Spotlight: Paper Lady
By Saachi Gupta
Photo By Caleb Duplain
A DREAM COLLABORATION BETWEEN ALLI RAINA AND PEARCE GRONEK - Paper Lady only began releasing music in 2019 – and with two stunning songs, along with an album coming out on the 30th of May, it is safe to say they've already made their mark. Abstract and ethereal, Paper Lady's music takes you to another world, and the authenticity with which the two talented musicians create, only betters this experience. While Gronek and Raina write and produce their music together, it is Raina's powerful vocals that provide emotions to the songs. Since she is also a visual artist, Raina is also the creative director for the visual aspects of Paper Lady's music. Read on to find out more about Raina's inspirations, her goals and the upcoming album While You Should Be Sleeping.
LUNA: For those unfamiliar with your music, what are some of the key sonic elements making your sound?
RAINA: In creating this album, my goal was to convey raw, honest emotion through sound. If I was to describe the genre technically, it would be somewhere in between dream pop and alternative music. The lyrics can be pretty abstract, even when they may appear not to be, while the arrangements and melodies are very straightforward in what they intend to make you feel. It is my hope that the music leaves the listener with the feeling they just awoke from a dream.
LUNA: (depending on when we have this up ill rephrase the tense), You recently released your album While You should be Sleeping - congrats! Can you talk a bit more about the creative process for this project?
RAINA: Thank you! The songs were written over the course of about a year. I always carry a journal with me to jot down thoughts and drawings. It’s comforting to have when you’re out and feel inspired. A lot of the lyrics for the songs are crafted from musings and random thoughts I had jotted down. I tried not to mess with the original wording too much, as to keep with the theme of authenticity. The lyrics for each song were written when I had moments of clarity. With each moment and song, I felt I understood myself in a new way. I am a visual artist as well, while the album was coming together I was doing a lot of ink drawings and water colors that seemed to fit the feeling of the music I was creating as well. Writing helped me with visual art and vice versa.
LUNA: What role are you playing in the production and creation of your music? Do you work with other producers / musicians or is it all you?
RAINA: All of the music on the album is written by Pearce Gronek and myself. Pearce is one of the brains behind a band called Lonely Pirate Committee. He is one of the most talented people I’ve ever met, it is very special to get to write music with him. One of us would usually bring a small piece of something to the table and the other would help develop it into a full song. I did the interlude for the album, ‘Eternity,’ by myself. I played the mandolin and then actually sang into the strings because I didn’t have a mic with me at the time. The song was also all recorded in iPhone memos. I was going to re-record it but decided it was best left the way I had first-attempted. I am the creative director behind Paper Lady as well, I do all of the cover art for releases.
LUNA: What’s been inspiring you lately? Any key inspirations that shaped the feel of the album?
RAINA: As far as musical inspiration, Mazzy Star, Broadcast, Sugar Plant and the Sundays inspire me greatly. I find that whole genre of dreamy 90s pop really lovely and enchanting.
More recently, I’ve gotten a lot of inspiration from experimental bands such as the Books. I admire their use of eccentric sounds and recordings. I’ve also been watching a lot of Czech horror/fantasy films lately (Daisies, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, Panna a Netvor), the cinematography alone is inspiring but the language is gorgeous as well. The album itself was definitely inspired by elements of nature. In the album we utilize a substantial amount of organic sound, such as: rain, thunder, water, and wind. The elements are fascinating, they only know one way of being, and that is the way they naturally are. I think nature is so mighty and glistening. Being alone in nature is so special, it makes it feel like you and the Earth have a secret. I go to school in Boston, and feel that for a bit I became pretty out of touch with nature. Although everything going on right now and school being cancelled is unfortunate, it is nice to be back in Florida (where I’m from) for the time being. Everything is always so green here.
One of the songs, ‘Water’, was inspired in part by the Greek Goddess Persephone. I wrote it while I was reading a book on Greek mythology.
LUNA: The album definitely has a raw feeling to it at times and feels very heartfelt. Were there any common themes or narratives explored in the album?
RAINA: Thank you! I’m so happy you got that from it you actually hit the nail right on the head. The overarching theme is the beauty of feeling. I want the listener to feel this album rather than just hear it. The juxtaposition of dreamy arrangements, raw. Emotion, and samples of nature show that human emotion, although overwhelming at times, is best when conveyed honestly.
LUNA: What do you the listener to take away from this album?
RAINA: Creating the album helped me see a lot of situations in my life in new ways. This album provoked introspection for me, and I hope it can do that for it’s listeners as well. I think all of the best art is made with authentic feeling behind it, and I hope this makes someone want to do that.
LUNA: You’ve paired the album with a really cool visual book - where did that idea come from?
RAINA: I’m a visual artist as well and wanted to incorporate that into the project. I wanted to give the listener the best possible vantage point of understanding the emotion behind the album and I felt the best way to do that was for them to be able to see what each song makes me feel. The best way I knew how to convey that was with photos I took and drawings I did during the time I wrote them.
LUNA: Which visual piece was the most fun to make?
RAINA: I really enjoyed putting together a page for ‘Absentee.’ That was our first single so it just makes it all the more meaningful. I did the drawing for the page back when I was really into geometric pointillism, it was a good way to help destress and focus on something. The photo for the page was taken while I was visiting a friend in California over the summer. We hiked Eaton canyon and saw the most beautiful couple sitting on a boulder under this magnificent tree. The light was seeping through the leaves and they were glowing; I had to snap a photo. The whole book was really fun to make, it was crazy seeing how the lyrics, drawings, and photos from that time in my life all lined up to create a dream-like account.
LUNA: How important is bringing in the visual side of things to your music?
RAINA: Very important! It’s impossible to sequester my interests,I feel like I spent a lot of time doing that when I was younger. I’ve come to realize that bringing together all of my interests, just makes the art I release all the more powerful. Bringing visual elements into the music, I hope, will allow the listener to step into another world for a moment. Pairing the auditory art with the visual, breeds better understanding of the art all around.
LUNA: Do you have any plans for other visual works for this album?
RAINA: I’ll be putting out some merch very soon with some of the art from the lyric book! T-shirts, totes, things of that nature. I’ll be posting them on band camp :)
LUNA: Now that this album is out, what’s next for you?
RAINA: I am going to take the things I am proud of from this piece of work, carry them with me, and improve on the things I feel I need to. It is an unfortunate time for musicians right now, due to not being able to play shows. However, I think it is a good time to stay quiet, learn, and come back knowing more than we did when we went into this time of solitude. I plan on learning some things I had been saying I didn’t have the time to, and working on projects I’ve been putting off for far too long.
