Ripsy May

‘Black Wine’ is singer-songwriter Ripsy May’s debut release. The video, created by the same production team behind Joyrich’s campaigns, is a perfect depiction of the song’s more profound message; in which the phrase ‘black wine’ could be seen as synonymous with the role media plays in today’s conflicts of race and identity.

‘Third-culture kid’ aka “Rip” (an Armenian born in Latvia, and raised in London after the Soviet collapse, but currently living in Los Angeles) is hard to pinpoint. With her unconventional background, comes her unconventional sound.

We wanted to find out more…

Why did you start making music?

Hard to answer – I grew up listening to music and always celebrated it. But to be specific, it was about 2 years ago that I decided to pursue music full-time.

We know very little about you, but your music is already picking up a lot of traction on social media. Why do you think this is?

I have absolutely no idea. I wasn’t on social media before the day of the release. It’s hard to say what makes something successful or not – especially if it’s something creative. But I didn’t have any set rules or guidelines when creating the song or working on the visual – I think that can be very freeing, and perhaps that’s what people caught on to. I must say that I have an amazing team – Gabby (Endacott) has worked in management/A&R for a while and Kearra (Nicolle) is a digital media queen – their hustle definitely helped push it forward.

Describe your sound in three words. 

Honest, varied, and sometimes a little weird.

The video to your single, ‘Black Wine’, has an awesome concept behind it. Tell us some more about it!

The video is essentially a group of different people being subjected to different stresses, and then coming out of it. You get to watch them go through the different experiences, and ‘Black Wine’ is my word for propaganda in the song – so it’s watching them fight, or accept it. I could go on, but I want the viewer to have their own experiences of the song, and video.

Where do you cite your musical influences from?

Definitely the old cats. Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, the Bee Gees, Queen…

We love new music at Indietronica. What new music are you listening to?

I love Tame Impala – who doesn’t? But I also think the most recent Alabama Shakes’ record is brilliant.

Sounds like: Little Dragon, Santigold, SBTRKT, Foxtrott

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