Raffy Bushman on New Life

Composer and pianist Raffy Bushman has always drawn inspiration from the many strands of his musical influences, blending jazz, hip-hop, and beyond into his own unique soundworld. His latest album, New Life, marks one of his most intimate projects to date: a collection of compositions shaped by the life-changing experience of starting a new relationship and becoming a father, capturing the anticipation, uncertainty, and joy of a transformative new chapter.

Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with Raffy about the personal story behind the album, his return to the piano trio format, and how fatherhood is beginning to reshape both his creative outlook and future ambitions...

New Life feels deeply personal. At what point did you realise these compositions were becoming a document of a significant chapter in your life, rather than simply a collection of new music?

Well, the chapter of my life in question is meeting my girlfriend, and then six months later discovering she was pregnant and deciding to have a child together - which was quite an intense experience. At first I thought that I wouldn't be able to put anything out; previously I'd been putting out projects so regularly, almost one every year. But I thought that it would be a shame if I didn't use this experience as inspiration for a new album. 

Actually what I found, having written something every year, is that sometimes you're going through things in your life which can really inform the music you're writing - and then there are phases where you're just simply living your life, but you're an artist so you want to put out work. I always think that if you do have something inspiring happening in your life, you should always use it to inform your self-expression.

So it actually all came together quite quickly, to be honest. I decided officially last summer that I was going to get a trio together – I had been thinking of doing a much more expansive project before we knew the baby was coming along. But there was a part of me that really liked the idea of returning to the trio. The piano trio is something I'm comfortable with; I've already released a couple of albums in that format, so I just started writing and about six months later I was finished. But I find that my process is also in practice, not just writing. I'm practising and trying to absorb ideas, and then when I'm writing I hope that those ideas will come into the compositions.

Is that why ‘New Life’ felt like the right title for the project?

Yeah, I think so. And as you say, it’s deeply personal. I have such a personal connection to music, so I try to always make it evocative of what is happening in my life.

You mentioned returning to a trio format, but after working with different types of larger ensembles, was it that familiarity that drew you back?

It was. It's also just so much more immediate. It’s easier to put ideas together and work with just two musicians. I'm not saying you don't need to be prepared for rehearsals, but you can change things quickly. The album before this, Here Today, Gone Tomorrow was for an octet – I love the sound of it, but you really have to be prepared for rehearsals. If you want to change something, you basically have to write a new part for someone. In the piano trio for this, I don't think I even wrote down the parts for anyone - you can just change the chords. Because I'm the pianist I’m basically in charge of the melody and the harmony, so it's kind of a dream setup: it's the most immediate ‘thought to music’ ensemble.

You've worked with your collaborators for a long time. What makes this trio such a strong creative unit?

The drummer, Matt Davies, I've known for probably over ten years now. When I met him, he was into alternative hip-hop-jazz, and I was too. The two of us would get together and try to make soundscapes but with specific rhythms, so we have a very strong connection. Alec Hewes on bass has played on my last two albums, and he's just a pro - he just cares about music in the same way that I do. In the music world you get people who are professional in the general sense, and then you get people where their first priority is to just to play the music as properly as they can. He's one of those people, so that's what I like about him.

Did the compositions develop in ways you didn’t expect once you shared them with the group?

For every project I always have one song that gives me a bit of difficulty, but for some reason something will always come to me relatively quickly, and I manage to put it together before the recording date. Sometimes you have to make quick decisions, but those two are just so easy to work with. 

I find as a composer that I can be a bit neurotic about a certain idea, so I’ll want it to be played in a specific way, and then I realise when I listen back to the recording that they kind of ignore the instruction – but it's actually better the way they did it. You can often put the blinkers on as a composer; you get attached to things and you're sensitive about it. But it's good to have musicians that you can trust to put their own ideas in there every now and again.

You've mentioned your relationship between jazz and hip-hop. Is that an influence that still feels resonant for you today?

Yeah, it does. I mean, it always has. So many of my compositions start with a specific rhythm or beat, but I'm so driven by jazz and gospel harmony. More and more of my classical roots are coming back into it as well; I'm playing lots of Bach at the moment and I played in a semi-professional orchestra for a long time. I'm so fascinated by counterpoint and trying to figure out how it works, so I feel like that informs my approach to harmony and arranging. 

I'm so lucky to have come from this background where I was just as exposed to a lot of things – my mother was a concert pianist too. I remember as a kid hearing her playing things like Chopin and Liszt, so that’s always been informing my musical subconscious. I had opportunities to go and play jazz or gospel too. So I try as much as I can to mix all of my influences together.

Do you feel your music has become more focused over the years, or are you still driven by the same sense of exploration that marked your earliest work?

I don't know. I mean, my life is a lot busier now – I'm teaching and I have a baby, but I've always known what the next project is that I wanted to do. So I feel like my focus has always been kind of the same. Once I put one project out, I'd practice for six or seven months and then I'd be ready to record something else. 

I can see a steady evolution in my projects, but they're all very linked I'd say. It always feels like the same process. It's a very happy existence.

Is there a particular composition that feels especially significant? 

Well on this project, I'd say the last piece ‘New Life’ is the one that is the most evocative for me. It was me really trying to just tune into the anticipation of becoming a father. I know that lots of people have kids all the time, but you just can't describe it. You can't really know what it's going to feel like - and people say all kinds of things to you, like ‘nothing will ever be the same’ or things that you sort of understand - but you just need your own reference. 

I was so looking forward to becoming a father, but then there's all these unknowns at the same time you’re feeling deeply happy as well. So in that frame of mind, I wanted to write a composition. It's quite a stylistic break from my normal musical aesthetic and a lot more classical sounding. It was an expression that felt most honest to me though, so I just went with it. 

What do you hope listeners take away from New Life?

I think what I've been experimenting a lot more with is textures and timbre in this album. Obviously ‘New Life’ has its own texture, very thick and legato, but in ‘The Leopard’, I did this rhythmic ostinato in the left hand which is actually inspired by a moment at the end of the second movement of Stravinksy's The Rite of Spring. There are some staccato fluttery bits in the woodwind, and over the top is like this wide, simple arcing melody. I feel proud of working with different textures within the piano trio context, but in terms of anything that I'd like people to take away? I don't know. I'd like people to have a listen and see what they feel. 

Has this album opened up any new musical directions that you're excited to explore in future projects?

I have it in my head that I’d like to do something with a string quartet – but when you become a father your perspective changes a little bit, so what I want most now actually is consider music as part of my quality of life. Something that I just want to make because I want to express myself.

I want to be more adventurous, take more risks and just do what I feel. I think often in the music industry there's pressure to keep doing a certain thing, because that's how you build your audience. So it's not that I don't care about that, but I think I want people to just listen to my music because they know it's my music, whatever it might be. That's what I'm hoping for. 

Any upcoming performances we should know about? 

I'll be doing an album launch on the 17th of June at the Vortex Club, and on the 21st of November I'll be performing at the Elgar Room in the Royal Albert Hall as part of London Jazz Festival, too.

New Life is available now.