Yoko Kanno Vocalist Raj Ramayya Releases Ghost in The Shell Song Cover
First ending theme of Stand Alone Complex series originally performed by Scott Matthew
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA – April 4th, 2017 - Music production company Strawberry Hill Music is pleased to announce that singer-songwriter Raj Ramayya has released a cover version of the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex first ending theme song “Lithium Flower”, in recognition of the theatrical release of the new Rupert Sanders film Ghost in the Shell from Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures, starring Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson. The song is available for both download and streaming now on digital music services like iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Pandora, etc worldwide.
The song was originally co-written by famed Japanese composer Yoko Kanno and American lyricist Tim Jensen, and was originally performed by Australian singer-songwriter Scott Matthew. It featured as the ending theme song for each episode of the first season of the Production I.G anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. The series is based on the original cyberpunk manga series Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow. Ramayya previously worked with Kanno and Jensen on songs for the anime film Cowboy Bebop and the anime series Wolf's Rain.
On August 19th, 2016, Ramayya released a cover version of the Pokémon theme song to celebrate the franchise's 20th anniversary, and a remixed version by the late James Laurence of the EDM group Friendzone was released on December 16th later on that year and dubbed the LVC “Sun & Moon” Remix in recognition of the latest instalments of the Nintendo handheld game series, Pokémon Sun Version & Pokémon Moon Version. On February 28th earlier this year, Ramayya released “Butter-Fly (Dual World Version)”, a cover of the Digimon Adventure opening theme originally recorded by the late J-Pop artist Kōji Wada, and later a cover of the Power Rangers theme song “Go Go Power Rangers” on March 24th. All songs are available for download and streaming now on digital music services worldwide.
ABOUT RAJ RAMAYYA: Raj Ramayya is an Indo-Canadian singer, composer and lyricist based in Marin County, California. His claim to anime fame would be his musical collaborations with famed Japanese composer Yoko Kanno as a member of The Seatbelts. Ramayya sang the opening credits song "Ask DNA" and wrote the lyrics for "Cosmic Dare (Pretty with a Pistol)" from the fan favourite feature film Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, and both sang and wrote the lyrics for "Strangers" from the anime series Wolf's Rain. Not limited to music in anime, he has also worked on songs for video games from the likes of Konami, Sega, and CAPCOM.
Ramayya has been featured as a guest vocalist/composer with several distinguished artists, ranging from talented composers Yoko Kanno (Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain) and Tatsuya Oe (Captain Funk, Hotei), to gifted lyricists Chris Mosdell (Eric Clapton, YMO) and Ron Sexsmith, and everyone in-between. His work has won him multiple awards and critical acclaim from around the world.
Among his other projects are the alternative Indian-influenced folk rock band "The Beautiful Losers", the anime cover band “Raj and the Zen Masters”, the electronic Indian fusion music project "Bhang Lassi", and session singing for products ranging from Asahi Beer and KFC, to Toyota and Coca-Cola. He is also a guest vocalist with three different Japanese electronic music groups; Captain Funk, Akakage, and Studio Apartment, with SA's song "Strawberry Rainbow" (which Ramayya both sang and wrote lyrics for) hitting #1 on the iTunes Japan charts.
For those wishing to connect with Raj, visit his website www.rajramayya.com, like his Facebook page (www.Facebook.com/rajramayyamusic), and follow Raj on Twitter @rajramayya.
ABOUT STRAWBERRY HILL MUSIC: Strawberry Hill Music is a music production company based in San Francisco, CA. They specialize in music recording and production/post-production for film, television, animation, video games, commercials, audiobooks, and web-original series. They also produce and engineer music for artists such as Amanda Abizaid, Marsha Yuan, and Damon Mahoney (Three of Swords).
For more information, please visit SHM's official website (www.strawberryhillmusic.com), and follow them on social media through Facebook (www.Facebook.com/strawberryhillm) and Twitter @StrawberryHillM.
