Ravagers: “A chainsaw fighting off wild dogs”

From the guts of Baltimore to the most intense stages in Europe, Ravagers land in Barcelona with a show that aims straight at your body. We spoke with Alex Hagen and Sam Hariss, singer/guitarrist and bassist respectively, about identity, aesthetics, and how to stay sharp when everything else seems tamed. This Sunday at Sala Meteoro, the band brings its own language — one made of streets, volume, and conviction.

Sam is the bassist of Ravagers, but what he does goes far beyond playing strings. On stage, he becomes a whirlwind: powerful, physical, explosive. His stage presence is pure commitment, and his energy isn’t just felt — it’s contagious. Sharply styled, with a no-bullshit attitude, he gives everything as if every night were the last.

That’s why we started from the roots of the genre and the city that gave birth to it:

MgzMag: New York has been the birthplace of iconic punk bands like the Ramones and the New York Dolls, and has seen others rise to fame through performances at legendary venues like CBGB. Do you feel the city still maintains that punk spirit? How has it influenced your development as a musician?

Sam Hariss: No and yes. Id say as far as maintaining the “punk spirit” that pumped the blood into places like Max’s Kansas City and CBs, I couldn’t really say, as I wasn’t there, but I doubt it. The rents just too damn high… You’re talking about a crazy time period where a whole corner of the city was essentially roped off for musicians, artists, freaks, and creeps … and they could sustain a life being just that. What could be bad?! I mean, it was a crazy life, but hey, it was an option! I don’t think that really exists anymore. It does in its own way, I guess, if you got a side hustle you can do it, but I don’t know that there are a lot of Alan Vegas hanging out eating chick peas in 2025.

Having said that, the city still breathes, it’s unlike anywhere else in the world. You still gotta take the subway home at 4am and you still gotta have a head on your shoulders to keep afloat.

I think there will always be something special in the NYC water, according to my grandmother, it’s the same reason the pizzas good. 

Alex Hagen eleads the vocals for Ravagers, and he doesn’t need to scream to take over the room. His vocal delivery combines punk urgency with a near-surgical clarity pulled from glam metal. His tone is sharp, clean, and vibrant — cutting through distortion with precision and force.

With such a distinct identity and a visceral presence, we had to ask if that confrontational spirit that once defined punk is still alive today:

MgzMag: Many say punk no longer provokes, that it’s been tamed. What would you say to those who think there’s nothing left to break or question within the genre?

Alex: I would say they are right in a way. The image and what’s been considered as the sound has been watered down and sold to the masses for decades but the truth still holds up in the bands who are doing it because they love it and the underground shows in small clubs around the world.

Baltimore as a launching point (and explosion)

From the streets of Baltimore comes Ravagers, a band that has spent nearly a decade unleashing raw punk rock & roll fury. Formed by Alex Hagen (vocals/guitar), Matt Gabs (guitar/backing vocals), Sam Hariss (bass/backing vocals), and Ray Peters (drums), their sound is a ferocious blend of punk, glam, and hard rock — brimming with attitude and blistering energy. Their latest album, On The Loose, released in April 2025, captures the essence of their style: songs about urban darkness, violence, and survival, all delivered with raw and potent production.

When the bass becomes a weapon

We first saw Sam Hariss live during a Dead Boys show, and he was impossible to ignore. Not just for his technique, but for the way he turned the bass into an extension of his body. We had to know more: how he got there, what shaped him, and what it means to play with that kind of intensity.

MgzMag: What led you to choose the bass as your instrument? Was there a particular bassist or band that inspired you to make this decision?

Sam: Well I can honestly say I was a bass player before I actually touched one. Or at least I would tell people I was. I knew thats where it was at for me. I was in 6th grade I think, so around 13 years old, and probably figured that playing bass was just a short cut to spitting blood and breathing fire. I can definitively say the first bass player that jumped out at me was Dennis Dunaway (Alice Cooper). Dave Alexander (The Stooges), also, he was such a feel guy. First song was Under The Boardwalk.

MgzMag: Your stage presence and powerful sound break the stereotype of the bass as a secondary instrument in punk. Do you think this perception is changing? What does the bass represent for you within Ravagers? 

Sam: Hmm… Well as far as what goes down on stage… I try not to think about it. Just go up there and it goes how it goes. As far as what the bass represents in the Ravagers; plainly put it’s a job I don’t take lightly. I used to spin them a lot when I was DJing, I was a fan. My favorite tune to throw on was Just Another Rat, so when it came time to pick a song to sort of do a makeshift audition with, that’s what I chose.

I remember sitting down on my bed to learn it, plugging in some headphones and laughing to myself, “Are you fuckin kidding me?!” There’s a lot goin on in there. Curt, my predecessor, came up with some really cool, interesting parts. Really helped me bulk up some muscles I didn’t know I had. I think everything

I’ve come up with since I joined was done with the mentality that I’m building on something I respect.

A Dead Boys story & learning 15 songs in a day

MgzMag: Touring with a legendary band like the Dead Boys must have been a unique experience. Could you share any particularly emotional or amusing moments you had with them on the road?

Sam: Well the way I hooked up with them was pretty surreal. I had been in LA staying with a friend, Danny Nordahl, who used to play bass for Stiv. He knew Cheetah from back in the day and I had known him just from around New York here and there. The Dead Boys were playing this really nice theater downtown (I have no idea if it was downtown) with a whole slew of other bands. Slaughter and the Dogs, and The Riffs (featuring a fresh faced guitarist by the name of Alex Hagen) were both on the bill. So we get to the show to meet Cheetah and co. for drink and of course nobody’s phones on. A routine I now know well.

It’s at this point Danny realizes the venue does not have Budweiser. Now as I’m sure you well know, that just aint gonna cut it, and we leave to find a bar more suited to his standards… It’s at this bar we run into my old buddy, and then-lead-singer, Jake Hout who was on a similar quest. We caught up, and that was that. No big whoop. Two weeks later I get a call, Jake: “Sam its Jake, can you learn 15 songs in a day?” Me: “Absolutely, why?” (I, in fact, cannot, but the answer to that question should never be No). Jake: “Can you be in Rhode Island tomorrow.” Me: “Absolutely, why?” (I’m kinda dense in the mornings). Anyways thats how it happened.

Other than that it’s pretty tame, really. Cheetah’s been really wrapped with his charity work and we’re in a two-on-two basketball league to keep in shape between tours. Cheetah got game.

Visual identity & the raw edge of Ravagers

Ravagers’ flyers are impossible to ignore: raw, gritty, and evoking the gloriously dirty cities of the 70s and 80s. Faded colors, urgent typefaces, and zine-style photos that scream street culture. They feel like cement and subway dust — very much like the promo style of many bands in Barcelona, but with a punk visual code that is unmistakably their own.

MgzMag: From flyers to album artwork, Ravagers clearly puts thought into the visuals. How important is aesthetic in your artistic universe, and how does it connect with your music?

Alex: We love visual art just as much as we love music. Album covers and show posters are some of the things that attracted us to the music at an early age so we believe having an image is just as important as having a sound. 

Influences that grow beyond punk

Bands aren’t just shaped by what they sound like, but by everything they absorb beyond their genre. Some influences don’t sound like what they play — but they inform their attitude, vision, and the way they build their universe. So we asked them what artists beyond punk have helped shape Ravagers’ identity.

MgzMag: ¿Which albums or artists outside of punk have shaped your aesthetic or philosophy as a band?

Alex: We are probably more influenced by other genres at this point. I love 90’s Rap like The Geto Boys and Public Enemy. We also love Kiss, Lords of the New Church, and Motorhead.

MgzMag: If you had to leave home in a hurry for a trip and could only take five albums, which ones would they be and why are they essential to you?

Haha, unfortunately in a hurry is the only way ive ever left my home … I wanna stipulate that this is my answer on May 8th at 5:23 PM, it’d change if I were to answer tomorrow.

So being that these aren’t necessarily my favorite records, but whats currently clunkin around my headphones, here’s what I got: In the van I usually end up listening to a fair amount of whatever the opposite of the kinda music I’m playing. Keeps me from gettin bored. So in that vein, id start off grabbing Steve Earle – Live From Austin Tx ’86 and The Heartworn Highway soundtrack. The Steve record because the setlist is a combination of my two favorite albums of his, Guitar Town (1986) and Exit 0 (1987). Heartworn Highway is a documentary filmed in the mid 70s on some of the founders of Outlaw Country. Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell to name a few. It’s not unlike The Decline Of Western Civilization. It’s damn good driving music and as far as song writing goes, it doesnt really get much better.

I guess if you were gonna keep it twangy but at the same time bridge the gap to something with a bit more volume, you could throw The Black Lips – Sing In A World Thats Falling Apart (2020) on that list. I first heard it during covid and just never seems to wear out its welcome. We’ve been throwing the Slaughter & The Dogs’ tune Victim Of The Vampire in the set on this tour…. Talk about a band with great bass hooks. I’d grab Slaughter & The Dogs – Do It Dog Style (1978).

For the fifth album I’ll pick one that Ive gotten myself re-hyped on because our Tour Manager/Driver/Asskicker Gwinny shares a love of it. The Fallen Angels’ self titled 1984 record. It’s Knox of Vibrators fame, backed by Nasty Suicide, Sami Yaffa, and Razzle of Hanoi Rocks. With guest appearances by Andy Mccoy and Michael Monroe. The productions raw and songs are slick and mean. How nobody at Breaking Bad HQ thought to use Amphetamine Blue in an episode is beyond Mel! 

Is punk still alive?

MgzMag: Punk has always been more than just a sound — it’s an attitude, a way of life, a way to scream back at the world. What do you think keeps punk relevant today? Where do you feel that rebellious spirit still lives in the current scene?

Alex: Punk is more relevant today than it ever was. People are stressed out of their minds right now and desperately seeking a way out of their daily problems. Punk or any style of music can provide a way to escape from that and can also be used to bring people together for greater causes.

MgzMag: If the world went to hell tomorrow and only one Ravagers song was left floating through the air… which one would you choose as your legacy?

Alex: Probably Shake the Reaper. Or No Tomorrow No Problem of the new record would be appropriate.

Defining the sound without musical terms

We love to end with this one. Because sometimes, the best way to describe a band doesn’t come from the technical — it comes from the visceral. We asked how they’d define their sound when they can’t rely on musical jargon. Just image, instinct, and sensation.

MgzMag: If you had to describe Ravagers’ sound without using musical terms like “riff,” “bass,” or “distortion,” how would you put it into words?

Alex: Ravagers sound could be described as a chainsaw fighting off wild dogs through the windshield of a burning cop car in a graveyard. 

This Sunday we’ll see them live at Sala Meteoro, and something tells us it won’t be just another show. Because few bands can hold together raw energy, sharp style, and zero filter like they do. They’re not here to reinvent anything — but they’re definitely not here to repeat anyone either. They’re here to do what they do best: play like their life depends on it. And honestly, in times like these, that’s more than enough.

—XoXo Mariana

To Listen