In this interview spotlight, I catch up with RALLO to chat about the latest single, Eggshells & Rollercoasters.
Regular readers know RALLO has been around our playlists and blog for a while now. Always great to keep supporting our community’s newest releases.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
“Eggshells & Rollercoasters” is such a striking title. What does it mean to you, and how did it become the anchor for this song?
It’s actually quite literally the experience of walking on eggshells and being on emotional rollercoasters, while longing for what the chorus is about. It’s hard to say more than what is revealed in the song… without giving too much away.
Was there a specific moment or relationship that inspired the song?
It’s really a heavily-woven conglomeration of many. In fact, it can be difficult to tell where one reference begins and another ends, which I think is often a rewarding way to structure a story like this. In some ways, the need to tell a story in a striking manner harkens back to my film work, and I like to think they work in dialogue together at times.
When you write, do you start with words, a melody, or a visual scene in your head?
It starts with a feeling usually that’s hard to sit with. Most often it’s something difficult, challenging, hurtful, or confusing that needs to be turned around and looked at through another lens. Or, what I wish I could say but can’t any other way. A few times it has started with a line a friend said that personifies something we both know or feel deeply, like “Pinch That Vein” or “the closets are taken,” which became the recent song “Closets”. Then there’s “I’m not going to talk anymore,” which was a line from a poem my father wrote that hit a strong feeling for the title song of my album “Anymore.”
Can you talk about the music video concept and how it ties into the song’s themes?
I wanted to thread through time in a cultural way. We used footage both new and archival to showcase how we dream and hope for that unconditional love and support from our significant others, but how difficult that is in reality. Living up to the role of being the ‘lovely wife’ but what that actually means in a relationship. What we give up to maintain that is something across time and culture it seems, as is how we deal and heal from the fall out of it.
How do your live performances differ from your recorded music? What can audiences expect at your upcoming shows?
I love performing live. I love being in the moment, being in sync with the musicians, my piano or keyboard, and the audience – bending the time in new ways to the song, and finding the relevance and freshness of the song each night we play. Finding the rawness of it and letting it carry whatever has happened since first writing it.
There’s something so wonderful playing with everyone live, all together, rather than separating via recording processes – even though we do rehearse live first and record some instruments together, playing live is probably the most authentic experience. I’m so lucky to play with such giving, selfless and talented musicians such as Graham Orbe on bass, Kevin Kendrick on guitar & vibraphone, and Liam Kerekes or Gavin Caine when there’s drums.
Who are some of your musical influences or artists that shaped your sound? Do you hear their echoes in this song?
Probably so much of what I’ve listened to over time – but yah, Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin.
Do you see “Eggshells & Rollercoasters” as part of a larger project (like an EP or album), or does it stand alone as a snapshot of where you are creatively right now?
I am working on my second album which ‘Eggshells & Rollercoasters’ will definitely be a part of – it’s a progression from my first album ANYMORE. I feel very much that I’m a visual storyteller, whether I’m making a film or writing music… but with songs, I’m a bit closer to the bone, trying to understand my own narrative, or alter how I look at or feel something via the poetry of the song. It’s a way to maybe give the feeling or subtext of the story that can’t otherwise be put into the words.
Your lyrics often explore the complexities of relationships. What draws you to those themes as a songwriter?
Always searching to understand them better – especially the more complex ones that aren’t always seeing eye to eye, yet have a deep connection.
If listeners could walk away from this song with one feeling or realization, what would you want it to be?
I would want it to be their own authentic feeling or reaction to hearing it and letting the images and music through them… one that might change from listen to listen.
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