Fresh from major summer support slots for Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Jamie Lidell, slots at Peats Ridge Festival, The Playground Weekender and sold out Melbourne residencies; Sydney neo soulsters The Ray Mann Three are proud to announce the release of ‘Hook Me Up’, the 2nd in their series of three digital release only EPs.
Ray Mann is the former lead guitarist with Kid Confucius, now out doing his own thing with last years acclaimed self titled debut album to his new outfit’s credit. Over the first 6 months of 2009 The Ray Mann Three has released three EP’s (each with three tracks) exclusively through iTunes. EP #2, "Hook Me Up", was launched to a sell out Sydney crowd, was Indie Clip of the Week on Rage ABC TV and is at radio now.
EP #3, "Opa Opa", will be the final EP to be released (June 23rd ) - and to celebrate, The Ray Mann Three is embarking on a national tour! The Ray Mann Three will launching "Opa Opa" across the country throughout July with local guests. It's the band's biggest scale tour to date, and their first national run since their sold-out album launch and 30-date album tour in Spring 2008: PURCHASE TICKETS TO ANY TOUR DATE THROUGH WWW.MOSHTIX.COM.AU AND RECEIVE A FREE DOWNLOAD
Accompanying each EP is a video clip produced by Ray - for around $50 each. As an independent artist, the low-budget, low-fi, DIY aesthetic of all of Ray's art, from the videos to the poster art and web aesthetic, is due as much to cost constraint as it is creative concept. When viewed as a series, the three music videos span The Ray Mann Three's visual aesthetic, from photography, to motion graphics, to artwork - all produced by Ray himself.
The music video for "Opa Opa" is the finale of this series, immersing the viewer fully in the world or Ray’s artwork and animations. The clip, animated by Ray Mann, and incorporates artistic elements of almost every gig poster and live animation of the last 4 years. The previous music video, "Hook Me Up", was Rage ABC’s Indie of the Week. The video was shot in Melbourne during the band's residency there in February 2009, while promoting the first of the three EP’s, "Smile", and hot off the heels of the self-titled debut album being featured on Melbourne stations RRR and PBS towards the end of 2008.
The first EP, "Smile", (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WiBz8xmyyc) was recently featured in the triple j Unearthed podcast series, and the live version made its national radio debut on triple j's Roots & All with Sarah Howells - all 6 minutes and 27 seconds of it, including the extended improvised section of the sort which has become a trademark of The Ray Mann Three live show.