Rara Blue - Only Young Once (Single) + 10 Questions

Rara Blue is back with her latest summer drenched track laced with ethereal vocals ‘Only Young Once’. We got the opportunity to find out more about the track and her music journey so far .

1. So tell me, how did it all begin? What sparked your passion for music?

Since I was a kid, I used to sing and dance, so it's really hard to pinpoint where it all started it’s just always been a way of life for me. When I was 6 years old, I remember being at home and putting together chords on the piano and improvising words about how I felt at the time. It became my way of processing my emotions by putting how I felt into music. I always liked the play of words and poetry, and not saying things directly, but through euphemisms in my songs instead.

2. How would you describe your sound?

My sound is electronic and bassy. I still play piano and guitar, but electronic production gives me a much wider sonic palette. Synthesizers allow me to generate sounds that don't exist in traditional instruments, creating my own sound world. I also love to collect sounds from nature by recording them and turning those sounds into instruments, or using nature sounds to change a live environment by bringing those sounds inside a music venue. People at my shows often describe my sound as taking them on a journey that is almost meditative in nature and makes them lose track of time.

3. If people were listening to your music for the first time, which track would you tell them to listen to first and why?

For new listeners, I would recommend “Fallin” since I think it has many interesting sounds, including recordings from nature. That song talks about how it's so easy to fall back into old habits, and I think we can all relate to that.

4. You are releasing a new track soon, ‘Only Young Once’. Could you tell us a bit more about the story behind the track and the creative process behind this song?

This song was originally created live, just as I used to improvise on the piano as a kid. I now improvised with my synthesizer, singing about how the fun in life used to be so simple and how, as adults, we tend to overcomplicate things and forget to enjoy life for what it is. I was thinking about how I grew up close to nature and played around with my brother all day, climbing trees and playing in the fields. I was reminiscing with my brother about this, telling him a story of how we once wanted to build a treehouse in the woods, so we carried our dad's whole toolbox out into the forest, then tried to nail the first planks into the trees but couldn't physically do it, so we just had to carry everything back home. We were so young that my brother doesn't remember it at all.

As I was creating the song live and playing in the bassline, people really enjoyed it, so I decided I should make a recording for online listeners as well.

5. Could you tell us more about the creative process behind ‘Only Young Once’?

I prepared digital synthesizers in my DAW that I thought sounded nice together. Then, using a MIDI controller, I started arranging the sounds. I looped a vocal and played in the synth chords. I thought it would sound really nice to have a deep bassline and a bouncy kick drum like those summer hits in the 2000s did.

6. Was this track inspired by a particular person, event or situation?

As I was gathering the lyrics, I tried to think about how far I have come from where I was. For my journey in music, I moved to Belgium and now to London, leaving my things behind and following my passion. I think the music industry today is extremely tough, and there is a lot of pressure on artists to survive in the fast-paced media environment, so it can feel really overwhelming at times. It used to be so nice to just sing and express how I feel for the sake of doing it, and getting heard without the worry of being consumed by the overflow of media. That's why I wrote this song to remind myself that there's more to life than what we overlook. If we get stuck in what we don't yet have, we're going to miss the present moment.

7. Music tends to have memories attached to it. Could you give us a fond memory of one track?

Since I grew up in the 2000s, when MP3 players had just become a thing and streaming services didn't exist yet, my friend's dad put the Grease musical album on all of our MP3 players, and we used to listen to it over and over again doing performances for our parents, and sometimes even at school.

I remember a teacher allowing us to perform our Grease act one morning at the start of class. That turned into what we thought was an epic life hack to start class later, so we would try to perform a new act every day. After a few days, though, we got lazy with our rehearsals, so the teacher caught on and stopped us from wasting the start of class. It was fun while it lasted!

8. What was the first record/tape/CD you bought for yourself? It can be a single or album.

I don't actually remember the very first record I bought because music was always around me growing up, especially driving to school every morning with the radio on. What I do remember is becoming fascinated by artists who blended iconic vocals with electronic production and good basslines. I remember hearing Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Nelly Furtado, and Timbaland’s drums that got me moving. In my room, I would even unplug my speakers and listen only to the subwoofer at times I guess that shows my early love for basslines. Those 2000s radio hits had a huge influence on the direction I eventually took as an artist.

9. What’s the proudest moment to date for you as an artist?

The latest proud moment I had was in London at the Crux AV Festival, where I performed a full set of songs live with generative programming visuals. I think it was my most technical show to pull off, since I wasn’t only responsible for the music or the story, but also the visuals. I enjoy being able to create using the whole spectrum of technical aspects, since it creates a much more well rounded expression.

10. What have you got planned for the not-so-distant future?

In the near future, I’m focused on releasing new music, including “Only Young Once,” and continuing to develop my live audiovisual performances. I’m particularly interested in combining electronic music with generative visuals to create immersive experiences that connect sound and visual art and create illusionary worlds for the audience. I’m also looking to collaborate with other artists, perform at more festivals and venues, and continue growing my audience both in the UK and internationally.

Follow Rara Blue here