Band of the month - July 2011

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Rassoodocks

Rassoodocks playing at the OBS finals

The members of Rassoodocks

Greg - Vocals

Tom - Guitar/vocals

Ravi - Lead guitar

Dan - Bass/vocals (ex Razmatazz)

Mike - Drums/vocals

Leicester band Rassoodocks (razz - oo - docks) describe themselves as playing 'alternative, psychedlia rock'. If you listen to them on stage you will see a lot more to their musical offering and some of our reviews indicate.

Covering the finals of the Original Bands Showcase, we said:

The five members of Rassoodocks fully gave them what they wanted. Their stylish songs dripping with funky rhythms and bouncey, compelling tunes were delivered with undimished vitality and lashings of verve. The room was dancing. Feet were stomping. Front man Greg put on a performance that reminded me of Carl Barat, Ian Brown and Liam Gallagher. With their roots sucking up the sap of sixties rock, they blended a cocktail of musical idioms into a flavour-bursting earful of sounds, laced with post-punk, which went down like a tequila slam. These party animals come alive late at night.

Putting on a magnificent set of songs, they presented the crowd with a musical tour de force. They packed the SoundHouse with amazing music and fans ...They put on a spell-binding show ...watching them sparkle with a set of grippingly good songs.

Reviewing a show at the SoundHouse on 3rd December, we said:

If you're a purist then it was a musical mashup but for me it was a salad of bouncy ballads and stomping sounds which fired up the crowd and warmed up a venue on a chilling night. The stage offered five guys who really know what it's all about. They don't stick to the rules ; they stick to their musical instincts and that sets them apart. They are the free range eggs of the music scene; they are the organic produce that arrives fresh from the fields of artistic creativity. Wonderful!

It's clear then that we think they are a top band, like their music and are pleased to present them as our Band of the Month for July 2011.

An odd name for a band? The band explains on their Facebook page:

The Rassoodocks are a five piece outfit from Leicester who take their name from the Anthony Burgess novel 'A Clockwork Orange'. The line is spoken by character Alex who said " There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening."

Some sources insist that the word is Russian for 'brain' or possibly 'mind'.

In a Leicester Mercury interview they described themselves as

The Rassoodocks ... describe themselves as "a band of young scoundrels hailing from Leicester's twisted heart" and their sound as "a door with WD40 on the hinges'".

On their Facebook page, the bands said

Their energetic sound is heavily anchored in the rock n' roll roots of the 60's, with a contemporary post-punk bravado, pounding bass lines, driving rhythms and melodic lead and vocal accompaniments.

Tim Hampton of Bromhead's Jacket commented about them: "Great songs, fantastic set" and Porked Promotions said: 'Jangly guitar crashing in and out of memorable lead and vocal lines, accompanied by a ballsy, tight rhythm section. These guys were impressive, very impressive'.

artsIn Interviews three members of Rassoodocks on 1st July

artsIn: I am here at the SoundHouse with the Rasoodocks. Here is Tom (Rhythm guitar and songwriter), Mike (Drummer) and Dan the Man (bass). So, guys what have you got in store for this year?

Tom: At the moment we are preparing for the Summer Sundae Festival, which is the highlight of our next couple of months. We are looking forward to this and a lot of our fans are coming to see us play in the Musician Tent. In July we are supporting SuperEvolver and Penguin (Zak Starkey's new band) at the Firebug on 9th July.

artsIn: Any other festivals in your sights?

Mike: If I had my way we will play at Glastonbury next year.

Tom: Our goal is to get on the Introducing stage.

artsIn: How are you going to do that?

Mike: We are going to make friends. We are going to build our way up there. Get our name out, building up our repertoire.

Tom: We would like to get some session on the Beat programme.

Mike: We talk to Dean Jackson every now and again.

Mike: If we don't get on to Glastonbury next year I will personally hire a van and take the band and play outside the gates.

Tom: If we can't get in we will just play out of the van, if we have to.

artsIn: So, you're think you might possibly change the name of the band. What's that all about?

Tom: We have disheartening times when people have misspelt and mispronounced our name. It's a difficult name to pronounce. If we do decide to change name, and it's not decided yet that we will, we will close down for a couple of months, write and lot of new material then re-launch.

artsIn: You could find some other bands with odd names and ask them how they deal with this.

Tom: Can you give us an example?

artsIn: Dananananaykroyd

Mike: Klaxons. People often spell that wrong.

Tom: Everyone knows how to say that.

artsIn: I know what you mean. I struggle with it. It took me a long time to remember that its pronounced like 'razz - ooo - docks'. What about the music?

Tom: We are going to Deadline studios in the next couple of weeks. We are going to start recording new songs, it's a gradual process, we are going to a few sessions and then release all the songs as an album. We are starting with four tracks, two of which are brand new and then go back a bit later and lay some more songs down.

Mike: Probably towards the winter.

Tom: By September we will have an album's worth of new material.

artsIn: Who in the band writes the tunes?

Tom: Myself and Greg are the main song writers and Mike supports us as the drummer [he is also a singer]. So, really it's the whole band that contributes. We can go out as an acoustic band and still wow people.

Mike: I've written four songs which I haven't even shown the band. My style is totally different from Rassoodocks but I have written songs. I am waiting for the right time to come.

Tom: It's difficult for a drummer 'cos if the drummer picks up a guitar, there's nobody sitting behind the drum kit. Whereas if myself and Greg says "here's the song" everyone else has got their instruments and can jam along. They pick it up and start to feel this. That's how songs evolve and become part of the set.

Mike: I don't just want to write songs for myself, because I can only play them to myself.

artsIn: If you had one wish - to play with an established band - which one would it be?

Tom: If there is one current band we would want to support it would have to be Kasabian.

Mike: Yea, definitely.

Tom: Not because our style is any way derivative of theirs, we are completely different, but they are what we stand for, in a way. We are both Leicester bands, we all live in Leicester, we all come from Leicester, we play in Leicester and we write about it.

artsIn: Is there a second choice after Kasabian?

Tom: The Libertine's reunion.

You can see Rassoodocks playing on the Musician Stage at the summer Sundae Festival on 13th August.

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