Hello Friends,
It’s an exciting day here in the River household, all of my kids (10,000 of them) are running around excitedly screaming about the news. You see, my children love it when I sing to them and now I will be singing to you. They are really psyched for that. You should hear them scream :)
My new single is out “i remember” off of my EP “GIVING”, I’m super excited to share this with you as I have been sitting on this for quite some time. Look, I love music and mostly it’s for me but I wanted to send it out there, “release” it as they say. I think it’s funny being a performer and going to music last, I think it’s the EXTREMELY vulnerable nature of it that makes it so hard to share. I really wanted to break myself out of that and find a way to share a strong version of my own vulnerability, (I can be soooo pathetic lol) vulnerability that I think is necessary in order to connect with others and yourself. In a world so stricken with grief and hate I want to bring a softness and introspection and encourage that kind of emotional exploration. So, with the help of some friends I’ve been constructing songs and hating them and then rebuilding them and now I love them and am ready to share it with you.
Click on the picture below to listen to the single :)
My friend Daniel Rampulla took this photo of me being sad in the cold with one single rose still wrapped in plastic. I thought it’d be a perfect vibe for the single. I asked him if he liked the rose in plastic, he said “I think there’s something really sad about it” I said “Haha yeah” so we kept it.
When I explained the song to Daniel I told him it originally stemmed from one of my first big gay heartbreaks, I had loved in a way I never knew I could love. But, I had also this unquenchable thirst to love a woman so deeply that I hurt myself doing it. I gave it all away. “i remember” is about diving back into the memory of a lost love, the grief, the toxicity, of just allowing yourself to wallow in it, and the amazement at the full bodied sensations that come with attaching yourself to a lover. It’s about all love being everlasting, within our imaginations — even if it wasn’t meant to be. It’s a moment etched in our bodies, a miraculous sensory experience if you let it be.
This is the album art for the EP that I drew.
What more to say? I’m excited! I’m proud! and I am grateful to the wonderful community of friends that made this happen. Teeny Lieberson aka Lou Tides really encouraged me to start songwriting and taking up space, she really opened up a world for me I thought I would never get to experience! I sent her songs all throughout pandemic from my voice notes, I was so annoying. We bonded about our shared love for Elliot Smith, and goth undertones. Low key, I cry when I watch animated characters sing on SING 1 and SING 2, so…secret dream unlocked. She might not know the gravity of her encouragement and her giving nature, and just her overall cool ass self, She’s on her way out to a cool mega tour 0_0. send her love!
I would also love to thank Sarah Galdes, AMAZING drummer, engineer and co-producer. So fun to be in a room with for hours, I truly have so much fun when Sarah is around and what a mind! AND she’s a powerhouse performer. Sarah, me and Lou all sat together rambling for hours, building together, they let me show them sad love songs to replicate and allowed me to play with their amazing musicianship. I would wave my hands in the air saying “it needs to feel like this” or Sarah would let me draw a shape and then interpret it with her drum genius, so insane! And it worked!
Vishal Nayak mixed and mastered this track, he’s also an amazing drummer and engineer, just opened his very own studio! Without these wonderful people I couldn’t have made this wonderful piece of art. Oh music, how powerful. Even more so, the community dedicated to sound and feeling - so beautiful to be a part of it.
Can’t wait till you hear the song, you can pre-order the EP now. Make sure to follow me on Bandcamp and Soundcloud. In a few days the song will also be on Spotify (Follow my artist page by clicking here) and apple and all other platforms (music takes time).
It’s nice to have a pocket of joy amongst all of the grief, war, and sadness. To community and friendship! Ta Ta! I really hope you enjoy what we made. :) have a wonderful day!