Girl Crush : Raymonda

It was truly an honour to be able to interview the singer and songwriter Raymonda for the simple fact that she will be big in no time ! As an emerging artist in the industry she talks about her creative process in writing, tips on starting out, her new single and a whole lot more. Her love songs are very heartfelt and soulful and need to be listened to over and over again !

You can find her on Spotify and Soundcloud and click the button below to listen other latest release.

Here’s an insight into Raymonda’s journey in the music industry :

Is there an inspiration behind your singing and songwriting and how would you describe it?

I feel like as dark skinned black women our voices aren’t always heard and passion is dismissed as aggression. I just want to express emotions, be believed and have a control over my narrative, that’s what inspires me to write and sing. To express myself and be heard. I would describe my songwriting as I hope it’s perceived:  honest and poetic.

Tell us about your journey; how did you get to where you are today?

I wish I could say that right off the bat I was good with music, but if I’m 100% honest I think no one told me to shut up when I was younger so I didn’t. I would listen to music and just try to sound like whoever I was listening to. My Lady Gaga phase was probably the loudest one, but I was never discouraged.

I was quite dramatic growing up too, I kept diaries and any slight inconvenience in my life seemed to constitute for a poem and that made for good songwriting eventually.

I used to try produce my own music but I was hesitant to upload it on Soundcloud so I did covers on instead to showcase my voice and look for producers. I got pretty lucky very early on and got in touch with the very talented Lu in late 2017 and we’ve been working together since. He has the Midas touch when it comes to music and can do almost any genre, so for 2 years we’ve been tinkering with our sound and recently we’ve been feeling like we’re onto something.

Would you say you have a specific writing process or is it different every time ?

It’s different every time I always write my lyrics though. I used to do semantic fields which is basically just writing an idea and then any flying thoughts that I feel relate to it and then from that form a song. I sometimes write poems and then convert them too. Recently Lu has wanted me to get more involved in the producing/ composing process so I try to write as we go, and we bounce off each other. Sometimes I go away and make something with just vocals and harmonies or produce something, he plays around with it and makes it better.

If you could sing with anyone in the world, alive or dead who would it be ?

Most definitely at the risk of being out-sung I would chose Aretha Franklin. I grew up around her music and although I know it was a television trope to have a black girl sing “Respect” it made me feel empowered, It soulfully articulated and expressed what I deserved and it has a place in my heart forever. 

You have recently released a new song called ‘Loved Out’, can you explain what it’s about ?

Loved out is about giving too much of yourself to someone else. In relationships it’s easy to over give and over love to the point you’re left with less than you deserve, especially if you’re not getting that same energy reciprocated. This song is like a diary entry of someone in that headspace. Although the concept sounds melancholic the song has an upbeat optimistic tone to it, as if it’s a moment of self validation.

It seems that most of your songs are love songs, is that what inspires you the most or do you plan on exploring other topics?

I love soppy films and soppy music. I feel like there’s so many good metaphors for love or heartbreak which makes me want to write about it, but I’ve always liked the idea of being ready for love, yet have been scared of vulnerability so its oddly pretty easy to write about love going wrong. I write about other things like being insecure, how money sucks, wanting to run away etc so you’ll have to stay tuned for those ones.

What is your number 1 goal at the moment?

I want to perhaps get one more song out before the year ends and do more live performances, which is a bit sticky with Covid regulations. But where there’s a will, there’s a way.

And finally, what three top tips would you give to someone starting out in the music industry?

I too am just starting out but if I have any advice it’s don’t rush yourself or your process breaks are important to avoid burn out, remember you can be critical of yourself without being cruel. Finally, because music is subjective not everyone is going to be your biggest fan, what’s important is that you’re proud of what you’re making and work to keep making yourself proud.