The new Refestramus single “I Ruined Christmas” is a wet blanket for the holidays, chronicling the perils of parental disappointment, political disagreements, sleeping with someone’s hot sister and smoking joints in the garage before Xmas dinner.
Refestramus composer/drummer/ leader Derek Ferguson says, “My favorite bit is the line ‘it’s like I told you before, it won’t happen again, my dear’ – we know that even as they apologize, they haven’t really learned anything from their mistakes and will undoubtedly be repeating them.”
The music video features clips of Refestramus’ rock video girl Agent M plotting mayhem on friends and family, who aren’t in very good moods at their holiday tables. It shows the band in the studio looking mighty ornery, too.
Along with Derek Ferguson, the band members are guitarist Derek Pavlic and producer Ian Beabout (Colouratura), with long time vocalist NIDA, and a host of festivity-spoiling guests: bassist Jerry King (Cloud over Jupiter), keyboardist Dyanne Potter Voegtlin (Potter’s Daughter), and saxophonist Mitch Lawrence.
The basic tracks of which were recorded at Aardvark Productions in Steubenville with engineering talents of Dan Bozek and Crack the Sky’s Rick Witkowski.
“I Ruined Christmas” comes to you hot off the heels of the critically divisive “Intouríst” album, released through Melodic Revolution Records. After ruining progressive art rock last May, the Grinche’s of Prog, Refestramus, have simply grown in ambition.
Hailing from Lakeview Chicago, Illinois, fans are calling Refestramus “the Punks of Prog” because “this song is out to spoil your holidaze next month,” says Derek Ferguson, “The good news is you can make everyone’s holidays better by gifting ‘I Ruined Christmas!’”
left to right Derek Pavlic, Derek Ferguson, Ian Beabout
The I Ruined Christmas Sessions NIDA – lead and backing vocals Mitch Lawrence – saxophones Derek Pavlic – guitar Dyanne Potter Voegtlin – piano, keyboards and Moog synthesizer Jerry King – bass Derek Ferguson – drums, sleigh bells, glockenspiel, bass drum
Agent M from the Music Video “I Ruined Christmas”
Additional Information: Produced by Ian Beabout and Derek Ferguson Mastering Engineer: Ian Beabout Recording studio: Aardvark Productions and The Rec. Room, Steubenville OH Record label: Melodic Revolution Records
(Art Rock Wizard Derek Ferguson Dealing with Darkness, Depth of Light and Darkness)
Coming May 4 is “Intourist,” the third album from Refestramus, and the album’s new music video “Smiling.” The video premiere is set for 12 PM CT/10 AM PT (Friday night/Saturday morning) on May 4 at https://youtu.be/WYJ_I0f236c
Bandcamp fans will be able to hear and download the ArtRock album, “Intourist” this Thursday night/Friday morning (April 4 and 5) at midnight on https://refestramus.bandcamp.com/
“I’m the writer, I play drums, I pay for everything,” states Derek Ferguson, the Wizard who leads the progressive rock studio ensemble known as Refestramus. Named after a word his mother made up to mean “rearrange,” Derek and his producer – Colouratura’s Ian Beabout – liked it because it wasn’t a legitimate word, “A web search will only turn up our band!,” which means the latest search for “Refestramus” will show their new album, Intourist (Melodic Revolution Records)!
As the bearer of this music, Derek’s powers are rooted in inspiration through his writing and finding musicians. He discovered many on the Internet gig site, Fiverr.com: Gifted voices adorn Intourist: Induction lead singer Craig Cairns, rock vocalists NIDA, Denisse Ferrara, and Vedrana Lina. Brazilian keyboardist maestro Rogelio Desouza is also a Fiverr artist.
Derek writes from the depth of emotion. The album’s first video, “Smiling,” he says, “delves into the complexity of concealing one’s sadness to maintain others’ happiness, offering a poignant reflection on the masks we wear in society.”
Refestramus was born May 2020 as Derek’s home studio project during the COVID pandemic. Having been in a variety of progressive rock bands in his native Chicago and an avid listener of Ian Beabout’s Internet radio program “Prog Rock Deep Cuts,” he reached out to Ian to mix and master the recordings. Ian, who plays flute and sings on some tracks on Intourist, introduced Derek to Colouratura bandmates Derek Pavlic and Nathan James, Saxophonist Mitch Lawrence and Wisconsin multi-instrumentalist Jerry King, who plays bass on Intourist. Adding prog multi-instrumentalist Dave Newhouse, who contributed accordion, helped Derek Ferguson guide the album to completion.
Favorite songs on Intourist include “The Red Apple” based on Maxim Gorkiy’s story about a gypsy horse thief and themes of rejection and longing. “Asunción” is a heartfelt tribute to the city of Asunción, “You know how bands used to say ‘we’re big in Japan’? We’re big in Paraguay – they even play us on their national radio station there from time to time!” “Side Hustle” is a Jethro Tull inspired song. “‘Mr. Darwin’ offers a lighthearted take on human survival and natural selection.” The album’s title track is a 3-part epic that combines themes of resilience with the supernatural realms on earth including “zombie love” in the third part of the track, “Intourist.”
In addition to acoustic versions of “Asunción” and “The Red Apple,” the physical CD features a cover of Spirit’s “Mr. Skin.” Spirit is one of Derek’s favorite bands, and he points out, “the songwriter here also has the last name Ferguson”
Refestramus’ debut album, Decoupage, was released in December of 2021. Expose’s Peter Thelen, who has reviewed thousands of Progressive Rock albums over the years, declared it a “Solid opening move.” In 2022, Refestramus released the EP, From the Sublime to the Ridiculous, which featured possibly the “Prog-iest” track on the album “The Devil Returns” – drawing inspiration heavily from Bulgakov’s famous novel “The Master and Margarita.”
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