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Let's all welcome new Star Magic artist Rafi. Kilalanin natin siya nang husto rito sa PEP Live!

#rafi #starmusic #peplive

Host: FK Bravo
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Transcript
01:00Good afternoon, pepsters. It's me again, FK Bravo, and so pleased to welcome all of you
01:10guys to an afternoon of getting to know one of Star Magic's up-and-coming artists. You
01:15guys, she's only 20 years old, but let me tell you, she does pack a punch. She's killed
01:20in singing, songwriting, music production, dancing, acting, and hosting. She's definitely
01:26worth the wait. She's someone to watch out for. Now, without further ado, let me introduce
01:32you guys to Raffaella Renee Ortega-Hernandez, professionally known as Raffi.
01:38Hi, everyone. Thank you for having me on the show.
01:43Yes, please say hi to our pepsters.
01:46Hello, pepsters. Again, I'm Raffi, and I'm a 20-year-old singer, songwriter, and content
01:50creator from the Philippines.
01:54There you go. So, Raffi, let me just start this talk by congratulating you for the release
02:00of your debut EP. Thank you so much.
02:04Congratulations.
02:06How does it feel? How does it feel to see your music on streaming platforms right now,
02:12like on Spotify, on Apple Music, just for the whole world to hear?
02:18It's definitely very surreal, and I'm just so excited to be able to show everybody my
02:23music. This particular EP, in general, was in the works for about a year, which is the
02:29longest I've ever really worked on a project, so it's very fulfilling, and I'm very happy
02:35that it's out there. And also, before releasing this EP, it's been such a long time since
02:40I've released music, so I kind of forgot what it felt like to put music out there again,
02:46and I'm just so happy that I'm back, and I'm making music again, and pursuing what I love
02:50the most.
02:51That's really great to hear. You've released music before, but it's your first EP, right?
03:00Yes, this is my very first EP, and this is the first time that I worked with other people
03:05on a project like this.
03:09Is it everything you imagined it to be?
03:12Honestly, I have no idea what I was expecting, but it wasn't what I was expecting. It was
03:21such a very transformative and very fun process, and honestly, I learned so much from the whole
03:28thing working with these people who I personally feel like have so much more experience with
03:33creating music compared to me. I learned so much from them, and I'm so lucky to be able
03:38to say that these are my good friends that I worked with, so it was definitely a lot
03:44better than I had in mind, and I don't think I could ask for more. I just had so much fun
03:49working on it, and it means a lot to me that this music that is very personal is able to
03:55resonate with people, and I've gotten a lot of messages recently about people finding
04:00comfort in my music, and that's what it's all about.
04:04Before the completion of the EP, did you go into it with the mindset of, I'm going to
04:12complete an EP, or was it like, I'm going to create just one song and then see how it
04:17goes from there?
04:19I definitely had in mind that I was going to make an EP because for years, I actually
04:24told myself I really want to make an EP. I think that would be the first step to pursuing
04:29this career, and for those maybe three years, for some reason, it never felt right. I was
04:36writing a lot of songs, but none of them felt like they were ready to be put out there,
04:41and I felt like I didn't really have the means of creating the song in the way that I wanted
04:46it to sound, and when I moved to the U.S. and I started my studies at Berklee College
04:51of Music, I met all these people who just made this whole thing possible, and it's just,
04:58to me, at least, it's perfect, and I think it really encapsulates what I had in mind
05:03in terms of what I was writing about, and I think it really tells a story, which is
05:08the whole point of it. It tells the story of my whole life before my 20s, all my experiences
05:15with romantic relationships, and of course, my relationship with myself, so that's kind of it.
05:21Okay, so it was, it just came at the right time, and at the right place when you were ready to
05:28produce it. Yeah, so can you share the story behind the lead single of the EP? It's called
05:35Unpaid Debt. What's it about? Yes, absolutely. Unpaid Debt is about what people nowadays call
05:41a situationship, so it's when, like, the other person doesn't really want to commit to you.
05:47You might know that you like each other, but they don't want to go full out. They don't want to
05:52commit to you, so for me, personally, I was kind of going through that situation in a way, and I
05:59thought to myself, I was kind of like, this really feels like such a heavy weight on my shoulders.
06:04It really just felt like this burden to get rid of because at the time, I didn't have enough
06:09self-love to remove myself from the situation, which is why, to me, I came up with that metaphor
06:15of it feeling like an unpaid debt because it was like I never had enough money to pay it off,
06:21and I just didn't have the means of getting rid of that burden in my life because I didn't have
06:26enough self-love. Was it a debt to yourself? I think just in general, the thought of, like,
06:35having a debt, something that's, like, bothering you, so it's like a loan that I had to pay off
06:41in a way, that kind of thing. Okay, but situationships, that's very Gen Z of you.
06:52How do you tread on, like, complicated concepts like that, like, romantic relationships and
06:59incorporating it into your work? Oh my gosh, I could go on and on about this.
07:07Do you just bury it all out there, or are you more figurative, metaphorical?
07:14Right, yes. I mean, I think for me in particular, of course, I don't want to put all of my life out
07:22there, so there are definitely times where I write about things that have never happened to me.
07:26There are times that I have written about things that have happened to me, and I think as a
07:30songwriter, that's kind of part of the job, and that's part of creativity, coming up with things,
07:34and I think in general, I just want my songs to, of course, reflect who I am at that moment in time
07:40when I'm writing it, but also I really want it to be something that the audience can resonate with
07:46and relate to, so I take experiences that my friends have had, I take movies that I've watched,
07:54and then you mix it all together. Yes, I definitely try to get inspiration from everything
07:59that I consume, all the media that I consume, and all the experiences that I've heard of and
08:04have personally gone through. Yeah, and that's also something for your fans or
08:12listeners to figure out, right, like which parts of the song are fictional, which ones are not.
08:20Yes, no, definitely, I love, sorry, I definitely love this thing that artists say, where they say
08:26when the music is out, it is now yours, because I think that's kind of the beauty of art,
08:31everybody's able to get their own message from it and kind of relate to it in their own way.
08:38Exactly, they can translate it in their own lives. So now, can you take us back to when you
08:45discovered your love for singing and songwriting? When did this happen, and how did that happen?
08:53Wow, so actually, my dad, I think, said that the first time I ever held a tune was when I was maybe
09:00two years old. And personally, I don't really have a memory of ever starting to sing. I think
09:06ever since I could do it, I just kind of loved it. And throughout my childhood, my parents were
09:13very supportive about me trying different things. So I actually tried a lot of different things in
09:19my childhood. I did swimming, at one point, football, figure skating, so many things. But
09:26really, the one thing that stuck to me and what I loved was every summer, I did theater workshops.
09:32So I loved performing, and I loved singing. And I think I was 11, maybe, when I started actually
09:37taking voice lessons. And that's when I really started to fall in love with it. But I think most
09:42of all, what really made me stick to this and made me want to pursue being an artist or a singer was
09:50in high school, I started writing my own songs just for myself. And I think I just found a lot
09:56of comfort in that. And it was my safe space. I felt like I could be myself and I could choose
10:01what I wanted to say and what I didn't want to say. And that's kind of how I fell in love with it.
10:06Why were you prompted one day to just write songs in high school? Was it
10:13sort of like an outlet or what happened there? I guess so. What caused it?
10:19I think I would watch a lot of artists online like Ariana Grande and a lot of different pop
10:27stars. And I remember thinking to myself, like, oh, maybe I want to do that. Because in general,
10:31I just love performing. So then I started to write. Yeah, I think just generally as an outlet for
10:37myself, for self-expression. And I think it was when I would show my friends and when they gave
10:44like really good reactions that I was like, hey, maybe I have potential here. Maybe I can do
10:49something with this because they were so nice about it. And my first ever single that I released
10:55in I think I was 15 years old. It was actually from me not doing well on a math test. And I
11:02totally like blew it out of proportion. I wrote this song about how like I just like didn't again,
11:09like I didn't love myself and I felt like I wasn't good enough. And just from that math test,
11:14I really just created it into something really dramatic. That's because of math.
11:22Well, but you also said like your friends encouraged you because they gave good reactions.
11:29And I think that's where, you know, you can really see how important it is to have a supportive
11:33circle for you to pursue your dreams. Right. Um, you also mentioned theater work. Can you tell us
11:43how your background with Repertory Philippines shape your journey as a singer songwriter?
11:51I'm honestly so grateful for Repertory Philippines because I went to workshops there
11:56since I was five. I think I was five years old when I started. And I mean, I was practically
12:03not even conscious. But I did that for I think maybe eight years of my life. And along with
12:10Repertory Philippines, I also worked with the Music School of RANKB where I did vocal lessons,
12:15and I did recitals there. And I think that this just really taught me how to perform.
12:20And it just kind of made me comfortable on stage. And I think, of course, with the teachers and the
12:27directors that we worked with, I think that they really teach you discipline, which you can apply
12:32in every aspect of your life. And I think the main thing that I loved about theater was that it was
12:38such a teamwork driven thing. I became such good friends with people there. And I think, yeah, it
12:46just like it really teaches you a lot about teamwork and a lot of different values. And I think
12:50more than anything, I just felt like I was truly myself when I was performing on stage. So I'm very
12:56grateful for that whole experience. Having to be taken under the wing of the Ryan Kayabyab,
13:04were you conscious then that he's this big figure in the music industry?
13:11So actually, the reason why my parents put me in was actually because my mom's dad, so my grandpa,
13:19I think it was his dream to have like a daughter or son or a relative join the school. So my mom,
13:26I remember so well, me joining when I was 11. I was kind of iffy about it. I was like, oh,
13:31am I really going to start taking vocal lessons? But she was like, no, you don't understand like
13:36this is a really, really great opportunity. And she was so right. I learned so much. And I had
13:40the privilege of being the student of Ryan Kayabyab's daughter, teacher Karina Kayabyab,
13:46who is also so insanely talented. And she is such a wonderful and kind and beautiful human being.
13:53I really do miss her. Unfortunately, I don't take lessons with them anymore, since I am
13:57in a different music school now. But I really do miss it. And I really love the people that I met
14:03there. Okay, so you already had an idea that, oh, Ryan Kayabyab. Yeah, I definitely I knew that he
14:12was a big. Yes, I knew that he was a very well known and very well established artist. And of
14:18course, now he's literally like he has the title of being a national artist, which is crazy. And
14:25the times that I did meet him, he was very, very kind to everybody, all the students.
14:30And his wife also like directed our recitals. So it was very, it was such a great experience. And
14:38thankfully, I didn't feel too pressured because it is a school. So you're there to learn.
14:43And they don't expect you to know everything, of course, when you enter a school. Yeah,
14:47it was really good. I was gonna ask that, was there any sort of pressure, like being enrolled
14:55in that school, but you mentioned it already. That's, you know, no pressure. Not everyone is
15:02perfect when they get into a school. Speaking of schools, how was your experiences? How were
15:08your experiences at Berklee College of Music? And why Berklee College of Music? Oh, my goodness,
15:15Berklee, I found out about it through a schoolmate of mine. So her name is Monique,
15:22a big shout out to her, if she ever watches this, but I think I might have been in eighth or ninth
15:29grade, or somewhere along that era of my life, when I saw that she did a summer workshop at
15:35Berklee, she did a songwriting workshop. And I remember seeing it and I started researching on
15:39the school. And I thought to myself, I was like, wow, this is a dream. This looks like a place that
15:45I want to be. Because although I didn't really learn a lot about music theory, and just music in
15:51general, the very technical aspects of it, growing up, I actually entered Berklee, not really knowing
15:56anything about that. I knew that I wanted to be surrounded by musicians. And it's very scary.
16:06It's kind of the place where a lot of people already do know about music. And I think sometimes
16:13there are expectations. But again, it's a school, and you're there to learn. And more than anything,
16:19what's important there, though, is the connections that you make. So if you are able to make good
16:24connections there, which I would say that I really have made a lot of good connections,
16:30you do learn a lot. And it's definitely for me an irreplaceable experience. I think I even told
16:37my parents, I was like, I think this might be the best thing that has ever happened to me so far,
16:42because it really just made me grow, both as a musician and as a person. I'm living there
16:49without my family across the world. I just live with a roommate who is one of my best friends.
16:55But learning to live on your own in a place that's so foreign, at like 18 years old,
17:01it's a very big thing. But I definitely, I'm so grateful for it.
17:08Okay, you talked about connections. And I saw from your interview, I read actually, that for this EP,
17:17you were able to collaborate with your friends and your schoolmates.
17:21Yes, I did.
17:23Can you tell us about that?
17:26Absolutely. So the For Me is a four song EP, and a lot of different people worked on it.
17:32But it's mainly co-written and produced by one of my best friends ever in my life,
17:37he's like my older brother. His name is Amir Coro, who's actually also Filipino.
17:42But he was in Canada. So I met him in Berkeley through one of my classes in my very first
17:50semester, which is really funny. But yeah, I think we met through that class. And we instantly
17:56clicked. And I just had an intuitive feeling for some reason. I was like, I think he might be the
18:01person to work together.
18:04Yeah, so I asked him and he was like, immediately, yes, let's do this. And it just worked out. And
18:09I'm just so grateful because he really understood what I wanted from this EP. And I think he's such
18:16a respectable producer. He's amazing. He's very knowledgeable about music. And he helped so much
18:22in just arranging the instrumentation of all the songs. I think he really just helped bring
18:29everything to life. And of course, we had our session, our sessionists, or the people that
18:34played instruments on the EP. So mainly on guitar, we had Edward Bjorkman. He played both acoustic
18:40and electric. He's from Sweden. So it was very cool to work with him, too. He's very talented.
18:45And then we also had Jacob Singson on drums and Toby Dorfman on bass. And two of my friends,
18:51Luna and Sammy, who played strings. And of course, there were different people who mixed and
18:55mastered the EP. So definitely, it was a whole project with a lot of people involved. And this
19:01is their project as much as it as it is mine. Yeah, and with and with this project, no matter
19:08how tiring it gets, when you love the people or when you enjoy the company of the people you work,
19:13you work with, it's really, it makes it more fun, right? Yeah, totally.
19:18I agree. How do you decide which artist or individuals to collaborate with? And what
19:25qualities do you look for in a collaborator? For me, personally, I would say that I'm open
19:34to working with any artists out there. I think as long as you have the intention of making art,
19:40that's already like a great place to start. I think in terms of the qualities, that's a really
19:45great, great, great, that's a really great question. Because I think one of the biggest
19:53things about working with people is how open they are to taking different routes or different
20:00directions. Because when you enter, like the creation process of a project, it's very difficult
20:06to work with people who kind of want things to always be their way. So I think even for myself,
20:12I hold that to be something that I want to always make sure of. I want to make sure that
20:17I'm someone who is good to work with and someone who is open to other ideas and actually collaborating
20:24on something instead of just being like, oh, I'm just there to sing. I don't know. I think that's
20:31a big thing, just being open to different ideas. And of course, people should be very kind to each
20:36other and respectful towards each other. But I think in terms of the art creation in general,
20:43I don't really have like high expectations from people that I work with. I think as long as we
20:51are both or all of us are working towards a certain piece of art that encapsulates like
20:59what we want to say properly, I think it's all good. Yeah. So what I got there is that you need
21:06to be proactive with what you put out there and then be receptive of what other people put out
21:14there. Yes, absolutely. Okay. So how do you balance your studies at Berkeley with your music career
21:23and also you do content creation on TikTok? How do you juggle everything? Honestly, I'm a huge
21:32planner girl. I'm very big on journaling and I always have. I'm big on to do lists and writing
21:39things down. I can't live without my calendar. That's kind of how I stay sane and how I manage
21:46my time well. But just on a mental note or more of like a mental health aspect, I think a big thing
21:55is always making sure that I take the time to step back and count my blessings or like look around
22:00and see why I'm doing what I'm doing because it can get very overwhelming. I will say that. I'm
22:05not going to deny that it's difficult to be juggling all these different things and it takes a
22:11lot of mental strength. However, I think more than anything after a day where I did a lot of
22:17things and I feel tired, I kind of find myself leaning towards the thought that like I'm so
22:25grateful that I'm tired because I did all these things today, like all these opportunities that
22:29I got. So I think, yeah, more than like feeling bad that I am tired or like depleted with energy,
22:37I kind of feel myself feeling even more energized by the fact that I'm doing things that I want to
22:42be doing and things that I'm very passionate about. It's a welcome type of exhaustion.
22:50Yes. And again, like you said a while ago, my circle of friends is definitely very important
22:56to me. They support me and I also do my best to support them and that really like replenishes my
23:02energy. That's nice. Aside from like finding all of these connections at Berkeley, you were also
23:12able to appear in the great American songbook, Girl on Fire, the music of Alicia Keys. What was
23:20that whole experience like? It must be big. Oh my goodness. That was one of the craziest experiences
23:29of my entire life because I had just entered the school. It was my first semester and I saw
23:39that there was an audition opportunity. So I was like, oh, Alicia Keys. I love Alicia Keys. Why don't
23:45I try an audition for this? Because I had never really tried out for a different show in that
23:51school and I saw that this show was supposed to be at the Berkeley Performance Center, which is a
23:55pretty big thing. So I just told myself, why don't I do it for fun? I think this would be
24:00really great and this would be a good experience for me. I mean, not exactly for fun, but yes,
24:06for fun. More of like an experience-based thing. I just wanted to try it out and see what it was
24:13like to audition for a big show at Berkeley. There was no pressure on yourself to really get in.
24:19I mean, I think with every audition, I try to not pressure myself to get in because I think
24:24I'd be pretty unhappy if I put that on myself. But for this particular show, I remember just
24:30submitting. I recorded two audition videos in my dorm room and I submitted it. And then they got
24:36back to me saying that I had an in-person callback at the Performance Center. And I asked Amir, who
24:43co-wrote and produced my EP, to play Keys for me for that audition. And I remember,
24:50I think I might have even forgotten the lyrics to one of the songs when I did that audition
24:55in person because I was so nervous. But I really just tried my best to exude confidence on stage
25:02and really give energy to whoever. Fake it till you make it. Yeah, exactly. No, I just tried my
25:09best to have fun, even if I forgot the lyrics a little bit in one of the songs that I did.
25:14I just had so much fun. And I can't remember when exactly the month or day was that I found
25:22out that I got in, but I remember so well being in the class that I met Amir in. And I got the
25:30email and I saw it and I was freaking out. I was like, oh my God, I got into my first Berklee show.
25:34And it's like my first semester. And then this show was supposed to be at the Berklee Performance
25:40Center, but we found out over the winter break, so I was already back in the Philippines,
25:45that it was moved to MGM Music Hall in Fenway, which is a huge performance venue. And they only
25:52booked like touring acts. So it was a very crazy thing. And the show ended up being in April 2023,
26:00April 4th, I think. And it was just, I kind of blacked out that whole weekend. I was so excited.
26:07And it was just a very surreal experience.
26:09Understandably so.
26:11Yeah. No, but it's definitely one of the memories that I really hold close to my heart. I loved it
26:16so much. And that song that I performed meant so much to me. And it's just kind of engraved in my
26:25head now.
26:28Okay. So that was a very, that's most likely one of your biggest achievements,
26:36right? In your music career?
26:37Oh, yes. Yes. Probably the biggest venue that I had ever performed in.
26:42Yeah. MGM, man. Okay. So how do you handle the pressures of being a young artist in the industry?
26:50Were there biases that come with being a young female artist when you started?
26:59I think for me, personally, I had never really thought about what other people were thinking
27:05about me entering, if that makes sense. Like, I think, because for me, the reason why I'm pursuing
27:13this isn't because I want to achieve a certain degree of fame, or anything like that. I think
27:19just ever since I was younger, I really, really did love singing. And I love music. And it was a
27:27safe space for me. And it was only after some time that I started posting on social media,
27:32and I got signed with Star Magic that I realized that I could do something with this. And of course,
27:37going to Berkeley made me realize that I could do something with this. But I think that's the
27:42reason why I don't really feel that much pressure. I don't really think about the biases that there
27:47might be because I think every artist is simply an artist. We all have creativity, and we have
27:52our own voices. And I do my best, at least, to try and not compare myself to other people.
28:00And I think that it would take away from my love for the art if I did that to myself,
28:06if I compared myself to other people, and if I thought so much about what other people
28:11thought of me. Yeah, so I'm just doing my best to put out my music and to send out good messages
28:18into the world, whether it's through my vlogs on YouTube, or like my content in general. I kind of
28:23just want to give more comfort and authenticity for people to see online. Okay, if you could give
28:31a piece of advice, one piece of advice to aspiring young artists who are just starting their musical
28:38journey, what would that be? I think, hopefully this is okay. This is kind of two points instead
28:46of one. But my one piece of advice would be that your relationships with the people that you work
28:53with is what matters. And also, to know that you don't have to be insanely good to start.
29:01You don't have to be like this incredible musician to be able to start making music,
29:07because there's always room for growth. And I think it would be more of a mistake to not
29:12try something if you're afraid, rather than just try it just because you want to.
29:19Okay, that is perfect. And that wraps up our music portion. Before we go to our pep challenge,
29:27thank you for that conversation. Thank you so much. It's time for our pep challenge.
29:31Okay, so for our pep challenge, it's called This or That.
29:43So I'll just be giving five sets of options to you and then just choose this or that, which one you
29:53prefer. Cool. Okay, so the first one is lyrics first or melody first.
30:02Oh, I love both. But I think usually I do lyrics first.
30:07When you when you start to write something, you start with the lyrics.
30:11I think most of the time. Definitely there isn't like a right way. And I don't have one way of
30:17writing a song. But most of the time I start with the lyrics.
30:24Yeah, and then you just fit the melody into it.
30:28Yeah, I usually write lyrics. And then I kind of just come up with a random chord progression and
30:33then figure out the melody from there. Okay, the next one, writing a song alone
30:41or collaborating with others.
30:46Oh, that's a tough one. Oh, man. Which one do you prefer more?
30:54Just for the sake of like, expression, I'm gonna say alone, only in the sense that I feel like I'm
31:01at my most safe space. And I'm I can just write. Yeah. Yeah. No holds barred.
31:10Oh, I love writing with others. But I think just in terms of like writing the actual song and the
31:15lyrics, I have written a lot of my songs alone, because that's where I felt like I can say
31:21anything. Yeah. And and like you said, when you write alone, you can just do it anytime at any
31:26day when you write with others. I mean, of course, you have to take into consideration this,
31:32their schedules, their availability. So right. Okay. Next one performing live or recording in
31:43the studio. Oh, my gosh, I just had this conversation with a friend of mine.
31:50I really love performing live. However, I will say as an artist, it's actually like,
31:57way more pressuring than recording in a studio. So I do enjoy recording in a studio more and
32:03coming up with a song a little bit more. Yeah, I do. I love performing live. And it's something
32:08that I would never let go of. But I will say that for this question, recording in the studio.
32:15Okay, got it. The next one is writing songs about personal experiences or fictional stories. I think
32:23we touched up on this a while ago. Right? Exactly. I'm gonna say personal experiences,
32:28because it's raw emotion. And it's stuff that you can't really get anywhere else.
32:35Kim, you talked about writing out of a breakup. Can you like tell us
32:44um, not about the breakup, but like, like, just how, how, how it influenced the song?
32:54I think definitely just like, on days where I'm feeling more down, whether it's about just like
33:00myself in general, or anything that I'm experiencing, sometimes I feel like, kind of
33:06just like a surge of inspiration. And I kind of feel myself like, Oh, I think I want to write
33:11right now. And it just happens. Or I can also like sit down and have the intention of writing
33:18something and I kind of have to let myself get into that headspace. Yeah, yeah, I read something
33:25a while back, Taylor Swift said, Taylor Swift, name dropping Taylor. So she writes heartbreak
33:34songs when she's already at the point of moving on, or when she's already recovered. That's when
33:43she's able to write breakup songs. How was it with, like, in your case, was it in the middle of
33:50like, being heartbroken? Or was it when you've already moved on? I actually think three of the
33:57songs on the EP, I was definitely already moved on from certain situations. But one of the songs I
34:04wrote right as I was dealing with it, kind of, yeah, it was I Stay Silent. Yeah, that song is
34:11very, that was the easiest song for me to write in terms of how long it took me. I think it might
34:16have taken me like 30 minutes. It was crazy. It was just a lot of emotion. It is the most
34:25straightforward song though. Yeah, I think it definitely takes more time to be creative and to
34:30come up with more like deep stuff. But for that song, for example, it was very straightforward. So
34:36it was very quick. It was very raw. Right? Yeah. Because you're, you're dealing with it at that
34:43point. Okay, thanks for sharing that. Now our last set of options, releasing singles or an entire
34:51album at once? Oh, I think that's a tough one again. These are so difficult because there's
35:02such good parts of it. Like releasing a single I love because people kind of have the attention
35:09span for it. It's kind of like, oh, it's just one song and you can focus on that. But yeah,
35:14honestly, I'm gonna say an album just in the sense that an album will, first of all, it has so many
35:21songs in it, obviously, compared to just one. But in an album, I feel like it can cover so much more.
35:29And there's just like, a lot more to work with, in terms of like sharing things with people.
35:35I think it's just more fun. It's a bigger project. And yeah, I think it's definitely more of a
35:41milestone for artists, I guess, or musicians compared to like a single. And the single is
35:47usually part of the album anyway. Yeah, that's true. Especially with like albums, when you want
35:54to say a story, you can relate it in like different ways, like different sides to it
36:00through the songs in it. So that's beautiful. Okay, so we're done with Pep Challenge.
36:07Now we go to a little more personal portion. So it's just talking about you
36:15outside of music. Who is Rafi outside of music? So you talked about moving to a foreign country
36:23at the age of 18. What was the first thing you learned when you lived alone abroad?
36:31I think, well, oh my gosh, the first thing I had to learn was navigating.
36:37That's so true. Oh my gosh. I think the first thing that I had to learn was like how to get around,
36:48like navigating the train, stuff like that. And I mean, Boston is a very walkable city. So I was
36:54lucky to have that. I didn't really have an issue at all. And the transportation is quite simple.
37:00But other than that, I think just like learning to live on your own is a whole lesson in itself.
37:05There are so many sub lessons there. But living to learn alone is just a huge thing. Like to learn
37:12not to have your family around you every day. Yeah. Did you get homesick at like the very first
37:19week? Oh, when my family left, I was in shambles. I was like crying. But I do remember telling
37:27myself, I was like, girl, pick yourself up because you're here for a reason. I mean,
37:33yeah, I think being there, the only reason why I didn't feel very homesick is because I'm so
37:40busy there. And in a sense, like, I know that I'm making my family proud by being there.
37:46And I'm pursuing things that I couldn't really like, necessarily do if I was back here.
37:55All right. Now, what's a fun or surprising fact about yourself that your fans might not know?
38:04Huh? A fun or surprising fact? Maybe not so surprising, but pretty fun.
38:12My friends, if you get to know me, one of the first things you'll ever find out is that I'm a
38:17huge fan of Arizona green tea and Reese's cups. Every time it's like my birthday or my friends
38:26want to give me a gift, that's usually what they go to. They get me a can of Arizona green tea.
38:36Yes, Reese's cups. I love like peanut butter cups. They're so good. Oh my gosh. No, but it's
38:41actually really good. I don't have a sweet tooth, but I really do love me some Reese's cups.
38:49Okay, what's the most memorable message you've received from a fan?
38:53Um, oh my gosh. Honestly, all the ones that tell me that my music has helped them
39:05have stuck to me. I actually keep this album in my phone, my camera roll that is called like
39:11things that heal my heart. And I actually have a bunch of screenshots from of like messages that
39:17I get from fans or even just like friends and family that mean a lot to me and I keep them all
39:23there. I'm a huge like letters person. I love handwritten letters. I keep all of them and even
39:29messages. You're so sentimental. Yeah, definitely. I keep them all and I like to look back at them
39:35when I feel like I need a little bit more inspiration to remember why this is, you know,
39:41something that I want to continue doing and to know that there is like a good impact that I'm
39:47creating from making this music. Okay, well, how do you stay motivated and inspired when you're not
39:55working on new music? Could be hobbies. No, I absolutely love. Well, I really do like journaling.
40:05But other than that, that's something I do almost every day. I really do like YouTube. I think ever
40:11since I was younger, I was such a big girl. I loved watching YouTube videos. And for some reason,
40:16I'd always like just talking in front of a camera. So nowadays, I do a lot of vlogs on YouTube. And
40:23that brings me a lot of joy. But other than that, of course, content creation is still a part of my
40:27job. I really love dancing, which is something that I want to incorporate with my performing
40:33in the future. Because right now all my songs are kind of very low key and very mellow. So in the
40:40future, I do want to work on some pop stuff that I can dance to. Club songs. Oh my god. Oh, that'd
40:49be interesting. Yeah, but you're not allowed to enter clubs yet, right? You're not 21. Yeah, I'm
40:55not 21. At least not in the US. In the US, not in the US. And you can't drink in the US. No.
41:04No. But when you're here, in the Philippines... When I'm here, I'm legal. And I've been like,
41:13okay. But once I'm there, I'm like, okay, we're back to being underage again. We're back.
41:20Okay, that's very understandable. Now, you've been busy with work. You've got lots of
41:27what do you call this? Gigs on the side. How do you plan to invest your earnings from your music
41:34career? I think definitely a lot of it, well, it's kind of a reality of being a musician or an artist
41:42that some of it kind of has to go back into investing in your music. So that's definitely
41:49something. And other than that, right now, at least I'm trying to still learn more about like
41:57the financial side of life and stuff. So we're going to have to see about that. But other than
42:02that, of course, I also have my personal things that I would like to spend on. At least for now,
42:07when I earn from small gigs and stuff, sometimes I just use it to buy my meals to help out my
42:12parents so that they don't have to pay for me. I'll buy my groceries or I don't know, I'll buy
42:18little trinkets for myself just for fun. Yeah, that's so cute. Okay, so nothing yet of like
42:26the big investments like saving up for a house or a car. Yeah, definitely not yet.
42:33Yeah, still studying. She's still a student, guys. She's 20 years old. Okay, so finally,
42:40what are your long-term goals as an artist and how do you plan to achieve them?
42:45I think my long-term goals would be that number one, I kind of just want to keep
42:53putting out like good messages and like being a positive space for people. I think in terms of
43:02everything, whether it's my music, I really want people to feel less alone with what they're going
43:07through and know that these are normal feelings. And that again, yeah, they're not alone with what
43:13they're going through. And I think in terms of YouTube, I kind of want it to be like a calm
43:18space, a safe space for people to go to just to like chill and just like have some more positivity
43:26in their life. And I think just on the most part, I really do want to be, I said this in a different
43:32interview actually, that I consider being a quote-unquote like star, being someone that
43:37makes a positive impact or good changes in this world and brings light to people's lives. I don't
43:44think it's if I reach a certain number of followers or I don't really know that I can gauge
43:50my success through that. I think I will feel successful through the small things. If I feel
43:55like one song has done something, I already feel successful through that. So that's kind of my goal.
44:01I wish to stay in that place and I wish to stay in a place that I don't really like put so much
44:07pressure on myself for these things. Of course, I always aspire to be a great artist and I want to
44:14become better as much as possible. I don't want to stop learning. But I think at the root of it all,
44:20I hope that I never lose my love for the art form because that's where it all came from in the first place.
44:27Yeah. Oh, that's so heartwarming to hear. You're literally just a virtual buddy,
44:33be it in music or in vlogging. Thank you so much for having this conversation with me, Rafi.
44:40If you could invite your fans to your gigs or listen to your album, please do it now.
44:51All right. Hey, guys. Again, my name is Rafi and you can catch me on social media everywhere
44:58at RafiMusicX. Rafi is spelled R-A-F-I. I have one more show coming up, I think, in the Philippines.
45:04Oh, two more. I am going to be on the Wish Bus tomorrow at 4 p.m. and that's going to be at Vista
45:12Mall, the gig. And then I have one last gig, which is in Katipunan at a bar. And I'm going to be
45:17performing about five songs there. Some of them are going to be from the EP if you want to hear
45:21them live. But if you want to catch my music anytime and anywhere, my EP is now out on all
45:27streaming platforms. It's called Before Me. And I also have other songs out. So thank you so much
45:32again for having me on the show. And I hope you guys catch me online or in real life.
45:39Yay. Thank you so much, Rafi. And thank you, Pepsters, for tuning in. Please don't forget to follow,
45:46like, and subscribe all of our social media accounts. They're found on our official website.
45:51It's at www.pep.ph. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. It's
45:57at PepAlerts. And also on YouTube, Viber, Kumo, and Calamansi. It's pep.ph. Once again, this is
46:05FK Bravo introducing Rafi. Thank you so much, Pepsters, and have a great day. Thank you.
46:30Bye. Thank you so much.