Ray-Ban Raw Sounds arrives in London

The Ray-Ban Raw Sounds project launched with a live appointment at the Angel Orensanz
Foundation For Contemporary Art, one of New York City’s most nonconformist locations, arrived in London November 8 for a live performance by Tom Vek and a Mystery Jets DJ set in one of the city’s less conventional epicenters, Village Underground.

The project unites The Smiths legendary guitarist Johnny Marr and some contemporary bands in the only musical collaboration of its kind.
Inspired by Eno & Schmidt’s Oblique Strategies, Ray-Ban Raw Sounds is an unusual project for which Johnny Marr has developed five elements as the source for composing new musical numbers. Tom Vek, Best Coast, Mona, Au Revoir Simone and Carsick Cars put their creative abilities to the test by compiling tracks that draw inspiration from five different elements.

“I’ve been fascinated by Ray-Ban Raw Sounds since the start: the idea of working with up-and-coming bands but in a way that is innovative without being clichéd. Working on the five elements was a challenge that got me really excited because they had to be different, but also meaningful and inspirational”, said Johnny Marr on the RAY-BAN RAW SOUNDS photo set in Manchester in July. “I’ve been wearing Ray-Bans for years... When I started playing with The Smiths, I always wore them”, Marr continued. “In the ‘80s I worked in a store in Manchester that was one of the very first to sell Ray-Bans. I remember that I ordered a pair especially so that I could be one of the few people who were wearing Ray-Bans in Manchester at that time.”

This was the second of three Ray-Ban Raw Sounds events. The first in New York City October 13 was the project climax: it was opened by Johnny Marr and his band, The Healers, with backing from Best Coast of Los Angeles, Mona of Nashville and an Au Revoir Simone DJ set.

The third event will take place in Hong Kong November 24. Tom Vek, whose track is called Film Your Own Television, was fascinated by the basic concept of Ray-Ban Raw Sounds.
“Creating a track from given inspirations seemed to be an exciting challenge. I used parts of the poem and the Schiller quote as well as parts of the Strum and Drang video; while the lyrics involved working with the map and the photo.”