Members of Riodine
Music is a series of sounds artistically combined to create rhythms, harmonies and beats. Music becomes a song when vocalized lyrics and words are added.
Those are just some of the properties that help make music universal. And if music is universal, it possesses the power to transcend generations, bridge gaps and bring unique cultures together.
This is the story of Riodine and the blurring of the line that exists between the often-conflicting cultures of the United States and Russia.
Riodine is made up of two musicians of Russian descent and two musicians with roots firmly planted in America. Of the 10 songs on their debut album, “Practical Men,” nine are sung in Russian.
“If you take Johnny Cash—I wouldn’t call him a composer,” said Ed Kabatsky, the leader of Riodine and the glue that holds the band together. “But the people in Eastern Europe love the way his voice sounds, that low-key, country vibe. They don’t understand English, but they like what they hear, and they understand the message. If it’s well done, I don’t think it matters what language it’s recorded in. Music is universal.”
Kabatsky immigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union in 1989. Before moving to Camp Hill, Kabatsky made his home in Staten Island, N.Y., where his son, Nicholas, went to high school. Through his involvement in music there, he met the other future members of Riodine.
Nicholas and the other younger members of Riodine are all in their early 20s, a generation apart from the 50-year-old Kabatasky.
“I’ve been in multiple bands since the early 1990s,” said Kabatsky, who plays the guitar and piano and sings. “When we moved here, my son moved with us, but the other boys still live in New York. But they’re planning on coming here because they really, really love Pennsylvania.”
Emotional State
Last year, Riodine released two singles from their debut album, “Practical Men.” The full, 10-track album, which took about a year to produce and record, came out in December.
“It’s a unique collaboration, and it tells the story of a man who used to be very edgy and business-like,” said Kabatsky. “But he meets a girl and melts. It describes how his life is changed from being practical by falling in love.”
He describes the sound as indie or alternative rock.
“The music is absolutely beautiful, and it’s not repetitive,” he said. “It’s Pink Floyd-like, and certain songs might sound like the Red Hot Chili Peppers.”
More than a mere collection of songs, “Practical Men” takes the listener on a journey that features clearly defined beginnings, middles and ends.
“Usually, you go to some emotional state, maybe a happy mood, which you want to express through music,” said Kabatsky. “If you’re a musician, very often, it’s almost like meditation. Then you start to hear the melodies, they come to you. I have to go through different emotional states—it could be happy, it could be anger, it could be nostalgia. When you write down the notes, it becomes food for your mind.”
Breaking Barriers
Somewhat surprisingly, the musical stylings of the 20-something members of Riodine have been influenced by the harder rock music of the 1970s. It’s a genre that also greatly influenced the American and British bands that Kabatsky grew up with in Moscow in the 1980s.
“The musical exchange between the two countries (United States and Russia) is a lot wider than it ever was before,” Kabatsky said. “Now, there is hardly any difference between the Russian music scene and the one in the United States because of the internet. Russians are exposed to it more, and they follow it extremely closely. But I don’t think Russia has had the kind of influence on American music that America has had on Russian music.”
In that way, Riodine is breaking barriers, exploring new frontiers, creating a better understanding. Riodine’s second album, which will be recorded with all English lyrics, will take that mission a step further.
“Now that we’ve released a full album, we’re going to prepare for live shows and start performing around Harrisburg,” Kabatsky said. “We’ll be playing live, and we want to jump into a second album.”
That album, he said, will be a bit different.
“We all want to create something that’s more easy to understand,” he said. “Seeing the results is very inspiring, but we want to join the local music scene and see where it goes.”
When promoting something as universal as music, it can take you places you’ve never been before.
“For us, it’s all about the music and the message,” Kabatsky said.
For more information on Riodine, visit www.riodine.bandcamp.com or their Facebook page. “Practical Men” can be streamed on all major streaming platforms.
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