Kat Harlton
Rising singer-songwriter and producer, Raff Pylon, known for his participation on The Voice Canada since February 2020, recently released his latest single entitled “King’s Lane” featuring Tito Jackson from The Jackson 5. The single demonstrates the softer side of Raff’s familiar pop sound, while adding an R&B twist.
Written by Raff and co-produced by Grammy-Award winning producer Earl Powell (produced for Jennifer Hudson, Keyshia Cole, The Jacksons), the lyrical styling within “King’s Lane” aims to inspire people to live in unity rather than a divided society; especially with the ongoing circumstances of the current events of the world including the Black Lives Matter movement.
We had the opportunity to chat with Raff about the single, working with Tito Jackson, and his Million Roses Fundraiser.
Kat: Can you share with us the inspiration behind your latest single “King’s Lane”? and how Tito Jackson came to feature on the track?
Raff: It all started with a dream I had. I had this image from when I woke up in the morning along with a song melody, and that’s what got me going. I started writing the story of my dream: Me walking on a pathway full of roses of all colours leading to a castle at the end. And when I got to the chorus it became clear to me that these roses were actually us, and that if we did share the space and cohabitate together the same way, we would live in a world that would be just as beautiful as this lane was in my dream. I headed down to Los Angeles later on to record the song with my producer Earl Powell and he had done music with The Jacksons in the past so he knew them well. So well that the we recorded the song that was one of Tito’s! Everything just came full circle and at the time of release we thought of having him collaborate and he accepted. It was amazing to have him on there.
Kat: What do you hope fans take away from the track?
Raff: I always hope that the fans will enjoy the song and that my music can help them go through the day with positive vibes, that’s my goal as an artist. But this one does have a special message that means a lot to me and I hope that they will take the time to understand it, and in the best of worlds apply some of it to their everyday life.
Kat: Can you share with us some of your musical role models, or who you look to for inspiration?
Raff: The Beatles are the ones who got me into music. My dad showed them to me when I was 2 years old and I loved music from there. I started playing drums at that age, then piano at 6, and then Jimi Hendrix got me interested in guitar around 11-12 years old. Those have been the early inspirations and from there I really had a wide variety of music I was a fan of. From listening to Simple Plan to Eminem, Ne-Yo to Three Days Grace, all while learning a little Chopin on piano every now and then haha! At the end of the day though my true music guide has always been John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Two amazing creators who were a part of every step of the process, and could also stand up for what they thought was right. That’s why I have songs like King’s Lane no doubt.
Kat: You were a participant on The Voice Canada. What did you learn from that experience and how has it changed your creation process?
Raff: The Voice was very interesting from a TV perspective for me. I was already used to performing live from my years with Bridgeway, but getting to work with a production like this and getting the help from the coaches along the way definitely made me more ready for anything when it comes to TV and Film sets.
Kat: What is the Million Roses fundraiser and where can people go to donate?
Raff: The fundraiser is an initiative in collaboration with Amnesty International, and the money collected will be given to them to create a sensitization program against systemic racism in Canada. I felt like it was really great to have something like this to make the song valuable from a human standpoint. So any donation will be most welcome. You can find the info on my socials @raffpylon and my website as well.
Donation link: https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/million-roses-fundraiser
Kat: What’s next?
Raff: I have a real cool project for a Christmas song about to be released so stay tuned for this in the next few weeks! Also an album will come out in 2021 as well as some more collaborative singles with other great artist friends of mine! It’ll be an exciting year!
For more on Raff Pylon head to: http://www.raffpylon.com