Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Raquel Lily, who discusses her new single, “Fuccboi,†as well as her influences and goals for the future.
Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?
Raquel Lily: I grew up in a musical family. Both my parents sang and my brother got me into listening to rock music at a young age and I started playing guitar at 13. I was also a chorus girl growing up and all throughout high school. Naturally, I got involved in bands, and eventually started writing my own music in college. I didn’t start producing my own stuff until a few years ago because I didn’t quite have the balls to believe in myself and get better.
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Lily: I’m usually struck by creativity very spontaneously. Its often through a rush of emotions where I find inspiration to write a song.
My process typically starts with a melody. I get something stuck in my head and I write some guitar chords around it. I don’t like being constrained with a chord progression, so I try and write my melody first. Then I record a rough demo on Protools and play around with it, adding a few production elements like drums, some bass and guitar. I then sit down with my keyboardist, who is definitely way more into music theory than I am. We then go to the studio with my band and record the main elements: drums, bass, keys and a scratch track of vocals. After this, I sit down and produce as much as I can with what I have until I go back into the studio again by myself to track the final vocals, as well as percussion. Finally, I take all of these elements and produce the songs fully.
Review Fix: What inspires you?
Lily: Emotional trauma lol. Haha, but really, my songs are an emotional purge and are almost cathartic for me. If I’m going through something, I always feel better whenever I write about it. I’m also inspired by the music that I listen to. I’m pretty eclectic in my listening habits, so depending on what song I’m producing, the artist/band I “study” always changes.
Review Fix: What does music mean to you?
Lily: Music to me is therapeutic. Mostly, writing the song takes most of an emotional load off of me. I’ve realized recently how powerful releasing music can be,vtoo. People reaching out to me and telling me how its affected their lives positively, gave them the strength and courage to move on, or empowered them to be better for themselves has given me a completely different perspective about my stuff. At a certain point, the song isn’t about me anymore and its absolutely thrilling that it can touch others the way it has healed me.
Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you.
Lily: I’d describe myself as vocally-driven indie-soul or indie-R&B.
Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?
Lily: My live shows are so much more energetic. Even though the skeleton of the recording is there, I feel like the energy of a live band just fills in gaps where studio recording failed to translate the sound waves. Along with the song itself, I like to set up each song with a personal story. Feeling the crowd is part of my presence and I’m always trying to match the energy in the room, playing off the push and pull of peoples emotions, movement and eye contact. Plus, I really feel like I can sing to people personally, where recordings just feel like I’m releasing a bottle with a message into the ocean and hope for the best.
Review Fix: What inspired your latest single?
Lily: “fuccboi” is about my very first dick pic, actually. He was someone I met in college. We were never close, nor did we ever really hang out. I just saw him at mutual’s parties and shit, being a complete drunken mess. A few years later, he dm’s me because he found out I was pursuing music. We start talking shop; ProTools, microphones, studio recording….THEN BAM A DICK PIC. I was absolutely horrified. Not only was his computer lighting awful, but his dick was staring right at me, peeking from it’s impressive fortress of fur that I just didn’t ever sign up for or consent to. Not knowing how to react, I was livid, gave him a piece of my mind, telling him how wrong it was and proceeded to block him on all socials. A few years later, I wrote the song with him and all of the years of accumulated fuccbois in mind. I finally got to release it today!
Review Fix: What are your goals for 2020?
Lily: Stay healthy. Before the pandemic came about, I made it a goal to listen to my body and avoid getting sick for as long as I can. Turns out my training in taking care of myself is currently paying off. I used to get sick a few times a year because I’m a workaholic and I don’t know when to reset. I’m proud to say that I haven’t gotten sick in 6 months, through exercise, eating healthy, cooking at home and just taking care of my mental health.
I’m also working on some tour dates for the later half of the year, all of which I can’t currently speak of. I’m excited to say that I am definitely touring at some point, though.
To release my full-length album. Before then, I play to release 4 more singles!
Review Fix: What’s next?
Lily: I plan on releasing a music video for fuccboi, then releasing another single on 4/20 called “Mary.”
Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?
Lily: I stream on twitch.tv/raquel every MWF from 7-10 pm EST. It’s how i’ve grown my audience for the past 3 years. My following would definitely not be the same, had I not been consistently streaming and growing my brand.
Mostly stream live music performances. A lot of people request my originals but I also do covers and sometimes, karaoke! All my content is music related, and I also get to stream some of my shows and travels. Sometimes, I cook or bake. Other times, I get to just walk around a city and explore with my stream. Its a fun way to build an audience and keep in touch with my die hards.
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