Musician and songwriter Roz Raskin has been a staple of the local Providence music scene for years in a way that’s continually evolving. After their indie pop band Roz and the Rice cakes. Raskin started a new project Nova one. They released their third album, “Create Myself” on March 31.
You can find out more about Nova One at their website, ilovenovaone.com
Nova One’s latest album, “Create Myself” is available on Bandcamp.com
Luis Hernandez: Roz Raskin joins us now to talk about it. How do you describe the music that you make?
Roz Raskin: So I suppose it’s a big mix of things, from music that I grew up listening to, to a lot of DIY influences from touring across the US for many years, and I, but I think mostly I say sort of dream pop with a little bit of an edge to it.
James Baumgartner: I saw a video on Instagram of you singing along with your father playing piano. How were your parents influential in your musical upbringing?
Raskin: So I saw my dad has been in bands forever. And my mom’s a big music fan. She did play guitar and sing at one point. I don’t know how she’d feel about me saying that on air. But you know what? I bet she rocked. And my grandfather also played guitar and sing and actually the guitar I have today was his guitar that I’m going to play on. My dad and I have been singing together or well playing together with him on keys, or sometimes me on guitar. And it’s, I mean, it’s the cutest thing. So it’s so sweet.
Hernandez: Let’s talk about the origins of your latest album, “Create Myself.” Tell us about it.
Raskin: So this album, I started to record in 2021, early 2021, but was writing towards the end of 2020. I think, now looking back, the album really is speaking to a younger version of myself and processing a lot of feelings of what it is to grow up and find yourself and yeah, I suppose that’s a, that’s a big chunk of it.
Hernandez: Well, you know, because that leads me to this question I had to ask you, is your song “You Deserve” – “you deserve to be loved,” you say in there. Who are you talking about?
Raskin: I think I’m talking to me. And I think I’m talking to really all of us. I spent a long time really trying to work on loving myself and was also surrounded by other people that I feel like didn’t truly love themselves either. And it’s, in some ways, it feels like a mantra or something, because it’s not like – so many things about healing, I feel like it’s so cliche to say that, that it’s not linear. But it does feel like a daily struggle to accept yourself in, in a society that, you know, has so many pressures and so much discrimination and and prejudice, you know, there’s just so many ways to navigate this world that can sometimes feel really hard.
[YOU DESERVE]
Baumgartner: You always include photos of your family in the artwork for your albums. Why is that?
Raskin: Ah, you know, I think I saw I was thinking about that a lot recently. And so first off, I love photos, I love old photos of family. And I feel very lucky that I have quite a few of them from like, the last 100 years or whatever. And so I think in this whole conversation around creating myself through this album, it always feels like a really beautiful thing to sort of nod to the folks that came before me that, you know, made me who I am and what they went through. And so I just feel like it’s almost like a dedication or something like that.
Baumgartner: Like a dedication to your family?
Raskin: Yeah.
Baumgartner: In some it seems like you’re dressed in in sort of period attire and vintage attire. Are you trying to recreate a specific photograph? Or is there anything else there?
Raskin: Oh, for me?
Baumgartner: Yeah. I’ve seen some photos of you where you’re, it seems like you’re specifically dressed like it’s 1959 or something like that. Am I picking up that up right?
Raskin: Yeah, for sure. Well, I Well, I think especially so. So for folks that have never seen my band live we all dress in these peach wigs. And we all look the exact same when we play, which is actually very confusing when we’re playing shows because nobody knows who is who and people are mistaken for you know, anyways, it’s part of the fun, I suppose. But um, we so there’s definitely like a dreamy sort of retro girl group piece of the way the project first came about. With the first EP that I put out, Secret Princess that was like pretty heavily in that sonic realm, if you will, and yeah, I’m just a fan of retro fashion as well. I love wigs. I love to dress up. I love to feel like it’s Halloween every night I’m playing.
Hernandez: You know, I was wondering, and being new to Rhode Island, I’m learning a lot about, you know, musicians and artists here. But from you, your perspective, what’s the music scene like? How do you describe it?
Raskin: I would say, it’s amazing. I love it so much. I think that it’s really progressed in a lot of ways that are really important. Like, I think it’s the most inclusive, it’s ever been. While that’s, you know, something that’s always a process. And I think that it could always be more inclusive. But I feel like there’s more queer artists than ever playing here. And the shows feel, for the most part, at least in, in the circles that I tend to run in, like very welcoming. And I just think that there’s some really unique stuff happening here.
Baumgartner: Has anything specifically changed in the last few years through the pandemic to now?
Raskin: I would say that things definitely feel like they’re still trying to figure out where they’re going a little bit with the music scene in general. Trying to figure out the most sustainable ways for bands to play shows and tour, which is more challenging than ever because of inflation. Like, with the price of living having gone up so much, it was unfortunate to see quite a few bands either continue to, I mean, not continue to play or to tour or to fold all together. And just because it’s hard to make it happen. It’s hard to afford all the things that go into being a band, let alone afford to survive out here. So I think that we’re still trying to recover quite a bit. And I think that I still know quite a few people that don’t even go to shows because they don’t like being in public spaces. But I think I feel hopeful about the situation.
Hernandez: You’re gonna play something for us. What are you gonna play?
Raskin: I’m gonna play a song called “Dangerous” from Create Myself.
[DANGEROUS]
You can find Nova One’s new album, “Create Myself,” on Bandcamp and streaming platforms everywhere. The band will be performing at the Columbus Theater in Providence on April 22.
