Ragana & Drowse

We love to bring special, one off performances to Roadburn; it’s one of the things that – to our minds at least – make the festival so special. When you’re watching such a performance, it could well be the one and only opportunity to do so. Mark this next announcement down as one for the history books and one to circle as a must-see in your schedule. We’re thrilled to announce a special collaboration between RAGANA AND DROWSE. Both artists will be performing their own standalone shows, but they’ll be joining forces on Friday in the Koepelhal for a live debut that we’re already feeling giddy about. 

As well as being labelmates at The Flenser, Drowse and Ragana are united by the threads of honesty and vulnerability that run through their musical output. Seeking truth through sound they allow waves of sonified emotion to crash, thunder, soften and wallow. The three of them share a bond with, and affinity and cursed love for the rainy, unforgiving, Pacific Northwest –  and the interwoven history of the black metal and indie rock that has grown out of its dreary landscapes. Memories of cold oceans, dark forests, and grey skies guide Drowse and Ragana’s sonic searchings. 

Kyle Bates of Drowse comments: “I have been a fan of Ragana for a very long time. The duo formed while I was in college in Washington, around when I first started dreaming up Drowse. Both of our projects existed simultaneously in the Pacific Northwest for years, but our paths didn’t cross until recently, when they signed to The Flenser. The fact that we both work with such a genre bending and boundary pushing label points toward similar sensibilities, but our musical connections run deeper. Ragana and Drowse share an intense love for Pacific Northwestern artists from Mount Eerie/The Microphones to Mirah to the aforementioned Wolves in the Throne Room as well as the landscapes that shaped them and us. 

“Ragana’s new record, Desolation’s Flower, was recorded at the Unknown in Anacortes, WA, by my friend Nich Wilbur who also masters my work. The music on it, like all of Ragana’s music, is powerful and fragile, immediate and vast. I look forward to darkening their sylvan heaviness with my overcast sounds at Roadburn 2024.”

Both Ragana and Drowse have long been on our radar as artists with something to say for themselves, and distinctive ways of delivering their musical message. We couldn’t be more honoured to host these two special entities, united on stage at Roadburn. 

– Becky Laverty