Sure they look all cool on stage/commanding the ones and twos. Sure they pull the strings that make the audience sing and dance. Sure they have a gazillion MySpace friends… but the DC musicians you love and have come to respect have paid their dues.

So to provide insight, inspiration, and instill even more admiration into the collective musical genius of Washington, DC, BYT is bringing you a new series: “Before They Were Famous”

Today’s edition: DJ Dave Nada and Patrick Kigongo of Ra Ra Rasputin!

Why you broke up: ughh…pretty much why most bands break up. we toured for about a month (japan and the u.s.) and damn near killed each other. came back home and our singer was like “yo, i cant do this anymore. i’m moving away”….the end. i was crushed. we were about to do a record on No Idea and then do a split with Leatherface (our heroes at the time).

Moment of success: touring japan and killing it. every city we played, we played our fucking hearts out. we got so much love out there, it made us feel
like we mattered somewhat. i remember playing in tokyo or kyoto, watching everyone collectively lose their shit and sing along to our songs. i remember looking over at my best friend Tem and go “…..yo dude. what the fuck is going on?” and he was like “yeah….i cant believe this shit. what the fuck are we doing here?!” what an amazing experience.

Moment of failure: our band name. hahaha!
jesus fucking christ, it is not easy to come up with a good band name. it is too easy to come up with a
stupid fucking name. super chinchilla rescue mission? i mean c’mon. we made it difficult for ourselves, i dont know why. it was so tough for anyone to take us seriously. not that we were that serious, but you know. at least not a joke band. our bass player jim came up with it and always thought it was the best name ever. haha, i love jim.

How it was better than your current gig:
it is better than my current band because i dont even have a band right now and i greatly miss playing in one.

How it was worse than your current gig:
it is worse than my current “band” because it was a band. fuck a band. doing a band is the worst.

Primary sources Album titles: “S/T” EP (A.D.D. Records) “…Go Halves On A Bastard” split EP w/ The Tim Version (A.D.D. Records) split EP w/ Bottledirt (Snuffy Smile Records) Song titles: -Kick The Madness Dead -Bottled Mind On The Backside -Mudslide Harold -Lautrec -Georgia Ave -Storied Faces, Bad Tattoos -Drink Til The Mirror Loves You -60 Hour Greyhound …i cant remember the rest

Sample lyrics:
man, my favorite shit about the band were the lyrics. “Georgia Ave” was my shit:
“neon liquor store lights on the dividing line, cut a broken wire to
pass away the time. these walls are singing out of key, the breath of
sirens fades away as i take it all in. i’ve been heart-bled thinking
too much, same old town but i’m missing you. i’ve been porch-fed
drinking too much, same old town but i’m missing you. aspirations
don’t come easy like these back-end blues. drown myself in a voiceless
party, there’s nothing else to do. and now i’m talking to myself, the
breath of sirens fades away as i take it all in. i’ve been heart-bled
thinking too much. same old town but it’s missing you. i’ve been
porch-fed drinking too much, same old town but i’m missing you. when
this sun goes away bet i’ll still be sitting here.”

Turn this shit up:

SCRM photos by flickr user ChestyXbond

***
up next:

Patrick Kigongo of Ra Ra Rasputin Today, when Patrick plays guitar in his band Ra Ra Rasputin, he looks like an Appalachian snake handler. But once upon a time Patrick was not so lithe with his instrument (see left photo). Name of the band: Society Can’t Accept Me or SCAM Genre of music: Pop punk, and not in that Blink 182 sense. Our primary influences were Black Flag, Minor Threat The Beatles and the Clash. At times we sounded like the Wedding Present.

Band details:
myself (rhythm guitar, vocals), Ed Norey (lead guitar), Kevin Rankin (bass, drums in studio). And a rotating cast of drummers.

Active dates: November 1999-February 2003

Your age: Age 17-20

Homebase: New City, NY

PERSONAL ANECDOTES
How you formed:
During my senior year of high school, I really hated life. College applications were stressing me out, I wasn’t skateboarding very much, and I just felt awkward and out of place at school. But in November of that year,

my friend Melissa introduced me to Kevin, a sophomore who was “really, really into music.” Eventually I started hanging out with him and his friend Ed. They were in a band called Project Mayhem, and they weren’t half bad, mostly because they didn’t’ play crappy covers and they loved to talk about music. Because I had a car, I sorta ended up being a roadie for them. I’d help load equipment, designed a few fliers and sometimes I attended band practice.
At some point, the boys suggested that I start writing lyrics. It was a little weird at first, but once I got into it, I couldn’t stop. One night in February, I was thinking about this girl I had a crush on and decided to write a song about her use of a really distinct shade of blue eyeshadow. The next morning at school, I presented my first fully formed song. We recorded “Blue Eyeshadow Girl” and a few other songs the day after my 18th birthday.

Why you broke up:
SCAM was always a side project for Kevin and Ed. This meant that my plans often had to take a back seat to the boys’ other commitments. Furthermore, when I started college, it became increasingly difficult to maintain the group long distance. Yeah, I started two very shitty indie bands at University of Maryland, but my heart was always with SCAM.

I effectively checked out mentally in summer 2002. I had spent much of February and March of that year writing demos for SCAM and I was really keen on recording them and playing some legit shows during. But

for reasons that were beyond my control, it was decided that we’d form a “supergroup” with some friends of ours and play some pretty big shows. Sure, we got to play a show with Bjork’s son, but I was really not feeling the songs that we were playing. So as a form of protest, I spent two weeks recording a solo EP called “The Norm and the Shake.” It was refreshing to leave behind pop punk or post-hardcore that everyone else was into (I was listening to Blur’s self titled album, My Bloody Valentine and Blonde Redhead a lot). From then on, I didn’t really want anything to do with punk or loud, distorted guitars. Even to this day, I try to use distortion sparingly.

It was just conflicting, you know? So eventually, the group was finally laid to rest after a recording session in February of 2003.
Thankfully, we’re still friends to this day. Kevin lives in Queens and is currently putting together a new group. Ed just completed pharmacy school and is currently sitting his board exams. Whenever I’m back home, we’ll usually get together and have a few drinks and reminisce about the trouble we used to get into.

Moments of success/failure Success: Closing out the spring 2000 talent show at my high school. Me wearing a fake fur coat and singing Pink Floyd’s “In the Flesh” in the middle of summer. Watching half the band being kicked out of the Cove in Roselle Park, NJ and still manage to collect our earnings for the night. Playing a show with Scott Free in Hicksville, Long Island. Failure:Organizing and coordinating a huge benefit show only to have it cancelled at the 11th hour. Dropping out of an opening slot with a pre-fame Coheed and Cambria (who were from the same area) because of a dispute between Kevin’s brother (who’s band was also on the bill) and another group.

How it was better than your current band:
This is a bit like asking “How is your first girlfriend better than your current one?”
SCAM was better than Ra Ra Rasputin because I was still young enough to appreciate the novelty of being in a band. This is not to say that I’m jaded; I’m thankful for every time I get to set foot on a stage or in a recording studio. But I’m not as excitable as I used to be.
There was also a lot less to worry about with SCAM. Booking was a no nonsense affair, the shows were a lot smaller and therefore less stressful. I had a lot more energy to have fun because I wasn’t constantly looking out for bullshit artists.
Finally, none of us drank or took drugs at the time. Our only kick was caffeine: SOBE energy drinks, Jolt Cola, etc. This, coupled with our youthful energy, kept us incredibly sharp and focused as a group.

How it was worse than your current band:
SCAM never had a good, strong permanent drummer. When we recorded our demos, Kevin would play drums, and he was ok, but he was a much better bassist. Live, we’d play with whatever drummer was with Project Mayhem. And as the late Joe Strummer once said “You’re only as good as your drummer.” Because we never had someone that we could click with playing drums, we didn’t play out as much and as a result never got the recognition I thought we deserved.
I was also much less confident back then, and as a result I never really got into being a frontman for a group. Certainly this is where Ra Ra Rasputin has the upper hand: Anna and Brock seem to have settled nicely into their roles as singers and multi instrumentalists. I’m much more content to just lay in the cut these days.

CONCLUSION:
Looking back on all of this, I’m glad I kept all these photos and mp3s. I learned so much about songwriting, home recording, dealing with promoters during the years I spent trying to make this group work.

PRIMARY SOURCES Album titles Society Can’t Accept Me EP, The Layman’s Tools, Winter 2003 EP. Song titles Blue Eyeshadow Girl, Fallen Idol, The Girl Who…, Life of the Party, Silent, Thrift Shop Sample lyrics “Myself, myself, I wish I was just like you. Annex you from the rest, congratulations you’ve passed the test.” “She looks at me I go on a looting spree. Blue eyeshadow girl sends my head into a whirl.” “Nobody knows you when you stand still. And no place really feels like home. You’re waiting for someone who’s lost at sea. And thinking of someplace where you can be”

Turn this shit up!

If you think you’re a “famous” DC musician and want to reveal your sordid musical history email Libby@brightestyoungthings.com
SHE WILL LISTEN.

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