The RA-6600
Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Music
Press
RA-6600 may be a duo, but their late-’70s-vintage style sounds much bigger thanks to fine harmonies and some of the best songs in the business. - The Nashville Scene
The RA-6600 deliver with their take on classic AM radio pop smashed up with post-punk attitude. Mark Medley (CPS, Raging Fire, Mercy Sanction, Tabasko Kat) and Daniel Olivas (The Boomgates) have the local pedigrees to make a perfect night of great homegrown rock.
- The Nashville Scene
"Now, this is very cool stuff." -Xenophanes Productions, ReverbNation - ReverbNation
"Nashville punk-alternative-indie rock veteran Mark Medley (CPS, Raging Fire, Mercy Sanction, Tabasko Kat and more) and Daniel Olivas (The Boomgates) deliver a five-song shot of irresistible pop. Drawing inspiration equally from the finely crafted pop confections of the late '60s and early '70s along with the New Wave post-punk sound of early Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe and Squeeze — it invokes the sense of what might have been had if the young and angry Mr. Costello of 1978 could have forged a collaboration with Burt Bacharach rather than the much tamer affair the two old vets eventually produced. But Olivias and Medley aren’t just aping records from their high school days. They’re putting their own twist on them with a sound informed by an additional 30 years of music history — creating irresistible pop songs that need no reference to any one decade in order to be enjoyed. "
-The Nashville Scene - The Nashville Scene
"Billed as a night of “Lo-Fi Pop & Hi-Fi Twang,” this two-course serving presents a duo of great local bands who have found unique ways of filtering the music of earlier decades through an ’80s alternative rock sensibility to produce something new for our times. The RA-6600 picks up on the glistening radio-friendly pop of the late ’60s and early ’70s, pushes it through the filter of New Wave rockers like Squeeze and early Elvis Costello, and ends up with pure pop for the 21st century." -The Nashville Scene - The Nashville Scene
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Named for a high wattage 1970s eight-track stereo, The RA-6600 is an all-original vocal duo with piano and drums. It combines the pop melodies of Daniel Olivas and the punk abandon of Mark Medley to create "lo-fi pop bursts" not unlike AM radio of the mid-twentieth century. The songs are instantly accessible and under two-minutes-fifty. In 2012 an eponymous debut EP The RA-6600 was recorded live to analog tape and released on Popnami Records. With a combination of catchy, well-crafted songs, stylish aesthetic, and dynamic two-man live performances, The RA-6600 have attracted public and critical acclaim.
Longtime members of the Nashville music scene, Olivas and Medley met for the first time in 2010. Veterans of all kinds of bands (rock & roll, country, hardcore, swing, pop, rockabilly, singer/songwriter, et. al.) they wanted to do something different by making as much noise possible with just piano, drums, and vocals. Instantly they realized they were onto something special. According to Mark, At the first meeting Daniel unveiled songs like Nonversation and as I played along it worked so well we laughed til we cried. From this initial all smiles session a prolific do-it-yourself partnership formed with a repertoire of dozens of original songs.
Several months later they joined forces with Michael Godsey, an old friend who had just formed Popnami Records in Shanghai, PRC. The RA-6600 EP was originally intended to be an iTunes only release, but was soon expanded into a full-blown CD project. Songs were recorded live at Fry Pharmacy, a vintage recording studio in Old Hickory, Tennessee and digitally mastered by Godsey in Shanghai. Shockingly, as he completed work on the record in May 2012, Michael Godsey passed away ending plans to market China and leaving the band to finish the record on their own. With its release in July 2012, The RA-6600 marks the beginning of a whole new story.
A love affair with twentieth-century consumer culture is evident in their AM radio, late night TV, pop art aesthetic, but The RA-6600 is beyond simple imitation and nostalgia. Olivas and Medley celebrate the past as a source of inspiration as well as a point of departure for something new, here, and now. The future of The RA-6600 includes more songs, more live performances, more videos, visuals, a singles collection, and a vinyl release. According to Mark Medley, This thing is the ultimate art project!
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