THE RAMAGES are a band that some might think would be confusing on paper. All of its members come from different musical backgrounds and have vastly different influences, but together they have a chemistry that transcends the boundaries of genre definitions.
Bassist Peterson Worrell comes from something of a pop-punk background, while guitarist Crystina Parker is best known for her Americana leanings – particularly her popular former band Lovely Locks.
The band has made a name for itself around town since forming, and they’re set to return to The Jinx on Nov. 17. Joining the band at their Jinx show is Tokyo’s Pinky Doodle Poodle – a high-energy rock trio whose intense stage antics have garnered them considerable buzz since they formed in 2008. Musically, PDP is somewhat reminiscent of seminal Japanese powerpop band Shonen Knife, but they have a bit more of a punk edge and less of a pop sheen.
As Worrell tells it, things came together for The Ramages naturally after he found himself looking to do something new.
“I had been playing with Jeff Two-Names and the Born Agains for a minute, and then I moved to Atlanta and told them that I didn’t want to do the long distance band thing,” he tells Connect.
“Then I moved back, and I thought I’d go ahead and start my own little pop punk project because it was something I’d wanted to do for a while anyway.”
Parker has been a staple of the local music scene for some time, playing in Lovely Locks for several years before the group disbanded. Since then, she’s made the rounds in a number of projects, The Ramages being one of them.
Drummer Bill Gerry — whose influences are closest to Worrell’s of all the band members — and guitarist Josh Peacock were perhaps the least seasoned in terms of previous projects. Nonetheless, they brought their own unique style and sensibilities into the mix when the group began.
“Bill hadn’t been in any bands locally before, and Josh kind of has a classical guitar background but I don’t think he’d been playing around town much either,” Worrell says. “We all just kind of drifted together because we all knew that we weren’t in any bands at the time. We had the time to start something new.”
Reconciling their different musical interests is something that comes easy to the members, whose creative process is extremely organic.
“Usually the way things work is that I’ll come up with a rough idea. I’m on bass, so I’ll kind of pound out a bassline to something and then write some lyrics,” he says.
“Then I’ll take it to the band and the ideas will start flowing. Crystina or Josh will come up with a cool little lead line or something like that, and Bill will figure out drums as we all play together. It happens pretty organically. The different influences start to flow in because we play around with things as they happen.”
