Meet the Artist: Risa and the Loyal
Risa Rodriguez, 28, is an up and coming artist, originally from Fresno, CA but now based out of Nashville. Her debut EP, Mad Love, is set to release soon, so we spoke with her about the EP itself and music in general.
How would you personally describe your style of music?
Always a hard question....I think it's alternative and a lot of people tell me it feels whimsical, I'm into that.
What feelings do you hope listeners have when checking out your new EP?
Happy, nostalgic, understood.
What/who do you draw inspiration from musically?
Deftones is my all time favorite band, I draw so much inspiration from them especially when it comes to tones. Their singer, Chino blows my mind. He has so many music projects and never runs out of ideas or melodies. I definitely don't sound like them, but if you're familiar with their music I think the inspiration will show knowing all of that. Other artist I draw inspiration from are really honest writers like Michelle Branch and Solange. I think the combination has helped me create something a little unexpected, or at least I hope.
What direction do you see your music taking?
I want it to get heavier, my vocals are so feminine I don't think anything I put out could ever sound that hard. Dirty, scratchy guitar tones are my favorite though and I always want drums to be more than people are expecting.
I've been writing some stuff that reminds me of early Sixpence None The Richer with distorted guitar. It really makes no sense saying it out loud but hopefully that means it'll be something fresh when it comes out.
Where did the name 'Mad Love' come from?
I named it after the comic "Mad Love" which is the origin of Harley Quinn. It was the Forward by writer Paul Dini that really captured my attention for naming the project after the comic. He talks about how relatable Harley is meant to be, because just about everyone can understand the feeling of loving someone so much it drives you mad and you can't give them up. He relates it to Wile E. Coyote going after roadrunner and failing time and time again but being completely relentless. At the time I was reading that it was exactly how I felt about pursuing music. I've held onto that title for years and I'm still one hundred percent happy with it.
What song on the EP can you relate to most?
"Change" and "Morningstar". Both were songs that I felt so much while writing them that the amount of time it took for me to write the lyrics was the amount of time it took for them to come out of my mouth. They're about completely opposite emotions and I wrote them a year apart from each other, but the feeling of falling in love and the feeling of being broken hearted are strangely similar.
Your brother is in a band, and also plays on your EP. What kind of effect does his/the band's success have on your music? Did he inspire you to start playing, or was it something you picked up on your own?
Rico played drums on "Thomas Crown" and he also helped me produce the original demo for "Rusty Borgens" although he doesn't play on the final track. Since he has his band I actually really don't like him working with me too much on my stuff, it's nice to have my own thing. People often ask annoying questions like if he writes my songs, but I also find other people seem more interested to work with me if they know of any of his work. It's a double edged sword but I definitely wouldn't want it to be any different, I love Night Riots as a band and as people.
Rico was never the source of inspiration for me to start playing, I honestly can't remember a time in my life I didn't plan on creating music. He definitely has pushed me in a lot of ways though and playing with him when we were kids was really helpful. We actually have two older brothers and they definitely inspired both of us, our dad also has always had a huge influence on our entire family musically. My oldest brother, Sol made a track for me to write over when I was six and that's how I wrote my first song. Sol is an insane guitarist, he's twelve years older than me so my first memories of him he was already shredding. My brother Diego is a bass player and even though he didn't have much interest in playing music with me when I was a child I thought his black metallic bass was the most beautiful sight on the planet. I wanted to play funk like him, it never happened but I did play bass in my church's worship band during high school and filled in on a couple of projects here and there. It was always known that Rico was going to be a drummer, I think the only reason it took so long to get him a set was because there was nowhere to put it until people started moving out. He started playing in middle school and it was the best because then we were able to jam together. I have always been light years behind him but he's my best friend so we have fun either way. He's insanely supportive.
Has moving from California to Nashville had an effect on your writing style, or general feelings toward music? What are the differences in the music scene from where you grew up to where you live now, and do they have an influence on this EP?
Absolutely. I used to hate being labeled as a "singer/songwriter" because back home saying that always seemed to have a boring stigma attached to it. Where I grew up in Fresno, California everyone was in bands, and we only had one country station. The only country I knew were the classics my dad showed me like Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton, so when we're at a bar in Nashville and everyone starts singing "Strawberry Wine" I'm completely lost. Being a respected singer/songwriter here is the highest honor, everyone appreciates someone who can write a good three minutes story. Writers rounds are also a completely new thing for me and they're really intimidating but I think I'm fitting in way more than I expected to.
You won't hear any difference in my writing style after I moved on this EP because it was completely done before I left California. I hope that on the next project you will hear a lot of Nashville influence because that would most likely mean my lyrics and story telling have gotten better.
Be sure to keep your eyes out for our upcoming review of Mad Love, and be sure to check out the EP when it comes out March 7th!