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Rai Studley has been singing for as long as she remembers. Growing up in Leicestershire (UK) she has experienced some of the darker, and more disturbing, parts of life. Squishing all this deep down inside, her music became an outlet that helped her stay sane.
"In the early days I didn't know where my songs came from. I'd just open my mouth and the words just flowed out. It was increadibly powerful, but I just didn't analyse it. It was bigger than me ... I knew that. Looking back, these songs helped me stay alive"
Fast forward to today. Rai has survived the voices & the visions; the depths of depression and the highs of mania. She has spent more than her fair share of time in mental health units ... and yet she's still here - feeling stronger and more alive than ever.
The music that kept her alive as a young person is still central to her life. It has helped her make sense of her feelings & experiences, whilst creating something beautiful that others can relate to.
"Words by themselves just don't cut it. Anger ... sadness ... grief ... joy ... passion ... loss ... love - they're such small words that hide the enormity of the feelings they try to express. Music bypasses this. Songs have the power to take a feeling, a moment, and capture it's essence. It's that essence, not the details, that resonates with other people ... or at least that's what it seems like to me"
Having spent 3 years studying music (the final of which earned her Trinity College's ATCL in Music Practice - Performing at the British Academy of New Music) Rai is gigging regularly on the London acoustic scene.
Playing a hypnotic mix of acoustic guitar-based tunes and acapella, her voice has been known to stun a room full of drunken partygoers into silence. Comparisons have been made with Tracy Chapman, Tori Amos and Joni Mitchell (which both humbles and scares her a little). What's of little doubt, however, is that she sings from the heart.
In addition to playing acoustic venues across the UK, Rai featured in The Big Session festival (2007). She was recently featured on BBC Radio 3's 'Raising My Voice' documentary (as a mad woman and artist).
In her own words ...
"Music has given me my life and my voice. I no longer sing to exorcise my demons. I sing because I breathe"
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