Music
Press
The Rainbow; April 7
Kings of Jupiter weaves mystical magic, with sitar virtuoso Rane Sevin on sitar and vocals. The fusion of ancient Indian instruments and progressive rock rhythms creates a transcendent, haunting sound. The songs hold a mirror up to the frail machinations of the human mind, the struggle with death and pain, but always infused with the challenge to overcome. At times the songs are hauntingly beautiful, with an almost Celtic-sounding pathos; at times they're forceful and intense, reminiscent in tone to the legendary Grace Slick.
Frontman Rane wields the sitar in an entirely new way, melding the instrument with her voice until the two become one. She's modified her sitars to fit her brand of indie rock -- dialing out some of the "Indian" resonance and increasing the gourd size for a deeper tone. You hear that she's truly a master player when she breaks into solos that are all rock and no "raga."
It's hard to describe Rane. As a performer, she is both passionate and vulnerable. You watch her, and you want to be her friend. The force behind her music is evolved and wise beyond her years. The lyrics rattle around in your head and make you want to read the liner notes. The originals are solid, fresh, and well worth a listen. The cover I heard, ("Low Spark of High Heeled Boys"), would make the Traffic boys grin from ear to ear.
- Noah Strong -- The Beat
"Kings of Jupiter is...musically stirring...hypnotising and deeply inspiring!" - Darryl St. John
"...Rane Severin is a gatherer of humane beauty...an angel..." - Cornelius
"...feelin it...real vibrations...big ups to the Kings of Jupiter!" - Doc Merkaba
"Kings of Jupiter shows...passion, intensity, naked honesty...the grassroots revotion has indeed come..." - Vinnie James
"astro-cool!...heavenly...Rane Severin is a strange goddess..." - Ludo
"...this music sounds like it was sent from the gods..." - The Intelligent Heart
”If you want to lose track of everything while finding your place in the Universe check out KINGS OF JUPITER, and melt into a creation of Earth and Soul.” V.Loeffler-N.C. - V.Loeffler
Discography
Cuts from Kings of Jupiter's first album will be featured on the motion picture soundtrack "Warm." Rane also wrote the theme song for a new TV pilot called "XERX."
Cuts from "Flying Dreams" are playing on Blast 1386 AM in England, Radio Central, Belgium and Radioptic Radio, PVHF, Sydney, Australia. This August, Kings of Jupiter will be featured on the nationally-syndicated Adam Carolla show with a live interview and radio play from the album.
A radio interview with Kings of Jupiter is available on i-Tunes (see myspace for link). A live video of Rane performing "Questions" is on 88slide.com and YouTube.
Photos
Bio
Hear two cuts from Kings of Jupiter's first album "Flying Dreams" in the upcoming feature film "WARM." Rane also performs on-camera in the film. The cuts are "Cloud of Life," written to a soldier on the front lines and "Questions," which is a finalist in this year's John Lennon Songwriting Contest. SEE THE "QUESTIONS" MUSIC VIDEO on MYSPACE.COM/KINGSOFJUPITER!
Rane’s primary instrument is a Vilayat Khan styled sitar, which Rane has electrified and modified to fit her sound. She studied in India, and is the only sitar player who sings original music while playing. Kings of Jupiter’s sound is evocative of Massive Attack, Dead Can Dance, and the Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s collaborations with Eddie Vedder.
Kings of Jupiter’s unique blend of east-meets-west makes the music popular worldwide. They've performed in India, Thailand, Tibet, Mexico and Costa Rica. This year, Kings of Jupiter will perform in Annan, Jordan and Tunis, Morocco.
Rane is an ambassador of Zaadz, a global community devoted to higher social consciousness and advancing ecological change. Rane also volunteers at a Los Angeles youth prison.
Rane is committed to spreading love with her music, and some of her CD sales go to IHRF, a nonprofit foundation devoted to Indian and Tibetan children. IHRF also offers job training to impoverished Indian women, provides disaster relief to tsunami victims, and cares for orphans. IHRF is headed by H.H. Pujya Swamiji Chidanand Saraswati Maharaj, who is India’s acting spiritual representative to the United Nations.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Q: What is that thing?
A: It's called a sitar! Pretty cute, huh?
Q: Is it hard to play?
A: Well, it has 18 strings, with two bridges stacked on top of each other. You have to reach under the top set of strings to play the bottom set. If you want to change keys, you have to move the frets and retune all the strings, and if it’s even a little bit out of tune, it sounds like a moose in heat! Also, the only notation for the sitar is in Sanskrit. Other than that, it’s pretty much a snap!
Q: Why do you play such a thing?
A: The same reason salmon swim upstream, leap up a waterfall to mate, and then die at the end of the party. God has a bizarre sense of humor, and I'm one of his cosmic chuckles.
Q: Do you sound like Ravi Shankar?
A: Ummm....Ravi Shankar is probably the finest musician in the WORLD. He plays classical Indian ragas in stadiums across the globe. I play rock music in sweaty Hollywood nightclubs. Other than that, we sound identical!
Q: Have you ever met Ravi Shankar?
A: Er...not yet. For some reason, we never get invited to the same parties.
Q: Did you ever meet George Harrison?
A: See my Myspace blog: “My Lunch With George.” My favorite place to write music is on the roof of the house the Beatles built when they were in India. It’s in an abandoned ashram in an overgrown jungle, right on the banks of the Ganges. I sit on the roof and play sitar while the mist floats over the river and the monkeys swing in from the jungle. It’s heaven. The last time I was there, though, it had been raining for a couple of months, and the vegetation was really high. A girl warned me not to go in, because a jaguar had killed a local goat and was hiding out in there. Of course, I desperately wanted to see a jaguar, but a rare moment of common sense came over me, and I went down to the riverbank instead.
Q: Will you play at my music festival/club/fundraiser?
A: I am so there! Especially if your festival is in some exotic place with semi-dangerous animals and vines to swing from.
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