Raw Pain Down (RPD) is a metal band known for their intense sound, energy, and original music.
SHADOW SUTTON - Vocals
Shadow is a passionate artist who channels his deep empathy for humanity into his music. His lyrics explore themes of the phenomena (I Know What I Saw), religion (Echoes of Silence), and science (In Reason), addressing the challenges of today’s divided world. Known for his wide vocal range and intense tone, Shadow delivers his message with conviction and raw emotion.
RAY C LEE - Lead Guitar, Vocals
Ray C Lee, the founder of RPD, began guitar when he was 16. He started out on bass and added guitar soon after. He had many bands through high school living in north New Jersey and continued on to study music, theater and stage production at Rutgers University. His influences are Tony McAlpine, Greg Howe, Adiran Smith, K.K. Downing, plus Steve Harris. Music is the outlet for his concerns on what is going out in the world with war, government, and relationships. He knows music can change the world. Ray is also an experienced martial artist and he aligns his music philosophy to the teachings of the late Bruce Lee–feel first, technique second. Ray plays Fender instruments exclusively, uses Ernie Ball .09s, and has Dimarzio pickups on all his strats.
JOCHEN WITTLINGER - Bass, Vocals
Born and raised in Germany, Jochen picked up the bass at the age of 18. Since his high school and early college days, he has been part of various bands and other musical organizations asking him to contribute his bass magic. He has played countless shows, recorded songs, and shot videos in Europe and the US. Jochen has always been musically open to any music style but his roots lie in rock and heavy metal. Growing up in a family heavily connected to and inspired by music, he was early on fascinated and heavily influenced by artists such as Helloween, Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Metallica, Van Halen, Guns n Roses, Michael Jackson, Queen, Rolling Stones, Police,… only to name a few. As a bass player, he was inspired and influenced by Steve Harris, Cliff Burton, Jaco Pastorius, James Jamerson, Sting, and many more.
Jay Garcia - Drums
Born and raised in Colombia, Jay started performing the drums at the age of 16. Since high school he has been part of various rock and metal local bands and has played hundreds of shows and recorded over 50 songs. Jay has always been musically open to extreme music style into the metal genre, but his roots lie mostly in prog-tech metal.
He is influenced and inspired by drummers such as Dennis Chambers, Simon Phillips, Flo Mounier, Dave Lombardo, Iggor Cavalera, Vinnie Paul, Dave Weckl, Thomas Lang, Steward Copeland, Steve Smith, Chad Smith, Brann Dailor, Martin Axenrot, Nicko McBrain, Scott Columbus, Mario Duplantier, Jon Wysocki, Marco Minnemann, Josh Freese, Bill Ward, Danny Carey and many others.
Jay uses Tama kits, Remo Drum heads and Zildjian Cymbals.