User:Bluejaytj/Red Ram

Red Ram is an alternative rock band made up of Mark Feduk, from Edmonton, AB, and Bill George from Wimbledon, UK. The band performs a mix of electronic rock, organic rock, hillbilly, folk, and grunge, that is infused with hip hop beats and 80’s synths. They released one full length album in 2006 entitled Stars Ablaze. The group's name is derived from the reversal of the root Mar- of Feduk’s name (Mark) and birth month (March). The words March and Mark are both derivatives of the name Mars the God of War or the Red planet.

Stars Ablaze
Red Ram’s first release, Stars Ablaze came out in 2006. A majority of the songs were written in the mid-90s by lead singer/guitarist Mark Feduk. Initially, the album was a side project by Feduk, and producer/keyboardist Doug Organ, who were looking to record music alternative to the country-rock band that Feduk belonged to at the time, The Uncas. Their debut album, Stars Ablaze, garnered the band much needed exposure and acclaim in the thriving Alberta music scene. The single off the album, Bad Bite, was played frequently on the radio and earned a rotation spot on XM satellite radio. In November of 2006 the local Edmonton radio station Sonic 102.9, proclaimed the new group Sonic’s Band of the Month. The radio station featured interviews with the band members and played tracks off the album. The album’s sound is a pastiche of underground musical sounds such as, hillbilly, electronica, and grunge, further distancing Feduk from his country-rock roots. Stars Ablaze received favorable reviews by local newspapers.

The album features Mark on bass guitar and lead vocals, Sean on lead guitar, Doug on keyboard and synths, and Amy van Keekan on back up vocals. Drums and other instruments were tracked in during production.

Background, Influences and Style
Mark Feduk and Doug Organ were friends who attended Edmonton’s Victoria Composite High School together. Though the two were in different bands, Mark belonging to the progressive rock band Ants on a Log and Doug to the blues ensemble The Bell Jar Blues Band, the duo would often come together to write and create music. Feduk confessed, in an interview with Zoltan Varadi of the Edmonton Journal, that much of the band’s first album is comprised of tracks written from that early relationship, “back when we were in high school, when we were kids, Doug wanted to do the same thing he’s doing now, which is to produce albums, and I thought of myself as a song writer. So we have recordings that we made back then that sound pretty much exactly the same as Red Ram.” Feduk and Organ, for a short time, were in a band together called Casual Slacks, which lasted until the two artists parted ways for post-secondary education.

When Organ entered the music program at Edmonton’s Grant MacEwan Community College he met British musician and drummer Bill George. The two forged a relationship that would be the basis for George joining Red Ram in 2007.

While attending the University of Alberta, Feduk started the country-rock band The Uncas in 2001. The Uncas, were considered one of the most entertaining country rock acts in Edmonton. Meanwhile, Organ had entered the professional music scene as a producer and keyboardist and was eager to get Feduk into the studio to revive some of the sounds they had generated in the mid-90s. Feduk commented on the genesis of Red Ram in an interview with Fish Griwkowsky of the Edmonton Sun, “[Doug’s] been an aspiring producer for a long time, and he’s the one who actually started this project,” says Feduk. “He approached me. He produced Colleen Brown’s record, and quite a few others. We both, over the last 10 years, have been talking about doing this, using all his fancy recording gear, drum loops and crazy keyboards, so he gave me a call.”

What started out as a side projected for Feduk and Organ turned into a rock ensemble that featured Mark on lead vocals and bass guitar, Doug on keyboards and synths, Sean Brewer of The Uncas on lead guitar, and drums being tracked in during production.

The band released Stars Ablaze in the fall of 2006 to impressive critical acclaim. One reviewer for the Edmonton Journal is noted for saying, “Red Ram doesn't like to be fenced in, [they] prefer to roam through the pastures of electronica, hillbilly, country, gregorian chants, disco and folk on their debut, Stars Ablaze... Such sonic diversity is risky- it can often sound like a mess-but Red Ram pulls it off, tying the album together with the occasional use of stompy guitar riffs and video-game sound effects.”

The following year lead guitarist Sean Brewer left the band to focus on other musical endeavors. Feduk and Organ asked virtuoso drummer Bill George to join the fold and Red Ram was modified into the current arrangement it is now.

The band’s major influences include Beck, Nirvana, Portishead, The Raconteurs, Gorillaz, and Dangermouse.

Members

 * Mark Feduk ( born in Edmonton ) — (lead guitar/lead singer) High school friend and band mate of Doug in Casual Slacks. Former bands include: Ants on a Log and The Uncas.
 * Bill George ( born in Wimbledon ) — (drums/backup vocals) Local musician who went to college with Doug and joined Red Ram after they had recorded Stars Ablaze. He is also in the progressive metal act Portal.

Discography

 * Stars Ablaze (2006)
 * Land of Dreams (2009)
 * Untitled (2011)