If you’re a fan of Breaking Benjamin, Sevendust and Shinedown, today’s your lucky day! Meet Raftree, the rock band from New Jersey that’s making waves with their tight musicianship and strong vocals. JamSpreader had the opportunity to ask a couple of questions to Raftree frontman Kenneth about their sounds, inspirations, and more…
How did you get your start?
Like most guitar players, I was fascinated with 70s & 80s rock. Doing covers of Van Halen, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who & Pink Floyd.
Describe your sound in three words.
Aggressive, dynamic, and organic.
What kind of message are you trying to send with your music?
I don’t really have any life changing messages. I write more about relationships. Sometimes drama within musician community. Female drama. My own anxiety [laughs].
Can you tell us a bit about your songwriting process?
I kind of take a page from Black Sabbath’s book. Not that I write scary music…well, sometimes I do [laughs], but that I write a riff or melody that is exciting in one way or another. Sometimes exciting moody, or exciting aggravating, angry or pumped up. It’s kind of weird, but the music will dictate where it wants to go, and I’ll try to think of a relevant topic that reflects that feeling or emotion.
What’s your guilty pleasure song?
And We Danced by Hooters (don’t know, was first thing I could think of)
If you could tour with anyone – dead or alive – who would it be and why?
INXS with Micheal Hutchens. Or Queen with Freddie Mercury. Toss up. Just because. How great would that be? [laughs].
What’s next for you?
Finish my 4 song EP. Shoot a quality video and promote the hell out of it.
