Refestramus’ new music video “Side Hustle, from the group’s “Intourist” album, introduces the Refestramus’ instrumental members (drummer/composer/wizard Derek Ferguson, guitarist/bassist Derek Pavlic, producer/flute player Ian Beabout, and saxophonist Mitch Lawrence - saxes) and continues exposing the on camera life of the band’s muse, the Amazing Agent Mikrovolnovka!
The song, “Side Hustle” presents a multitude of entendres. Derek notes that as
“side hustles” are “little entrepreneurial efforts that people try while they
are working their main jobs – hoping to find some way of becoming their own
bosses. Then there’s the phrase ‘side piece, which I’m told refers to
someone with whom someone is having an affair. I think the protagonist of
the song is trying to convince the object of their affection – a noble person–
to think of an affair not so much as becoming a ‘side piece’ that it’s ‘only’ a
‘side hustle.’” In the video it’s Agent M when she’s undercover -- first
as an accountant and then as a librarian. Those were her ‘side hustles.’”
The song, which originally recorded on Colouratura’s recent album "WTF Was
That?!." Was inspired while Derek was walking his dog, and thinking it was
a great piece for his band, Refestramus…. But then he remembered that
Colouratura’s Ian Beabout played flute. "So, the song itself has
become a kind of side hustle for me.’”
ProgUK says “Intourist” is “likeable, uplifting… a home-cooked slice of melody rich prog.” They conclude that “… the smile on its face is infectious.”
Progressor.net calls “Intouríst” a “love letter to the music and spirit of the 1970s” that is “worth a check”
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!”
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.
Refestramus’ debut album, "Decoupage," was released in December of 2021. In 2022, Refestramus released the EP, "From the Sublime to the Ridiculous."
