South London trio Ray Dar Vees are the latest anthemic pop-rock act to vie for the attentions of new music scenes with their patent talent for creating earnest and engaging lyrics that take just as much prominence as the music they sit alongside.  

Their inauguration came merely 12 months ago, when despite not owning an amp or drum kit between them they focused solely on crafting their songs.  Their subsequent writing has been described as some of the most beautiful and heartfelt lyrics penned by a band of their age in a long while.  The accompanying melodies are richly dispersed amongst the pop and rock stimulus, all the while underpinning the unique nature of front man Fred Murray’s simple yet sincere vocal tones.  Live this gives the music an intensity that when delivered it becomes quite visceral, raw with emotion and hands in the air monumental. 

Debut single ‘Heart Attack’ is an aural battering of epic quantities.  Dark lyrical undertones combined with poignant writing goes hand in hand with the 80’s gleaned pop influences and their consistent anthemic sensibility.  Produced and mixed by Craig Silvey, whose past curriculum vitae includes Arcade Fire and The Horrors, it’s a rousing affair that acts as as the perfect introduction to a band that despite the early stage of their career already has so much to offer.  

We spoke to Fred (Vocals/Bass/Keys), Matt (Guitar/Keys and Gary (Drums/Percussion) as ‘Heart Attack’ was unleashed on the world through the Pure Groove linked Seven Sevens label on the 24th May 2010. This is Ray Dar Vees:

4or The Record: For anyone that has never heard of you or your music, give us the back story that led you to becoming the Ray Dar Vees.

Fred: Matt and I were faffing about in other bands for a while but we never really had any input in songwriting, so we decided to put together our own band.

Matt:  And I met Gary at collage and he just clicked straight away after our first practice.

4TR: Sorry to ask the most inane question in music journalism but Ray Dar Vees is an interesting choice of band name – why did you choose that moniker?

Fred:  We chose a word each from someone we admire; I got the ‘Dar’ because of Darwin, Matt got ‘Ray’ because of Ray Charles, and Gary likes biscuits.

4TR: How do you as a group define your sound, if at all?  

Fred:  I’d say at this point in time we’re writing - melodic rock pop, with a seasoning of alternative.

4TR: How do you approach songwriting on a lyrical and musical level?  And lyrically speaking, where do you draw your inspiration?

Fred: Music comes from us jamming, I like it this way, and sometimes the spontaneity can take hold of your mood at that time.  Lyrics are inspired from mainly life experiences, either my own or people close.  It’s ok every so often to write about the cosmos but I think more people can relate to life. I like to make them vague too, so people can put their own interpretation on it. Love, loss and paranoia have been creeping in a lot recently.

4TR: You released your debut single ‘Heart Attack’ this week which has already garnered support across the airways and online world – what is the single about and why did you chose that one song to be your debut?.

Fred: We thought it has a good hook and would grab people’s attention, which I think is essential in a bands early stage.  A lot of people seem to think the song is about a girl who has her heart broken, I suppose it could be interpreted that way.

Matt: We wanted something fast and punchy and hopefully make peoples heads turn

4TR: You have worked with Craig Silvey on production - how was the recording process for you and have any of the finished products surprised you in any way you didn’t expect?

Fred: they came out much bigger than the demos we had shown Craig that’s for sure.  We loved what he did for us, and had a great time doing it.  It was all very smooth and we all had a lot of freedom, which I think you need to feel comfortable. 

4TR: How did Craig Silvey come to get involved with Ray Dar Vees?

Matt: He came across our demos, and got in contact asking to do a session with us.

4TR: People have made comparisons between you and artists such as The La’s, Suede and Echo & The Bunnymen through your work – are they direct influences and if so why?  Who or what else inspires the band to write music the way you do? 

Fred: The La’s and Bunnymen are new bands for me, people have made the comparisons over the last few months and before that I only knew their names.  Well of course I knew ‘there she goes’ and ‘killing moon’ but that was it.  I’ve always been big into suede though, and there’s something about Bowie and Bolan melodies that just does it for me

4TR: What or who would be the 3 albums or artists who have influenced you most in your career so far?

Fred: I go through fazes of liking different artists, but so far for me I’d say 3 albums could be David Bowies ‘Ziggy’ U2 ‘boy’ and Suede ‘Suede’.  

4TR:  What can we expect from you for the rest of the year?

Matt: Regarding gigs we’ve got the great escape, which is our first festival, and we’re in the process of lining up some shows in and around London for the forthcoming months.  Other than that we’re writing new songs, recording new songs, releasing another single and fingers crossed, recording an album. 

The Ray dar Vees are launching their debut single 'Heart Attack' in style with a launch party on Friday 28th May 2010 at The Monarch, Camden supported by Wheels and Sunbirds and DJ sets courtesy of

The Future vs MyBandsBetterThanYourBand.

YOU ARE ALL INVITED

Words: Francesca Strange

ugljfo
Posts: 2

BpuZbSposRBZz
Reply #2 on : Thu July 14, 2011, 12:10:10

---

huPRdN , [url=http://eflvmyhfnadp.com/]eflvmyhfnadp[/url], [link=http://fxqomijkbtay.com/]fxqomijkbtay[/link], http://tztgzwcgdhsr.com/

Zavrina
Posts: 2

JgeddhdPSRLSsK
Reply #1 on : Wed July 13, 2011, 11:41:26

---

Was totlaly stuck until I read this, now back up and running.

Write a comment

Name:
Email:
Subject:
Comment: *

Security Code: