1. What kind of drink would you recommend we sip on while listening to your new music?
*Something virgin of course, in honor of Bowie. Though if alcohol is something you enjoy, I would say since Ziggy is taking everyone to outer space, I think a Cosmo would suffice.
2. Please give us an update about your new single and video.
*Ziggy serves two purposes. It is an homage to one of my rock and roll heroes, David Bowie, and also a song that has helped me process what it is like to be aging and still trying to figure out life. The song was inspired by a book my friend, James Brandon, wrote called Ziggy Stardust & Me. There is a character in the book named Web that my friend told me I was the inspiration for. In the book the character is a teenager. I was wondering what that character would be like at my age (in my 40s) and Ziggy was born. When I decided to make the video, I knew that I wanted to direct. I have a poem called Cabbage Patch that is being published in a new poetry anthology for Two-Spirit Native Americans and I thought it would be really cool to bring part of that poem to life in the music video. I was able to cast my mom, my husband, my uncle, my cousin, my sisters, and several other family members and friends in the video making it extra special for me.
3. We live in times of many conspiracy theories. Which harmless theory do you wish were true and why? (For example dinosaurs living inside Earth or E.T. living in a home in California).
*I am a huge cryptozoology fan! I love Bigfoot, yetis, skunk man, etc. I go for runs a lot through the redwood forest where I live in Northern California, I still keep an eye out of Bigfoot, because you never know!
4. What fashion style or brand would best describe your music?
*I wear a lot of Orttu in my music videos and in my day to day life. I have been an Orttu fan for years and think the brand is a good reflection of my music style, eclectic and confident.
5. Tell us more about the topics you explore in your music.
*My main inspirations in my writing are love and liberation, because both explore pleasure and pain. When you find love or feel loved it can be an incredibly liberating and pleasurable experience. When you lose love it is heartbreaking, gut wrenching, and devastating. I like to explore the intersection of these feelings. With Ziggy I play around with these intersections writing “I feel like I know it all and I feel I know nothing at all. And I feel so insecure most of the time”. Here I am talking about aging and how our culture tells us that we are suppose to have things all figured out by a certain age. While I certainly am much more secure than I ever have been at any other point in my life, there is still so much I have to learn, understand, and discover. I aspire to always be in a state of wonder, learning, growing, and healing. I think the songs I write are a reflection of that.
6. Beside music, do you have any special talents?
*I think listening is a talent. I got my Masters in Counseling Psychology and have worked as a therapist for many years. I went on to get my PhD in Human Sexuality with a concentration in Clinical Practice. A good listener hears beyond the words, they hear feelings, they hear what is unsaid. I believe this is a talent I have had my entire life and continue to hone and develop as I get older.
7. Name 5 things we all should know about you as an artist:
*5 things to know about me as an artist. 1. I am a songwriter first and vocalists second. 2. I do not limit myself to any particular genres including music genres or artistic genres, I like to explore multiple musical styles and artistic styles such as writing (I have a book out called Somacultural Liberation), dance, painting, video, and performance art. 3. I have written the majority of my songs in very little time. I believe I wrote Ziggy in about 10 minutes. 4. I need alone time. I am an introvert at heart who has a very extroverted creative side. I have always preferred to be in quieter places, which is why I enjoy living in the country among the redwoods.
8. The road so far…. who or what has been your biggest support:
*I am my own biggest support, I have never given up on myself. Being a creative person in the world can be such a harrowing experience with people judging you, rejecting you, saying hurtful things about you etc. I have never stopped believing in myself. I am also surrounded by amazing and supportive people including my husband (together for 19 years), my family, and a great group of friends who love me. I am also thankful to Velvet Code and So Fierce Music for taking a chance on me. I feel that I have found a creative partner with Velvet who gets me as an artist.
9. A question you’d like to answer, but have never been asked in an interview before + Answer pls
*What inspired your move out of New York City to California?
New York was always my dream as a kid growing up on the prairies of North Dakota. I had so many amazing life experiences in NYC including getting my first break in the music world and meeting my husband. After a while though, NYC began to feel a bit like North Dakota in that I felt I would never get out of there. I wanted to see more and do more with my life. I felt like I could check the box and say, I did that. I lived there, I thrived there, now what else can I do? I love to visit NYC now and would probably move back there if a good enough reason came about, though my heart is in California, where I feel the most at home I ever have. This morning I woke up to a beautiful sunrise and a stunning view of a redwood surrounded by fog over a valley. With my tea in my hand, my husband, Sean, and our dog, Willow, by my side I feel like I am at such a great place in my life, and I still have a lot of work to do and artistic realms to explore.
Instagram: @rkoughenr