Rauda’s passion for music runs deep

The details of any endeavor, no matter how small, do not equal insignificance. This was an idea I was enlightened to while attending Antelope Valley College.

Frank Simes, guitarist, record producer and musical director for The Who, was scheduled as a guest speaker. To illustrate this point, he used the inner workings of a watch as an analogy. All of the pieces, no matter how small, are needed to function.

Years later, I’m transported back to that lecture speaking with Richard Rauda. A songwriter, luthier and Antelope Valley native, he has nurtured his passion for music and the electric guitar since his childhood.

“There’s so many ‘best’ parts of music,” he said. “One of my favorite things is all the little details that, probably, the musician that made is it the only one really thinking about it.”

Although the message originated from two different people, what was said remains the same. Simes, who was 60 at that time, has a storied resumé working with legends of Rock ‘n Roll. Rauda, 28, is an upand-coming songwriter with his new band, Arcadia Bay, burgeoning onto LA’s Indie and Alt rock scenes.

Beyond the standard metrics like age, background and any other category, the passion for music runs deeper than anything.

It’s not only the love of music that blossoms over the years, it’s also the dedication to the craft. For most musicians, it seems to begin in childhood.

“I started taking music lessons at age 10 at Mario’s Music,” Rauda said. “I fell in love with it very quickly. It was like instant. I literally slept with it (the guitar) for like a few months. It was kind of cool to find my thing at a young age.”

Along with countless hours of practice, he describes another vital first step in the journey: The raiding of our parents’ music collection.

“I used to stay up until four in the morning dig

ging though my parents CD collection,” Rauda said. “I’d go there and find the CDs you aren’t supposed to listen to for an 11- or 12-year-old. I’d pick those ones because they looked fun. I listened to a lot of Nirvana as a little kid, thinking the guitars were so massive sounding. It’s still my favorite guitar tone. I just bought a guitar recently, it’s a 1968 Univox, I think? That’s the Nirvana guitar and I needed to have it.”

The cusp between adolescence and teenage years is a transitional time. Our bodies are growing and our minds begin to expand. When the young musician seeks their identity, the artists that speak to us in the beginning will remain with us, in echoes, through our entire creative lives.

“After that, I heard ‘Harvest’ by Neil Young,” Rauda said. “That opened up my whole world to great songwriters like Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Jim Croce, all those dudes. It’s funny in hindsight, now. Writing some of those songs as an early teenager, it was very dramatic. Very introspective, I guess. Trying to achieve Jim Croce-level songwriting, which is impossible, unless you’re Jim Croce (chuckles). Doing that made me keep pushing myself to be better and better. You never stop growing and never completely master your craft. There’s always something to learn.”

Rauda has continued growing in his new band, Arcadia Bay. Building on the experience of past projects, he discussed what fuels his creative process, today.

“I write all my songs on acoustic,” he said. “Sometimes it’s on an electric, but it’s not even plugged in. If a song doesn’t work without a full band, it’s not really something I’ve been able to tell a story with. Thankfully, through all the bands I’ve been in, I’ve been really fortunate to play with people who are brilliant musicians, who are way better than I am. They bring a higher grade of musicianship to it and fill out the things I don’t know what to do with.”

While any musician is pursuing their dreams, financial fuel is necessary as creative fuel. Thankfully, Rauda has found work as a luthier at LSL Guitars. Luthiers make stringed instruments like guitars and violins.

“I’ve been there for about five months now,” he said. “I do the fretwork on the guitars. I shape them, polish them, level them. I also do some of the buffing, assembly and set-ups. It’s kind of insane I get to do this for a job. Like I told you, I literally slept with my guitar for the first four months. It’s crazy that I go to work, chill with my mentor, listen to cool records and work on guitars.”

Just like a great song, it’s the little details that make the music that much sweeter. The moments, no matter how small, that will shape our story in ways we can never expect.