Pop singer Raffa Weyman, who performs under the name Ralph, will be lighting up the Burt with fellow Canadian Carly Rae Jepsen on Sept. 9.
Weyman, who is from Toronto, is enlisted as the supporting act for all of the Canadian dates of Jepsen’s The Dedicated Tour.
Weyman said that her and Jepsen’s sounds and fan bases are “really similar, so it just kind of made sense to combine forces.”
She said their fans “want to dance, they want to wear fun outfits and listen to music that makes them feel good.”
The music Weyman makes under the name Ralph combines 1980s and 1990s beats and synths with modern pop influences.
Her lyrics feature feminist themes and explore topics like romantic relationships, self-love and “texting your ex.”
She also writes about the complexities of friendships and familial relationships.
“If I don’t have a good home base of people who make me feel good and make me feel loved, then nothing matters, so it’s nice to write about that too,” she said.
Weyman values relatability in music and strives to write lyrics that connect with her audience.
“It’s so amazing when you can find a song that makes you feel comforted and accepted,” she said.
Before taking on the name Ralph, Weyman was part of an all-female folk group. When the group went their separate ways, she began to search for other musical collaborators.
She ended up working with a man she went on a failed date with who needed a vocalist to accompany the retro synth-pop songs he was producing.
“At first I wasn’t connecting with it 100 per cent,” she said.
“And I thought that was maybe [just] me and pop music, but then I realized that in order for me to connect with a song, I have to be a part of the whole writing process.
“It can’t be someone sending me a pre-written song, I have to be in the room, writing the song from the beginning.”
Pop music transformed from a side project to Weyman’s main musical focus after she began composing her own tracks independently from start to finish. “Trouble” was her first track released under the name Ralph back in 2015, followed by her debut full-length album A Good Girl in 2018.
Her music production process is collaborative every step of the way in order to create the distinct Ralph sound.
“The cool thing with pop is that it’s such a hybrid genre that you can just make it whatever the fuck you want,” she said.
Weyman said she plays with different musical styles in her upcoming EP, No Muss No Fuss.
“Each song kind of has a really different vibe,” she said.
“Gravity”, along with No Muss No Fuss’s title track, was released as a single this year. A third single is due to be released before the full EP comes out this November.
Ralph will be opening for Carly Rae Jepsen at the Burton Cummings Theatre for Performing Arts Sept. 9. Tickets are available on ticketmaster.ca. Ralph’s music is available for streaming and download on major streaming sites.
