The Ravens tell us about playing YRock and how they face musical challenges together

Sheena: The Ravens started when Katie, Candy, and I – a drummer – joined the school’s rock band club. We found Rachel, our singer, immediately. Katie switched from playing bass to guitar, and Candy from keyboard to bass.

Sheena: We were doing an English literature project, and we learned about the writer Edgar Allen Poe. He was so interesting that we decided to name our band after his most famous poem, The Raven.

Sheena: We love bands like Foo Fighters, Muse, and My Chemical Romance, but we’re learning about new bands all the time. At the start, we were inspired by a band that covered Foo Fighters, called The Warning. After [we heard them], we knew that we [wanted to] cover big rock bands that way too.

Candy: The venue and set-up was colourful and comfortable, and we felt really relaxed while performing. We had practised beforehand with our acoustic instruments to get comfortable playing the unplugged versions as well. It was a lot of fun getting to use a Cajun percussion box and an acoustic bass, but we had a bit of trouble with how loud or how quiet we were.

Candy: Those are our current favourite songs. Pretender is our signature song, 4Ever sort of tells the story of our lifestyle, and Famous Last Words is our “big picture” song.

Sheena: Yes! I had to learn how to play a Cajun [percussion box], and my drum solo part on 4Ever was taken off.
Rachel: I had to figure out how project my voice, as I didn’t have a microphone.
Katie: I noticed there was quite a different style and feel to playing my leads on an acoustic guitar unplugged. It was much quieter. We decided to stay with my leads rather than go to chords, though, because we wanted to keep our own sound [as much as possible].

Rachel: Candy and I have been trying to write lyrics down in a journal when we experience different emotions and events.
Sheena: We’re also going to a songwriting workshop with our English teacher and rock band club manager, Scott Linder.

Sheena: Hard, guitar-driven girl power!

Sheena: Playing at YRock in Discovery Bay. That was our first big event in public with a big audience, not just our peers at school. It was incredible. The atmosphere was great, and the crowd was super excited. We were a bit nervous, but once we got started it was electrifying. It was fun, getting to meet other bands and experience an international culture.

We learned that we have to interact with the crowd more, and have a lively performance when onstage, not just play our music well.

Katie: Write some original songs, practise more awesome guitar solos, and perform on bigger stages.
Sheena: And to perform whenever, and wherever, we can!

Sheena: Moving equipment, ha!