[EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW] A “Beautiful Escape” With AJ Rafael

About 7 years ago, AJ Rafael made an account on YouTube to show his incredible talent to the world. 7 years later, the singer-songwriter has almost 450,000 subscribers to his channel and over 150 videos uploaded. Also, he has many covers and collaborations with fellow musicians including Tori Kelly, Jesse Barrera, Jeremy Passion and many more. Not only covers, but he has captured the hearts of thousands of fans with his incredible originals such as, “Red Roses,” “We Could Happen,” “Mess We’ve Made,” as well as “When We Say,” “I Just Want You” and many more.

The musician has toured the world from Asia to Europe and back to North America, revealing his beautiful music to his fans all over the world. Never failing to impress old fans and gaining new ones with his awesome fan service and constant communication with them.

Last year, AJ Rafael was invited to The Grammy’s as he was nominated for many different categories. With his album, “Red Roses” released in 2011, he impressed many; with not only his fantastic vocals, but also his lyrics for all 11 tracks released though the cd.

Now the artist is back with his EP, “Beautiful Escape” which will be release to the public on April 23, 2013. This album was also produced by Jesse Barrera.

April 23, 2013 not only marks the release of his five track EP,  but also his YouTube Channel’s 7th anniversary!

Through our interview, AJ Rafael answered not only our questions, but also questions by 10 lucky fans picked from HypnoticAsia.

Check out AJ Rafael’s interview below. 

HypnoticAsia: Why did you decide to upload your video covers and originals on YouTube?
AJ Rafael: Uploading videos on YouTube was an easy decision. It’s free, and it came out when MySpace was still huge. I needed somewhere to show my talents other than recording a song and uploading it for people to listen. Watching something is much more enticing for an audience. Plus it was a lot of fun.

HypnoticAsia: Are the songs you write from personal experiences?
AJ Rafael: Every song I’ve written has been influenced by a real experience/relationship.

HypnoticAsia: How would you describe the music you create to people who haven’t heard it before?
AJ Rafael: When random people ask me what kind of music I play, I usually say “Pop Rock Acoustic”. It’s hard to describe because a lot of my songs have different feels.

HypnoticAsia: Who are your biggest musical influences?
AJ Rafael: Musically, Disney has a huge influence on my songwriting. The way the chords come together in Disney music helps me put my music together as well. Of course, my fellow musician friends inspire me as well… Jeremy Passion, Jesse Barrera, Kina Grannis, just to name a few.

HypnoticAsia: Has there been one particular moment in your musical career that you’re most proud of?
AJ Rafael: It was really cool to be at the Grammy’s last year. To think that my album was in the running for a couple of categories was awesome. Obviously didn’t make the top 5, but I was in the top 300, and I know some people who voted for me, so to have that respect within the industry is a really great feeling.

HypnoticAsia: If you weren’t making music, what do you believe you’d be doing instead?
AJ Rafael: If I wasn’t making music, I’d probably be doing graphic design. I still make a lot of my flyers and posters and things like that on photoshop, mostly because it’s just fun to do. I’ve been messing around on computers and Adobe since I was in 7th grade. I’d love to do that on the side one day for some extra pocket money.

HypnoticAsia: What’s your motto/advice you live by?
AJ Rafael: My favorite quote is from the musical, Rent. “No Day But Today”.

HypnoticAsia: How does Social Networking benefit you?
AJ Rafael: If social networking and new social media didn’t exist, I wouldn’t have a career in music right now. Record labels back in the day were supposed to provide you with ways to get fans backed by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Nowadays we don’t have all that money, but we can earn the same amount of fans if not more, and that’s really amazing.

HypnoticAsia: If you could collaborate with an artist you haven’t already, who would it be and why?
AJ Rafael: I’d love to collaborate with Jason Mraz or Christina Perri. They are some of my favorite songwriters of all time and it would be an honor. Jason Mraz is one of my acoustic inspirations

HypnoticAsia: How did you come up with the title “Beautiful Escape” for your upcoming EP?
AJ Rafael: “Beautiful Escape” was the title of a song I wrote in 2011 and finished in 2012. At the end, I didn’t end up with the girl– but while it lasted, it was beautiful. And that’s what the EP is to me. There are moments in your life and relationships that are just beautiful, but they don’t end up being what you wanted them to be… and that’s OK. You can still look back at these moments and say, “Hey, that was a really great time, but I’m here now and I’ve moved on and life is great where I’m at”. When you hear the EP, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

HypnoticAsia: How did you come up with the design for the cover of the album?
AJ Rafael: The song, “Beautiful Escape” had a lot to do with the album art. I wanted it to literally be an escape. An escape into the rest of the universe, I guess.

HypnoticAsia: What was it like working with Jesse Barrera on this EP?
AJ Rafael: Being back with Jesse Barrera to record this EP brought back a lot of memories. I first recorded “Beautiful Escape” the track with Michael Alvarado. Michael made the track sound epic, so it inspired me to finish an EP. I wanted to work with Jesse again because of his work on my previous album, “Red Roses” and because he’s so good to work with when it comes to full bands. Lots of laughs and more memories were created during our week in San Diego. My band, Andrew, Chad, and Eric, and I got to bond and spend more time together outside of shows. So that was great.

HypnoticAsia: We heard that TJ Brown did background for this EP, what was it like working with him?
AJ Rafael: TJ Brown is one of my best friends and I’m glad that he’s always down to help me out with musical things. He’s a real talented guy and we met at college. TJ is a really fast studio vocalist, literally anything we suggested he would try it, do his own thing, and the track was done. Boom. Just like that.

HypnoticAsia: From the 5 tracks you have on this album, which would you say is your favorite?
AJ Rafael: My favorite is definitely “Beautiful Escape” because that’s what got me to finish the EP in the first place… but my favorite production-wise is “Here, Tonight”. I love that it was like a part 2 to the first track on “Red Roses” and I think the fans especially will like that one a lot.

HypnoticAsia:   If you could give advice to an up and coming singer, what would it be?
AJ Rafael: I’d have to say use the resources that are available to you… I know that sounds really general but music is becoming more accessible now, especially with the Apple Era of computing and what not. You can make videos and record a whole album on a MacBook Pro. It’s really awesome, and a really great investment. It may be a lot of upfront cost, but once you’ve saved up for that– it’s nothing but hard work turning into awesome music.

Top 10 Questions From Fans:

1.) @gyozacat:  If you could become any fruit, which would it be and why?
AJ Rafael: Watermelon. Because I love it.

2.) @chiyolimited: If you were given a chance to stay wherever you want, where and why?
AJ Rafael: I’d love to stay in London for a bit. Mostly because I didn’t get to stay for very long last time I was there.

3.) @keitaghs: If u could make a character for Disney by mixing a character with another, which characters would you combine?
AJ Rafael: This is an odd question. But I’d mix Pascal from Tangled with Abu from Aladdin. Funny characters that don’t need words to be funny.

4.) @Alessakalesa: How hard was it to convince your parents you wanted to be a musician?
AJ Rafael: This is a hard question. For me, it was about the legacy I wanted to fulfill from my father’s passing. For others, it’s going to be hard to convince your parents that a career like this is stable– because it really isn’t. Ask me about it in person if you want to hear more insight on it.

5.) @rachelnacilla: You are so humble and nice yet so talented and popular. How do you keep it all together?
AJ Rafael: Family keeps me grounded. And playing at church every Sunday keeps my priorities straight… I thank my mom for the way I am. She raised me to be who I am today.

6.) @mimipaitea: When you listen to music what types of BPM do you prefer most of the time?
AJ Rafael: Hmm. Odd. Every tempo.

7.) @tolentinochic: How old were you when you dreamed of becoming a singer?
AJ Rafael: I didn’t “dream” of becoming a singer til I was about 15.

8.) @maijajackson1: What inspired you to make music?
AJ Rafael:  I wrote my first song about a girl I met online named Pauli. So I guess a girl originally inspired me to make original music.

9.) @samstevensxo: Who inspired you to write the song “I Just Want You”?
AJ Rafael: “I Just Want You” was written about a crush I had the first year of high school. I tried to think of all the pick up lines I heard all my life. Haha

10.) @EyesLikeAlexa: If you could create yourself as a new super hero, what would your name be, what powers would you possess and describe your ideal costume?
AJ Rafael:  This is a good question. Because I think about it all the time. I’d have a suit similar to Nightwing (for all you coming geeks out there) and probably have a similar mask as well. You know what, I’d probably be Nightwing. For those of you who don’t know, the first Robin eventually became his own superhero (opposed to just a sidekick) and named himself Nightwing.

Many fans asked the question, “Will you marry me?” and his reply to all of you is, “If it was possible to have more than one wife, I would say Yes. =) Just kidding I don’t know any of you well enough!!! hahaha. love you all…”