Coordinator: Dan Zambas

Firstly I want to say thank you – I have had the incredibly fortunate pleasure of watching Ragged grow from the very start. Its simple philosophy really struck a chord with me, something so obvious but equally necessary – “What do you love? What do you want to know? What do you want to be?” and most importantly “Did you know this existed?”. These are the questions that we do not ask our children in our current education system, and this ideal has been born out of the very absence of this question. For that, Alex, thank you.

I’m a parent to two wonderful little girls, little bright sparks whose existence helped inspire Alex to begin his journey with Ragged. My family are the reason I do what I do, like so many of us, and the support in my own musical journey… well words just want say quite enough what that means to me.

Dan and child
Dan and child

A musician, that is the category that I proudly place myself. Constantly seeking that perfect moment, the shivers up the spine and collective moments of something shared. I am lucky enough to have found a home for my search, We Are Kin. Based in Manchester in the UK we formulated as an idea around 5 years ago and gradually became a ‘thing’. Working with many different people along the way it has been an immense journey and I can say something that I genuinely did not expect, we are signed to an independent music label.
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Bad Elephant Music have given us a home and invested in us in an era where the audience is niche and the “noise floor”, as a friend once told me, is as loud as ever. With so much music out there looking for fans we are often over saturated and stick with what we know. Product of having it all at our fingertips! But I do suspect that an adaption will occur, it always does. The special thing about being signed to BEM is that they are a group of people who are approachable, very much want to be part of what you do in a non-invasive way and always seek music that is good regardless if an audience has found that out or not. I’m also incredibly proud to say that I now work alongside them as a colleague, the faith they have placed not just in our musical output but me personally is humbling.

Bad Elephant Music

As a day to day job, I have worked in finance roles in offices since my early 20’s and now 30 I can reflect back all of those moments where I ask myself “Why do I do this? I am a musician”… well there is a very simple answer, I am a parent! And who would have thought that my day to day life would have provided me with such a breadth of musical ideas, I come up with thoughts that I need to quickly add to my phone else I may lose them before I sit down at the piano.

Life becomes busier as you grow, we all become a bit more selective with our time and who we spend it with. But I like to think I am better equipped to make decisions that will have the potential for a long-term outcome that will help set the foundation for my family to grow into exactly what they want to be. A certainty is that Alex and our conversations about anything and everything have made me a better person. That’s all Ragged is, a simple idea with a simple outcome – I would like to be better, so I must surround myself with thoughts and ideas that I wouldn’t be able to have in isolation.
 

If you are interested in connecting with us on social media you can find us here:

Twitter ( https://twitter.com/wearekinband )
Facebook ( https://facebook.com/wearekinband )
Youtube ( https://youtube.com/wearekinband )
Bandcamp ( https://wearekin.bandcamp.com )
Website ( https://wearekinband.com )