Stefy Interview: “I Wanted To Be A Race Car Driver!”

Could you imagine if Stefy Rae turned out to be a race car driver instead of the brilliant electropop songstress she is today?  No, neither can we!  We are glad she chose to follow her Bolivian grandmother’s advice and take to the stage to sing about evil girls named Chelsea and innocence lost in the OC.  So what happened when Raj and Samuel banded together and asked Stefy Rae about performing in the UK, her rather uninteresting Wikipedia page and what it’s like being compared to No Doubt…well, you’ll just have to continue reading to find out…

Electroqueer: Well hello Stefy – welcome to EQ! Let’s get cracking on some questions…When you were younger did you have any notions that you would end up becoming a bloody amazing popstar?
Stefy Rae: Haha!! No I had no notion of becoming a popstar. I wanted to be a race car driver…. oh well….

EQ: When we read your bio, we found out that you had quite a sparky Bolivian grandmother…how did she influence your dream to become a singer?
SR: Everytime she would visit she would say, "Stefy do you want to make money?"  I would reply, "Yes!" her answer was always, "Well then sing!"

EQ: Some commentators have called you the ‘new No Doubt’. Is it annoying to be called the ‘new No Doubt’, when really, you want to be known for being Stefy – not a carbon copy of another band?
SR: It does get annoying!!! Don’t get me wrong I love love love Gwen but when I’m making music I’m not sitting there saying ok what would No Doubt do??

EQ: So tell us about your new electro ballad ‘Orange County’. Is it somewhat deeper than just about a couple of teens who watch MTV all day and talk on their cell phones?
SR: Orange County is about two kids that screwed up early in life. She gets pregnant, they drop out of high school, he gets a job, and all innocence is lost. They end up saying, "Where have all the good times gone?"

EQ: At the moment, your Wikipedia page is rather short and boring without any interesting trivia. Do you have any weird facts you can tell us about yourself, so we can start a Stefy trivia section on Wikipedia?
SR: Any weird facts?????  Umm…I’m a compulsive out-of-control buyer. Help me please!  I also hate feet and have a thing for Mickey Mouse!

EQ: Also – your Wikipedia page says that "it is unknown if Stefy will make another album". Do you have an exclusive for us? Are you planning a follow-up to your brilliant first album?
SR: I am definitely making a second record.  I’m actually in the studio at the moment!!

EQ: We’re you surprised at how well received ‘Chelsea’ was in the UK?  Did you have any idea that the UK audiences would embrace your brand of orange county electro-pop?  Did you go on the obligatory trip on the London Eye while you were here?
SR: To be honest I was terrified to perform overseas!!! I didn’t know what to expect… I was surprised at how the UK embraced us with open arms.  No I’m very unfortunate to have not ridden the London Eye.. 🙁

EQ: So is there a real life girl named ‘Chelsea’? Do you ever run into her at the mall? Perhaps you’ve already had your revenge?
SR: LOL!!!  No real Chelsea in my life. It’s more about a type of girl. That pretty girl that steals your boyfriend for the hell of it. I’ve had one too many of those!!!

EQ: Any other plans to come back to the UK for some more shows? We loved your performance at Popjustice!
SR: Thank you!!  Hopefully soon. We are gonna finish up this second record and start touring again soon!

EQ: In our iTunes, there is a version of ‘Chelsea’, recorded in Spanish. Avril Lavigne recently recorded ‘Girlfriend’ in about twenty languages. Have you considered the idea of giving up on English-language pop and just recording everything in Spanish from here on in?
SR: I don’t know if I would ever give up English-pop…but definitely want to do more stuff in Spanish.

EQ: What’s been your favourite video you’ve made so far? Any funny stories to share from the set?
SR: My favorite has to be ‘Orange County’ because I wrote and directed it myself.  Funny story…My brother filmed the whole video with my laptop’s webcam. He would follow me around with it through the streets of LA at 2am.

EQ: We’ve been listenting to ‘The Orange Album’ while writing some of these questions.  We’ve also listened to an Israeli popstar and some singer from New Zealand. What have you been listening to lately?
SR: I’ve been listening to a lot of Beatles and Velvet Underground. Also some underground stuff like FM Wolfgang.

EQ: So is being in a band with a bunch of guys all it’s cracked up to be?  Be honest…
SR: Yeah they look good and are hot on stage but try touring with guys…Oh My GOODNESS. I don’t think I ever want to get married.

EQ: Do you think new wave and electronic music is here to stay or just a passing fad – will we be listening to guitar rock again in a few years? (We hope not).
SR: Hopefully it’s here to stay, but music will always change.

And finally, what is your definition of the word ‘Electroqueer’?  Strange question, we know!
SR: Guys who are Electric… haha!

Thanks to Stefy Rae for chatting with us!  Raj and Samuel promise to take the whole band out on a field trip to the London Eye next time they come and play some more gigs in London – hopefully very soon!  If you haven’t caught the Stefy fever yet (and really you should), you can get acquainted with some of their fun videos below and of course you can always stalk them on MySpace for up-to-date info on what they are up to.  Download ‘Orange County’ too, it is definitely one of our favourite electropop songs to come out this year!