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Rafter - "Fruit"
Rafter Roberts, aka San Diego-based multi-tasking Asthmatic Kitty carrot top Rafter, has been composing a "song a day" after the release of his second full-length, Sex Death Cassette. "Fruit," a particularly catchy nugget of weirdness, appears for the first time in this week's Gum Drop. Rafter plays just about everything on it. "Everything but the saxophone, which my friend Chris Cory tooted," he says. The above photo was taken by Lizeth Santos, who you'll learn more about in the below Q&A, when we talk with Rafter about what else went into "Fruit."
Why did you decide to do all these extra non-album tracks? I finished the album a while ago, and have been aching to do new stuff. Quite a few times I had aborted unsuccessful writing attempts -- made me sad! But then I started doing the "song a day" project with my sweetheart Lizeth -- she does a photo shoot a day, I write and record a full song -- and the ideas just started flowing. I think so far I have almost 30 new songs I'm really happy with! Part of being an artist, I think, is just doing the work, and so I'm just trying to do the work.
"Fruit"'s a love/lust song. What's the story behind it? How'd you decide to go with the metaphor? Or are you talking about actual fruit? If so, why is this person hoarding it? It's totally a love and lust song! I think it comes from the beginning of my relationship with Lizeth -- we were falling in love but holding back because we had both been crazy hurt by our previous relationships. So in this song, she's locked herself in this old falling apart house, and she's in there with all this luscious fruit, and I'm outside trying to peek in, trying to convince her to open the door and let me share her fruit. I tell her, "I know that you'd love me if you would share your fruit with me!" She doesn't want to share the fruit cause she's afraid ... and so in real life, she did share her fruit with me, and loved it, and it worked, cause now we're engaged to be married! Awesome!
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Awesome, indeed. Sex Death Cassette is out on Asthmatic Kitty, though this song's not on it.
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