(EMAILWIRE.COM, January 27, 2010 ) LOS ANGELES, CA – What do you get when you mix a teacher, a community organizer and a chemist together to form a rock band? Progressive, Classic, Alternative Rock in the form of the LA-based group known as “The Reactives” who are currently touring in and around the LA area promoting the recent release of their self-titled debut album.
Playing to a sold-out crowd last week at the Viper Room, “The Reactives” view themselves as a “rock experimentation lab” where they create a sound that, above all, emotionally impacts the listener.
Most people have a general image of what a typical musician’s background might be. Whether it’s the college kid flipping burgers, the 40-year-old still living with the folks, or any combo under the sun, musicians are notorious for living a certain lifestyle of freedom. However, “The Reactives” don’t fit into the stereotype at all, and their debut album isn’t fitting into any typical subgenres either.
“Specifically, we really try to instigate mental imagery with our sounds evoking mental projection to real or imagined places.” Says the band, “[the song] Orbit, for example was a piece designed to take the listener on journey through space/time and features backwards guitar and explosive sounds in the background all made by the guitar.”
Each song is different from the rest and ultimately they strive to let the music write itself, saying “It’s all about what fits the song rather than what we want to interject for any other reason.”
Song topics range from personal battles to conceptual pieces to global issues such as poverty, economic inequality, and social justice. Live, the band brings raw excitement and animated electricity, complete with electric and bass guitars harmoniously playing to create a unique sonic landscape where the drummerÂ’s ferocious usage of all cymbals completes the package.
Founding brothers Gil and Alberto Ramirez, both graduated from their respective universities, UCLA and Loyola Marymount, with degrees in Political Science. Each member also has a successful day career; Gil, guitar/vocals, was an educator for Los Angeles before getting laid off due to recession, Alberto, bass/backing vocals, is a community organizer working to ensure environmental and labor policies addressing poverty and pollution in the cities of Wilmington and Long Beach, and David, drums, is a chemist for the US Navy in San Diego and helps to ensure the cleanliness of the ports there.
With full-time demanding careers, this band meets in the Ramirez Brothers’ living room three days a week for four hour sessions. Talk about dedication, David drives over 200 miles round-trip from San Diego to rehearse and assist in writing their music. All that dedication is finally paying off, and “The Reactives” will be touring extensively throughout 2010 in LA on and off the sunset strip.
To learn more about “The Reactives” and their hot self-titled debut album, as well as to check out their up-coming tour dates, visit www.myspace.com/thereactives.
