{"id":22354,"date":"2023-06-18T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-18T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=22354"},"modified":"2023-06-12T16:06:29","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T16:06:29","slug":"the-ravagers-interview-exclusive-alex-hagen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=22354","title":{"rendered":"The Ravagers interview exclusive – Alex Hagen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alex Hagen is the singer\/songwriter and one of the guitar players in Baltimore Punk ‘n’ Roll band Ravagers who just managed an impressive romp across some of Europe showcasing their latest record ‘Badlands<\/a>‘. We tracked down the frontman and threw a bunch of questions in his direction because we love Ravagers and everything they stand for. It’s Rock N Roll baby and these guys live it and breathe it and we want to help spread the word because the world needs Punk ‘n’ Rollers like Alex and his bandmates. So settle down and check out what went down when RPM Online caught up with Alex Hagen…<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Give us a bit of a background to Ravagers. When did you put the band together? I notice only you and Ray survived the band from the first record to the current ‘album and tour. <\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ravagers began in 2013 when me and Ray dropped out of high school to dabble in illegal activities and start our own street gang in Baltimore. All the corners were taken in our neighborhood so we started playing rock music to get rich. We\u2019ve been through a couple members since then. Some ended up biting the bullet and others realized the harsh reality that is the long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When did you first pick up a guitar? Did you always want to be a frontman handling vocals and playing an instrument?<\/mark><\/strong> I played my first power chord in middle school on a neighbor\u2019s busted practice amp and thought it sounded SICK but I ended up joining my first band on bass till I was confident enough with a guitar to write my own songs. That band ended up falling apart and I had started writing some songs on an old brown melody maker style guitar Matt Gabs set up for me. I got a corporate job for a short while to save up for a Marshall JMP and some celestion greenback speakers that I put into an old ampeg 4\/12 cab and I still use it to this day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When Gabbs joined he\u2019d done the production on previous recordings was it the case of right time right place? <\/mark><\/strong>I moved into Matt Gabs house around 2011 and when I was working on music I\u2019d show him my ideas. We\u2019ve always collaborated and bounced ideas off each other. When we would record I\u2019d make him come in the studio to listen in and make sure everything was sounding good. He joined the band in 2018 when our guitar player at the time left. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The recent run through Europe you had Sam fill in on Bass is that a permanent thing now?<\/mark><\/strong> Personally I think the pair of Gabs and Sam are perfect for the band both sound and look. Sam is working out great. He has a cool look on stage and loves the same music that inspires the band. On top of that he\u2019s always down to play and go on tour. As long as he keeps it up he\u2019s in! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You recently did an impressive shift around mainland Europe but missed out the UK are there any plans to visit shit island for maybe a couple of shows next time? I travelled to Barca for the show and thought the performance was excellent but the venue not so. How was the tour?<\/mark><\/strong> This was our first time in Europe and it was hard enough to get the shows booked that we had working with two different booking agents. We had a great tour manager Gwinny, who on top of driving and selling merch actually booked some of the shows for us before the tour started. The tour seemed to be a gamble and we wanted to at least make the money to pay for our plane tickets back. We heard the UK taxed merch, required visas, and the shows wouldn\u2019t give us places to stay so we opted out of it this time. The tour was a success so we are hoping to go back soon and do some UK dates next time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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