Band Spotlight: Backyardin With Ravenous

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*editor's note: this interview was originally part of the Splendid LP review, found here.

Taylor, of Ravenous.

Toward the end of August I was finally able to sit down and chat with the three main members of Ravenous, after weeks of rescheduling (on my part).

When I arrived, sometime after noon and before three PM, the bandmates and roommates were all watching A League of Their Own. The movie was at its most crucial scene; Geena Davis' character had just beem pushed off home plate by her younger sister, and dropped the ball. The guys debated whether or not she'd dropped it on purpose, or if it'd actually been knocked out by the sheer determination and force of the younger sister to prove herself.

In any event, every one could agree that Geena Davis was hot. A bit of trivia regarding her high IQ, served to solidify her attractiveness.

Matt, Alex, and Taylor, are DMV-area transplants presently living in the most relevant part of Brooklyn - everybody's favorite dirty place called Bushwick. Ravenous communes on the ground floor of your usual sweet and newly renovated building where they're fortunate enough to have the backyard.

Taylor (bass) and Mattson (lead vocals and guitar) have been friends since preschool, and even remember what they each wore when they'd first met. The guys are so synchronized that their body language and movements often imitate one another. Alex (drums) joined the picture after middle school, and the three have been playing music together since high school.

After college they combined their matured musical tastes to form Ravenous. What kind of name is Ravenous, anyway?  They took it from a movie of the same name (starring Guy Pierce) about "Cannibalism and Manifest Destiny," Mattson tells me. They all love the film.

When Mattson's parents went away to Montana a few years ago, the boy set about to begin recording Splendid, mainly because they could, and also as a trial run for living together. Much of the gear they used throughout the process was free, and given to Matt after a sound company he'd worked for went under.

The guys of Ravenous know and "get" one another. There's no pretense to their endeavors, no compulsion to construct, avoid, or dominate a scene. They simply enjoy music, their friendship, and their ability to combine the two.

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Splendid by Ravenous is currently available on Bandcamp for the ever-reasonable, and affordable internet price of "up to you."  The thirteen track offering is available in MP3, FLAC, and "just about any other format you could possibly desire."