Q: Your voice is so beautiful on “Obvious”; the way you effortlessly switch ranges is flawless. Do you remember what first got you into singing and music?
Rauly: Thanks so much! Well I’ve been singing my whole life, ever since I can remember. I would say my family got me into it because they all love to sing. We would do karaoke at family parties and those are my first memories of singing in front of people.
Q: “Obvious” is about not knowing what you want to do with your life (which everyone else can relate to); what are you hoping listeners take away from this track?
Rauly: With this song, I want people to realize that it’s okay to not know what you want to do yet. As long as you keep pushing and reflect on your life, soon you’ll have that realization and what you want to do will become obvious.
Q: Was there a pivotal moment in your life when you decided to follow your path as a musician?
Rauly: I’ve always been a musician, but I was never all in. I think the pivotal moment for me was at the end of 2020 when I was in my first quarter of my masters program. I realized that I was going to get my masters and enter the workforce without even trying to do music professionally. I made the decision that after I graduated, I would pursue music instead of getting a job.
Q: The simple strumming of guitars in the instrumental is very efficient because you can really hear the lyrics. Can you walk me through your writing process in making “Obvious”?
Rauly: I wrote that song just me and the guitar in my room at the end of 2020. The writing process was really just me getting out the emotions I was feeling at that time. I wrote that little guitar part and came up with the lyrics. I showed the song to Charlie and Busco and they produced it out more with me.
Q: Your story is inspiring; you were just a college student who is now writing songs with platinum-producers Charlie Heat and Busco. What have you learned from that experience so far?
Rauly: I really appreciate that because if there’s one thing I wanna do with this is inspire. It was really crazy because I was always just thinking about school and getting a job, seeing music as a dream that probably couldn’t happen. I wrote this song, and made the decision in my head for the first time that music was what I was going to do after I graduated. It was only a couple months later that I sent some music to Charlie and we started working together. I seriously believe you can create your own destiny in this life, and the more you believe the more it can come true. I want to inspire others to believe in themselves because I’ve learned that if you just keep working hard and believe, it will happen for you.
Q: Can you walk me through your production process for creating “Obvious”?
Rauly: It was really simple. I wrote that main guitar part, Busco added some other guitar parts, Charlie added some strings, and then we all worked together to make the final song.
Q: If you could collaborate with any artist in the world, who would it be and why?
Rauly: I would love to collaborate with so many artists because I love so many. I always say Ed Sheeran though because he was a huge inspiration for me getting into writing songs, especially ones like “Obvious.”
Q: I really enjoyed talking to you! Do you have any parting words for your fans?
Rauly: Thank you! I guess I’d just like to let them know there is so much new music on the way, more performances this summer, and other exciting things to come!
Photo credits: Gabriel Stewart
Interviewed by Melissa Cusano
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