Inside the Artist’s Studio: RAW Records gives voice to student creativity

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Author: Emma Lodes

Haunting orchestral strings resound in a cavernous chamber. A disembodied voice hums a romantic melody while a slow drum beat pulses beneath nostalgic lyrics.

The words from Lana del Rey’s “Young and Beautiful” echo through the studio – “Will you still love me/ When I’m no longer young and beautiful/ Will you still love me/ When I got nothing but my aching soul?”

Lana del Rey isn’t singing; the strong, lyrical voice belongs to economics major Divya Sarathy (sophomore). She’s standing in the small RAW Records studio off of Booth’s music library, no orchestra to be found. The shiver-inducing, trance-like piece is a long-term project engineered by Sarathy and geology major Scott Williams (junior), using only Sarathy’s voice, a microphone, a computer and Williams’ mixing.

The song is soaked in notions of nostalgia and old-fashioned American decadence. It is RAW Records’ first high production electronic song, and the duo has been working on the recording for more than three months.

RAW Records president and physiology major Asa Welch (sophomore) has been attending Sarathy’s recording sessions and putting his two cents into the process as well.

“This is the most involved project for RAW Records, easily,” Welch said.

Williams and Sarathy recorded another piece together last year – “I Miss You,” a Frank Ocean cover – but the piece was not nearly as electronically involved as “Young and Beautiful.”

For this project, the trio held around eight recording sessions, with long pauses in the process.

“What was really cool about this one is that every time we stepped away from it we’d think of new ideas,” Sarathy said.

The throbbing bass of electric cellos creates a moody spell in the studio. Sarathy redoes the line, “I’ve seen the world/ Done it all/ Had my cake now/ Diamonds, brilliant/ And Bel Air now,” while Williams cuts a beat on the screen.

Williams, a sound engineer for Raw Records, spends most of his time on the computer recording and mixing tracks for musicians. Because “Young and Beautiful” is RAWR’s premier electronic song, it is Williams’ first opportunity to heavily involve himself in the creative side. The trio is enthused about bringing electronic beats to the studio.

“That’s why it’s such a cool song, why were so excited about it and why it sounds so epic,” Williams said. “Because we’re using all those cool electronic sounds, not just a guitar.”

Sarathy took voice lessons throughout high school and performed in Apollo Night and other open mics last year. This year, she has been making covers on her computer but plans to increase her involvement in music.

“I really want to perform more,” Sarathy said. “I want to be working on an original, collaborating with other people and making a product that I can come in and record.”

She’s also starting to write her own pieces.

“It took me a while. Before, I felt like what I was writing was more like acoustic poppy. It took me a while to actually write R&B-ish; even though that’s the kind of music I listen to.”

Sarathy has grown this year in terms of her relationship to music.

“I definitely want to be involved in music some way or another, whether I’m working with other people making music or making my own music,” Sarathy said. “I think just recognizing that I want music to be a huge part of my life and in my career is a huge step, and that’s something I’ve just realized this year.”

The last recording session for “Young and Beautiful” wrapped up last Thursday. The final recording takes the orchestral Great Gatsby theme song and seamlessly twists it into an electronic masterpiece. Sarathy’s lyrics and husky, sensuous vocal style match Del Rey’s, but she adds a lyrical and lively tone to the cover. Spur-of-the-moment additions and creative twists in the music add spice to the piece as well.

“I like the spontaneous stuff that happens,” Sarathy said. “It’s sort of cliche, but the magic of it. When things come out of what you’re making that you didn’t anticipate but that are so much better than what you could imagine before.”

On their last evening of recording, the musicians listened to the piece through one last time, ears perked for any off beats or flat tones. The three glanced at each other, grinning.

“Not to toot our own horn, but we killed it,” Welch said. “Well, you killed it, [Sarathy]. I just sat here and enjoyed the ride.”

 

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