It's a modern love story.
Boy meets girl. They fall in love and buy laptops. They travel the world, sleep on floors and make a groundbreaking record.
In 1999, Filipino-Australian Dana Diaz-Tutaan was performing in New York with a crew of Australian musicians, when she serendipitously met Bronx native Raphael LaMotta in front of nightclub. The two jelled and a whirlwind courtship commenced. A year later they were married and making beautiful music. Literally.
Ra's teen years were spent writing and performing with his first band, Vitapup, a high school trio he founded as singer & bassist. Vitapup went quickly from playing basements and garages to headlining clubs and performing nationally with groups like Tortoise, Elliot Smith & Bikini Kill. Dana spent her pre-Apsci years performing and traveling in Australia's electronic and hip-hop scenes. Dana's time in the local underground trenches gave way to more time spent abroad with well-known acts such as Mike Ladd, Aceyalone, Anti-Pop Consortium and Blackalicious. Her signature wail can be heard on Ladd's Vernacular Homicide, The Infesticons’ Gun Hill Road and Blackalicious' forthcoming album, The Craft.
Despite different backgrounds, Dana and Ra developed similar work ethics and musical landscapes, bringing Dana's classically-trained ear and pipes to mesh seamlessly with Ra's genre-bending sensibilities. The two pulled from their equally eclectic backgrounds to forge a signature blend of bass-heavy, electro-influenced hip-hop.
While Ra holds down the bulk of Apsci production, Dana also brings fire to the console, producing 3 of the tracks on their worldwide debut Thanks For Asking. Together the two crafted the album's unique amalgamation of live instrumentation and programmed beats, and meanwhile managed to also design the album artwork and their website.
Thanks For Asking features collaborations from long time friends Mr. Lif, Tunde of TV on the Radio and Martin of Antibalas, as well as Quannum label mates VURSATYL of Lifesavas and Pigeon John. The album will be available July 2005 via Quannum Projects.
Boy meets girl. They fall in love and buy laptops. They travel the world, sleep on floors and make a groundbreaking record.
In 1999, Filipino-Australian Dana Diaz-Tutaan was performing in New York with a crew of Australian musicians, when she serendipitously met Bronx native Raphael LaMotta in front of nightclub. The two jelled and a whirlwind courtship commenced. A year later they were married and making beautiful music. Literally.
Ra's teen years were spent writing and performing with his first band, Vitapup, a high school trio he founded as singer & bassist. Vitapup went quickly from playing basements and garages to headlining clubs and performing nationally with groups like Tortoise, Elliot Smith & Bikini Kill. Dana spent her pre-Apsci years performing and traveling in Australia's electronic and hip-hop scenes. Dana's time in the local underground trenches gave way to more time spent abroad with well-known acts such as Mike Ladd, Aceyalone, Anti-Pop Consortium and Blackalicious. Her signature wail can be heard on Ladd's Vernacular Homicide, The Infesticons’ Gun Hill Road and Blackalicious' forthcoming album, The Craft.
Despite different backgrounds, Dana and Ra developed similar work ethics and musical landscapes, bringing Dana's classically-trained ear and pipes to mesh seamlessly with Ra's genre-bending sensibilities. The two pulled from their equally eclectic backgrounds to forge a signature blend of bass-heavy, electro-influenced hip-hop.
While Ra holds down the bulk of Apsci production, Dana also brings fire to the console, producing 3 of the tracks on their worldwide debut Thanks For Asking. Together the two crafted the album's unique amalgamation of live instrumentation and programmed beats, and meanwhile managed to also design the album artwork and their website.
Thanks For Asking features collaborations from long time friends Mr. Lif, Tunde of TV on the Radio and Martin of Antibalas, as well as Quannum label mates VURSATYL of Lifesavas and Pigeon John. The album will be available July 2005 via Quannum Projects.
