Back to index of Nerve 10 - Spring 2007

Music Profile - Ragz

By Amanda DeAngeles

Ragz has been recording her first Album: "Little Stings" and will be ready to release it in 2007.
Over the last year she has supported the likes of Ian McNabb, Vijay Kishore and Baby Dee and she aims to stick around for a long time.
She gives the Liverpool acoustic-scene a much needed woman's touch. In a totally, "No I'm not that way inclined (righteous female-solidarity) sorta way" she's a talented musician on the cusp of international stardom and her fan-base is ever-increasing.

So, where does the name 'Ragz' come from?
"Well it's actually quite simple to be honest; I have a very long Norwegian name 'Ragnhild', so it just ended up being 'Ragz'."

Ragz was born in Norway, in a little town just outside Oslo called Hokksund. I asked her what she missed most about home.
"Well I do miss my family and I miss the type of nature that is there; 'cos you can't find it in any other country I don't think. But, to be honest, I really don't miss it that much because I really enjoy being in Liverpool and I'm at that stage in my life when things are changing all the time and I'm enjoying the change so I'm not ready to miss nowhere yet."

She came to Liverpool in 2002.
"It was just one of those things, a choice you feel is right; there was a school and I applied and got in. I thought this is right, I've gotta do this and one day I was here - right!"

Music has been a big part of her life since she was a child.
"I've been singing since I was a kid, but any singer just sings. I can remember lullabies my parents sung to me when I was very young. The guitar was actually a little competition for me and my older brother, 'cos he was very much into rock bands . . . I was not, but he had a guitar so I bought one. I was fifteen I think. It sounded terrible, but I had a lot of fun."

I think you're a rare, feminine presence in the city's acoustic-music scene. Is it scary to be surrounded by such masculine camaraderie all the time, you know, the boys joking about and what have you . . .?
"The boys and the balls!" she laughs. "Well, erm, I don't really look at it that way to be honest.
“Of course, if somebody ran up to me and wanted a fist-fight, I wouldn't stay. It's just I do what I do the way I do it and no guy could do that. And I wouldn't be able to do it the way a guy does, so I'm kinda just trying to get through to people as people, not as genders . . . in a way; that's what I hope I do."

And what are your goals for the future?
"This is what I do - I hope to do more gigs. I love meeting new people and places and if I can have this for the rest of my life I'll be happy."

Visit: www.myspace.com/ragzmusic

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