Rada Rada is the brainchild of Brooklyn based musician Daniel Pechia. His latest E.P. “River Stones” blends clever hooks and catchy melodies with layers of gritty guitars and thunderous dynamics.
I caught up with Daniel to talk about his early musical experiences, how he started playing music and the making of the new record.
CMM-What was the first music that really made an impact on you as a kid and what artist or band did you enjoy the most?
Dan-My very first distinct memories of music were driving around with my mom in her old green mini van listening to her collection of tapes. George Harrison, Simon and Garfunkel, The Police and Queen by far what she would play most; we both still love all those bands. That faded “Bridge over troubled water” tape is burned into my memory.
By far the most influential moment was much later when I was about 10 years old; the day my neighbor and brother’s best friend, Kyle, showed us Daft Punk. The memory is still so clear in my head. He rang our doorbell like a mad man, ran upstairs, panting like he just discovered the meaning of life. On my mom’s 50lb, dinosaur, desktop, computer he pulled up the music video for ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger’. I was mesmerized. We watched it at least 5 times. My life was never the same after that point. My entire brain changed. I was obsessed. I got the bug.
CMM-When did you start playing music and writing songs? What eventually led to Rada Rada writing and releasing records and playing shows?
Dan-I earned how to play guitar at 18 years old with the full intention of writing songs. At the time, I was studying computer science and had a pretty severe Counter Strike addiction. I felt like I was going down the wrong path in life and I needed a big change. I had always been music obsessed but never tried making my own music until then. Learning guitar and learning the songwriting process quickly took over my entire world. For the first year, I didn’t think about, talk about or spend any amount of time doing anything else. Soon after being able to play a ‘G’ chord, my buddy Kyle and I, the same one that showed us Daft Punk, started a band called ‘Coachlight’. We never released anything and only did a couple of open mics before Kyle moved to California. Once he left, I kept writing and recording myself under the name Rada Rada and here I am.
CMM-You recently released a record called “River Stones”. What was the process for the session like and was there any stand out gear that helped get specific sounds you were looking for?
Dan-I wrote the instrumental of the song, I had the concept of what the song would be about and had bits of lyrics but my buddy Stacy helped a ton to finish the lyrics and the harmonies for this track. We had about 2 writing sessions and 2 recording sessions. Since I started writing the song I had her mind to sing some verses on it. Stacy plays in one of my favorite bands right ‘boyscoutmarie’ who I think everyone needs to check out. I absolutely love their music and her vocals are always so damn amazing.
As for the gear I used, the pair of AKGc 414 microphones definitely stood out the most. I use those mics on all the drum overheads on the EP but for ‘River Stones’ I also used them to record the acoustic guitar as well. I used a mid-side mic technique I learned from Steve Albini’s (RIP 🙁 <3 ) YouTube channel to try and get a really wide feel. I think you can really hear it on the bridge before all the harmonies kick in.
CMM-If you could compose a score for any film director, who would it be and what would the film be about?
Dan-I would work with the Wachowski sisters to make a sequel to the 2008 Speed Racer live action movie. It’d be a mixture of intense prog metal and industrial techno for the racing scenes and to provide some counter balance I’d make some sweeping synth and orchestral pieces to match the love scenes for Trixie and Speed.
CMM-What do you all have coming up next?
Dan-I’ve had an absolutely, insanely, packed year. Apart from working on this EP which took a ton out of me, I helped record some other projects for friends, played some gigs in Buenos Aires, produced some events and produced the release show for this EP; and that’s just talking music stuff. I am so tired! I am going to take a month or two to do absolutely nothing. After this little break it’ll be album time. I’ve got the track list pretty much solidified, most of the songs are 70% – 100% written so now I just gotta hit record. I might release another collab EP/some singles with a buddy before the album comes out but I don’t know what that timeline looks like. I’ll definitely be booking gigs as well starting later in November and early December where I’ll be trying some new stuff out for this album. I always announce stuff on my ig @danpechia so stay tuned!
