News Raffertie: ‘Electronic Music Has Become More Human’

In terms of musical comebacks in 2013 the return of British electronic producer Benjamin Stefanski, aka Raffertie, has been particularly striking. May’s ’Build Me Up’ EP introduces a new Raffertie. It’s the sound of the producer adopting a more refined and nuanced sonic approach while developing into a highly impressive songwriter. Eschewing the hyper frenetic electronic barrage of his early material, Raffertie’s current EP highlights an atmospheric and deeply personal sound that bodes extremely well ahead of the release of his debut album ‘Sleep Of Reason’ later this summer. Neu caught up with Raffertie to find out a bit more about his new music and some of the reasons for his change in direction.



Your previous work has been far more experimental and electronic based. It was very frenetic and energised. Do you see the sound that you have introduced with ‘Build Me Up’ as a drastic reinvention or is it a continuation of your musical approach applied to a different and more song based musical form?
I think it’s definitely changed, but the main thing that separates this from previous work for me is that it’s more concentrated and more distilled. It makes better economy of its parts. Previously, I was trying out lots of different ideas and seeing how much I could fit into one space. The last couple of years of working on the album, coming up to the release of this EP, has seen the writing process much more about refining what I’m working with and actually getting down to the bare bones of what that is.

What made you decide to use your own vocals - what different possibilities has this opened up for you musically?
I suppose when I started writing the album I thought about having lots of different vocal features from different people, vocalists that I liked. However, I also wanted to do a live show. I was thinking logistically that trying to get all of those people into one place at one time would be a nightmare. From a practical point of view, it just made more sense to use my own voice. It seems to have yielded fairly fruitful results. I’m happy with how it shaped up.

The songs on the ‘Build Me Up’ EP are all very personal and emotional. Was it difficult opening yourself up in that way?
Not hugely, I suppose I always wanted my first album to be something that was a little bit deeper than previous output. Something that’s more self exploratory, both of my music and on a subtext of a personal nature. Within club music itself at its very core it’s designed to have a very practical function, i.e. make people dance. With the album, you have a little bit more room to explore different things. I relished opportunity to go a bit deeper, explore some different ideas, and tell some stories as well.

Are you still entrenched in that club scene? Do you still see yourself as primarily and electronic dance based musician?
I think it has gone beyond that. I still love aspects of club music and love doing DJ sets now and then. I think it has become a completely different thing now, though. Particularly, as I’m using my own voice now. It just fits better in terms of the live act that I’m putting together and will be performing throughout the summer into my album’s release. The music acknowledges where it has come from and there are still lots of elements from a club-based aesthetic but it has gone far beyond that I think.

Is it now more rewarding in a way to have success when you are putting everything out there and your music is very much now personally based?
Anytime someone acknowledges your music and says something nice about it, it’s always extremely flattering. I’m really excited though for people to hear this body of work, because I’ve worked really hard on it. People haven’t really heard very much music from me in the last year or so, certainly since the ‘Mass Appeal’ EP. It’s come on a lot since then. I write quite a lot of music and when you write a lot and it’s not getting out there and people aren’t hearing it it can become quite frustrating. Now I’ve got to the stage where everything is ready to come out and it will be coming out and I’m just really excited for everyone to hear it.

It must be hard coming back with a different sound though, especially in the current environment where any sort of absence is something of a risk. Was that something you were ever conscious of?
Yeah, I suppose as a musician if you’re doing this solely as a living it can be a little bit disconcerting if you’ve not released anything for a while. It was important I did that though. The amount of time I’ve spent making sure that the record is as I wanted it to be makes it better for that. If I had rushed it out before it was ready then I don’t think it would be received as well. I think it’s coming at the right time. For me music is something that should always be changing and evolving and I hope that I’ll keep doing that as an artist. I hope I’ll keep surprising people. It’s too easy to get locked into one thing because perhaps you’ve had success in a certain area or people have said they liked this previously. It’s important to keep pushing on and trying new things.

One of the standout songs on the ‘Build Me Up’ EP is your cover of Hot Nature’s ‘Benediction.’ Why did you choose that song and what made it work so well in the context of your re-imagining?
I really loved the track and I wanted to pay a bit of a homage to the track itself. I think it’s well written and catchy. I wanted to take it in a different direction, a little darker I suppose. That fits in with the aesthetic of the EP and of the album. The album itself is quite dark and low-slung. I wanted to embrace the elements of the song that I loved but fit it into my sound world as it is at the moment.



On ‘Trust’ you worked with Yadi, a vocalist who has previously been profiled by Neu, how did that collaboration come about? Do you see yourself working with her again in the future?
Yeah, I’d love to. I haven’t often worked with other musicians. I do quite like writing and working by myself but she was a really great addition. It came together quite quickly and the ideas flowed nicely. I’d love to work with her again; perhaps I can do some production for her. There’s no plans at the moment but I’d certainly be interested in the future.

What have been the touchstones while making these new sounds?
I don’t know really. There’s not been a particular reference point for me. I listen to a lot of old records, like 90s RnB and some of that comes out in the music. From a lyrical and vocal point of view, that was a reference point for me. Musically, I suppose it was more about expressing the feeling of the album. It was about feeding off where I’ve come from previously while developing it more and working out how it works around my voice.

Now that the album is finally finished what can we expect from it?
It’s just finished and mastered and we finished the artwork just the other day. It’s on the way. The ‘Build Me Up’ EP is a good taster as to what to expect. ‘Build Me Up’ will be on the album. It explores lots of different things; it’s quite a personal record for me. I’ve looked back a number of things. Mostly my relationship with my hometown, which is by the seaside. It explores how seaside towns have changed over the years. For me, the seaside town has an element of faded glory about it. You look back historically and they were quite prosperous places at one time. You can kind of feel that when you’re there but now they are not quite so prosperous. Now, there’s a high population of people who go there in their retirement, people who are sick etc. That relationship to the seaside has never really changed in British culture. That’s the over arching theme. It then goes off on lots of little tangents, things that I’ve heard about people and family etc.

Your first electronic records where released in 2009 and the last year or so has been your longest period of absence. What changes have you noticed, if any, in electronic music since you have been away?
Yeah, lots changes from month to month and from year to year. I think I have skirted around the fringes of a few different things. I would not say that I have necessarily been a sole component of any one of them. I think electronic music has become a lot more human. People are embracing it in a much more natural way. Electronic music was often very cold for a long time. It did not have much soul or emotion to it. There are many people working now who are bringing more of that natural sensibility to it. Whether it is by using more acoustic instruments or using it as an element within their tracks. There’s a number of ways that people are doing it. It’s become more tangible.

You mentioned that you’re playing live shows now. How has your live show developed and is it a completely different thrill playing songs live as opposed to creating them in the studio?
Yeah, it’s very different. The live band is composed of myself and a drummer. The tracks have become a lot more stripped back so in that respect, it lends itself well to that live set up. Even then though, we’ve stripped them back further for the live setting and been building them up piece by piece. We want to make the whole thing as live as possible. With the music being more song based it lends itself more to a live setting rather than just doing a DJ club tour to promote the album. We’re still at quite an early stage and have only played a few shows but we’re looking to hopefully do a tour around the album’s release.

Raffertie plays the Old King’s Head, London on 17th July and London’s Sebright Arms on 18th July. The ‘Build Me Up’ EP is out now via Ninja Tune.