Review Fix chats with Fields of Violet’s Rafael Katigbak, who discusses the band’s origin, creative process, goals for 2018 and their new EP.
Review Fix: How did the project start?
Rafael Katigbak: It started when I wrote a couple of songs that were a bit different and that didn’t fit the context of my other band. I decided that this was going to be its own thing. So I just kept writing and doing demos in my home studio and later on found other musicians to help me bring the songs to life.
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Katigbak: Firstly, all the songs start out as instrumentals. Sometimes, songs start from me playing around with my guitar or keyboards. But sometimes ideas come to me in unusual places and times like when I’m driving or when I’m waiting in airport boarding gates. When that happens, I just hum the tune and record it on my phone. Joint writing sessions aren’t my favourite because you force yourself to come up with something just so you can say you’ve been productive. Also, I like to review my work thoroughly which I can’t do in that setting.
Review Fix: What’s your standout song? How was it written?
Katigbak: My personal favorite in this EP is Starlight. That was the last song written. Actually, I already had 5 songs then so I thought the EP was finished. But then I was just playing around with my guitar and I had this image in my head of me walking into the stage, picking up the acoustic guitar and start playing a simple groovy tune that gets everyone clapping along to the beat. So I came up with that part and started humming the melody straight away. The next parts just came to me, it was amazing to see it unfolding almost by itself.
Review Fix: What are your goals for 2018?
Katigbak: Well I’ll be mostly working on promoting this album but probably planning and writing for the next release as well.
Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?
Katigbak: That’s a really good question. I think if there’s something I want people to know is that good music is still in demand and still exists even though it doesn’t seem like it when you listen to commercial radio. The reaction I’ve been getting is “Wow, the instrumentation is amazing.” Well, that’s how music used to be and how it should still be. Real artists are still out there dedicating their lives to their craft. This is a solo independent release and I went through the trouble of getting good musicians and real instruments playing on the record. Why do big acts with 100x my resources produce music that’s bland, synthetic and unimaginative?
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