Inverness Gigs speaks to Greg Miller,bass player, of new indie punk band The Ragazzi.
The first thing that stands out about the band is, without doubt, the name. Taken from Italian it means more than one boy or lad, Greg explains, “it was quite a unique name without being pretentious… it adds an element of mystery and looks good when it’s written”.
The band started off as a family affair with cousins Dean (Morrisson) and Greg (Miller) :”we had been sort of jamming we just started trying to write our own songs..some good, some bad…” They had occasionally appeared at The Greenhouse, a venue he describes as a “pretty special place.. (it) feel(s) like we are just playing in our living room at home.
The trio were complete when they were joined by drummer, and former piper, Euan (McHardy): “It all pretty much clicked right away”. However the process from practice to playing and promoting their music has been a slower process Greg admits due to Euan studying in Glasgow, although 2012 has seen a new impetus with tracks now being available on-line and the band starting to gig live.
When talking about the sound, Greg readily admits to the influence of The Vaccines debut album, What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?.However he also notes a wide range of influences from “70’s punk to ska and modern day guitar bands”. Greg picks “Fashion Trendy” as being the most reflective of the band as a whole “the sound of it and the lyrics its just straight to the point..which i think sums us up…three lads playing honest music about everyday experiences”. The track also helped redefine where the band was going, with tracks written previous to “Fashion Trendy”
The band’s first gig was last month at Mad Hatters which Greg felt went very well “ everything went perfectly and we were euphoric afterwards”. However ironically the gig the next day at the Greenhouse did not go so well, blighted by a series of unfortunate events including the mic stand falling on Euan’s headt.
The band are not to be put off with more gigs on the agenda with details to be announced soon (keep an eye on their Facebook page).