Roz Raskin of Nova One
Q & A :
Roz Raskin of Nova One
Nova One ’ s Roz Raskin takes a kinder , gentler approach on their newest record , create myself . BY DANA LAVERTY
How did music come into your life ? Is it something that ’ s always been there ? I started playing piano when I was five . My dad was really adamant about getting me and my brother playing instruments . I think at that point , I was just excited to try something new . It really took off for me in a way that I felt like I had some kind of passion running through me for the instrument when I was maybe twelve or thirteen . I started writing songs and playing guitar at school and singing with a friend of mine . It was around that time that I started getting my ideas out on paper and that ’ s when I feel like I connected with music .
How did practicing feel for you before that ? Sometimes it was annoying to practice . I mean , sometimes it ’ s annoying to practice now , as an adult . But I always enjoyed it because I really liked music and both my parents love music . My dad ’ s a musician ; my mom played a little guitar at one point . So it was always a big part of our household . My dad would make mixtapes for road trips .
How would you describe your music ? It ’ s sort of queer dream pop . Although at this point , I feel like it has more of a grit to it .
Can you tell me about your new album , create myself ? What was the process like and how does it differ from your previous album , lovable ? lovable was written during a time of transition in my personal life . I was feeling uprooted and doing a lot of internal growth . So that album surrounds those concepts and trying to heal . Whereas I feel create myself is me talking to a younger version of myself being in a much better , more stable place in my life and having a lot more self-love . So it feels like different chapters .
You created your own record label , Self Luv Records . Can you tell me a little about that ? So for years , I ’ ve been booking shows not only for myself , but for other bands . During COVID , I couldn ’ t really do a lot of these live gigs that I was booking for people . I would book , say , three local bands or bring a touring band in with locals to play with them to highlight other musicians , and I was thinking how else can I do that right now ? So I thought I might as well just try it out , release some small runs of cassettes for a few different acts that I really love . The first one was someone named Muggs Fogarty , who ’ s a really amazing artist . Bochek was the second release , they ’ re a local band , and then my friend , Sarah Greenwell , has two projects : One is called Gymshorts , which is like a surf punk band and then Greensleeves is her solo music , which is a bit more soft and introspective . So yeah , it ’ s been really fun .
I also started doing shows again . I was offered some outdoor spaces at Revive the Roots in Smithfield . They have a lot of programs for young people to explore the land and community gardens . For me , it ’ s always exciting as a Rhode Islander to learn about a new place that I ’ ve never been . I ’ ve been surprised that people come for these events and are really excited to get out of the city limits .
And you ’ re touring now for create myself . How ’ s that going ? It ’ s going really well . We just did a run of dates with a band called Boyscott , and we ’ re going to be going out for a month in the fall on a full U . S . tour with them . It ’ ll be the first time that we ’ ll be on the West Coast . We ’ re going to be playing LA and San Francisco .
You use a lot of family photos in your album artwork . Can you tell me why you do that ? Are you really close with your family ? I love my family so much . I love to analyze the connections between who I am , who I ’ ve become and the people that came before me that are such a big part of why I am the way I am . For example , on the first EP that I put out [ secret princess ], the cover of that is my grandmother Roz , who I was named after but never met ; she died of breast cancer in the seventies . So to be connected by a name with this person who I never knew and to gather information about who she was when I ’ ll never fully know who she was — it ’ s been such a mysterious journey . I ’ m living with other people ’ s impressions and memories of her . So I called that secret princess because I thought it was an interesting name for that kind of concept of not knowing someone who you ’ re so close to . And then I also love old photos . I love to see other people ’ s memories and learn more about them , or just think about what could have been happening . I ’ m a very audiovisual person . With Nova One , we wear wigs and costumes when we perform and I like working on music videos and putting together artwork for things that we ’ ve released .
You have a great publicity shot of you holding a sword for create myself . How did that come about ? So at some point in the nineties — this probably wouldn ’ t be possible anymore — my dad bought a bunch of weapons in Spain to put on his wall . They ’ re from the town my uncle grew up in , and where my aunt and uncle still live . It ’ s just a very old , beautiful town .
I said to him , ‘ I have this new single coming out called ‘ Dangerous ’ and I think it would be really badass , but also really funny , for me to hold the sword .’ And he said , ‘ Well , actually your mom took them down .’ So I went up to the attic and I grabbed three different swords . I like to play with the visual aspect of things and yeah , I really liked how that whole thing turned out . It was like being a comic book character . My partner and I put them up on our wall . He ’ s a skateboarder , so on the wall we have them lined up : sword , skateboard , sword , skateboard , sword . And it ’ s the most absurd looking thing . So I thought it would be nice imagery to go along with the new album especially because I ’ m a very nonviolent person . I only use my sword if I have to .
96 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l AUGUST 2023