Basking In The Sun's Glow
Ra's Frontman Lets His Fetish Lead the Way

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>> Ra is Sahaj (Vocals, Guitar), Skoota Warner (Drums), Ben Carroll (Guitar) and Sean Corcoran (Bass) >>

Like most rock frontmen, Sahaj Ticotin is confident, but don't mistake it for arrogance.  He knows what he wants, understands his capabilities, and realizes the only way to achieve it all is to believe in himself and make it happen.   Drawing from influences as diverse as Metallica and the Police, Ra's sound merges addictive melodies with seven-string heaviness, blending it together to create their own signature sound.

Ticotin, is an admitted sun fetishist.  It's a theme that runs throughout From One, Ra's debut release: every song makes a reference to the sun, either directly or indirectly, and the power it holds over everyone. 

Once the thought is in your mind, you can sense what Ticotin calls the duality of the sun within Ra's music.  At times, it's caustic, heavy, combustible.  At others, warming, gentle, full of life and peace.  It's the way much of Ra's music works as well; it starts out darker and works itself out in the end.   There's a resolution you can feel, even if it's not right there in front you.

Ra features Sahaj's vocals backed by the fierce guitar work of Ben Carroll and the thunderous rhythms of drummer Skoota Warner and bassist Sean Corcoran.   Each part works together, combining to make From One a record you can listen to, from beginning to end, and enjoy it all, basking in the warmth of Ra.

Sahaj called in not long ago to talk about his fetish and lots more.   Here's how it went…

VOX: Firstly, what's the origin of your name?
Sahaj Ticotin: It's Sanskrit, from India, which I picked up there.  It means 'spontaneity,' which I thought was cool…and accurate.
VOX: So, why 'Ra' and not Anubis or Horus?
ST: First, every song, or virtually every song, I've written since '94 has the word 'sun' in it, so there was sort of that precedence to it.  Secondly, I've had a sun fetish for…forever, even before I realized it.  When I changed the name of the band back in '96, it was sort of an easy decision.  Mainly, because the sun image was something I wanted to work with, and we wanted something short, too.
VOX: It offers up lots of symbolism.
ST: It does in the sense of the duality of it; there's the feeling of the morning sun on your face, and the comfort in that, but it's also five hundred billion-ton fusion reactor, this nuclear mass out there.  So, there's a balance to it, just like I see in us.   We've got these great lyrical melodies, and at the same time, there are these massive seven-string guitars that provide this onslaught.
VOX: Do you really see yourself having a sun fetish?
ST: Yeah, I find it to be the center of my…pseudo-spiritual self, and there's just something so amazing about it.  It's there constantly, whether you see it or not, and without it, we don't exist.  It's been the center of many religions and there's everything that goes with that.  On top of that, I'm a total science head.  You realize that way out there, 93 million miles away, the sun is there, and without it, life is not possible.  I just think it's incredible that things are the way that they are.

>> "We want the crowd to come on an emotional ride with us." >>

VOX: Right now, you're out touring, knowing that many people are hearing you for the first time.  What do you want them to go away from the showing thinking about?
ST: Well, we've toured the country once, and if we can get the same reaction the next time we hit a town, I'll be more than happy.  For the most part, the reaction has been "Wow!"  People have listened to the CD, and they think hey, it's slick, polished and there's no way these guys can sound like this live.  But what's been great is they leave feeling as though it wasn't just as good as the record, but that we're even more polished, more energetic live.  I want them to leave thinking, "Hey, these guys can really do this."  It's not manufactured.

VOX: Many bands say the first record is the easiest, because you've had the tunes for a long time, you've been playing them forever, and you know them.   They say the second record is much harder because you need songs that are as good or better than the old ones, but you've got to produce them in a short amount of time.   What do you think?
ST: Hmm, well, 8 to 10 of the songs for the second record are already written, and I've spent the last four or five years collecting material.  I have an easy time with the writing process, so it doesn't worry me too much.  The difficulty for me is in finding the right sound, not writing.

Some of the material on this record is from as far back as '94 and some of it is from last summer, very shortly before we went in to record.

VOX: Your sound is a bit different than anything else out there.  How did it evolve?
ST: Funny thing, is in doing music and looking back, I have some really mixed influences.   I love the Police, but I'm also a child of Metallica and progressive rock, with or without the seven-string guitars.  I also see Rush as a big influence.  Those guys are just amazing.

I also dug what Fred Durst was doing, and being from New York, I had a background in hip-hop and I experimented with the rap-rock thing, too.  It took a while to really figure out what I wanted to go with and arrive at this.  I mean, I wanted to pick up where the Police left off, but also incorporate the nu-metal influence that came from bands like Metallica and Korn, Sevendust, Soundgarden and the whole genre.

VOX: Tell me about "Do You Call My Name," the first single from the record.
ST: That song is kinda…I hate to call it an anthem, but it sort of is…it's really about Manic Depression, and how people who are Bipolar are seen as lazy or something like that.  There are lots of people who don't view it as a real disease.   The song itself, the lyrics, come from a few different perspectives.  I have my views, which are in the verses, there's society's view, which is to capture and imprison people who aren't perfect, which is the pre-chorus parts, and the chorus is the person who suffers from Manic Depression, crying out for help.  It revolves around the whole theme.

VOX: How about "Rectifier"?
ST: This is one of the few that I actually wrote about myself.  I wrote it about when I was trying to get my career going, and I found myself trusting in other people and thinking that would have my best interests at heart.  Then things would fall apart, and at first I wouldn't understand it.  I couldn't understand why things had happened that way, but I came to realize, after this happened a few times, that no matter what, I was going to look after my hopes and dreams and make it all happen.  If other people weren't going to do it, I would do it all myself.  I would rectify the situation.   That's it in a nutshell.

The other thing is, I had this old Mesa-Boogie guitar amp, and the foot pedal said "Rectifier" on it, and that stuck with me.

VOX: You got some upcoming tour dates.  What's up for you after that?
ST: Well, in April we'll be heading out with Powerman 5000 and Stone Sour, which should be very cool.

VOX: For those people who are going to get Ra for the first time, what should they expect from the live show?
ST: We try to maintain a high level of passion and intensity - we're seasoned musicians, so we know what it takes to deliver on the live show.  We want the crowd to come on an emotional ride with us, get into the dramatic aspects of the show.  We try to get into their heads and share the experience.  We want the show to be something they'll enjoy watching.  We're still growing in this process, so it gets better all the time.   I do really feel like we're at a nice level of intensity and passion, and I think the crowd will feel that.