This year’s Purple Hatters Ball was the perfect platform for many artists to showcase their music and share it with all of us.
GainesvilleScene was fortunate enough to get in contact with Random Rab, the man behind hypnotic tunes proven to kindle a flame within flow artists and soothe the minds of meditative listeners.
Set to perform on Friday evening, Random Rab arrived at the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park around two o’clock, rolling up behind the amphitheater stage on a fresh set of wheels and in good spirits. We were called to duty after Rab settled in and contacted the Scene team to work out a sensible interview location.
After swapping text messages, we met in the audience of the amphitheater stage, where Rab was watching the Kansas Bible Company perform.
He waved us down, throwing us for a loop as he sported a black button down and large western hat in Florida’s summer heat. We shook hands and briefly talked before stepping behind the stage for a quiet interview in his trailer. He sympathetically joked about his new ride and its fragrance of fresh plastic. The floor of his trailer, garnished with scenic potted plants, reflected the same wistful essence Random Rab echoes in his music.
We all settled in, comfortably sinking into the couches of his makeshift green room and began talking.
Gainesville Scene: Where did you come up with Random for Rab?
Random Rab: It was just a joke in the beginning. I was in a little electronic duo, like Ween-ish or something. Yeah, it was a joke.
Taken by Tyler Hunt
GS: That’s good, I like it. What was the beginning of your launch as a performing artist like? Where’d you start? I know you were on the West Coast.
RR: I grew up in Indiana. I was in a heavy metal band for 5 years and then also played like jazz and classical music and stuff. And then after I came out to the West Coast and started doing experimental electronic stuff, got a bunch of drum machines, sampler synthesizers, decided to launch off on my own.
GS: Did you take off pretty quick?
RR: No, I mean maybe in my little town. I played every other Friday at this one club. Did that for a long time and just built my own little community of just my friends basically. And then after going to Burning Man and what not things kind of started get going.
GS: Yeah you’ve been touring over there for what, like 16 years now?
RR: 17 years.
GS: I saw the schedule, with all the sunrise sets and everything. Is there anything about those hours, the energy, invokes something for you, your music, or your fans?
RR: I just think that people are more open, like they’ve gotten out all the craziness and their ready for the next level of craziness. But people just seem more open to melodic music and slower music maybe. It was never something I planned in the beginning to be like the sunrise guy but it just sort of, you know, it was just this natural progression.
GS: Yeah, it’s the perfect fit, honestly its beautiful energy. So it’s been like two years since you’ve dropped “Release”? You working on something now?
RR: Yep. Yeah, I finished my latest album. But it’s in the whole PR thing and they need it. It’s coming out this summer. It’s done, doing vinyl.
GS: What should we expect?
RR: It’s a little bit more on the faster side. So, I have some faster, for on the floor stuff, about like half the album is like that. And then, it’s sort of a kind of part one of two in a way. In a way, “Release” was like that as well, but I released the second half under a different alias, Mour. But with this one, I’m doing more faster music on this first one and then the second one will be more ambient and trip-hop stuff.
Taken by Marlee Taylor
GS: You said you have another alias that you release music under?
RR: Yep, Mour. It’s heavier, kind of darker. Experimental.
GS: Yeah you have an incredible diversity of music in the past and stuff. Do you record anything like acoustic?
RR: Yep, I haven’t really done as much as I used to. But I have a side project called Ocean of River. Which is all acoustic kind of country, old country music stuff, folk music. And then when I’m at home it’s pretty much honestly mostly what I make. But when I start recording I can’t help myself gotta add a beat and a bass line and all that kind of stuff.
GS: Who were your aspirations to kind of come up with this like, genre, you’ve sort of created?
RR: I don’t even know. I just kind of take a little bit from everything that I love. Every genre to me, I don’t have any specific favorite genre, or anything but I like different elements of different genres. Like I love the beats in hip-hop; I love the bass lines and you know the psychedelic stuff in psy-trance; I love the chunkiness in heavy metal; I love the lyrics in folk music or whatever. I just try to take the best of everything that I think is the best and meld it into one sound. It’s not something I intentionally created, it’s just something I end up doing.
GS: Yeah, I mean you’re entire music portfolio is very melodic and fluid the entire time, it’s very interesting and a very unique sound. It speaks to me, I know that. Do you have some favorite musicians to collaborate with? I know as far as releases go, I don’t see too much collaboration.
RR: Well actually on “Release” that was probably one of my most collaborative albums, did a lot of co-writing with Cedar Miller on that one, he’s a percussionist, as well as Ilya Goldberg, Jamie Janover who throws Sonic Bloom festival and D.V.S. But you know all my super good friends these days seem to be good at some instrument. But yeah, definitely Ilya Goldberg. You know with “Emancipator”, he’s one of my best collaborators as well as Cedar Miller. Those are my two go-to guys.
GS: Are you ever thinking about doing a full band tour?
RR: Well, I don’t know. The last tour I did was with Cedar on the live drums and what not. But he’s had a baby, like last week. So were kind of taking a break from doing that and I’ve mostly been working on multimedia, on this last tour I did all the projection and lighting and the sound for it. So I’ve been really focusing on just doing the multimedia experience. But yeah I’m hoping that sometime in the next two years of doing an actual tour with a proper band and everything.
GS: That’s very cool, so a bit of a different question. If you were given a million dollars, what would you spend it on? Where would it go?
RR: Ah, a million dollars. I mean I’d have to buy my son a new bike, and then I couldn’t help myself I’d probably have to give the rest away to some charitable cause. I think I’d give my million dollars to help save the whales. They’re pretty much my favorite life form.
As 6:45 p.m. approached, the sun settling dimly around us, the park was cohesive and complementary to Rab’s sound. It was a tranquil, interactive performance, inducing a trance-like state that enveloped the crowd. Through his music, Rab stimulated a movement of unity and compassion within the mix of people wiggling through the crowd. At one point a tribe of people bumping along to Rab’s beats bounded into an enormous group hug.
It was a moment of harmony. They were a giant ball of good vibes.
Taken by Marlee Taylor
Feature photo courtesy of Marlee Taylor
