out of the music in fantasy. But thats just my opinion.

If that makes any sense at all lol

 

SP: jajaja dont worry men, I think the same of the classic rock and stoner, but Im affraid that the “formula” of stoner rock will become often used and abused, what do you think about that? do you think that musicians like you must be far away from classic stoner rock? to push boundaries far and far away? or they must cult the classics?

 

You gotta push the boundries in some ways. If you only listen to Rock music or metal you are completely repeating a cycle and involve nothing really new. Look at Jazz and electronic music are as of right now combining itself I’m with Hip-Hop (and vice versa) adapting to the current times. Thats where the new and exciting music is coming from in my opinion. Dont let rock stay with the old guard. Beat it, change it, and morph it into anything and throw it out into the world and see what happens.

Listen We all love the sounds of Fuzz guitar and wild out lyrics but lets change the groove a bit and see where that goes. Thats the best part of this band all 3 of us are influenced by so many different things and when we jam we bring them together and see what happens.
The old dont like change, so we have to be the one to instigate it
yeah man we are the avant leaders!
I love my genre and the music im in but i cant live off of that alone

 

 

SP: You have the truth man!, dont remember what track is but I listen to a kind of jazz jam
could you share to us what track was? jajaja the guitars clean and you soloing between base
Swamp thing had some clean soloing that soloing remember me some of wes montgomery man!
what do you think about that man ?

 

Yeah! Wes Montgomery was the first Jazz guitarist i ever studied. I think thats where Hendrix got his Octave playing from. They have a similar tone at times, but its my opinion i have no evidence to prove that. I know Jimi was influenced by Jazz, Up To The Skies os a straight up Jazz tune

 

SP: I think that is the main goal of the blog, to show people to push the boundaries far away.

Exactly

 

SP: Are you touring right now?

No tours at the moment, bit we are setting up some local shows. If we start touring outside of our state you will be the first to know thanks man, would like to see you live but maybe hope on the near future!,

 

SP: About your equipment you use, what guitar do you use man!?

 

We actually made a gear video incase anyone was interested.

But guitar wise i use:
LTD Viper – 256 (Tuned to C#)
Johnson Strat Clone (Tuned to Eb)

 

SP: amazing man, I will post that on the blog! you talk about amps too?

 

Amps, pedals and such
But here is a text version for my gear:

Amps:
Orange Crush Pro CR120H
Raven 4×12 Cab

Pedals:
Crybaby Wah Wah
Band Of Gypsys Fuzz Face
Deja-Vibe 2 univibe
Peavey DDL-3
thanks man I will check your video,
Sweet!

 

 

SP: So again, jaja, most of time I consider that good gear have been done on the 60’s 70’s
what do you think!?

 

I think we have so many options now for high quality gear now. Its better now and then. My head is a solid state amp and it sounds just like tubes to me. Tho i will admit some of those old amps and guitars have something special about them. But only a few. Nowadays the quality consistency is much much more better.
its like the music donde on that years right? musicality versus guts
done*
myself sometimes I can be musical but sometimes Im on the need of guts
hahaha and you really done right with that man, as I told you yesterday
on some of your musical ideas

 

SP: You mix musicality and guts right?

 

haha i guess i do thanks for the compliment

 

SP: do you buy vinyl?

 

yes i do collect vinyl but its been awhile, i have about 3 or 4 crates full of psychedelic records from the 60’s and 70’s mostly

 

SP: damn! and will you put sunn raga on vinyl some day?

Man that would be my dream. Maybe one day

 

SP: yeah the dream of every rocker!! how about your bandmates man,? they like psychedelic classic rock too???

 

We all listen to alot of different kinds of music as i feel most musicians are, but for the case of our current way of playing i’d have to say Warren is more influenced by 90’s Grunge bands, Flea, John Paul Jones, Paul Mccartney. and RC was really influenced by by Brad Wilk, Matt Garstka, Steve Clifford, Dave Grohl, Patrick Carney

 

SP: yeah man its important to know the roots of every musician!, btw! could you share to us your top 10 albums from any year that you really really love man? of all time? any genre?
yes man the albums that you love, some of mine is a bjork album and its not heavy rock hahahaha
but I really love the post album so, share with sonidos primitvos your music man!

My Favorite albums:

Always on top no matter what:

Jimi Hendrix – Electric Ladyland/Band Of Gypsys
Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly/ Good Kid, M.A.A.D City
Pink Floyd – Dark Side Of The Moon
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Stadium Arcadium
The Beatles – Abbey Road

All those albums changed me as a person at some point in my life
i can post another 5 but those change from day to day

 

 

SP: hahaha yeah a really cool selection
you know? when Im on work I cant put strange or loud music on the place so I put red hot chilli peppers or strokes music and I realize that is really very good music!
the important point its to open the minds of the readers of sonidos primitivos blog!

 

Absolutely! Whenever i hear another musician talk about another artist music i immediately want to check those people out

 

SP:
I highly recommend to you to Popol Vuh music
Im hooked with their music man!
its not hevy but its charged of a deep spiritualism

 

I will check him out ??

 

 

SP: theres any physical copies to release on the future or only digital for now?
For right now only digital, no physical copys just yet

 

SP:
thanks so much for your time and good music
please man tell me when physical copies go out to buy mine!
haha

 

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