In ‘03, on her 22nd birthday, NZ singer-songwriter Renee-Louise Carafice was institutionalized at Auckland's Te Whetu Tawera with severe depression. As a means of coping in this challenging time, Carafice wrote an illustrated book of songs about her experiences, later referring to them as her “hospital songs”.
While in this difficult time in her life, she feared that her life was ruined to some extent by her institutionalization, having no knowledge of people who had come through the mental health system and gone on to lead fulfilling and good lives. Carafice developed a strong and unshakable vision of becoming that role model, to herself and to others, and to prove that she could not just survive mental illness but live a totally glorious life.
As soon as she was (barely!) able, Renee-Louise Carafice released these songs to the public, through live performances with her band Operation and through student radio. 95bFM featured her first single, Lorazopam on its Top Ten chart for 4 straight weeks, only 8 months after her hospital release.
Renee-Louise Carafice attempted to convey her experience of mental illness in a gentle, sometimes teasing, often touching musical format, which quickly saw the public reacting with fascination and support.
She toured NZ with US acts Crooked Fingers and Micah P Hinson, as well as opening for David Pajo.
In ‘05, Carafice won the Nescafe Big Break award for young people with vision, having submitted her music.
With her awarded money she recorded this, her solo album Renee-Louise Carafice: Tells You to Fight.
The album was recorded at Steve Albini’s legendary analog recording studio, Electrical Audio, in Chicago.
Tells You To Fight was engineered by Nick Abbott (Crowded House, Goldenhorse, Pluto), produced by Ben King (Goldenhorse) and mastered at Skye Mastering in Scotland (Talk Talk, Madness).
In ‘06 Carafice moved to Chicago to pursue her music career amongst her musical heroes. Since her move, she has opened for extremely popular US acts such as Casiotone For The Painfully Alone and Xiu Xiu.
Though Renee-Louise Carafice is from the same musical family as Goldenhorse and Anika Moa, her music is intended, by nature, to challenge her audience in a kind way, to open their eyes. |
