RAEGAN ON CRYING IS A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND, MUSICAL THEATRE POP & EMBRACING RAEGAN CORE
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
WORDS POPPY JARVIS
RAEGAN is the New York born, genre-bending pop artist who has built a reputation for turning her inner chaos into something cinematic, theatrical and defiantly her own.
With her latest single release ‘CRYING IS A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND’, she takes the theatrical energy of a Broadway number and filters it through a glossy, chaotic pop lens creating both a showstopping musical number and an intimate confession: “it’s about realising that after every heartbreak, every rejection, every night spent feeling abandoned, you still have yourself.”
With her upcoming EP on the horizon, RAEGAN writes a love letter to the outsiders and theatre kids who were told to quiet down, only to crank the volume all the way up: a reminder that being loud, dramatic and deeply yourself is the whole point.
Poppy Jarvis: How do you usually describe yourself when someone asks, "what kind of music do you make?"
RAEGAN: I always get nervous when someone asks me this question because I’m like, hmmm, they’re either going to light up and get interested or be like… oh… haha. But regardless, I always say I make musical theatre-inspired pop music (and I’m very proud of it).
PJ: Your music sits somewhere between a stage production, a diary entry and a pop track. How do those different instincts work together when you're creating?
R: To be honest, when I’m writing or creating music, I don’t think of anything other than what I’m creating, so finding the balance is quite natural and just falls into place however it needs to for each record. When I’m making music, it already feels like a diary entry that I’m taking to a main stage.
PJ: You call your sound ‘Musical Theatre Pop’, but it feels bigger than just a genre. What does that world feel like from the inside?
R: It feels magical! This is where all the drama queens, theatre kids, the queer community, and cry-babies can unite and be unapologetically themselves.
PJ: Beneath all the glamour, ‘CRYING IS A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND' carries a powerful message about finding strength in vulnerability. When did the song's deeper meaning click into place for you?
R: Honestly, right from the start. In this session, we talked for a while about what I was feeling and what we should write about, and once we sat at the piano and started being vulnerable, everything else fell right into place and we just focused on putting my feelings into writing.
PJ: Does ‘CRYING IS A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND’ feel like you’re stepping into a new era, or like embracing a part of yourself that was already there?
R: I’d say both!! RAEGAN CORE is the era I’m in right now, and I feel like CRYING IS A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND fits perfectly in this world. It’s theatrical, raw and over the top - this record feels like the climax of the RAEGAN CORE show.
PJ: If ‘Crying Is A Girl’s Best Friend’ had to be summarised in one brutally honest sentence, what would it be?
R: Is it crazy for me to just say the title back to you?? Haha! Because that’s me being brutally honest… crying is my best friend… like, for real!
PJ: It's been a journey since ‘F*CK RAEGAN’. When you revisit that project, what parts of yourself do you still see clearly, and what parts have changed the most?
R: So much has changed, but the one common theme is that I am expressing myself and who I am in a sonic form, which is what I will always do. It feels so nostalgic when I listen to that project and hear the high school version of me.
PJ: Your new EP ‘RAEGAN CORE’ sounds like a big statement. What’s at the heart of it?
R: Drama, theatre, whimsy, and camp.
PJ: How do you hope listeners feel after hearing ‘RAEGAN CORE’ from start to finish?
R: Empowered. I want them to feel witty, hot, and give them the confidence to be unapologetically bold and themselves.
PJ: And finally, what’s your favourite F-Word?
R: Probably fairies – I love fairies.
