Evan Patrick - Guitar, Vocals / Don McKenzie - Drums / Mark Kelley - Bass
Influences
Rush, Van Halen, The Fucking Champs, My Bloody Valentine, Fugazi, Miles Davis ’69-’74, Sonic Youth, early Smashing Pumpkins, Racer X, Journey, Night Ranger, Blue Murder, Whitesnake, Mike Post, Ralph Ellison, the theme to "Top Gun," Michael Mann.
Sounds Like
Miami. Edward James Olmos is drinking straight whisky and staring off into the ocean dusk from his white stucco beach house. Crockett is deep under cover and has succumbed to a minor coke addiction. A guitar wails through blue-tinted glass.
And here's what these folks had to say...
"Evan O'Reilly describes his band as 'shoegazing negro prog rock.' Based on his iimpressive, self-titled EP, we'll buy that. Anyone interested in the baroque-funk thunder of the Mars Volta might find head and ass alike moved by what's on offer here"
Time Out New York
"A bombastic blend of Psych-Rock and 80's Rush"
The Deli Magazine
This is a video made by Yuko Sueta (who's also in our 'top 16'):
Born to an Irish ship captain and an exiled Brazilian dissident, Evan Patrick grew up hearing stories of his rich family heritage. His father told him about his granduncle, Bucky Van Johnson, alto saxophonist in Woody Herman Jazz Orchestra. His mother told him stories of her struggles to resist Brazil's oppressive military regimes in the early 1970s. As a teenager, Evan briefly worked as a roadie for John Coltrane's drummer, Elvin Jones. The experience convinced Evan that music was his vocation. Unfortunately, Evan was careless at that time in his life. In the clubs, he would often run up large drink tabs, get repulsively drunk and scream "is that the fuck music??" at the bandstand. He was fired after only a week, but managed to make enough money to buy a one-way ticket to New York City.
Upon arriving, Evan immediately moved into a vegan commune in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. A brother in the commune owned an old Fender Stratocaster and loaned it to Evan. He spent the next few months tucked away, experimenting with guitar sounds while secretly snacking on dirty, fleshy veal. The bottom floor of the commune was a separately-owned used book and record shop. An older Jewish couple owned the shop and prided themselves on "being there before the yuppies." They lent out their vinyl to Evan in exchange for an occasional card game against their restauranteur French neighbors. The couple would always say "Those goddam French. They keeled over for the Nazis and now they're killing us again!"
Evan spent the next few years listening to Yes and Van Halen on a fisher-price turntable. In 2003, Evan recorded a demo of songs on a laptop and put together a band. The group performed as "Shaka Zulu Overdrive" until legal action was thretaened by relatives of the tribal leader. Evan decided to change the name to Red Lights to Rio, which is a phrase his mother used to say to him as a child: "If you get scared in the dark, follow the red lights to Rio." The band really took off with the addition of drummer Don McKenzie in 2004. Don's experience working with artists like Pharoahe Monch, Vernon Reid, Prince Paul, Martin Luther, Elliott Sharp, Marc Ribot, Anne McCue and New Kingdom gave the music a new level of depth and maturity.
As the core musicians, Evan and Don perform with a rotating roster of bass, guitar and keyboard players. Their shows are infamously tight yet leave room for sonic experimentation and improvisation.
Red Lights to Rio have just self-released a new ep entitled "7 Songs." The ep, along with their older material, is available below:
Hola, Evan! The beat goes on this weekend in BK. URB ALT Fest 08. FREE. Friday & Saturday @ BAMcafe. Brig Feltus. Faith. V. Jeffrey Smith of the Family Stand. MuthaWit. Tenderhead. Beautiful music. Come out and see what the buzz is all about. Love, Boston myspace. com/urbalt
E, JUNETEENTH would like to thank you for adding us as a friend. We hope to see you at some shows in the future and we appreciate the support. Stay in touch.
Been rolling with the artists formerly known as Shaka Zulu Overdrive while out in the world for the last month. I just discovered the ghost track on the EP last week. When it came on suddenly I was like what is THIS?! lol Great music, gentlemen. real, Boston www.myspace.com/urbalt
