Perth Rocks Festival is happening Sunday, 15 September 2024. Steph Jewell got to speak to some of the bands ahead of the festival to get to know them and what they are all about. For her final band interview, Steph sat down with Leon Todd from famed Perth rock band, Ragdoll. Leon plays guitar and is joined on stage by Ryan Rafferty (bass and vocals) and Cam Barrett (drums).
Steph: Leon, thank you for joining me for a chat ahead of Perth Rocks. Please tell me the origin story of Ragdoll?
Leon: It is lost in the mists of time at the moment, but I have been playing with Cam since about 2006 now, so coming up on quite a good innings there. And we met Ryan while he was out playing in Perth cover bands. Hopefully if you are reading this interview, you have heard him sing so you know why we were so blown away! Over the next couple of years – it kind of took us a few years to actually get our act together and get into a rehearsal room. We settled on a three-piece format in about 2011. We put a four track EP out and the rest is kind of like a stain on your toilet seat that you just can’t get rid of! We are still here!
Steph: And how would you describe the Ragdoll sound, if nobody had heard of you before?
Leon: I still think the best description that anyone has ever given me, was at a show, when a random drunk dude came up to me and said ‘man, you guys are like, hair metal but grunge like hair grunge, I didn’t know that was allowed!’ We all like that. The reason we started the band is because we wanted to play and write music that we like. So, it is very guitar driven, very melodic, rock music. Which is the blandest descriptor I can give it, but if you like your 1970’s rock and if you like your 1980’s hair metal and if you like your 1990’s grunge. And if you like your modern, chunky sounding stuff then that’s kind of us. The running joke is that its not ‘heavy metal’, its ‘stiff wood!’
Steph: Who would you say are some of your influences as a band, for your music?
Leon: Lots of stuff from the 1970’s and 1980’s, I grew up listening to bands like Deep Purple and Thin Lizzy, Rush. We often get compared to Alice In Chains, White Snake, Sound Garden. If you like that kind of stuff then there is probably something that you might enjoy. Alter Bridge is another band that we get compared to a lot.
Steph: How did you guys come to be involved with Perth Rocks?
Leon: The legend, Jacob Kenny! I have known and played gigs on bills with Jacob for a long time and he invited us to play. You kind of never say no to a Sunday night at Port Beach in Freo!
Steph: What has been happening behind the scenes, what is Ragdoll working on currently?
Leon: We have done a lot of travelling this year. We did Glam Fest in Melbourne in February, and then we did the Yngwie Malmsteen Australian Tour in May. Hopefully in the new year we can do some more shows in Perth, that would be nice! We don’t get to play in Perth too often. And then hopefully some more east coast stuff. I would love to get us back to the States and back to Europe. We have all lived through Covid and things like that and we are all just fortunate that we can still go outdoors and play music to people. Hopefully more of that to come!
Steph: Speaking of things to come, is there any bands in particular on the Perth Rocks lineup that you are excited to see?
Leon: I always look forward to seeing Amberdown, they’re just the best pectoral muscles in rock music at the moment, and they are a fantastic live band as well. Legacy Alive I know have some new stuff coming out as well. I am looking forward to checking out some bands I haven’t had the chance to see, because it is one of those things. You are always gigging so you never get a chance to go out and see bands. There are some bands that are new bands on the lineup that I just haven’t had the chance to ever see yet, so that will be nice.
Steph: Definitely nice! We will see you on Sunday, thank you so much Leon!
You can catch Ragdoll and all the other awesome bands playing at the Perth Rocks Festival on 15 September 2024 at Port Beach in Freo. Grab your tickets here. For more information, check out the Perth Rocks Festival on Facebook or Instagram @perthrocksfestival
You can follow Ragdoll on Instagram: @RagdollRock | YouTube | Facebook | Spotify | Bandcamp | YouTube Music
