Berbekal “There’s a will, there’s a way”, perempuan asal Surabaya ini melangkah pasti ke dunia musik. Yuk, kenalan dengan musisi unik yang berbasis di Melbourne ini.
Sebelum kita beranjak ke Q&A (sengaja kami tak terjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Indonesia agar semua konteks pertanyaan dan jawabannya tetap utuh), perempuan kelahiran Surabaya 9 April 1990 ini memiliki latar belakang pribadi yang sangat menarik untuk kita ketahui.
Si Kecil yang Sibuk Bermusik
Masa kecil Louisa Zais dihabiskan dengan bermain musik, dimulai saat ia berusia lima tahun. Empat tahun kemudian ia mencicipi panggung, dan sejak itu gadis kecil ini tampil di mana-mana. Kecintaannya bermusik tentunya mendapat dukungan penuh dari orangtuanya. Bentuk dukungan ini bisa berarti mengikuti sembilan kursus musik dengan guru yang berbeda dan jenis musik/instrumen yang berbeda dalam satu minggu! Intensitas ini kerap membuat Louisa remaja begitu bahagia saat waktunya berlibur dengan keluarga. Selain memiliki keluarga yang begitu mendukung dan mencintainya, Louisa merasa begitu beruntung memiliki empat sahabat yang membuatnya mengingat bahwa dirinya masih manusia biasa disamping kesibukannya yang padat dalam bermusik.
Di luar itu, Louisa merasa nilai-nilai yang dibangun orangtuanya merasuk ke dalam dirinya. Meski sangat disiplin, tekun, dan teguh memegang janji, sang ayah tak pernah lupa mengajak keluarganya berlibur untuk meredakan tensi. Sedangkan dari ibunya, Louisa belajar menjadi malaikat dan pahlawan bagi anak-anaknya. Keberanian dan kebebasan diri juga diturunkan dari sang ibu yang menurut Louisa memiliki iman “yang dapat memindahkan gunung”. Keduanya membuat Louisa beranjak dewasa dengan prinsip “if there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Things She Loves
Ada lima hal yang Louisa sukai: alam, jalan-jalan, desain/arsitektur, fashion, dan, tentu saja musik. Ia memandang dirinya adalah pribadi yang unik, berharga, dan bebas. Bersama Tuhan, ia dapat melakukan segalanya. Mantera ini menjadi tato pada lengannya agar tiap hari, saat gosok gigi tiap pagi dan malam, ia dapat mengingatkan dirinya sendiri. Karena mengapa tidak? Seperti kita semua, Louisa mengaku cenderung melupakannya.
Sedangkan di waktu luangnya, Louisa sangat menyukai ke tempat-tempat di mana ia dapat menikmati alam atau melakukan hal-hal yang sama sekali baru.
Bicara cinta, Louisa mengekspresikannya dengan menuliskan sebuah lagu untuk saudara laki-lakinya sebagai wadah untuk menuangkan rasa syukur, sukacita, dan kasihnya. Lagu berjudul “2915 Miles” itu khusus dipersembahkan sebagai kado pernikahan kakaknya. Lagu itu sendiri terilhami oleh kisah cinta sang kakak dan istrinya yang menurut Louisa begitu luar biasa. Menurut Louisa lagi, mungkin itulah lagu cinta pertamanya dan sampai saat ini satu-satunya lagu cinta yang pernah ia tulis.
Sekarang soal nama panggungnya yang unik. Louisa menjelaskan bahwa ia memilih menyandang nama “Ribbonacci” karena itu adalah fashion brand-nya sebelum ia serius menekuni musik. Aslinya itu adalah nama rok yang ia buat sebagai proyek avant-garde, yang dibuat dari pita dan menggunakan sekuens deret ukur Fibonacci. Well, told you she’s very unique. Now, let’s get on to the very special interview with a very special soul.
Being an artist what’s the biggest problem you’ve had to overcome so far?
Being who I am and accepting who I am and what I do and so on. I have had huge insecurity problems (that’s why I gave up music before) that led to confusion about purpose and directions, and depression, and I still have to continue to overcome those problems to this day. That’s why through my music and words, I intend to share about those and how to be committed to constantly get up and fight those feelings. I believe, if in a lot of the difficult times, my songs have ministered to my heart in the most magical way, they will too, to you and more people.
What do you enjoy most about being a musician? What do you hate most?
I love singing, playing music, and creating (writing and producing my songs). It’s like doing what you love/spending time for your hobbies for work. I wouldn’t say hate, it’s just more of like some behind-the-scene responsibilities a.k.a tedious works that most people also have to do such as business planning, management, etc. So, I am now doing them with being grateful that I have some variations in what I do.
If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
I wouldn’t change anything, I believe everything is there for a reason, for now, this time and space. It might not be like that forever. So I’ll just be me (hopefully I would remember to do that everyday), and you got to be you, and when our paths lead us to each other, let’s see what shift we can make for a better tomorrow. (Some of these are actually from a song that I’m currently writing LOL).
What drew you to the music industry?
I’d say it is definitely something bigger than me. Some say the force, the universe. I say He is God. I’ve given up doing music before, I thought I wouldn’t want to continue pursuing it. I side-tracked myself doing fashion. But before Christmas three years ago, one morning I bluntly woke up, grabbed a pen and paper, wrote a song in a blink, it was done just like that together with some sounds and instruments in my head. That’s the first song I’ve ever written. If that wasn’t God, I don’t know what is.
Who are you inspired by?
Everyone who can embrace who they are, knows what they want, and does something about it, no matter how hard it might look like. It keeps changing for me. They could be an inspiring friend, family member, co-worker, to someone like Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, or even Marie Kondo who recently made a name out of tidying up houses? So inspiring indeed 😀
Please explain your creative process
Most of it is from listening to a lot of music, from Billie Eilish to Lady Gaga, and, from seeing a lot of things from different perspectives, from people to the ocean. And then suddenly a brilliant chorus come in the shower, or in the car.
What’s an average day like for you?
Reading/listening to podcast – going to the gym – chores because I am a clean freak! HA! – practice my music – working on other things – and some days I teach my brilliant students in my studio.
Is there a hidden meaning in any of your music?
I guess they are pretty straight forward. Sometimes I do use some metaphors but just like any music that penetrates souls in different ways, you would figure that out 🙂
Do you collaborate with others? What is that process?
Sometimes I collaborate with mixing/mastering engineers. So I would write my song, and produce it, and then they would give some ‘love’ to make it fancier. I would want to collaborate with more instrumentalists in the future.
Please discuss how you interact with and respond to your fans
Currently, my responsiveness is based on urgency. I use Instagram and Facebook the most in my free time, and if you tried to get in touch from my website www.louisaribbonacci.com it would go straight to my email. Apologise if sometimes I didn’t log in for a few days, but please be patient because I commit to reply to everyone as soon as I can. 🙂
Have you ever dealt with performance anxiety? Tell me about your favorite performance venue?
Not so much of performance anxiety for me, but more of anxiety of whether or not I am able to put up with my own high standard that day. Current favourite performance venue is Loop Project Space and Bar in Melbourne. Lots of love for that venue. It is reasonably sized, creates intimate vibe, but yet they have great facilities that supported my performance last month so amazingly. The team is also very friendly, effective, and they do their job really well.
What advice would you have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
May be not only in my footsteps but this would work in any other footsteps too ;D
Words do come alive, and dreams do come true. Get to know yourself, what you want, and go for it. It doesn’t have to be something big or for the future, it can be as simple as, “Today I dream about going to the beach”. If you thought about it, articulated in words, and wanted it bad enough, no matter how busy you are, you will make it happen. I believe the same goes for career dream or other dreams that you wish to come true.
How do you yourself in this industry in 5 years?
Good question because I am still planning this. But set planning aside, I really want to write and release more songs, be able to sing for more people, share my heart out to my audience, exchange life lessons and experiences, and sell out arena-sized concert. I also want to win at least a Grammy.
It sounds like a really big dream but I believe, together we can make anything happen. If you would, contact me on social media/my website and introduce yourself, and then we can just chat or you can share with me your 5-year goals and then we could keep each other accountable and see how it goes in the New Year to come! [IM]
