We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful TheRave. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with TheRave below.

Hi TheRave, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Rock & Roll is all about giving the middle finger with style. It’s about blasting your music as loud as you want with the windows down. It’s essentially a celebration of freedom and individuality. It’s been the most relevant message for the entire world because these ideals are the one thing we all agree are necessary. This is the common element throughout all of my music.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is theRave and I’m the singer/songwriter for the band Spells and Curses. I’m a child of immigrant parents who uprooted their entire lives from Russia to New York City so that their children could live without the fear of prejudice or discrimination. I’m also a vehement believer that Queens has the best pizza, but I’m not sure if that counts.

Well it’s been a very slow road, if I’m being honest. I started recording music just as a means of handling my own grief. It was a dark time in my life and I felt pretty abandoned. So I turned that pain into music that I’d eventually share with the world. Slowly but surely I noticed it striking a chord with more and more people. I’d get messages from people expressing how my music helped them get through similar low periods of sadness, depression, trauma, or grief. Then they’d follow up by asking when new music releases and live shows would be announced. That’s when I realized the demand for the type of healing my music was offering, and when I decided to start treating it more like a business.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

– Without question, the biggest challenge for me has been learning to not overthink myself. It’s easy to release music to the world when no one knows who you are, or what to expect. But once people have an idea of what you do or how you sound, you reach a fork in the road: do you want to feed into what they already know of you, or do you throw everything to the wind and do as you wish (thereby risking the ire of those who supported you originally)? There’s also the matter of second-guessing whether or not your new song/album is worthy to follow-up your last. It’s just the usual mental gymnastics artists do!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

People are listening, even if you don’t think they do. It’s very easy as an artist to feel as though no one is listening or no one cares. But if you release your music online, it is bound to be heard by someone. If it strikes a chord with someone, they will never forget that. They might not reach out to you, and you might not know they love your music, but they are out there. The more you continue to release art that moves them, the more they will feel compelled to reach out and thank you.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.spellsandcurs.es
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/spellsandcurses
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/spellsandcurses
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/spellsandcurses
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/spellsandcurses

Image Credits
All Photos: Photography: Alexander Just (@_alexander_just) Makeup & Style: Farah Husain (@femmefatalmakeup)