We recently connected with Rae.L and have shared our conversation below.

Rae.L, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I would go back and time and start sooner! I was heavily involved in music in high school doing choir and musical theatre, but ended up going to a college with no arts program, so I didn’t think much of it when I stopped doing music. Over time it felt like something was missing, and once I realized it was music I decided to try it out again. I think starting sooner would have really just been never stopping. I would go back and tell myself to find ways to pursue music, even if it was no longer academically available to me. I think everything happens at the time it is meant to, and that gap of not doing music was meant to show me how much I needed it, but I would love to go back to 2016 me and introduce her to Ableton.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Rae.L I am a musician in Tucson, Arizona. I started making music in October of 2020 on Discord where I met Mike Perez, a producer, and we created my first single Easy Mourning with other talented musicians on the server. After that I met my friends in Our City’s Finest, and we began working together to create music, throw shows, and now we run a music studio in Tucson called OCF Studios. In January 2024 I dropped my first album titled “Internet Friends” produced almost entirely by Cecilia (except for Easy Mourning). This album was a catalyst for my first opening slot in May 2024 where my friends and I got to open up for UPSAHL at Club Congress. Opening for UPSAHL was huge for me since I’ve been a fan of her since the year I started making music. It felt very full circle, and to get booked for such a meaningful show only 4 months after dropping my first full project really reaffirmed having music as a creative outlet. It was huge for my friends and I.
Most recently I dropped a project titled “SCORPIO” which is a dark dance pop project produced by Cecilia. We created a short horror film to serve as the visuals for the project. Our short film is called “AGAIN?” it is available on YouTube, and although it was booed off of the screen at The Loft’s “First Friday Shorts” event, I am extremely proud of it, and had so much fun making something so weird with my friend.
I think it is really important to get your art out into the world regardless of whether it is booed off the screen or not (I did, however, join in on the booing because how many times will I get that chance in life? It was silly. I loved it.)

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think some people may struggle to understand artist’s decision to chase a dream that feels larger than life or unobtainable. I tend to go back and forth between “I am meant to be a creative” and “I am choosing the impossible.” But genuinely I think that people have been crazy enough to do it, so why not be crazy and try too? Shifting my view of what “making it” looks like has helped me a lot, too. I don’t dream of huge stadiums or making billions of dollars, but I do dream of a life that allows me to use my creativity and live comfortably. I think non-creative people might see a local musician and think “they have no chance of making it big” and that’s okay! Some of us don’t really want to make it to the point of super stardom, it’s okay to take each experience that your creative path grants you as an opportunity to learn about what you even want to do with your life. Let your curiosity for life be your guide, not the opinions of people who don’t understand you.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is finding that you are never truly alone in any feeling or experience. You can write a song about heartbreak, mental health, love, or smoking cigarettes and someone in the room will more than likely be able to relate to what you are saying. It feels so good to be able to bring people together through music.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/raemakesmusic?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaaZvgoFPJfJFnd6HyoFWRDWosT-7OZxFxj58byhdChuqFuoZPhZpeHJuT0_aem_kofU9ULprlEbs7sCGo2dcg
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raeeelmao/profilecard/?igsh=MTRrYXAweGUyc2c2YQ==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/3iZHrR6MKkVNRdHA/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Twitter: https://x.com/frenchfrymyguy?s=21
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@raeeelmao?si=izwjQdl-9ulYqnhs
• SoundCloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/b2eGequfzxk1jKjY9

Image Credits
Lexi Obara Cecilia