Raffaella Interview

Rapid-fire Questions

1. What have you been listening to lately?

I’ve been mostly listening to Concussion by Girlhouse and GET ON IT by Brotherkenzie, lotta magic in those songs… also been listening to a lotta Carly Pearce, Grace Ives, Beach Bunny, Paw Paw Rod, La Femme, Junior Varsity, and WHY NOT (for some reason minneapolis does this thing where all of its artists opt for all caps, myself included).

2. Have you listened to Regina Spektor’s latest album??

Yeah she’s amazing i wish i could hear the demo versions but they’re still amazing as they are

3. My sister keeps saying I have a Seth Rogan laugh. Can you roast her?

i think that’s an incredible compliment! seth rogen is real life santa claus; he gifts us all with laughter and beautifully crafted cannabis paraphernalia, which i hope to be able to be able to afford one day.

4. Have you listened to the new Minions movie soundtrack?? Why is it so good? Who is their target demographic?? St. Vincent’s cover of Funky Town is cool, I guess

Haha st vincent can do no wrong except for maybe her version of Funky Town in the new Minions movie soundtrack </3 when i listen to it i feel like it must be my ears’ fault.. it sounds like a crumb or a bubble got stuck in the middle of the tube when she was recording vocals.. Sounds like the song’s just holding in a burp the whole time :// i already regret putting this opinion in writing, i really look up to St Vincent pls dont tell anyone this opinion i just shared about funky town, maybe i’ll love it tomorrow.

5. Remember that Chef Boyardee commercial where a can of ravioli falls off the shelf and follows a little girl home? That's it. That's the question.

But i love chef <3

6. Are NFTs this generation’s Beanie Babies?

I think the real question is are NFT’s just screenshots ? or! what is the moral value in owning a piece of art? Or ! how can one responsibly own art?

I don’t really know what an NFT is.

7. What is something you’re currently looking forward to?

I’m going to visit my sister in chicago and we’re going to grill. I am obsessed with my sister.

8. You want to hire me as a backup dancer on your next tour? I don’t really have any rhythm, but I have heart.

Sounds perfect to me. we are one in the same

9. On a scale from 1-10 how would you say this interview is going so far?

I really don’t know i’ve never been good with numbers

10. Any local NYC or Minneapolis artists that we should check out?

Yes!

Minneapolis:

• WHY NOT

• Papa Mbye

• Baby Boys

• Happy Children

• Kinfu

NYC:

• Boychik

• Hank

• Santangelo (his song Haptics is unreal)

• Sadie

• Blaketheman1000

• Jessa (who’s about to put out a song we wrote together called “TUFF” she is amazing i can’t wait for her new music)

Isaac Gutierrez for Born Loser Mag: How are you doing??

Raffaella: Been dealing with migraines but i just got my MRI back and found out i am actually not having an aneurism so it’s looking up. Turns out i am simply neurotic. A lot of my idols dealt with migraines so i’m thinking i have manifested this.

Can you tell us a bit about/introduce yourself for those who may not be familiar with you?

My name is raffaella i write songs and then sing them and i pray to god that u will like them. I am a pizza bagel (italian jew), a child of divorce, and a blonde with a generalized anxiety disorder and a hunger for success!

You’re originally from New York, but are now living in Minneapolis. What was it like coming up in the New York music scene? And how would you compare those two music scenes?

Coming up in the New York scene introduced me to some of my favorite people and artists; without them I would have no idea who I’d be today. I miss them tremendously.

Minneapolis has an incredibly uplifting music community and definitely prioritizes musicianship and proactive local support, which is a really beautiful thing to experience.

When did you first become interested in music, and what was the process of going from that to actually writing and recording your own songs?

i’ve been doing it since i could make sounds and just never really stopped. I quit everything else; this one just happened to stick.

Congratulations on your upcoming album LIVE, RAFF, LOVE (Act I)! What were the inspirations behind the album and what was the writing/recording process like?

Thanks! I made it with my partner and some of my closest friends. We worked on it over the course of about two years. The process felt patient, careful, and emotional.

Inspirations for Act I:

Charly Bliss
Grimes
Beach Bunny
Gwen Stefani
Regina Spektor

I was also listening to a lot of Rachmaninoff when i wrote come to nyc

Are the tracks on “Live, Raff, Love” songs that you wrote specifically for the album, or were they songs that you had been working on previously?

There were two songs on Act I that I had previously written (‘Buick’ and ‘Lipstick’) – I wrote a new bridge for both and we completely changed the production to fit the palette.

I think that my personal favorite song is “come to nyc, pls” Can you give us some background on the song?

I wrote that one in april of 2020 when I was quarantining at my parents' apartment. It’s my mating call to the person I date now (it worked! // except I ended up going to him instead… made more sense as i was still living with my parents and NYC was the epicenter of death at the time).

Do you have a specific approach when writing, or does it differ from song to song?

Usually lyric driven but yeah different every time the only consistent thing is having absolutely no idea what i’m doing until somehow there’s a song at the end of the day

Is there anyone that you would like to collaborate with in the future?

I am a big fan of Junior Varsity as well as Petey… would be cool to collaborate with them.

Speaking of collabs,You’re also in a band called Peach Fuzz with Samia, Sara L’Abriola aka Hank, and Victoria Zaro aka Ryann. What is it like being able to work with everyone for that project?

A dream come true. I respect and love those people with every cell in my body.