The world of R&B has a rising new star. Justerini Sandoval, also known as RINI, looks to leave his mark in the music industry with his new and unique sound. RINI’s brand new single “Bedtime Story” is available now on all streaming platforms as RINI continues to give fans exactly what they want; new music.
With all the different types of music artists in the world, Justerini looks to implement his Filipino-Australian background into his music to separate himself from the rest of the pack. RINI’s individuality shines brightly on all of his work, but more recently on his project “After the Sun,” which was released in 2018. The EP did numbers as soon as it came out and RINI was immediately thrown to the forefront of R&B. Since then he has kept fans waiting by being selective when he releases new music. With that being said, explore the incredible RINI below!
RINI Exclusive Interview
*This interview was edited for clarity*
How are things going for you in Australia right now?
Things are going well in Australia. It’s pretty chill right now, plus we’re on the way to easing lockdown.
What have you been doing the last several weeks to stay busy during quarantine?
I’ve been keeping busy working on my next album that’s coming out. I’ve got a studio in my room so I’ve been making a lot of stuff there especially since I can’t really go anywhere else.
There’s been talk of a new album for you, is there an official release date for the project yet?
There’s a big chance the new project will be releasing this summer so maybe around June. We’ve got “Bedtime Story” releasing and it sounds super dope. There’s a music video coming out with it too and people are going to be able to relate to it a ton so people will love it.
Do the sounds and delivery to your new music sound similar to your previous work or is it completely different?
I would say it’s completely different, but it has a massive influence from the previous release in terms of the compositions and the instruments we use. It’s sort of just an evolution of the EP. The EP “After the Sun” is a lot more chill and this time there’s a lot more bounce and groove and the feel is a lot more happy and romantic.
What sort of things are you looking to accomplish with some of your new music? Is it still the same intentions as its been in the past?
There are a lot more people that need to hear the music, but I feel like that will come over time. What I’m trying to achieve right now is to focus on my live performance. I really want to make the live show an experience for the people. Also, working on myself in terms of musicality and I would like to improve my ability to play more instruments to incorporate that in my production and of course finish the album.
It’s been a couple of years since you released an entire project, and you released the video to “My Favorite Clothes” in December – can you tell us what it was like releasing the brand new video to “Aphrodite?”
It was super exciting because I shot that in LA and I flew there just to shoot it. It’s a very different video in terms of the mood. It’s basically a performance video and I haven’t done anything like that in a while so it was very exciting. The director was creative and had super cool ideas and shots so it looked awesome to me.
What’s the feedback been like from the fans since the release? Was it what you had hoped?
There’s been a lot of good feedback on the video. When they watched “My Favorite Clothes,” there was an ending that led to Aphrodite so everyone was asking for the video, and when it came out people said the video was making their quarantine better. They were loving it man.
Were you able to learn anything from the release?
Not really, the song had been out for a while so shooting the music video for it was for the people. It was the most played song off my EP on YouTube so I know people wanted to see it.
Creatively, do you feel relaxed in between albums or do you feel like you should be creating all the time?
Right now I feel very relaxed and feel very confident that this next album is going to be super dope. I know that people will like it, but I’m still working on new stuff. I’m still always trying to make new stuff. Make beats every day and track demos. When you do music you gotta keep doing it to keep the creative juices flowing.
Can you explain how your multi-cultural background has influenced your music?
Being a Filipino, music was bound to be a part of my life. I grew up in a household where my dad is a musician as well and a lot of my friends in the Philippines play the guitar and they sing. It’s just like a thing. Growing up within the Filipino culture we have a different approach to love and a lot of other things so I feel like my culture has helped me out with my perspective on the world and how I write about my feelings and my experiences.
Was it anything in particular back in the day where you thought to yourself “maybe I could be a singer and songwriter?” Did it come from a previous experience? Or a song or album you heard?
I never really thought about being able to do music full time or have it be my career because it’s kind of a risky place to be in, but I sort of developed a love and passion for music. Eventually, I said that I loved doing it. My family and friends probably influenced me, but it’s what I felt about music that made me want to do it more.
If you were to look into the future two years from now what is RINI doing?
Probably doing shows around the world and making music, hopefully, this Corona-thing will be done by then! Haha.
What would you say to passionate music listeners and readers in the Seattle area that are just finding out about RINI for the first time?
This is a different thing. I’m bringing back the old R&B, the conversation that the old R&B used to have and I’m doing that with my sound and how the lyrics are. Today I feel like a lot of R&B songs today are about booty and hollering and I’m bringing that real love conversation back.
Stream “Bedtime Story” Now!
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