What is your greatest passion or joy as a singer, voice teacher, or vocal professional?
Music is a beautiful language and I love to be able to communicate it through singing. The art of words combining with notes, the creative process, it’s a language I started learning from a very young age (3 years old) and continues to grow in me. As a singer, you never stop learning, never stop growing, there are only 12 notes to choose from but it’s enough to speak infinite words. As a voice teacher I want my students to not only sing but experience the music, grow vocally so they can reach beyond what they thought was possible. As a professional vocalist, I love to perform and hear the audience singing along, experiencing joy and the beauty music brings.
Tell us the latest news about you, your studio, and your work!
In 2022 I was honored to receive, along with my studio (Radical Coaching Studios), the international award for “Best Music Service of The Year” Prestige Awards UK in a ceremony in New York. Also, in 2022 Radical Coaching Studios became a fully remote vocal studio and since then we’ve been experiencing a new season. This transition has allowed us to expand geographically with students in Brazil, Hawaii, and Alaska. This new format has also inspired us to develop even more ideas to reach students. We are currently developing stand-alone online courses, our app and starting a podcast in the fall. I have also released a series of singles last year as part of a project called “Backburner” which were compositions I had in my backburner file since 2017 which I decided to “bring them to life” (click here for my latest releases https://songwhip.com/iamraffad).
What is an interesting or funny fact about you?
I love dogs, TV series, Musicals, and working with wood. Yes, believe it or not, I find it very relaxing and rewarding the process of building things with wood.
What led you to the NYVC Voice Teacher Training & Certification Program?
My wife and I were both worship pastors at a well-known church, and I was browsing for voice courses to improve our singing. I found the program and called NYVC, not realizing it was a Teacher Training program. Upon discovering that, I thanked the person who gave me the information and explained that unfortunately, it wasn't something we could afford at the time. Little did we know it was exactly what we needed, and it was going to transform our lives forever. The next day, they called back, wanting to schedule a meeting with Justin. Puzzled, we went into the meeting not knowing what to expect. In the meeting, Justin, in his kindness and generosity, made an offer we could not refuse. A few months later, we left our jobs at the church, did part of our training online, then moved to Philadelphia so we could be closer to finish the training in person. In December 2015, we graduated from the Certification Program. That's when Radical Coaching Studios was born, and it is still one of the best gifts we've ever received. From there, we pursued our bachelor's degrees from Berklee College of Music, where we both graduated with honors, and last year, we won a recognition as one of the best music services on the East Coast USA, as per Prestige Awards. We never get tired of saying that the NYVC Voice Teacher Training & Certification Program and Justin Stoney changed the course of our lives forever.
What was your experience in the NYVC Voice Teacher Training & Certification Program?
In a few words, eye-opening. At first, I was a little overwhelmed by the wealth of information. However, as I began to experience the techniques I was learning, I started to question how I could have possibly been singing without them my whole life. As the training days continued, I felt both mesmerized and inspired to continue learning and to share that knowledge with as many singers as I could. I knew this would also change their approach to singing forever as well.
What advice would you give to future participants of the Program?
Hang in there! In the beginning you may feel overwhelmed with so much great information, maybe, like me, even feel a mix of emotions such as happiness for learning something awesome and shame for using and teaching some techniques proven not to be effective, but if you open your mind to really learn and accept new teaching you will grow a lot.
I have yet to meet a more generous and passionate teacher than Justin. Take time to study the graphics, the syllabus, take the quizzes. Take notes, study your notes, ask questions, take notes of the answers. To this day, I still go back to mine even as I continue my studies. What I have learned at the NYVC Voice Teacher Training & Certification Program gave me a new foundation upon which I have built a very successful practice.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as an artist, teacher, or vocal professional?
Myself! As artists sometimes we tend to be our “worst” critics. We should always reach to grow and find ways to better ourselves but we need to be careful not to discourage ourselves in the process. I’ve learned that if I am my “worst” critic, I need to also be my biggest fan! I need to always study and be aware of the things I need to fix but also celebrate the ones that are working.
What was your greatest victory ever as an artist, teacher, or vocal professional?
I’ve been blessed to be part of many amazing projects, recordings, and live performances, but the biggest victory was my healing! In 2014 I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The tumor was 80% of my chest area and grew between my lungs and my heart. It was 12 months of treatment. I had to do 12 rounds of chemo and 23 rounds of radiation. During the process, the doctor told me I was not going to be able to sing because the treatment was going to affect my lungs severely and I would be lucky if I could speak without gasping for air. I told the doctor that I would take all the treatment, medication, and advice he gave me but singing was my treatment and I would “sing my way” through treatment. Long story short, I led worship 52 Sundays out of 54 during the 12 months, many times doing chemo on Thursdays and leading worship on Sunday. Not only was I able to sing, my voice was better and stronger than it ever was. All of the vocals and breathing exercises really came through. The doctor was amazed and until this day he uses my case as an example to studies. The doctor who performed my bi-weekly lungs exam said my lungs were better and healthier than his. I believe in God, and I know He helped me through the process.
What is one piece of advice that you would love all singers to know?
You have not learned everything you need! Don’t stop learning, practicing, training, searching and working in ways to grow. The more control you have of your voice, the more you can do and enjoy your singing.
What is something you've learned on your journey that you would love other vocal professionals to know?
“Celebrate small victories as if they were your ultimate goal!” -iamRaffaD
I have learned throughout the years that sometimes we focus so much on the ending game that we forget to enjoy the process but during the process is when we grow, when we cry, we laugh, we give up, we try again, we get discouraged, we get excited, we grow, and this roller coaster of emotions is the main source of our experience allowing us to create in the first place. One of my latest releases, a single called “Running Out” is a composition I was very excited to release, I thought it was going to be a “hit” but it did not reach the definition of “hit” we’re accustomed to but it does have a little over 4k streaming on Spotify since its release date on September 8th 2023. My point is, if I was to focus in the being a “hit” part I would’ve missed the fact that the song reached over 4k streams worldwide playing in the US, South America, Europe, even Asia, and that’s just amazing! I never thought I would have a song streamed in so many places, it doesn’t matter how many times it was played, the fact is, it made it internationally and that’s something to celebrate! It does not mean you have an “excuse” to not try hard to achieve your goals, I still believe one of these days I will be able to have a “hit” song release but it does not consume me because I’ve learned to celebrate all victories. No such thing as small or big, a victory is a victory!
How can we find out more about you and your work?
I enjoy networking and exchanging experiences with fellow vocal professionals, producers, songwriters, and studio “geeks”. I’d love to connect with you on our social media accounts. You can find our studio under the handle @radicalcoachingstudios. For the latest news and to get to know more about the studio, you can visit our website www.radicalcoachingstudios.com.
You can also visit www.iamraffad.com for my latest releases and to connect with me.
