WORDSPJ Some
SPONSORED BY Reebok Europe
CREATIVE DIRECTORS Derrick Odafi & Jessica Rushforth
PHOTOGRAPHER Cal McIntyre
STYLIST Malcolm Yaeng
MUA Blessing Kambanga
HAIR STYLIST Blessing Kambanga
SET DESIGNER Charlotte Loon
SET DESIGNER ASSISTANT Maria Alpha
GAFFER Lighting by Joe
PRODUCTION New Wave Studios
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Sami Zubri
NW: We know film and music have been a big part of your life, have you been working on lots of different things recently?
RR: Yeah, I’ve been like developing stuff this year. There’s a short that I wrote, that we’re going in for funding at the moment. It’s biographical but in the most me way. It’s about space but also about being a child with mental illness. Working on ideas for TV shows and stuff. There’s been a lot of stuff that I’ve been working on. I’m a bit of a noodler, I like writing down as much as I possibly can…. I like to work on it in quite an unstructured way. I might think about something for a year and then write it out in a week.
NW: What does the term ‘noodling’ mean?
RR: It’s like a musical term. Kind of, I approach music in the same way. Like I wouldn’t spend more than a day in the actually songwriting but I will spend the whole day trying things out and then we might take a year to finish it! Just get it all down and then mess about with it for a year.
NW: What traits do you feel you want to convey in the characters you play on screen? Do you borrow any from Raleigh Ritchie?
RR: Hopefully, there’s truth in all the characters I play. I hope that I convey truth in something real and honest in everything that I do... There’s somewhere in between those characters that is me, people don’t want to admit it but you’re playing a version of yourself, you can’t help it. It goes into every character you play.
Raleigh Ritchie is like the depth of my brain, well not the entire depth. It’s the extent of my brain that I’m willing to explore and talk about. Raleigh Ritchie is more me than me, it’s the best way to put that. I’m not acting when I make music. It’s probably the most true and honest version of myself that I have access to.
Cardigan: Pronounce
Top: Michiko Kochino
Trousers: Stylist’s own
Shoes: Reebok
Raleigh Ritchie Builds The Blueprint For His Own Independence.
You’ve all heard of stories like David against Goliath. The small-time lawyer against the insidious injustice of corporations. Booming business suffocating independent sparks. Audiences love cheering for the underdog and love a good drama, but the truth is, more and more creatives are taking the reigns of their own destiny and growing into giants in their own industry. One such intrepid hero is actor, artist, writer and director: Jacob Anderson, the alter-ego of Raleigh Ritchie. Or is it the other way round?
Over the last 10 years, both Raleigh Ritchie (the artist) and Jacob Anderson (the actor) have grown and developed as one into someone who clearly knows what he wants and how to deliver it. To divide the sum of his parts would be a farce, as each song he writes and character he plays adds a line of script to his living tapestry. Recently, New Wave Magazine had the pleasure of sitting down with Jacob and discuss what ‘independence’ might mean to him, fatherhood, finding meaning in everything and realising how far his own art can affect someone.
You may recognise him as the most trusted general of the Mother of Dragons, ‘Grey Worm’ from Game of Thrones or his appearances on the acclaimed ‘Episodes’ or Broadchurch. You might have heard his last album ‘Andy’, witnessed him perform his track ‘Squares’ on James Corden’s Late Late Show (a must-see) or you may come across him in the next chapter of the Dr Who saga. Safe to say Jacob Anderson has been a busy man during this dystopian time, most recently presented with his most challenging role yet: being a dad.
WORDS PJ Somevelle
“My band, we all worked on the album together, we were all working towards this one goal”
Coat: Astrid Andersen
Trousers: John Lawrence Sullivan
Shoes: Xander Zhou
Jewellery: Rathel Wolf
Eyewear: Gentle Monster
NW: Your music comes from a very soulful and emotional place, and you mentioned mental health before in your work. Do you feel that as you’ve become older and more confident in yourself you’ve been able to express those feelings better?
RR: ‘Yeah, I think I’ve learned as I got older that the only way to exorcise these things is by saying them out loud. Like “this is what I’m going through”, it really releases something. I think I have found it easier as I’ve gotten older. I used to hide a lot more in metaphors and stuff. Now I feel like I can have more fun with it, how I talk about it and approach it. The truth is just below the surface. I don’t normally think about it (except in interviews), because that’s just how I write.’
NW: When you hear the word “independence”, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind?
RR: “Freedom” is the first word that comes to mind, I have quite a strange relationship with independence. You can be independently minded and then you can work in a situation where you have to do everything by committee and that can really kill the energy. Or you can be independently minded and work in a team where you all work towards the same goal. You’re independent but it’s collaborative. Working with Chris Loco on “Andy”, Chad Edwards (he’s an amazing keys player) and my band. We all worked on the album together, we were all working towards this one goal. Adding bits of ourselves to it. That felt like a really independent process but we were working as a team. You find like-minded people and you do it together.
NW: No, absolutely! That’s music. It can be any song, if it connects to you, that’s all that matters. Do you feel your songs can make someone else feel that way?
RR: I hope so, I feel that all my songs have been so freeing to write and people have said to me that I’ve articulated something that they feel, and I feel that’s something really freeing. Different songs with different circumstances can change how people feel. I was also thinking about ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ is another song where I was in a transition period from my label, I had to be in charge of my own stuff. That song boosted me, it gave me a real feeling of future of possibility and destiny.
Once I’ve written a song and we’ve finished working on it. Once we release it, it doesn’t belong to me anymore. The whole purpose of releasing songs is that hopefully it will be cathartic for someone.
NW: Everyone finds their own meaning...
RR: Yeah people have been to shows and said ‘Bloodsport is like this’, or like ‘Stronger Than Ever’, or whatever ‘Pressure is this for me’ and I’m like “cool!”.
I’m glad that people find their own meaning in things, I don’t understand why people need to claim some sort of ownership of that. Something doesn’t have to be one thing.
Jumper: John Lawrence Sullivan
Top: Stylist’s own
Trousers: COS
Shoes: Reebok
NW: How’s the family? You became a dad last year, right?
RR: ‘It’s been amazing, it’s as hard as what all the parents you know told you. They were not joking, it’s also as rewarding as they said as well. My daughter is a little genius, she’s so funny and clever. There are points in the day where you’re like, is it not nap time yet, is it not bedtime yet? And they go to bed, and you’re like, I really miss you. It’s challenging sometimes, but it’s the best.’
NW: How important has self-care been during the Pandemic? What are the main ways you ensure you are not consumed by work and can take care of your own wellbeing?
RR: ‘I’m not sure I did take care of myself over the Pandemic, but I think it’s so important to take care of yourself when you’re spending so much time in the same place. It can give your brain, almost too much space to take over, because your body is not taking on most of the work. I got the a place where I was dragging my body a little bit. Towards the end of lockdown, I started to do meditation, like Pranayama breathing techniques and stuff and it really made a huge difference. Having short bits of meditation that were, that weren’t like super difficult or super challenging that I could do at any point in the day and just contributed to feeling a little bit more relaxed and mindful. I also played a lot of ‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ at the start of lockdown as well and that was incredibly helpful!’
“ You have to fall down to know what it’s like to get up. We have to fail and keep trying.”
NW: How has your music changed since your debut album in 2016?
RR: I don’t know how much, like how my music has changed since the first album. I feel like maybe, on the first album I tried to hide a little bit, I tried to hide behind metaphor, like some of the things I was talking about. I think with the second album I just wanted to be a little bit more front-footed, be just a little bit more explicit in what I was talking about. I think I gave myself permission to do that, and it really changed how I wrote songs. The second album is still me, still in conversation with the first album, it’s almost like if, the first album was about being an adult reflecting on childhood. The second album was about being an adult reflecting on being an adult. Or kind of taking a more playful, childlike approach to reflecting on being an adult. I think that’s what the second album was. I had better self-knowledge in the second album. The first album I was just kind of, venting a lot.
My life has changed a lot since the first album. I’ve toured a lot! Which makes a big difference to how you deal with the sonics of your music because you see how people respond to it live and in the flesh.
NW: And how has your life changed since?
RR: I don’t know how, my life has changed in lots of ways. I don’t know if it has changed because of music or because of life, because time moves forward. I think I’m a little bit more...I think I thought about it a little too much with the first album. I think now, I’m a lot more free.
I didn’t really have a remit for the second album. I don’t think I’m going to have a remit going forward. With the first album I tried to keep it within certain limitations. Which is good sometimes, there’s a place for that. But sometimes you can build a little prison for yourself.
NW: So family is also a massive part of your life now, how do you feel the concept of “independence” ties in with raising your daughter with freedom and responsibility?
RR: I think it’s just about... I mean who knows? We’re figuring it out, we’re taking cues from her. Creating space for your child to learn. She’s so resilient. It’s quite indescribable. She’s figuring it out too. You just have to create space and trust that, always make sure that you’re there to catch her. Which I think is the same with anything creative. You wanna have people around you or be there for someone else and like say “cool, go make your thing and if you need me I’m here”. At the moment that’s how I feel. I don’t know how I’ll be when she’s a teenager!’
“The second album was about being an adult reflecting on being an adult. Or kind of taking a more playful, childlike approach to reflecting on being an adult.”
NW: There’s no amount of books or advice...
RR: No! Nothing prepares you. You got to take it day by day, hour by hour sometimes. And she is that independent person, sometimes she’ll go to a corner and read by herself and other times she wants to read 6 books in a row with me! Independence is a choice and freeing yourself up to have a choice.’
NW: And freedom is being able to make mistakes as well.
RR: Absolutely, you have to fall down to know what it’s like to get up. We have to fail and keep trying. The worst thing you can do is fall into apathy. Which I do all the time, but it’s the process of dragging yourself out of that and trying again. Repeat for infinity!
NW: It’s been a pleasure to talk to you. We appreciate your time and your story. We know more music is coming and we can’t wait.
RR: Thank you.