Raquel Lily

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Raquel Lily- Filipino Singer/Songwriter

Interview conducted on October 19, 2020

By Dan Locke

The new single “Heartstrings” from singer-songwriter Raquel Lily. “Heartstrings” details Raquel Lily’s idea of what it means to love. Sonically, the single features chilled relaxed beats, soulful vocals and infectious melodies.

How much of the Philippines do you remember?

I left when I was 7 so the only things, I remember seemed like a tale long ago, where things were bright and big haha. I visited about 4 years ago since the first time I left and I visited places like my old kindergarten classroom; everything looked so much tinier than I remembered. It’s wild to visit a place I had vivid memories of, yet look completely different from the present. Though visiting now, I have a completely adult perspective, the Philippines is home to some of the most beautiful and unique places in the world and is still always some wild, across the world journey.

How did you discover music?

Growing up in a singing family, I started to sing as early as I can remember. At around 9, my brother introduced me to the Beatles and that sort of opened up the door for me to listen to more bands, eventually expanding my tastes from one genre to another, starting with rock. I started playing guitar at 13, as my love for songwriting started to flourish.

How did you start to write music?

I was such a little emo girl in high school; I walked around dressed in all black with a Hot Topic fairy journal where I purged all my feelings through poetry. Poetry turned into whole songs. I wasn’t very consistent with my writing until I graduated college. I played around on Protools for years until I started producing my own songs just for fun. Eventually, I began to release this music and through live streaming, started pulling in an audience.

You have a degree in Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior. Why did you leave it for music?

I worked in the hospital for years and I found that I simply wasn’t happy with my job or where my life was going. To progress in that career, I had to go back to school, which I was not down for. Always having battled my creativity, I went to college to pursue something I didn’t feel I was naturally “good” at, but nonetheless, still into. Realizing that my interests were in biology and other nerdy shit, but my passion was in music, it was a no brainer for me to ditch my career in medicine when I had a taste of success in my music. It started off as part time and eventually, combined with my live streams and playing paid gigs more often, I was able to pursue my music and go full time. It’s nice to say that I am not struggling as an online content creator and find that it’s easier for me to gain bigger and bigger opportunities through what I’ve built through my music.

What was your first performance like?

Nerve-racking and uncomfortable lol. I started performing my originals in college during open mic nights, where I could barely open my eyes during my performances out of fear, I would lose concentration and forget the lyrics or something. Eventually, I grew out of that and just kept performing until I felt like I could run around barefoot, not giving a damn on a stage.

What makes a good songwriter?

Being genuine is an important trait I find shines through in songwriting and performance. Both are two different worlds to have to master, but songwriting is about storytelling. As with any story, you want it to be colorful, compelling and captivating.

You won 1st place in the 2015 Workplay Singer-Songwriting contest and Twitchcon 2017 Talent Showcase. What did you win?

Money and confidence haha. Honestly, it just opened a bunch of doors for more cool shit to do within the local music scene (Workplay is in Birmingham, AL) and within the Twitch world which is vast, worldwide, and humongous.

Tell me about your upcoming LP- “I’m Leaving”?

I’m Leaving is a coming-of-age album of a person going through their 20’s; sort of a collection of songs that pertain to things that I have gone through in life.

Tell me about the creation of the song Heartstrings?

Heartstrings were written after my first truffle-induced trip I had in the Netherlands one summer. At the time, I was exploring concepts of polyamory and dipping my foot into free love/open relationships. Heartstrings was a confession of undying love for someone, regardless of the experiences and turmoil of other potential relationships or influence.

What is your favorite track on the album?

It’s an unreleased song called, “I Don’t Ask Twice,” which I wrote a few years ago at this point with my keyboardist, Martin. The song is just sort of impatient, sexy, and sort of blunt which is what makes it fun. At the same time, it is very R&B and sensual, so the contrast between the attitude and the smooth, sonic scape is pretty dope.

You stream music performances, lots of content, gaming, live vologging, gaming and cooking. Which is the most popular?

I rarely stream anything outside of music and once a week, I do a podcast where I bring on different guests. Music is definitely my most popular and most sought out content which is nice because it’s what I prefer to do.

What is your favorite thing to cook and how do you make it?

I love making Filipino foods because it’s usually about the flavor of things and how long you cook it for. I love making all kinds of stews like singing is a classic dish, which is a tamarind-based soup with anything from fish to pork with veggies. Super yummy and reminds me of childhood. Like all stews, your kind of just need to tweak the flavor by throwing in various ingredients and let it cook until everything is as tender as you want it to be.

What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?

I draw a lot of inspiration from the greats, such as Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway. The song currently stuck in my head is “Love, love, love,” because I’m just happy. For real though, I super appreciate his vocal technique, and was one of the most talented songwriters.

What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?

Grinding on my releasing new music and keeping my community happy through streams every single week. I was super lucky in that business picked up during the quarantine and that my job relies solely on my performance on the internet.

Are you going to vote by mail or in person? Did you know that Live Nation Activates Concert Venues as Polling Places and Promotes Voting Engagement among Fans and Employees?

I had no idea but that is super cool and I’m interested in checking that out. I do plan to vote in person just because I live in a potential swing state and I really want to make sure some bullshit like “my vote got lost in the mail” doesn’t happen.

How do you see yourself in the next five years?

It would be nice to get to live music at some point like festivals lol but honestly, after this whole quarantine thing, I’ve shifted my own personal goals from playing all of these outdoor festivals to trying to figure out how to grow an empire online. I think it’s doable and not many musicians if at all any music streamers, have done it but I am willing to put the work in to figure it out.

Anything you would like to say in closing.