Ramah

Band: Ramah

Members: Albert "Lee" King, lead guitar and backup vocals; Corey Robert, lead vocals and guitar; Erik Furman, drummer; Andy Zielinski, bass

Who we talked to: King

How did you guys get together? I was always looking to get a band together. In seventh grade while I was at middle school at Northeastern, I got together with Erik Furman . . . and we started looking for people for the band. We asked around . . . and started doing auditions. We found Andy Zielinski as our bassist. I was a singer and guitar player and we started making songs. (We've been together) for five years.

Where did the name come from? It came from church actually. We were just looking for a short name that people would remember. We thought that was cool. (Ramah) means enlightenment . . . or a high place. I'm pretty sure it's Greek.

Can you describe your sound and style? We're alternative rock. We have a punk influence. All of our songs have a positive influence. They're not all necessarily Christian, but they're not going to be anything that is depressing. None of us are really into lyrics that don't lift people up (and) that send a bad message out to kids.

Who are your musical influences? (They're) more alternative bands like Yellowcard and Lifehouse. Our drummer's influence (are) Green Day and Creed, too.

What places do you guys like to play? We've played at multiple schools. We've played at Northeastern Middle (School) and High School. We've played at York (County School of Technology) and our more favorite gigs are at Club 19. A really good show we played was at Spring Grove Middle School for the mini-THON. It was a charity event to support the Four Diamonds Fund. We played for a couple hundred kids while they were doing their fundraiser.

Do you guys throw any covers in when you play a show? We throw some covers in for crowd interaction, but we're mostly originals. We cover "Cumbersome" by Seven Mary Three and "Hero" by Foo Fighters. That's two of the main ones we do at our concerts.

Where does your inspiration come from when you're writing originals? Our inspiration is usually life and just experiences that each of us has had . . . with people that we know and things like that.

Like any local groups? We played a lot over the summer with Torn From Red and Rosematter. We know Northbrooke. We hang out with (Flight 717) a lot.

You guys are involved in an anti-drinking campaign right? We got contacted by Illumina Records from Boston, and they were interested in our music and asked if we were available to do a drunk-driving awareness campaign. They have an online magazine for that to spread the message. I had a lot of . . . people I know that died from (drunken) driving and accidents, so it's an important message.

What are your thoughts on the York music scene? There is a lot of potential. Every year, I notice a lot more places opening up. The music scene is getting a lot bigger. Club 19 and places like Amp Avenue are really helping the music scene out. I think there (are) a lot more places now where bands can get together with other bands and play a set show every weekend if they want to. It's not just like once a month.

- ERIN McCRACKEN, FLIPSIDE STAFF