Rae Isla

Welcome to The Not So Late Show Episode- Four  featuring special guest Rae Isla, independent singer-songwriter and pioneer in the web3 music space to talk about music, creativity and human connection.

Keep up with all things Rae Isla
https://linktr.ee/raeisla

Be sure to keep up with Rae Isla on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/rae_isla

The Not So Late Theme Composed By:
Mikael Carnevali

All Songs Performed by:
The Not So Late Band Featuring:
Juan Ignacio Varela Espinoza - Sax, some Keys and some Guitars
Tomas Torres - Guitar
Edú Gabriel - Bass
Manu Figue - Drums
Fran Donadio - Keys


Blue Last/ Prueba Hammon/Juani Gruv - Composed by Juan Ignacio Varela Espinoza

Hosted by Crypto Kyle:
https://twitter.com/cryptokylemqt

Second Banana/ John Byrnes
https://twitter.com/aiJ0hn

Band Leader:
Juan Ignacio Varela Espinoza

Head of Animation/Set Designer/ Taylor
Nick Zimmer
https://twitter.com/zimmetrydesigns

Writing Team:
Jarrod G. , John Byrnes, Crypto Kyle

This is a Moon Vibes Media Production © 2023

Official Website / Twitter/Subscribe

Transcript

Announcer: [00:00:00] Welcome to The Not So Late Show Tonight features special guest, Rae Isla!,

also featured on tonight's episode is a Special Performance of the latest single. "thank you, i'm sorry, i love you"

But first, without further ado, [00:01:00] please welcome your host Crypto Kyle!

Crypto Kyle: All right. All right guys. Welcome to the show. It is episode four. Thank you for being here. We are excited about our guest, Rae Isla this evening. But before we get there, guys sent some well wishes to John. John is still sick and Juan, Juan still has cue cards, and Juan says that. What, what does that say, Juan?

Ah, it's, it says he can't talk. Yes, I know. I promised Juan will be able to talk this week, but he was given doctors orders not to talk for another. Until he reaches a full recovery. Um, yeah buddy, I would take that advice if you can tell. Now, I, I am beginning to lose my voice. I'm not sure if I'm getting sick, but our buddy John is still sick, so send him some best wishes and, uh, we just hope [00:02:00] that he feels better Jumping into monologue, which unfortunately Carl helped me with.

Uh, yes, Carl. Yep. I'm giving you credit buddy. All. He's in the in here. Uh, looks like a former employee in Massachusetts. Really wanted to mine his own business. He set up a secret cryptocurrency operation in a school's crawlspace, but got charged with fraudulent use of electricity and vandalizing the school.

Even the Coast Guard Investigative Services and Department of Homeland Security got involved in this wild goose chase. Moral of the story. Stick to trading Dogecoin and don't try to turning school into a crypto. Good one, Carl. An alligator was found in a Brooklyn Lake on Sunday, likely dumped there as an unwanted pet.

Despite the urban legend of alligators in the city's sewer system, experts say it's unlikely due to the system's frigid and toxic environments. The four foot reptile was taken to an animal care [00:03:00] center and then to the Bronx Zoo for rehabilitation. City officials are investigating the illegal release of the alligator as we.

And of course, you may have saw 2 million kaori air fryers were recalled by Atex City due to fire and burn hazards, which is absolutely terrifying. The one thing that I love about air fryers is that it seems that everyone that swears by them always gives you the most ludicrous advice.

Like, yeah, I have this air fryer, and not only are we eating healthier, but it makes a leftover pizza slice, tastes like it's fresh out of the oven. Exactly. Also, restaurants are jumping in on the subscription bandwagon, hoping to entice customers to subscribe to their favorite meals. Chains like Panera and PF Changs are experiment with, experimenting with, excuse me, unlimited drinks and free delivery, while others are offering a personalized touch like your favorite appetizer.

It seems like a smart move considering the average American has 6.7 subscriptions [00:04:00] in 2022, according to Rocket. It's just another way for customers to provide a level of support and love for our offerings, says the chef at Gravitas. But let's be real, if we're gonna pay a monthly fee for food, better come with a personal chef and a live performance by Gordon Ramsey zinger, carl Zinger. 

All right, guys. As I said, we have a great show for you this evening, but before. Move to the interview portion of the show. I did wanna give a special shout out to my friends, Sid Ronny, and the rest of the team over at NFA and Vital Toys they have. Uh, hooked us up with a special link for patrons of the show to get a discount and a pre-purchase option for their Dr.

Bombay release that they are putting out with Snoop Dogg himself. So be sure to check that out. It'll be in the links or if you're in the live space, you'll be able to see it up top right now. But yes, uh, [00:05:00] without further ado, please welcome to the stage my new friend. And amazing musician, Rae Isla.

Ray, thanks again for being here. How are you doing? 

Rae Isla: I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. . 

Crypto Kyle: Happy to have you here obviously this is the first time you were on this show now, is this your first late night themed podcast you've been on? 

Rae Isla: That's a very specific theme I wanna say yes. Tentatively. Yeah. Dot, 

Crypto Kyle: yeah. All right. Obviously I'm a fan of your music. We've been talking for a few weeks here, actually probably closer to a month and a half about having you on, and I'd like for people to get to know you, who [00:06:00] you are as an artist, not just as a songwriter and a musician, but you as the person. So can you tell us a little bit about yourself and just how you came to be and what you do outside of music and where that transformation came to where you went a lover of music into a creator of music.

Rae Isla: Absolutely music is definitely the central pillar of my life, but it's not my whole life, although, like work is these days in web three. Yeah I've been an independent artist, singer, songwriter for 10 years.

I have been a musician since I was three. I played classical cello for 10 years as well. I guess 10 years is about the amount it takes to do something . And then in my teens started writing songs and I played a lot of other instruments. I learned how to play piano and that became my central instrument.

And then I got the opportunity to go to Berkeley College of Music on scholarship. [00:07:00] And I realized as much as I love making music, there needed to be more, especially to have a. . So I studied music business with a focus on essentially being an entrepreneur. I think I recognized early on in my teens and when I was studying there that the music industry was not artist friendly, like I was looking around at the deals my friends were getting into and the available options as an artist in the music industry.

And I was like, I don't really like any of it. So as soon as I finished school, I started this hybrid career working for early stage startups and operations and strategy and like whatever, wearing many hats while also gigging and recording and making music and they ran parallel for a long time and I was always looking for an opportunity to integrate my like dual professional life and I just never really found it until I was living in New York. I was playing bigger and bigger shows. I was like working for [00:08:00] these companies. And then the pandemic happened and all of it went away.

 And I was faced with a moment of what's next? Long story short I left New York, I drove across the country. I slept in my car with my brother actually. And. that trip became the beginning of a new chapter for me. And I won't go into these details yet cuz this is more on the musical side, but all of this is to say.

 I identify as both an artist, musician, and entrepreneur and businesswoman and because of Web three and because of basically the last year of my life and the opportunities that have been that integration I've been searching for since I was a teenager has finally arrived and I'm embodying it and I'm living out this new chapter as like my full true self.

That's amazing. Yeah, being a creative person myself, I've experienced some interesting times spent in vehicles maybe being my [00:09:00] primary residence as well and there's always things that people allude to or find inspiration in. For some people that's water. I talked about that with our guest we had last time.

 I'm also inspired by water. But this whole idea of being like a vaga bond and not necessarily, even though there's places I call home, but maybe there's more than one and some feel more home than the others do at different times. Do you find yourself in situations like that often? 

oh absolutely. You're speaking you're speaking my life. Okay. Yeah, I think it, it's, this is another form of integration. I think when you get to a place where you're living as your true self, I think wherever you are starts to feel like home. Yeah. And I think for the longest time, like I've lived, I lived in Boston.

 I grew up on an. I lived in Boston, I lived in New York, I lived in Mexico City. Now I'm living in Seattle, although the next three months I'm barely gonna be here. So I think the challenge is [00:10:00] to try to feel a sense of home no matter where you are physically. And I think one of the things that I've done to do that is to really build, deep friendships and community in all of the places that I am and then of course, building an online community strengthens that initiative. Like you can have these strong relationships no matter where you are, no matter where the other person is. Like us right now, I don't even know where you are, but here we are having this conversation, . That's true. So yeah, I think I definitely feel like a sense of home within myself and it's, it makes being a vagabond and traveling a lot easier.

Crypto Kyle: Sure. 

Rae Isla: I don't feel like I'm missing home and I wanna get back to somewhere. I don't know where I'm going, and I'm cool with that. 

Crypto Kyle: That's awesome. That's very cool. It's funny too you mentioned knowing people online. When I was on this road trip where we were conversing it was almost every place I stopped I knew somebody, and if I wasn't on a mission, I could have [00:11:00] stopped and seen all these different people. And then even after I would leave somewhere, I'd go, ah, you know what, lives there. I should have hit them up. And then of course when I'd tell 'em I was there ah, you should let us know we're only two hours away or we were there that day, so it is interesting how with technology now you can create this more intimate relationship with fans and and fellow music likers. What word I use? Music lovers. . I music likers. music. Likers. I don't know why I said that, but I don't love your music.

Do you get what I'm saying? It's okay. I like it. . I just like it . But no, it is, it creates a whole nother avenue when we were gigging there was, we had zenga in MySpace and pure volume and all these websites that don't exist anymore, barely are a whisper anymore.

But there wasn't a way to really connect with people the way you can now, and people can jump in and follow you on your journey, with however much you're willing to share about yourself. I can appreci. Your willingness to be [00:12:00] vulnerable and be your true self openly, where people can experience that and feel like they, know you, in a different way than what's been available in the past.

Rae Isla: Absolutely. Yeah, whenever I think about the way that being a part of the Web three community and I don't know the opportunity to be vulnerable, I just, I feel gratitude. I know what it feels like to feel very disconnected, and I know what it feels like to not be living as my true self.

And the combination of the two is excruciating. So I have this like deep sense of gratitude every day to have the opportunity not only to know myself, but to express myself with others. Totally. Yeah. In a totally open way. And I'm grateful for it everyday 

Crypto Kyle: that's awesome. You walk with a lot of grace, so I can appreciate that.

Rae Isla: I try . 

Crypto Kyle: It's always easy. Exactly. No, of course when talking about music [00:13:00] styles and we, as we move into music who are some of your biggest musical influences, whether stylistically or just in pizzazz. . Yeah, I I used to be, I used to get angry at that question. Not gonna lie, because really I had this, arrogance as to nobody inspires me I look within, and I've never actually told anyone that, but I've, I'm being honest now, and I've righted my wrongs I've seen the light, as to how inspired I have been by other artists. I think there's two parts to it. I get inspired and influenced as a singer songwriter, which is the core of who I am as an artist.

And then I also get inspired, in terms of like sonic landscape. Like how do certain artists take their songs and create a world around them without taking away from the song itself, which is a delicate thing. So I think, yeah, as a singer songwriter I grew up listening to Carol King. Billy Joel, these piano based songwriters that were in the pop realm.

Yeah and [00:14:00] then in terms of sonic landscape, like I appreciate any artist who can make like a sonic world using live instruments. Cuz I play a lot of instruments and I like the way they sound. So yeah. A couple artists I'm really digging and I listen to the records a lot are wise Blood. We actually have the same mix engineer, which is.

Oh, cool. There's this artist named Taino who is Egyptian, and he lives somewhere in Northern Europe. I can't remember I grew up listening to Fleetwood Mac. That's, I think they're the epitome of like folk pop and they can create this big sound without it sounding overproduced. So I'm always listening to the records and Christine MCee from Fleetwood Mac obviously passed away recently and I felt that one.

Sure. I felt that one in the gut. Yeah. Yeah, I'm a big, Lindsay Buckingham fan. Go insane. Live on the 97 DVD is like my favorite song of all time. Wow. It's just crazy. Are you a Crate digger? Because that is a very specific [00:15:00] recording., I'm from that era, I just happened to have, that collection.

But, I've been known to create dig for records for. . I do like a good record, but yes that song is very different than the original pop version that was released in the late eighties. If you know the difference between the two, you're a real one cuz they're very different. . 

Rae Isla: I love that I imagine now instead of crate digging your n f t digging on the various platforms, , that is, . 

Crypto Kyle: It's a, it takes a lot less work to Google things . Oh, that's funny. So of course you're, you debuted way back in 2018, seems like ages ago really. But thinking about everything that's happened over those last five years, that's really not that long before the world took pause for a minute.

Now with the album, no longer. , can you share with us some of the themes and aspirations, behind those songs and how maybe that's changed from that to another life and even your opensea and [00:16:00] sound.xyz releases? 

Rae Isla: Yeah, it's funny, I think when you release something and then you start working on the next stuff, at least for me, but I've found this with other friends who are artists too.

You become repelled by the old work it might be something that happens naturally as a way of embracing the new work, but like I'm looking, I haven't talked about no longer blue in a while cuz I've been like running from my that old that, that demo work sort of thing. But now in retrospect that I'm, I've created like several bodies of work since then, I actually realized the themes and the intention behind those songs are still with me.

And like all of the songs and the stories. The sonic landscape within all the work is actually pretty connected. So yeah I was living in New York. I started, I actually launched Ray Isla as a project in 2017 at my first show in August of that year at La Pusan Rouge, which is a club in the city.[00:17:00] 

And I got to work with this producer named g Gian Luca. Who has gone on to work with Lana Del Ray. He made Arlo Parks his first record. He launched a bunch of indie darlings as well as his own music. And we worked on a song called Mexico together. And then I didn't have any more money to pay him, so I was like if I wanna keep making music, I have to just do it myself.

So I bought some gear and in our sessions together, I really analyzed like what he did and tried to learn from. And then yeah, ended up producing the other four songs on that record by myself in my basement. I, whoa. Yeah I had a few other collaborators. I worked with guitarist from Mexico City named Lito De La Isla, who's from he's in a band called Los Romeros.

So that added sort of some basses for especially the tracks. He was on Mexico, he was on, Jesus was a woman. And then, yeah I wrote all the strings parts and played a lot of the instruments and. I [00:18:00] was like, I gotta make this thing. And I don't, I can't pay someone to do it, so I just have to do it myself

 I've learned a lot since then. I would've done a lot of things differently. But yeah, that was my first you did a great job. Cuz sonically I would've never guessed that those songs were produced outside of one another. Thank you. I think, yeah, that comes down to the mix and master.

 Really saved the day there. . But yeah, I launched that by myself. I don't even know some, I probably used some distro platform like AWOL or CD Baby or something like that. Yeah, and that became the beginning of Rayla as a narrative and a project. And then I went on to release some other singles and which became my first record, another life.

 Which I learned a lot from putting that out independently as. And then I spent all of 2021 and 2022 developing, writing, producing, and recording my second album, which is not out yet. But those songs are the basis of my N F T [00:19:00] collection. I've started the next cycle of releasing, let's say.

 How would you say, and obviously I know that there's some differences, but for those who haven't released music before, how would you say the difference has? Releasing the traditional method, which wasn't traditional for very long. It's only traditional for five or six years of doing the, distro kid CD baby type release.

 versus, the sound XYZ drops or the open sea drops. 

Rae Isla: Okay, I've been thinking about something lately in talking about this at shows. I think, I wish I knew this sooner, but lately I've been viewing a release as There's the distribution of the thing, which is basically just the business, the mechanics of getting a piece of content to another person.

But the releasing of the thing is actually more of a psychological experience that doesn't necessarily require distribution. For example, this is a little heady, but for example when I play a [00:20:00] show, I've started saying to the audience, I am releasing these songs from me to you right now and nobody will ever hear these versions again. So now I think of a release as like an emotional release of giving this piece of art to somebody else and separate it from the logistics and the distribution. It feels a lot better to put out music because I think when I was putting out songs on Spotify was waiting for that like reward and it wasn't coming and it wasn't it wasn't necessarily because of the lack of financial return, but because when you distribute something, you're not releasing something. You're just distributing it and I think there needs to be some kind of human experience that happens, whether it's a live show or releasing it into the hands of 25 or 50 collectors who are waiting to own it and have it, and.

 That has been missing from music for a long time and we're starting to find it in web three. So I guess the biggest difference between putting out an [00:21:00] EP on Spotify and releasing an NFT collection is that on Spotify you don't know who is receiving your offering. In Web three you do and it feels incredible.

And then of course, actually making money from it makes all of it make sense. . Yeah, no that's good. I like your thoughts on that. It's, and it's, I remember putting songs out on Spotify being like, okay, cool. Somebody heard that in Philadelphia or whatever, but there was, that was it. There wasn't anything else to it.

Yeah. So now you can see oh, cool, this person that really likes this song owns 20 Snoop Dogg NFTs. That's cool. I wonder why why he connected with me and then maybe you figured that out down the road in a discord or in a space where Hey, I collect hip hop but I bought one song and it's from you that's not hip hop it's cool to make those connections with people and get to see faces or even their perceived identities on the internet as opposed to [00:22:00] just a metric. Cuz a metric's pretty boring when you come down to it. 

And it's a metric is the opposite of yeah. A metric cannot tell you why. And I think the why is the most important thing in the exchange between artist and fan. Why did you make the song? Why did you collect it? Why do we connect a metric? Can't tell you that. Yeah. And I think we've been missing the why for a while. And we're waking up to the fact that it's pretty necessary to have an artistic ecosystem. 

Crypto Kyle: Yeah, that's huge. And you saw people start doing this sort of thing before web three with Kickstarters or I know there was other platforms that were similar to that. That's all what I can remember off the top of my head. Indiegogo, that was the other one., but to be able to have people that are invested that have no problem spending, whatever that deemed value is on a project and somebody they believe in or have connected on a person to person level as opposed to just a suggested algorithm, which has its purposes [00:23:00] again, but it's different for those who create to be able to connect with people that are enjoying the art. It's like a whole nother side of it. It's the good side. Yeah. So that's pretty cool. 

Rae Isla: Absolutely. I love that you highlighted the pre, pre web three, whatever that means. People have been trying to find the ways to get this more human interaction back into the artistic exchange or the release or whatever. I think so that inten, that intention, whether you're in Web three or not, or even before Web three, the intention of having deeper relationships was there.

But the reason it's so explosive in Web three is because we finally have the tools to catalyze those intentions. And it's pretty powerful. That's why I imagine you and I spend a lot of time in these various communities making friends and exchanging because of that.

Crypto Kyle: Very cool. Now I've seen, you've mentioned in previous interviews, did you draw inspiration from. Your own personal experience, which [00:24:00] seems obvious, right? But can you talk about how you infuse those experiences, maybe in, in crafting not just the song, but maybe the soundscapes that you were talking about, the atmospheric portions of the of what you're trying to put into the world?

Rae Isla: Yeah again, almost like separating the making of the song from the crafting of the landscape on the song side of. Yeah, my, my songs are very personal. Sometimes they come from dreams or they come from moments of despair or whatever, but I've actually started to explore something new and you'll hear it when the new record comes out, which is embodying the stories of others as if they were my own.

 I talk about some themes on the new record. , which I shouldn't even be talking about this record cause it's not, it's coming out in a while. It's not like coming out next month , but this is some alpha I actually tell my mother's stories a little bit on the new record and I tell the stories of some other women and people that have come into my [00:25:00] life as well as my own.

 And I think that's I had this realization recently that I was doing that. And I think it's another layer. of being a storyteller is to be able to tell the stories of others as if they were your own. I think it's unlocking a new level of craft, let's say. Yes. And that's one of my favorite things.

Yeah. And it's been interesting it's new for me. I used to like only tell my own stories, I think. But on the sonic landscape side of things I spend I spend now, I spend a lot of time on the computer, but generally in my life, I've spent a lot of time in. Immersed. I'm very much of the earth.

I love this planet. I've declared publicly that if given the opportunity to go to Mars, I would turn it down because I am an earth maxi. I wanna live and die here and maybe a little more pastoral life in, in, in the future. But I definitely am inspired by nature. I think not to be cheesy, but we say that art mimics life well art is ma basically just a [00:26:00] reflection of nature in terms of how it makes us feel and the textures and the vibrancy. Like we're just trying to capture what nature already provides hu humans being a part of that. So I find that spending time in nature I'm soaking in the very landscape that I can then trans transfer to my production.

 I know that's a. Maybe hippie dippy of me to say, but it's a very real exchange. So I need to spend time in nature and obviously, if you go online you can see pretty much everywhere that I collect rocks. And that just became, yes, basically another way of integrating my love of nature into my actual, like products essentially

Crypto Kyle: That's awesome. I dunno if you remember this they used to sell pet rock. 

Rae Isla: I don't remember it as in I wasn't there, but I do know this. Yes I've been Okay. All right. I think they sold em actually a fun fact. If you've seen the movie Everything Everywhere, all at Once. Yes.

Okay. Not to spoil it for those listening, but there [00:27:00] is a scene with rocks and I saw that ahead of the Academy Awards cuz it's nominated for so many awards that they're actually selling Pet Rocks as me. For I think $35. Oh wow. So you can buy one of those rocks for $35 or you can buy one of my Rock NFTs for a hundred dollars.

I think mine are more valuable if you wanna go the cheaper route that's available. . . 

Crypto Kyle: Okay. . I like that. That's funny. Now I know we've been talking about the songwriting process a lot, but do you have any specific rituals or routines when it comes to writing music? You turn all the lights off, do you not consume anything?

Rae Isla: I. A laundry list of exercises and tricks and tips and everything. And I think as much as you can do to be like intentional and present when you're creating and take care of your body and do your vocal warmups, the better.

 I don't have a regimen per se, but I think the thing that I like to do when I sense like a chapter of writing coming, like [00:28:00] I'm seasonal with creating. I'm not someone who tries to write a song every day. I can sense. , I'm pulling on a new thread and I need to give it more attention and I try to cancel meetings and sit down at the piano more.

But the best thing that I do for getting into that zone is displacing myself, and that can be as simple as looking at my calendar and then deleting everything and just like shaking things up and changing what I thought I was gonna be doing that day. Taking a last minute trip and being in another physical location, especially like an a naturey one.

 And then coming home, that displacement for some reason is really inspiring to me and shakes, shakes out the subconscious a little bit. So yeah if I feel that I have something to say, I try to take a trip if I can. It's been hard with web three to be able to do that, but I did just Sure.

 Go to Mexico. For about 10 days and right when I got home I felt something different. [00:29:00] So I sense some new songs coming from that experience. . 

Crypto Kyle: That's good. That's good for all of us. 

Rae Isla: Hopefully , . 

Crypto Kyle: That's awesome. What has some of your favorite live experiences have been? Do you have one? Is there a couple? Either meeting people from the Internets or just genuine just interactions with people in a live setting? 

Rae Isla: I've played a lot of shows in my life. So I, gosh, I'd say I recently moved back last year I moved back to Seattle where I'm from. I had lived in all the other cities I mentioned for almost a decade, which again, seems to be my chunk of time to establish things. , 10 years. So it's been really nice to reconnect with my roots and see how the city has changed and I'm very bullish on investing in your local community as much as global community because I think the two can inform each other.

I think you. You can bring abundance to your local community [00:30:00] by having a global mindset and you can bring intimacy to your global community by having a local mindset. So all of that is to say, I've started to play shows here and build that community out. And actually the most recent shows I did, I were, I did a two week residency at this venue called The Crocodile in Seattle, which is an iconic music venue.

 And it was definitely very exciting to get the opportunity to play there. Having just moved back home. , we basically treated it like a mini music festival where we did two weeks in a row in the same space. And a lot of people bought tickets for both weekends. So if you met a friend the first weekend you came the second you got to build community that way.

And I performed both weekends and I did it at a, like an acoustic set and a full band set and then booked some other amazing artists to play on both weekends as well. And it. Euphoric everything about it. Like the fact that people came both weekends. The team that went [00:31:00] into it, the musicians that played my new band, like it was incredible.

I cried multiple times. It was really a testament to like how music can bring things together. Like I think music is the key to anything that we wanna make happen culturally or societal. And that was definitely proven at those shows. But I, on the musical side know, I put together a lot of bands in my life.

Like I lived in New York, lived in all these different places, and I put together this new band here in Seattle. And I think it's the best one I've ever done. And we're really invested in each other. David, Matt, and Will. Those are the players and myself. Okay. , we've got something good here to the point where I'm actually flying the whole band to south by to play a show, which I've never done.

Oh, awesome. So yeah, I think this new chapter of live music I'm really excited for because of those two shows that we just did in Seattle. [00:32:00] Oh, that's incredible. I can't wait to see you live. It's fun. . That's, I usually wear cowboy hats how can you, cowboy hats are in, how can you not have fun?

Crypto Kyle: That's true. . Now this is a question that most people that are creative in the music industry hate or the music vain, I should say. What genre would you say that you are?

Rae Isla: I am a singer songwriter at Writer at Heart. I'm a singer songwriter at heart. Let's repeat that one. There we go. Okay. But I'd say my genre is Americana Pop.

Crypto Kyle: I like. . Yeah, I definitely felt the Americana country vibes, but there's definitely excuse me, I'm losing my voice. Pop in there as well. Mostly I would say what's uncommon in modern country music is any sort of atmospheric type thing. So one thing I really appreciate about your music is it [00:33:00] seems very classic, but also very fresh and.

if that makes sense. It's how would I explain it? You said you're of the earth. It feels very, when I listen to your music, it sounds very I feel very present and not like a how do wanna word this? I should have wrote this down before I've tried to say it. I love it.

I like, if you listen a Johnny Cash song, for example. . It's really hard for a Johnny Cash song to sound new unless there's like a new remix or something. You get what I'm saying? But there's storytelling in a lot of the, I like old country music. I'm not a big fan of newer country music per se.

And I'm boasting mean like that Florida, Georgia line, whatever that stuff is. no. If that's if you like them. But I like a lot of storytelling like the Hank William. Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, a lot of the older stuff, and not that I would pop it on at any second with the day to listen to it, but [00:34:00] there's something to be told about music that can tell a story and there's really only two genres that can do it well.

And that's the Americana, singer songwriter Lane and Hip hop. Those are like the two things. I feel like you can tell a well versed story across two to five minutes and something with your music it gives it. I don't know, you're just paint beautiful pictures. It's the only way I can really put it.

Paint beautiful pictures. And then in addition to the story that's being told, you do have this soundscape in the background, which just sets the song up. It's beautiful. 

Rae Isla: I might have to hire you to write my press release because there was a lot of sound bites in there that I would love to have on there that I can't articulate myself.

So thank you for that. I can't wait to listen to this podcast and steal your words. Oh, no problem at all. Yeah, it was a very wordy whatever I was trying to say but yes. Anyways, I like music. It's great. Thank you. 

Crypto Kyle: What can fans expect from your [00:35:00] upcoming release that's so far away and how do these NFTs tie into what's your building?

Rae Isla: Yeah I guess I shouldn't say that my upcoming release is in. in the far future, because there's a lot happening before then. What's really cool is that, so bringing it back to NFTs and how I'm treating them I've done a lot of smaller drops just to get music into people's hands and to build relationships and stuff.

But the core of my NFT and Web three community is Ray Islas Rocks, which I released it a couple months ago and you can get 'em in second. But it's, it was a 1000 piece music NFT collection that features four songs from that studio album, as well as 111 rocks for my collection. And then a sort of gamified art and utility structure.

 And the way I'm treating that collection is I really, and this is Pun, and Ted and I really wanted to build a rock solid foundation for the next [00:36:00] chapter of Rayla for the purpose of identify. A large enough, but manageable enough group of people who I knew would support me in anything I did and who I could communicate with on a daily basis and reward on a daily basis.

So we launched that, we sold out the collection, and now I have a collector base and a community of about three or 400 people that have collected my work. And so we are really on this journey together. And that marked the beginning. So the record is already incubating in Web three and within the hands of people who really love the music.

 And I guess what you can expect from me in two weeks, I'm going on a two month web three tour where I'm going to Boston, Seattle, Austin, la, Mexico City, New York, Vancouver, Nashville, and some other places to speak on panels and to perform these songs. So the release has already be, The distribution?

Yes. Not so much, but the release has been done. Okay. Okay. If we're talking about the distinction [00:37:00] yeah, so if you wanna I would say if you want to know about the music that's coming out or follow along, start now. Start with the rocks, check 'em out. You can listen to the songs for free. You can collect and the power of collecting something is that I can then identify you as someone who's like in for this journey.

 And it helps me reward you. Like it's, that's the exchange. So that's the way to basically join the next couple years of Ray Isla. And then I'll be doing some smaller drops of songs that aren't necessarily on the record. I'm gonna do an N F T collection that coincides with this two month tour where you can like, collect very affordable collectibles in each of the places I'm going.

 I will be putting out a song or two on Spotify just to, to reward my web two audience that's been sticking with me as. Yeah. And then I will be releasing another large N F T collection that's the follow up to the rocks, which will have the rest of the songs from the record and will serve as basically a launchpad [00:38:00] to commercially distribute the record to a wider audience later in the summer.

Oh, that's incredible. Very exciting. And then we'll make sure we link all that fun stuff in here. Yeah, it's a lot of info. I'd say start with the rocks. The rocks are the entry. And and then hang out with me on Twitter or Instagram and follow along on the tour. And I'm definitely, I'm gonna be hitting the road later in the summer to go see everybody and play music and that's really what I'm looking forward to.

The culmination of all of this is to get out there and and be I r l Yeah, . That's awesome. Lastly not lastly, second to lastly, this is gonna be a fun one. What is your favorite song that you've written that is out so far? . That's not a fun one. That's a rude one. No, I'm saying it is pretty rude.

I'm just kidding. . I, that's like asking me which of my rocks is my [00:39:00] favorite. And I have hundreds. Actually I have more songs than rocks if you think about it. But I actually. answer that question right now. I released a song on sound xyz as a, as an n f t called Thank you. I'm sorry.

I love you. And it's my most recent release. And when I put it out first of all, I was live in a Twitter space when we released it, and as soon as it was out, I started sobbing live on. And no way, I don't cry that often. I was embarrassed. I was like but you can't stop yourself when you're crying.

I was crying and sobbing because I think it's probably the most personal song I've ever written. And I remember writing it viscerally. I actually have a video of me writing it. I'm crying. I look like shit. Maybe I'll mint that video or something cuz it's very emotion. . But something changed in me when I released [00:40:00] that song a couple weeks ago.

I feel it very powerfully like I gave a really intimate part of myself away happily. And the response I've gotten to that song has been really powerful. And I've only released it to 50 people technically. Like you can listen to it, but there's 50 owners, so I plan to blow that song up.

I think it's a really important message. I want the whole world to hear it. So say at the moment. Thank you. I'm sorry. I love you. Is my favorite song. Awesome. That's one song I have not heard yet. I'm ashamed to say that I haven't heard that. So now I gotta go listen to it, man. Look at me . All right.

And lastly, now I believe, what advice would you give to any aspiring musicians? new to wanting to do it on their own, although they wouldn't be alone just as an independent route. Or those who are looking to [00:41:00] jump into see what Web three has to offer. The first part of the question the most important thing is the music.

 If the music isn't ready, and by that I mean if you aren't ready to embody. inch of it and really have a narrative that you can speak about and sing about every day for the rest of your life. Then focus on that. Don't focus on anything else. Once the music is there and your narrative is clear and you wholeheartedly believe in what it is you're saying and doing, then you build a business around it.

You build a, an ecosystem around it so that it can be regenerative and you can have a career and pay your bills. . I think oftentimes like people that are pursuing music they say, God, why isn't anything working like da? You have to work on the music and then you have to build a business.

And if you're working on the music and you're wondering why those metrics aren't there, it's because you haven't built the business. If you're working on the business and the [00:42:00] music isn't resonating with people, it's cuz you have to work on the music. And so it just, breaking them apart a little bit will give.

better peace of mind and help eradicate that awful self-doubt that comes from trying to do it all. And I think know your strengths and your weakness, weaknesses, and try to identify strengths in other people to supplement what maybe you're not able to do on your own. Trust people I think the music industry has given us a lot of reasons to not trust people. And I think a lot of musicians are traumatized by getting effed over if you but trust people there, there's a lot of people out there who will help you in terms of the web three stuff.

 Web three is one way to build a business and career. It's not the only explore, listen to Twitter spaces, see if you like what you hear. And and be relentless. Be relentless. The only way you can fail is by giving up or not trying. So just don't stop. Percent. [00:43:00] Very good advice from Ms.

Crypto Kyle: Rae Isla, thank you so much for being here before you. , would it be rude of me to ask for you to share a song with us? 

Rae Isla: Not at all. I would love to share thank you. I'm sorry. I love you 

all right, well give it up for Ray Isla 

thank you, i'm sorry, i love you (Performance)

Crypto Kyle: Wow. Wow. Thank you so much, Rae, for sharing that with us. Absolutely Incredible track. Uh, I love that stripped down version of the song and, uh, man, absolutely incredible. Thanks for sharing that. 

Rae Isla: Thank you guys for having me and very grateful to, to get to share my story a bit and share [00:47:00] some music. 

Crypto Kyle: Alright guys, well that does it for our show.

Thanks for being here. We really appreciate your time and thanks for just being here with us in the early days. We just are kicking this thing off. We're just getting started and it's been an interesting start cuz we've had all kinds of, Of trials come our way, but shout out to my team.

Thanks Zim. Thanks John. Thanks Jared. Thanks Juan. Looking forward to being able to talk to you next week, Juan buddy, and, hopefully the whole team will be back as a unit next week, guys. But thank you for being there. Thanks for all your support and, have a wonderful weekend and we will see you next week, Thursday.

9:05 PM Eastern Standard Time on Twitter spaces or on the podcast. Have a great weekend. Hit it [00:48:00] Juan.