{"id":62494,"date":"2020-05-22T13:41:03","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T12:41:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=62494"},"modified":"2020-05-22T13:41:03","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T12:41:03","slug":"riva-taylor-this-womans-heart-new-release-and-twh-for-mental-health-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2020\/05\/riva-taylor-this-womans-heart-new-release-and-twh-for-mental-health-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Riva Taylor, \u2018This Woman\u2019s Heart\u2018 New Release And TWH For Mental Health Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Riva Taylor started out as a young star, Becky Taylor, securing her first West End role in Les Miserables at seven. At just 12 she was The youngest person, twenty years ago, to sign for EMI records. She has performed at the FA Cup Final with Michael Ball and garnered praise from HRH Prince Charles after performing at the Royal Albert Hall.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

These days, after a musical rebirth as Riva, she has just released the first part of her super album \u2018This Woman\u2019s Heart’, and has just launched the This Woman\u2019s Heart online community for Mental Health Week and beyond.<\/p>\n

She is an advocate for emerging female talent in the arts and has sold out two years running at The Roundhouse with her Writing Round series of concerts.<\/p>\n

The first series of TWH exhibitions and events were due to launch this Spring but have been moved back to the Summer. We have so much to look forward to and I was lucky enough to get to chat with this inspiring woman about her world at the moment.<\/p>\n

EP: I guess the best place to begin our chat is at your artistic rebirth. After a successful career dating back to when you were 7, you decided to change your name from Rebecca to Riva. A beautiful name, but one with a meaning. Why did you choose it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RT<\/strong>: I started my career so young, I was signed at 12, and I had a first wind, a completely different career during my childhood and that was actually under the name of Becky Taylor. So after this, when I was in my twenties, I came back to music after a short break at university and got back on stage.<\/p>\n

I was actually touring with Alfie Boe and the music didn\u2019t feel right. Everything didn\u2019t quite feel….me anymore and I think that I\u2019d grown up and realised I needed a change. I discovered the name Riva which is a Hebrew derivative of Rebecca and thought firstly that I love the name and I could feel it.<\/p>\n

I felt it was time to change, in my twenties, and it wasn\u2019t too far away from Rebecca; it still had the same meaning. It also represents a voyage of discovery, I had been on a voyage of musical discovery myself so I really connected with the name.<\/p>\n

EP: You have decided to release your album \u2018This Woman\u2019s Heart\u2019 in two halves. What was the thinking behind that? Was that a decision made before lockdown?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RT<\/strong>: It was always going to be the way I released it actually, it was a decision taken long before lockdown. We sat around in a team meeting, as you do with these things, and I was explaining the songs and the premise and it kind of just came to me….\u201dyou know what I would rather string this out a bit longer!\u201d It was so long in the making, this is about my heart, about becoming Riva.<\/p>\n

This is about before; a real journey of discovery and during that time there had been highs and lows and so the song\u2019s very much represent that time moving from being a young girl in the music industry to the woman that I am today. So the first half is what I call ‘The Dark Heart’, ‘This Woman\u2019s Heart.1’, and the songs are about the journey, about the highs and, well, the lows I would say more, and they\u2019re darker in sentiment, and the second half is all about the bright future and hope and love, and that\u2019s coming out at the end of the year.<\/p>\n

EP: Perfect timing given the situation we are all in at the moment; we need to look forward to a brighter future.<\/strong><\/p>\n

RT<\/strong>: I\u2019ve reflected quite a lot that when I brought the first part out we were all feeling a bit glum and unsettled and that\u2019s what the first half represents. The fact is that there is a second half coming that is all about things being alright and I\u2019m a firm believer in that. I think things will be alright for us all.<\/p>\n

EP: Even maybe slightly better ….One of my favourite bands are Ben’s Brother…..<\/strong><\/p>\n

RT<\/strong>: Mine too!<\/p>\n

EP: …..and the hugely talented Jamie Hartman was lead singer and inspiration behind them. You have written with him. How did you find that? He is, in my opinion,one of our greatest songwriters.<\/strong><\/p>\n

RT<\/strong>: Absolutely. It\u2019s a funny one because we were actually initially connected because I was submitted a few songs that he had written. This is back four years ago before \u2018Human\u2019 ( the massive hit for Rag\u2019n\u2019Bone man penned by Hartman) and I heard the voice and I thought \u201cwhere have I heard this voice before?\u201d and like you I was a huge fan of Ben’s Brother. I\u2019d taken that break, I had gone to university and they were the soundtrack to my first year; I\u2019d sit on my bed and listen to \u2018Let Me Out\u2019.<\/p>\n

I actually did a cover of that and it wasn\u2019t half as good as Jamie\u2019s so I left it. So when I was submitted those songs, I wondered am I just liking these songs because I think Ben’s Brother are fantastic or is it because they\u2019re great songs. I think it was a blend of both, so instead of actually using those songs I went over to LA and I wrote with him.<\/p>\n

It was an interesting time because \u2018Human\u2019 hadn\u2019t been released but he played it to me and said he\u2019d written it and he thought it was quite good. I told him I agreed and so it was very exciting when that one came out. It\u2019s a real honour to have him as a writer on the album.<\/p>\n

EP: I\u2019ve read that your vocal style is influenced by Kate Bush, Annie Lennox and Adele but I hear so much of Sharlene Spiteri of Texas fame on your style. Have you ever heard that before? Is she an influence?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RT<\/strong>: It\u2019s so interesting that you should say that because I had never heard it before till very recently. We were talking about one of the songs, I think it was \u2018Let Go Too Soon\u2019, and someone said it feels almost like that if you changed the mix slightly it could be a Texas song. I thought \u201cI\u2019ve never heard that before but it\u2019s fantastic\u201d, they were the soundtrack to me growing up so thanks for the complement.<\/p>\n

EP: So almost an unwitting influence…<\/strong><\/p>\n

RT<\/strong>: Exactly, it\u2019s funny what does infiltrate because the Kate Bush thing has just happened organically. I grew up listening to her music; my Dad had the music videos on a video tape and I used to sit and watch them but at the same time I was also listening to Sarah Brightman, Barbara Streisand, Aretha Franklin ….all sorts of female vocalists with very different styles and I suppose you just absorb all of those sounds and then create your own.<\/p>\n

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EP: It\u2019s a really organic process, the artist that you become. Your music videos are really well thought out and add to the music, as I think they should; seeing Jack Garratt let loose in the \u2018Better\u2019 video has been the highlight of the last few months. What creative input do you have, if any, in your videos. Is it something you like to be involved with?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RT<\/strong>: I do actually, I really enjoy getting involved in the music videos. Actually \u2018Jealous\u2019 was something that me and a creative director that I\u2019d been working with on the last few videos, since \u2018This Woman\u2019s Heart’ actually, just sat around and brainstormed, and I really wanted to see light and shade.<\/p>\n

I wanted it to represent the light and the dark heart that was coming, the two halves of the personality, and the inner conflict of feeling envious….because it\u2019s a dark feel, isn\u2019t it, when you\u2019re envious or jealous of somebody. So that\u2019s not necessarily something that\u2019s in me but had been brought out at a moment in time so I wanted that cross play between dark and light in that.<\/p>\n

Generally, across the other videos that I have I\u2019ve always wanted to have dance in them. I\u2019ve been dancing since I was very young and when I did \u2018Running at Walls\u2019, that was great fun dancing with the fantastic ex-Royal Ballet dancer, Lewis, so, yes, very much it\u2019s a thing that I get involved in these days.<\/p>\n

EP: It\u2019s a very collaborative process then. Your Writing Round series at the Roundhouse is very much in the Nashville tradition of songwriting. Is this because you like Country music or just enjoy that collaborative style of creativity?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RT<\/strong>: The writing round came from the traditional Nashville writing round that has its roots in Country music but the one we do at the Roundhouse is actually a little different because I was really keen to showcase the eclectic blend of talent in the UK so it\u2019s not just Country, though we have had Country artists like Sarah Darling and The Shires come and perform.<\/p>\n

When I write, it is collaborative, and I also love to travel when I write and that\u2019s why this time is so difficult.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve just finished a Skype session with some writers from Stockholm, which is fine when you know the people but it\u2019s difficult trying to form a relationship over Skype, but yes, for me, it\u2019s always a collaborative effort, whether I take a song that\u2019s already formed and we hone it or we start things from scratch, it\u2019s always great to work in a collaborative way.<\/p>\n

EP: It\u2019s Mental Health Week, although there\u2019s an argument that every week should be mental health week as we strive to look after each other, especially at this unusual time. You are busy launching the This Woman\u2019s Heart online community. Can you please tell me more about this initiative?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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