Destiny’s kids
Imbued with the working-class DIY spirit, Ruff Patches play a garage rock that the band considers predestined.
Bassist/vocalist Dave Mancini believes “The universe formed us. Musically, things just happen on their own … I mean, we are just the bodies doing the playing … the music comes from some higher power of some sort. Maybe aliens or the universe or something.”
Jokes aside, Mancini humbly submits of their origin: “Music is one of the most intimate things we have. The name is not very flashy, it doesn’t have much pizzazz … but it has meaning. Ruff Patches is just a collection of four guys, songwriters, from Louisville who are close friends who support each other and take care of each other.”
Ruff Patches are celebrating their sixth year as a band with the completion of Full Circle, their first full-length release. A labor of love, Mancini explains, “It took us five years to convert this puppy from fiction to non. All the songs on the album we had written years before, and they were set well within our souls and had aged enough and were ready to be recorded.”
Self-engineered and mastered at Treehouse Audio, Mancini poured himself into making the album the realization of the band’s shared vision. “Thousands of hours, I dedicated my most calculated focus and judgment to make this record,” Mancini says. “It was nice, it was emotional, it was fulfilling to my spirit. It was like my ‘David.’ I still get emotional all the time when I hear certain songs … it’s a good feeling, to make something that is pure art.”
Ruff Patches are already working on their second full-length. Ever willing to exceed expectations, Mancini notes that “one of our goals is to perform at the 2014 Super Bowl Halftime Show.”
Ruff Patches bring their brand of back-alley rock to Third Street Dive on Saturday with Stoner Moms and Aint Worth Killin. You can be there for the first leg of their world domination and get a jump on what everyone will be talking about in early 2014.
This article appears in December 4, 2012.