Rolling Stone interviews Raye backstage ahead of her Coachella set.
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00:00Okay, Rae, let's just get into it, shall we?
00:07Yes.
00:08On the stage, you were like, three years ago, the artist that I was didn't even think that
00:11this was possible.
00:13Were you speaking about that experience from feeling like you were in that songwriter force
00:18to be in that kind of like, the hustle and the grit that was really compromising the
00:24story of you and what you were trying to say?
00:28I think, you know, I think that it's both.
00:36Being a songwriter, separately to being an artist, it's a hustle.
00:39That's the only way I can describe it is coming to LA for three weeks and doing three sessions
00:45a day and experiencing what we call the burnout where you have nothing left to give and you're
00:49like, who am I?
00:52Yeah, the songwriting side of my life has always been a hustle, but it's always been
00:56something I just adore and I'm so passionate about and I've always wanted to be.
01:01I think artistry, separately, is, I've always wanted to be an artist and I've always wanted
01:08to, I know what I'm inspired by and what I want to say and I hate being told what to
01:15do and what people are like, I think you need to, well, not even I think you need to do
01:18this.
01:19If you don't do this, you ain't got no budget.
01:20I'm like, this is not working.
01:22This isn't it, you know?
01:25And obviously it's a very tough but also beautiful place to be in, to be able to be in the independent
01:34scenario I find myself in now because, you know, you do have, money is a real thing,
01:39do you know what I'm saying?
01:40But at the same time, being able to be in control of your artistry and your life is
01:45worth so much more than being financially stable.
01:50That's not what art is, do you know what I mean?
01:55But yeah, it's an interesting thing when it's like, you know, create something accessible,
02:01create something easily digestible so you have to put an interesting songwriting hat
02:07on for your artistry and then you don't want to do that.
02:09That's where it gets ugly and not right, you know?
02:16Do you feel like you were there three years ago and then now do you feel like on the inverse
02:20side?
02:21Oh, 100%.
02:23Yeah, I was quite vocal about a song I'd put out, it was called Call On Me and I'm not
02:27saying that, don't go and listen to it.
02:29Some people really liked that song, right, but it was, that song is the epitome of, yeah,
02:37that was, that was the, that was, yeah, it was just like, the purpose of that song was
02:42created to sell, it wasn't created because I loved it or because that's what I wanted
02:47to put my name to.
02:48Even though I really loved the music video we did, that was really cute.
02:51But yeah, you know, so that's really tough and I know there's a lot of artists in that
02:56position, you know, where you're governed by people who are just looking to make money
03:02off of you.
03:03I understand if you zoom out it's all a business, but in my opinion, the artists that I'm obsessed
03:08with and communicate with and even stood the test of time are those who, it feels like
03:12they're speaking with their own voice, they've created their own sound, they're leading their
03:16own path, they're doing it and you just believe it, you know, it doesn't feel forced or contrived.
03:22Yeah, deep.
03:24So I think 21st Century Blues, if we think about it, to be recognized in the way that
03:28you have been for this album, I mean, you touch, it's, I think to me as a listener,
03:33it is the realest you can get.
03:35Like you have this existential reflection on escapism, you have the, you know, reflection
03:41on the sexual violence that can happen with Ice Cream Man.
03:45You have the kind of like, still those little flirty, crushy moments of love.
03:49It's you, it's Ray through and through.
03:52How does it feel to be recognized for you?
03:57You know, it's just the most beautifullest feeling to step back at the end of the day
04:01and be like, look, if I died right now, so deep, I know, but if I died right now, to
04:07my name, I have an album, it is an album I'm so proud of, it is an album I love and like
04:16at the end of the day, that's what it's about, you know, getting to make something that,
04:23you know, was for me, but then is also connecting to others and it's finding the right ears
04:28and the ears that he needs to find.
04:31She's a humble queen.
04:32Do you know what I mean?
04:33I'm not doing too much, but, you know, I received this message yesterday from this lady.
04:40She said she was about 50 something years old and she was just pouring her heart out
04:44to me and I think two of the songs on the album had really moved her and I was just
04:50sat in my hotel room with a tear in my eye like, wow, like, you don't know the power
04:55of music.
04:56The power of music is just, and I'm just so honoured that I get to even create something
05:03that is moving.
05:04If it was only that one woman in that way, wow, that is the greatest honour a musician
05:12can hear, you know, it's deep.
05:15It's big, it's because it's bigger than you, right?
05:17It's like we were talking, we spoke last year in New Orleans, I caught you while you were
05:22opening for Cagliucci's, and we were talking about escapism and at that point we were
05:28at mega streams, like it was big, it was big, we were talking and it was big.
05:32And a year later, almost to the day, we're here now and it's bigger.
05:37It's bigger than, all of this is bigger than you.
05:39That woman, 50 years old, telling you how she felt, that's bigger than the conversation
05:43we had.
05:44You know, it's like all of these things keep getting bigger and bigger.
05:47How do you reflect on the fact that it's growing and it's bigger and it's always going to
05:52be bigger than what it was in you?
05:56I think that's, you know, it can be, I think it's obviously overwhelming in the best way.
06:06And I also think it's kind of a thing of, you know, that I'll love to view it as a chapter,
06:12you know, and I'm an artist who really hopes to be able to share so many albums with the
06:17world.
06:18And at the beginning of this campaign, literally about two years ago now, when we released
06:24Hard Out Here, which was the first song, thanks for the support on that, by the way, I saw
06:27the article, I was like, come on.
06:31The goal was to just build a group of listeners who gave a shit, who cared enough to listen
06:37to the songs and to buy a ticket to come and see a show.
06:41And that has happened to a degree that I couldn't have even imagined.
06:47And I'm so grateful for that, you know, and that was the goal.
06:51So mad.
06:52You did that!
06:53Well, I don't even, it's just, yeah, I'm really proud of what we've achieved and my team and
07:03everyone who's worked so hard, you know, and I'm proud of this music and I'm excited to
07:08also have some time to figure out what, I feel like we set the bar really high.
07:14But I mean, which is quite, which isn't, I don't want you to think of it as like daunting,
07:18right?
07:19Like not in that way.
07:20It's like you proved it to yourself.
07:21Like, this is my bar.
07:22This is my standard.
07:23That's cool.
07:24Yeah.
07:25Forget what everybody else says.
07:26Fuck them.
07:27Fuck us.
07:28Why?
07:29It's you.
07:30You did that for you.
07:31Why?
07:32Why?
07:33That's what we're, that's what we're going to feel.
07:34We did that for us.
07:35Yes.
07:36Now, before we get out of here, I just have to ask, obviously you are extremely daring
07:40when you're on stage.
07:41Your voice, you do things that I'm like, damn, how did she know that she was going to go
07:45there?
07:46And she followed it.
07:47Is there something that you've thought about doing musically that maybe you haven't done
07:51or you would like to do as you take this time and create more music?
07:56I think honestly, nothing is probably off the cards.
08:00My priorities is just everything, it has to feel authentic and has to feel correct.
08:03And if I'm ever going to dive into a genre or a sound that I am not familiar with, then
08:10I better damn go do my research, go and visit, go and study the greats, you know.
08:16But it's exciting because I really, for the first time, just feel like there are no musical
08:23boundaries.
08:24I don't feel any restraints on what I can create, which is a feeling that I didn't used
08:30to feel a lot.
08:31So it's like, wow, anything's possible.
08:34And I'm excited to bask in that when I'm back in my writing space.
08:39And I think we're ready for it.
08:40I think we're ready.
08:41No pressure.
08:42But we are.
08:43OK.
08:44But thank you so much.
08:45I really appreciate the time.
08:46I'm glad we got to do this a year later.
08:48I know.
08:49That's mad, isn't it?
08:50That's really scary.
08:51I know.
08:52It's very.
08:53I'm shocked.
08:54But yeah, we're good.
08:55Thank you.