The swiss band Ragdoll Sunday have a style which
is hard to put in a special genre. They play
hard music and here have Manny and Adonis from
the group answered a lot of questions from me.
January 2022
Please tell me a little bit history of the
group?
(Andonis) We all met through a random sequence
of accidents. Gaetano was in a band looking for
a guitarist. A common friend told me about him
and I met him for pizza. We became instant
friends and then we started jamming. Manuel
found us through an old add on a newspaper. We
had just found a drummer but after we tried him
it was inevitable to not accept him. He is the
best drummer we’ve ever played with and now we
are also a family. Ollie came while we were
looking for bassist further down the line. We
had two guys before but both they left because
our tour schedule becoming a bit demanding and
it was hard for them to follow. I knew Ollie as
a customer in the bars I was working and then
social media magic happened and now we are all
together the Ragdoll Sunday family. Toured in
Mexico ( with Tarja Turunen, ex Nightwish), in
the USA with Otep and Dropout kings, in the UK
with the Anvil and we played shows together with
Skindred.
Please tell me a little about every member in
the group right now, age, family, work,
interests and something bad about everyone?
Earlier bands? Other bands on the side?
(Andonis) well I’ll try to be quick and
efficient!
I won’t give out the ages so let’s say we are
all on our 30s. Some of us later down the decade
and some early in it. We are all not married yet
although we are most of us happily occupied.
Manuel, our Portuguese drummer, works for the
finance world as a banker for a Swiss bank.
He is an active sports freak and he loves
hummus. His most annoying part is that if he
likes you he will annoy the life out of you just
for fun.
But we love him that way.
Gaetano, our British- Italian frontman is an IT
mastermind.
He is the fittest and healthiest member of the
band. He is the driving force ( literally and
metaphorically) of the Ragdoll Sunday engine.
The only bad thing about him is that his healthy
life style makes it hard for us ( me) to have
late night drinks with him.
Ollie, our Caribbean breeze, is also into IT
although he studied geography.
He is my beer buddy and our comedian in the
band. His weakness is that sometimes some jokes
don’t land where they should, resulting with
inside pains that we quickly pass when he drops
the next joke which 9/10 is great fun.
Last ( hopefully not least), I’m the Greek part
of the machine.
I work in gastronomy as a bartender, managing a
cocktail bar in Zurich. My weakness I might say
is that I talk a lot and constantly. Oh well, no
one is perfect
I can hear much different influences but it´s
mostly harder music? Favorites from the past?
(Andonis) We all come from different influences.
I grew up with classic rock, heavy metal, doom
and the older I got the heavier and more
different my influences. I also love classic
music and soul too. Manuel is more into prog
stuff plus what I mentioned. Ollie is more the
funkster, more the RHCP, RATM kind of type and
Gaetano is more the hardcore style.
We write our songs collectively and along the
way we use all our influences.
I guess that makes our style a bit more complex
Ragdoll Sunday are you satisfied with the
name? How did it came up? What does
it mean? You weren’t afraid that some other band
would be named like this? Which is the best
bandname you know?
(Andonis) It literal means a doll made from
rags. In the early days of the band it was hard
to come up with a name so, we were rehearsing
Sunday mornings and me, as a bartender, I was
always sleepless and feeling pretty tired. So I
used to joke around and say that I feel abused
like a ragdoll being thrown around. Then I
suggested for fun that we could name us “
Ragdoll Sunday”. We kept it as a joke for a
month or so but eventually it got meaning in us
and we resonated with it. We searched and no
other band had it so we decided to keep it as a
homage to people that will spend their lives
living for working nine to five jobs they don’t
like and waiting only for Sunday to be alive.
Sunday is our day of freedom. So there you go
What´s the best thing with playing live? Have
you done any since the covid came? You´re going
out with Anvil, how come?
(Andonis) just the energy, the people, the
stage, the whole vibe is insane.
You spend months creating music, rehearsing it
to perfection and then you take it to the stage
and the whole thing takes life. Is the best part
I guess. We haven’t managed to play yet but we
have some upcoming shows that they constantly
get postponed due to the current situation.
I used to listen to Anvil on my teenage years
and I was over the moon when Gaetano managed to
book us on the same tour with them.
Amazing guys
And where is best to play? And the worst place?
(Andonis) we haven’t played that many countries
yet.
Everywhere so far we were warmly welcomed and
received but Mexico… that was a beyond reality
experience. These people are crazy
Thankfully we don’t have any bad experience so
far
How is to play this sort of music in
Switzerlandright now? Which types of bands
do you have concerts together with?
(Andonis) Generally we are not the mainstream
kind of sound. We don’t aim for that. We play
music that speaks from our personal feelings. We
play it with honesty and we welcome everyone
that likes it to come onboard. If we are not
your type it’s fine. In Switzerland right now
the mainstream sound is more popular at the
moment with power metal being kind of the main
crowd around these lands. There’s a growth into
heavier sounds lately so that gives us a bit of
a hope
How would you describe your music in three
words? Your music is hard to put in a
special genre..
(Andonis) If I had to chose three words then I
would safely say that we play : post grunge/
punk. But everyone will most likely give you a
different answer
Punk is an attitude, not just a genre you
say…what does punk mean to you?
(Andonis). To me personally “punk” is more of an
ideology, an idea and same as all ideas and
ideologies out there people take them and adopt
them under their own expectations. To me punk is
to question any established order, to not sit
back on safety and stability but look out for
your personal growth and be real through that
journey. Punk is not to break stuff around, be a
bandit or anything in my world. Try to be free,
happy, fair, honest, that’s pretty much punk to
me.
Which song/album or group was it who took you
into music and to play yourself?
(Andonis) I was discovering metal when I was 12
but around 15 I started diving very deep into
it.
Savatage was and is my favorite band of all
times so I guess they put that guitar in my arms
and told me I should learn how to play. I
haven’t learned yet but in still in love with
that band
What shall a young guy do today to shock their
parents as the way we did when we were young?
They have already seen everything ;-)?
(Andonis) well since shock is a reaction to
something beyond normal and nowadays “ normal”
is really not great I would say that young kids
that chose education over followers, science
over superstition, egalitarianism over egoism
are going to give their parents a pretty descent
and positive shock I would say.
How is it to live in Switzerland right now?
Politically? Fascists?
(Andonis) Fascists? Thankfully Switzerland is
one of the most stable and easy countries to
live at the moment, providing opportunities that
in other places you wouldn’t maybe dare to think
of. I would say I live my American dream in this
country I now call home.
Is there any good bands from Switzerland right
now?
Is the punkscene/metalscene/hardcorescene big?
How is it in your hometown?
(Andonis) As mentioned above the metal scene is
pretty big if you are more up for classic
sounds, more power- epic style.
That’s why our best export right now is probably
the Burning Witches which dominate crowds
wherever they play. In Zurich, our hometown, our
homeboys Shrinks do pretty well for themselves
and generally the scene is slowly moving towards
bigger crowds. We hope that punk is not dead yet
but we will have to wait for COVID to move out
first to see what’s going to happen next.
What do you know about Sweden? Have you
been here sometime? What is typical Swedish?
(Andonis) Haven’t been there yet but I have a
northern trip on my bucket list, hopping to
catch some northern lights.
I have many Swedish friends and they are all
awesome people, full of life and big into party.
You guys love to party and you have great music
scene there. I grew up listening to Malmsteen
and now I absolutely love Ghost.
Have you heard any good bands from Sweden?
(Andonis) Well as mentioned before Ghost and
Malmsteen are my top names coming straight to
mind
Your lyrics, who does them and what influences
you?
Never in your own language? Please tell me a
little about the following songs
-Warcry
-Jimmie One Two
-Autoignition
(Andonis) Gaetano writes the lyrics. He is our
voice and we are happy that he is very talented
in both writing and singing his thoughts into
great meanings. Society, wannabe politicians
(official or otherwise) & personal challenges
are what makes him grab a paper and write
normally. According to him, Warcry is about the
paradox between how you've been told to act, &
what you authentically want. Jimmy One Two is
based on James 1:2-4 from the Bible and
Autoignition again is about how society puts
pressure to everyone in order to make them fit
to whatever the elit and the puppet masters
want.
Is there any subject that you never will write
anything about? Or isn´t anything sacred?
(Manny) We never label topics as such.. what we
do try to always do is to write stuff that has a
meaning or that feels right for us
Politic and music, does it goes hand in hand?
Which is your most political song? Is it
important to get out your opinions in music? Or
is it OK to play music and not sing about
politics?
(Manny) I think politics is intrinsically
linked to music, regardless of the genre.. you
see it in blues, metal, rap, reggae, everywhere
and it is always in a way to convey an opinion
unless it is very shallow a song... But more
than that I think what matters most is to have
feelings imbued in your music, and politics is
only one way of coming out
Best political band/artist?
(Manny) I think Rage Against the Machine is
probably the one that I would list as a best
of.. there isn’t a best I think.. there are many
artists that do politics in music differently
and with different vibes, but RATM is the one
that I really think of first because of the
punchiness they have – I mean just the name of
the band already sets the stage (no pun
intended)
Do you think that music(lyrics and so on) can
change anyones life, I mean people who listens
to music?
(Manny) I think so. And not just artistically,
when you’re starting to play and try to find a
style that fits you, but in general it affects
your feelings. It can inspire and galvanize
crowds, and there have been literally country
shaping revolutions where music was the trigger
– for example, in Portugal, where I’m from, in
1974 the ruling fascist regime was overthrown by
a revolution for which a song was the signal for
the revolutionary troops.
Your favorite recordcover alltime? Who
does your recordcovers? And do you have
any good recordstores in your hometown?
(Manny) Our record “And now, we grieve”
actually is one of my favorites covers because
it was a photo snapped really spontaneously on
set when we recorded our video “Postrona
Perfect” so there’s an element of spontaneity
there I quite like. As for recordstores, I’m
afraid not.. it has really become something
technology rendered extinct to a certain level..
Is it important to get out physical records of
your stuff? Why or why not? Vinyl, CD, cassette,
what do you prefer if you could choose whatever
?
(Manny) I know vinyl keeps the best sound
quality but I do think it is more important you
get your music to listeners than how you do it..
At least in an early stage of a band, you should
try and get as much exposure as you can. Leave
the vinyl special editions for your
20th anniversary special re-masters I say
Please tell me a funny thing which have happened
during your career and under some gig?
(Manny) There are way to many to pick one… We
have some really cool tour Vlogs on Youtube I
highly recommend you check out. You will laugh,
I guarantee
How does your audience look like? Which people
do you miss on your concerts? Which is the
biggest band you ever have played together
with?
(Manny) I have to say playing with Skindred was
quite a thing. I was already into them and
sharing a stage was something special. They also
pull a cool crowd of all ages and backgrounds so
the mix is really nice. Not to speak of the
energy these crowds would throw at us..
Please rank your five favoriterecords, five
favoriteconcerts and five most important things
in life?
(Manny) records: Dream Theater “Train of
Thought”; Michael Romeo “War of the Worlds”;
Gojira “Fortitude”; Weekend “After Hours” (it’s
a great album!); Camo & Krooked “Red Bull
Symphonic”
Concerts: Dream Theater in 2007 after Systematic
Chaos came out – still have Portnoy’s wrist band
that he threw into the crowd; Skindred at
Akvarium in Budapest; Machine Head at Rock in
Rio Lisbon; Snarky Puppy here in Zurich; Guns n’
Roses with Axel and Slash here in Zurich – epic.
I’ll reduce my life advice to one simple thing
– just have common sense and don’t be a jerk to
others – that will take you far
First, last and most expensive record ever
bought?
(Manny) Damn.. been years since I bought a
record.. but I bought fairly expensive concert
tickets like Guns n’ Roses – well over 200 bucks
but was totally worth it
Is it boring with interviews? Is it much
interviews?
(Manny) not at all, it is rather enjoyable. To
reminisce and think over good questions is
always time well spent.
Do you care about reviews? Which is the most
peculiar you ever had, with this band or any
other band you have been to? Have you ever
changed anything after a bad review?
(Manny) I think in the day and age of social
media comment section warriors you find tons of
funny stuff… like comments in Russian lolz but I
think you’ll always find people who like and who
dislike and that’s fine – I think it just means
you have a unique style that is able to make a
mark. Like food, anyone will eat plain rice
because it is flavorless but a spiced up dish
will not strike home with everyone
Which bands do people compare you to, is it
boring that people compare you to other bands or
is it understandable?
(Manny) It’s understandable, everyone draws
influences from previous bands and artists… we
have been compared to a myriad of bands like
Alice in Chains, Deftones, sometimes RATM and
even Queen! I mean in general we seem to land in
the post grunge heavy spheres but overall I like
the bands that are mentioned so compare away
dear listeners
If you could choose five bands from the past and
the history and nowadays and both dead and
living bands to have a concert together with
your band. Which five have you been chosen?
(Manny) Pantera / Slash Snakepit / Dillinger
Escape Plan / Alice in Chains / Soundgarden
Is music a good way to get out frustration and
become a nicer person outside the music??
(Manny) I think it is a way to cope with your
feelings at a given time and that is a mechanism
to deal with issues, yes – I am not really a
buyer of sticking to a genre to make a statement
– like gangster = rap/hiphop or Emo = Metal or
whatever – but rather that you listen to what
resonates with your feelings at a given time. I
mean, when I go snowboard I like listening to
House and Drum n Bass and stuff like that, and
when I work out or jog to metal and heavy
music..
Which is the most odd question you ever have got
in an interview?(Except this one)
(Manny) The physical records question before
was funny, not because it is not relevant, just
because it really kind of stopped being a thing
Which is the question you want to have but you
never get. Please ask it and answer it?
(Manny) Would you swap instruments if you could
? I don’t think so BUT I am very keen on
learning more music and other instruments
Futureplans for the band?
(Manny) these are not easy times for anyone,
but we will continued to write meaningful music
– we have some cool concept album coming soon –
and finding gigs. We hope touring becomes easier
again this year so we can get back out there.
For yourself?
(Manny) I guess we’ll see
Wisdomword?
(Manny) Worse than not knowing is to think you
know
Something to add?
-(Manny) just our thanks for this great
interview!