Who Is…Rachel Zeffira
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“I’m not very good at following rules,” says 29-year-old Rachel Zeffira, who is also one half of Cat’s Eyes alongside Faris Badwan of The Horrors. “Anything I’m supposed to do, I automatically don’t do.”
Zeffira’s route to pop has been anything but by the rules. At 17, she was all set to become a professional soprano at London’s prestigious Royal Opera House. But after a mix-up at Heathrow airport, the Canadian was deported and lost her spot. So instead she forged a CV and came back to London to work as a supply teacher. She went to Italy to study at a music conservatory, then moved back to London and gave up opera altogether.
When she met her garage-rocker boyfriend Badwan, their worlds collided. Together they formed Cat’s Eyes and released one of the most lauded debuts of 2011, a self-titled album that reinvented ’60s girl-band symphonic pop and, true to rule-defying form, was launched with a gig at the Vatican.
The Deserters is Zeffira’s first solo album, and merges her classical roots — you can hear the influence of Debussy and Michael Nyman — with her newfound love of pop and Ennio Morricone’s cinematic compositions. Played and produced by Zeffira herself, it is released on her and Faris’s RAF (Rachel and Faris) label.
eMusic’s Elisa Bray met Zeffira to talk about going it alone, hanging out with The Horrors, and playing at the Vatican.
On discovering a world of new music:
My tastes have changed dramatically in recent years. Before I met Faris, I didn’t know what shoegaze was and I’d never come across My Bloody Valentine, Spiritualized or Sonic Youth.
Faris has taught me that sometimes you have to completely destroy something in order for it to sound good. When we recorded the Cat’s Eyes album, there were times when I’d go, “I really nailed that high note!” But by the time the song was finished, you wouldn’t even be able to tell it was a human voice.
Being brave with sound was a whole new thing for me. When I sang opera, I’d be preparing for a week beforehand. I’d stay away from heaters, air-conditioning and dairy products, and I wouldn’t talk too much the day before a concert — I’d use a little notepad [to communicate]. Now it doesn’t matter. I’ll do a gig and the sound engineer will forget to turn my microphone on [laughs].
On making The Deserters:
Bobby Gillespie [of Primal Scream] was one of the reasons I did this album. He did an interview where he said I had a nice voice and I was really shocked. Sometimes I’d get it in my head that I’m a fraud — I’m not a real pop singer, I just got lucky or something. But Bobby and Faris believed in me. Bobby doesn’t lie. He’s just incapable of BS.
Faris was touring when I was recording The Deserters and I would send him stuff. I really value his opinion. And I sent one song to Bobby. He said it was spectral and haunting. He was really supportive and I owe him a lot.
On combining pop and classical music:
When I did my album, it was really important to me that I stayed true to my roots. I love the sound of the oboe, I think it sounds mournful and melancholy. And I know my strong point is orchestration. But I didn’t want a really overblown orchestra — I didn’t want it to sound like musical theatre. The songs are quite subtle, so the orchestration had to be too.
I really love the organ. You only find it in churches, and I wanted to bring it outside the sacred world. It’s basically a big synth. It’s the mother of all synths.
On playing the Vatican:
There is a Cat’s Eyes song called “I Knew It Was Over,” and Faris and I thought there was something sacred-sounding it about. I thought if I rewrote it for a choir and a cathedral organ, it could fit into the mass setting. I wrote to the Vatican and said we were from the Church of St. Mary of the Angels. I didn’t say we were Cat’s Eyes — I lied and changed my name on email. I know it was a bit underhanded, but I was raised Catholic and didn’t want to offend anyone.
We brought our choir to Italy with us and they were allowed to sing an afternoon mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. We did sacred songs like “Ave Maria,” then for the last part we did “I Knew It Was Over.” No one really noticed. It wasn’t like we went in there with amps and did a rock song. The only problem was the choir. Their dresses were a little short and we had to go to the store and buy opaque tights so they were allowed in.
Obviously we didn’t get a sound check. Suddenly Faris was singing at a mass and I was playing this organ that I’d never seen in my life, a massive thing that if you make a mistake on, the world knows it! It was a once in a lifetime thing.
On hanging out with The Horrors:
I’ve never met anyone else like them. Josh [Hayward — the band's guitarist] has a physics degree and built The Horrors’ studio. Rhys [Webb — the bass player] is an insane record collector, a true music lover, and has a night in London called the Cave Club where he plays psychedelic music. Everyone who goes is there because they love music. I think I’ve met more music lovers in the last few years than when I was in classical music.
Meeting The Horrors has opened up a whole new social scene for me. Even my sleeping hours are different. I am the worst insomniac. It’s a nightmare. I used to go to bed really early because I knew I’d be up at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. But now I go to bed at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. — every musician I know in the pop world works best at night.
On her favorite composers:
Sibelius paints a picture with music. I like Ligeti’s experimentation. And everything comes back to Bach. One of my heroes is [Italian film composer] Nino Rota; he did the Godfather soundtrack and tons of classical stuff. I’m friends with his daughter, Nina Rota. He had theories about music I think are important to stick to. He believed music was connected to the soul, and that what separates us from animals is music and that emotional connection. He didn’t care about reviews — he wasn’t worried about being seen as sentimental or old-fashioned. He was also one of the most important Hermeticists of all time — he had the largest library of books on potion-making.
