Raj Ojha

Raj Kumar Ojha is a Bay Area based drummer and sound engineer who, over the course of his 20+ year career, has had the opportunity to tour the US, UK, and Europe while working with some of his biggest musical heroes and most admired peers. Ojha’s professionalism, work ethic, and well-honed talents make him a favorite amongst a diverse array of musicians and audiences. He has recorded with Rick Rubin (Howlin’ Rain, The Russian Wilds, 2012, American Records), opened for Tool with his group Once & Future Band, and more recently appeared with brothers Chris and Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes’ on the Howard Stern Show. Mr. Ojha has had the honor, along with his bandmates Joel Robinow and Raze Regal (of Once & Future Band), of playing in Shannon Shaw’s (Shannon and The Clams) live band for her solo project “Shannon In Nashville” (produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys) as well as Danny James Etc, supporting his album “PEAR”. As drummer for Once & Future Band he’s shared bills with Shannon and the Clams, Thee Oh Sees, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Ty Segall, King Tuff, !!!, Foxygen, Red Fang, Mild High Club, and White Denim. Ojha and Once & Future Band have been invited to open for Chris Robinson’s “As the Crow Flies”, 60’s psych favorites LOVE, and the Swedish Psych-Rock band Dungen. He has played festivals like All Tomorrow’s Parties, Bottle Rock, and was hand selected by Flying Lotus to play the 2017 Sled Island line-up, by John Dwyer of The Oh-Sees to play the 2017 Liverpool Psychfest as part of Castleface Record’s artist roster, and by post punk legends Wire, for their 40th anniversary Drill Festival. With Once & Future Band, Ojha has been a recurring guest on Marc Riley’s BBC 6 Radio music show and featured on Henry Rollins’ show on KCRW. His long time project Once and Future Band, which he founded with musical partners Joel Robinow and Eli Eckert, had their first LP make both The Guardian UK’s Top 100 Albums and The Wire’s Top 50 Albums lists in 2017. Ojha’s musical projects have been reviewed in Rolling Stone, MOJO, Uncut, Glide Magazine, The Wire, Modern Drummer, and Shindig! Magazine. As a vital part of the Bay Area music scene, he has played with and engineered / mixed albums for Once & Future Band, B. Hamilton, Colossal Yes (solo project of Comets on Fire’s Utrillo Kushner), and Levi Thomas. Ojha uses a minimal four piece kit with two ride cymbals and large hi-hats, and he favors a vintage aesthetic and traditional sized drums. A dedicated musician with an obsessive work ethic, he has been playing the drums since the age of seven, and his bandmates are only half-joking when they say that he hasn’t missed a day in the woodshed since. He minored in Electronic Music at UC Santa Cruz, and says his love of experimental electronic music informs his playing, and is inspired and influenced by legends like: John Bonham, Tony Williams, Mike Clark, Steve Gadd, Jack DeJohnette, Levon Helm, Elvin Jones, Billy Cobham, Ringo Starr, James Gadson, J Dilla, Autechre and Squarepusher. Ojha’s supporters and fans include: Danny Carey of Tool, Chris and Rich Robinson of The Black Crowes, Jon Theodore of Queens of the Stone Age, Flying Lotus, Adrian Younge, White Denim, Shannon Shaw, King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard, Dungen, John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees and Castleface Records, AC Newman of The New Pornographers, Mike Portnoy, Henry Rollins, Isaiah Mitchell of Earthless, Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear, John Sherman of Red Fang, Scott Reeder of Fu Manchu, Alexander Brettin of Mild High Club, Marc Riley and Gideon Coe on BBC 6 Music, The Sword, and Wire.