Today we’d like to introduce you to Arturo Velarde, Abraham Hernandez, and Ryan Parker.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
We started with the sole objective of writing cool music together, spending a few months jamming in our drummer’s living room in Ja Jolla in 2019. After playing our first house show and being encouraged by our friends and family, we found our way into the local bar scene- playing at local staples such as Tower Bar, Kensington Club and Whistle Stop.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Covid 19 put a damper on our second year as a band, as all of our shows were put on hold. We took that time to self produce our first album, which was a major learning process and took a great deal of time. That was where our DIY attitude towards the band and our music really began to take hold, and led to us to eventually booking our own tours, producing our own music videos, even building our own guitar pedals and pedalboards.
These days we all still have our day jobs, so scheduling remains one of our toughest struggles. We all have to make some sacrifices but we find a way to rehearse and write music regularly.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Again, I think our DIY attitude and approach towards writing, producing and performing is what sets us apart from many other bands. Over the years, we’ve learned everything from music production, graphic design, videography/photography, and worked hard to build up a scene of likeminded bands all across Southern California and Arizona.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Here’s to hoping the world gets tired of polished, tasteless AI slop. We would like to hope that in the future, audiences will prefer real, raw art instead of computerized perfection, and choose to support their local music scene and independent artists over corporate greed.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/Rankocean
- Instagram: Rankocean_
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@rankocean_
