R&b
Riovaz became famous almost by accident. Uploading his single ‘Prom Night’ to streaming platforms back in 2020, he stood back and let the fireworks commence. Mid-way between emo-centric songwriting and electronic production, it was an emphatic statement, one that resonated internationally.
Fans swept to his clarion call, with the song gaining more than 120 million streams. Emboldened, he went back into the studio, drawing together a network of trusted friends and collaborators in the process.
A flurry of tracks followed, with Riovaz pivoting between influences, the pinball-like ricochet of studio ideas fostering a unique sound. Out now, his ‘Disturb The Norm’ EP illustrates the artist’s breadth, supplying a rollercoaster of future-facing alt-pop thrills.
Hitting London’s Camden Assembly on March 9th, Riovaz paused just long enough to catch up with Clash and discuss his new EP.
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‘Until It’s Real’
This song came about in London quite randomly with Sam Gellaitry. He built up the production right before my eyes and handed me a live performance microphone to add vocals onto it. This song wrote itself. Honestly I knew what melody to sing right when those headphones were put onto my ears.
‘Hypnotized’
I made this song around August of last summer and really went into recording this song with a mission to achieve a 90s house banger. It was unfinished for some time until I had the idea to add my good friend skaiwater onto it. He was the missing piece to the puzzle
‘U Neva‘
‘U Neva’ was recorded during the ‘Better Late Than Forever’ era and was left on the shelf to collect dust for over a year. I knew my fans have been begging me to drop it so I decided to just finish the verse and BOOM we dropped it. That song was very fun to make though I was still in highschool when I recorded that.
‘Tantrum (Pace Yourself)’
‘Tantrum’ was a hatred song highlighting my flaws and my disinterest for my ex-lover. This song has gone through many versions when I recorded it and a lot of Snapchat videos of me dancing to those old versions sent to my friends for their opinions.
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‘As If It’s Not Bad Enough’
This was made in LA with Oscar Scheller and Matt Cohn. Two legends in the studio for sure. This song is a trance vibe that needs a sped up remix for sure. Like all my tracks it wrote itself and that hook is insane.
‘Heartstrung’
This song was made differently than the other songs on this project. I was in a cramped ass studio with the legend yung spoiler and I recorded the demo to this song on the spot, but didn’t feel satisfied with the recordings so I redid it in manhattan at like 4am randomly and it sounded AMAZING.
‘Can’t Keep Myself Intact‘
This is my favourite song on the project for sure. I made this in LA as well with my dear friend Asap P on the boards. That whole studio session was magical. Everytime I looked back at my brother and Kayla they just looked amazed. But once the whole song was finished it was like god was in the studio with us
‘Grown Hatred For You (Outro)‘
This was the last song off the EP I made; made it in my basement… then had a panic attack shortly after. This song definitely means a lot to me story-wise and how it ends. This song symbolises the end but also a new beginning.
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Photography: Kayla Menze + Argenis Hernandez
