Playing Background and Paying bills

For 30 years Ra
Keelan who is a local musician, has been doing gigs all around the world from
Thailand to Bali as well as his fair share of local gigs across New Zealand.
Now, at age 50 Ra returns to Wintec to rekindle his love and passion for the
music industry. 

Since the age of ten
Ra was drawn to music. In the 1960s and ’70s musicians like Stevie Wonder,
Prince, and Ella Fitzgerald sparked Ra’s desire to learn. However, it wasn’t as
simple as picking up a guitar and playing it.

 “We weren’t
allowed to play it. My dad had this rule: you can only play the guitar if you
know what you’re doing. If you don’t know what you’re doing leave it alone.”

Even at ten years
old, Ra’s love for music was too strong to resist. So, every time his dad was
out of the house he and his brothers would play until he came home. 

As Ra got older,
his influencers began to broaden. From musicians like Joe Satriani, Jeff Healey
and Stevie Ray Vaughan to Ra’s aunts and uncles who used to sit around playing
the guitar. Even later after Ra had a family, he used his kids as an influence
and he played the type of music they listened to that Ra would never think to. Ra
took every opportunity Ra could get to learn something new about music he took.

“ I used to sit
there and watch them; what they did, how they did it and try and emulate them.
Try to copy them.”

During the 1980s
and 90s,’ Ra decided to put his dreams of becoming a musician on hold and help
raise his family by getting a “real job”. 14 years later Ra got to see one of
his cousins play and decided that it was time to come back to music. 

“Back then I had to
get a real job. They told you in the 90s, get a job to support your family, and
I did that. But my passion to play was too great.”

Since then Ra has
written and covered songs in reggae, funk, RnB, blues, soul and pop. He has been
able to form a band, a trio and duo specifically to fit the location he’s
performing at. He has performed in Thailand at the reggae bar, Bali, The
Eatery, Keg Room, Gardens in Hamilton, Botticelli Restaurant and The Bar in
Takapuna, Howick Club in Manukau and other local and international
locations. 

Ra has done live
shows as well as shows where he is the main entertainer, but the gigs most
beloved by Ra are background gigs. These are gigs where Ra is there
specifically there to sing background music at restaurants or pubs. 

“ There are
moments where I’m just in a restaurant playing background music and I love
that.”

“ I love the idea
of playing a song that somebody knows and playing it a little different and
having them pop their head up and listening to it and singing along to it.”

“ Doing these kinds
of gigs takes a lot of pressure off you of having to put on an act and have to
perform to a crowd “

With Ra now in his 50s
and after 30 years of performing to mass audiences, Ra slowly begins to lose
enjoyment and passion to play music. At the start it was fun but when it became
a job for Ra, and he was doing three to five gigs a week the fun began to
drain.

 Knowing this
he decided to come to Wintec and complete a music program to bring back the fun
and lost confidence he had in himself while opening other options for Ra to
perform more overseas.

“I’ve met some
awesome people and they keep telling me they want to be where I am and I tell
them I want to where they are, you know to start over.”

“I can see myself
through this journey at tech rediscovering my love and passion for music again
which has been my goal since I started here, and so far it’s working.”

Already having the talent,
love, passion, heart and soul for the music itself, Ra’s desire was never to
become a famous musician. For Ra, it was only ever about simple things.

“At the moment it’s
just about playing that background, paying bills, develop me as a person as well
as my music and seeing where that goes.”