Meet: Riovaz

US artist Riovaz is a young, up and coming sensation, blurring the genres of pop, rap and electronic music to yield exciting new sounds with incredible energy. Recently signed to Darkroom Records (Billie Eilish, Finneas) / Geffen Records (Olivia Rodrigo, Yungblud) and with over 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone, he recently released his latest frenetic house track Tell Me Your Fears, alongside an equally as feverish music video. 

Putting his heart on the line to create a relatable and danceable track, Tell Me Your Fears falls somewhere between what is real and surreal, Riovaz sharing that  “This song captures my constant detachment from reality and the sudden reappearance of normalcy,” continuing, “I had just watched Donnie Darko before making this song and video, so that film was the last piece of this puzzle.”

Out now, be sure to hit play on Tell Me Your Fears as you get to get to know a bit more about Riovaz with the written Q&A below. 

Tell us about yourself?

My name is Riovaz and I’m an 18 year old artist from Jersey City, New Jersey. My hobbies include playing basketball, watching films, music videos, and buying hella clothes.

How did you first get into making music?

I first got into making music when I was 13. Music has always been around during the early stages of my life. My cousin had Garageband on his computer so that’s when I recorded and dropped my first song ever in 2017. It ended up having 60k listens on SoundCloud. At 13 this was such a surprise to see support from the beginning, so I just kept consistently dropping since then.

Tell us about your creative process? 

My creative process involves me finding beats (genre depending whatever mood I’m in) and listening to one that I really like over and over again and just gradually building the song with the microphone right in front of my face and my hands on my computer. I’m super hands on with my work. I do the writing, recording, and engineering all by myself.

Tell us about your new single Tell Me Your Fears?

I made this song shortly after watching Donnie Darko and I wanted this song and the video to capture my disassociation from reality and the sudden reappearance of normalcy that I constantly struggle with today.

What's coming up for the rest of the year? 

Timeless music is what’s next to come. I’ve been waiting for this moment since forever. This is the introductory period in my career and I’m ready to bring you guys into RIORAVE.

How can fans best support your music?

My fans can best support it by just listening and letting the music marinate in their brains. Soak in the vibes.

What have you been listening to lately?

 I been listening to A LOT of La Roux and Crystal Castles.

Follow Riovaz: INSTAGRAM / TIKTOK / TWITTER