Orchestral folk rock band The Ridges recorded their upcoming album in an unexpected place: an old operating room in the Athens Lunatic Asylum.
“I wish I could lie and tell you something creepy happened,” said Victor Rasgaitis, one of the three permanent members of the band. “I mean, we tried to play some practical jokes on the art students who were there, but they didn’t buy them.”
The idea to record in the Asylum came about after a private Halloween show the band was asked to play there by John Sanders, an Ohio University senior.
“Basically, he asked us to play at this private party at The Ridges,” Rasgaitis said. “And the crazy thing was, once we were there, we realized the building had amazing natural acoustics.”
Along with the acoustics, Rasgaitis said the building’s aura complemented the band’s sound.
“The Asylum has this darker flavor, a sort of dark romanticism, and that lends itself to our style really well,” Rasgaitis said. “The building’s also really timeless, and we want our music to be timeless. It was just a great spot.”
Coincidentally, the band took its name from The Ridges in order to pay homage to Athens.
“The band got started my freshman year at OU. Then it was just our drummer Johnny (Barton) and I,” Rasgaitis said. “We met Talor (Smith), who plays the cello, and it grew from there.”
Rasgaitis, Barton and Smith comprise the foundation of The Ridges. The band almost always has guest musicians with it who play everything from the harmonica to the accordion.
“The sound just kind of evolved out of our love for orchestral folk music, and Johnny and I both were really into the indie rock scene, so we kind of coined the term ‘orchestral folk rock,’” Rasgaitis said.
Rasgaitis now lives in Cincinnati, where he met the band The Happy Maladies at the Clifton Heights Music Festival.
“They are just unbelievably talented and have such a cool sound,” Rasgaitis said. “We knew we wanted to work together. We wanted to bring them to Athens, and once we talked to them about it, they said, ‘Why not do a tour?’”
From there, the two bands collaborated to plan a four-show tour around Ohio. The tour kicks off tonight with a show at Jackie O’s sponsored by Brick City Records and Brick Beats Magazine. The venue holds nostalgic value to Rasgaitis and Barton, making the band even more excited to return to Athens.
“It was the first place Johnny and I ever played at when we started. Back then, it was still O’Hooley’s,” Rasgaitis said. “So I’m really psyched to be playing there now.”
The Happy Maladies is also excited to be coming to Athens and to be working with The Ridges.
“We feel very lucky and psyched to share this experience with The Ridges, who have so much energy and are a really terrific live band,” Eddy Kwon of The Happy Maladies said. “They are magnetic performers and completely commit to the music when they play.”
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