Interview: Hurray For The Riff Raff

Alynda Lee Segarra is the heart and soul of Hurray For The Riff Raff. The Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and banjo player grew up in the Bronx and as a teen found her way into the hardcore scene on New Your's Lower East Side. It wasn't long before she was living the archetypical beat lifestyle, hopping freight trains around the States before eventually settling in to her spiritual home of New Orleans, where she has channelled the energy of early blues women to help forge her own folk-blues sound.

Having recently released fifth studio album Small Town Heroes, Segarra's music is taking on a life of its own thanks to the potency of her song 'The Body Electric'. Written as a response to the tradition of murder ballads, the track has become an anti-violence anthem of sorts, with the band setting up The Body Electric Fund to raise money to make a video for the song, as well as shed some light on The Trayvon Martin and Third Wave Foundations. UnderTheRadar caught up with Segarra to ask her more about her early musical influences, the development of her social consciousness and the Body Electric project...

Click here to read the full interview with Alynda Lee Segarra and watch the 'End Of The Line' below

Hurray For The Riff Raff are performing on Friday 21st November at The Tuning Fork in Auckland. See below for details.