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| Born in Madrid to Argentinean parents,
Rafa started his musical career in New York in the early
80's playing at some of the famous Greenwich Village clubs
such as 'The Bitter End' and 'Folk City', cradle of many
singer-songwriters of the 60's and 70's. In 1988 he moved
to London and settled there for the next nine years. |
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| Whilst in the UK he released his first
album 'A Petrified Forest' (Conspiracy Records 1990) after
playing regularly on London's thriving acoustic scene.
The album got very favourable reviews, including one by
the prestigious music magazine NME which landed him support
gigs to artists such as Tori Amos, Melissa Etheridge or
John Martyn. In 1994, he released his second album 'Despite
Myself' on Mauve Records, the label of renowned British
producer Mike Howlett, and in 1996 the third, 'Raging
Clowns' (i records). |
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| At the same time, Rafa began to develop
a career as a screenwriter and later as a film director.
His first screenplay 'The Man With Rain In His Shoes'
(a.k.a 'If Only', a.k.a 'Twice Upon A Yesterday') attracted
the attention of many producers and was finally made into
a film in 1997 by Esicma/Mandarin/CLT-UFA and directed
by Maria Ripoll starring Penélope Cruz, Douglas
Henshall and Lena Headey. The film was sold to over 25
countries and got Rafa, among other awards, Best Screenplay
at the 1998 Montreal Festival. The soundtrack to the film
also features one of Rafa's tracks from his first album. |
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| Rafa then made the leap to film directing
and, after collaborating on the screenplay for the film
'Aunque tú no lo sepas' directed by Juan Vicente
Córdoba, he directed two short films: 'El Cumplido'
('The Compliment' 2000) starring Luis Tosar and Paulina
Gálvez and 'Nada Que Perder' ('Nothing To Lose'
2002) starring Jorge Bosch and Pilar Punzano. The latter
won a total of 40 awards in festivals all over the world
including the Goya (Spanish Academy Award) for Best Short
Film in 1992. He also wrote the screenplay for 'Hoy por
ti, mañana por mí', a short film directed
by Fran Torres which got more than 30 awards in national
and international film festivals. |
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| Rafa recently won first prize at a competition
organized by Universal Studios for feature film projects
at the 2002 San Sebastian Festival and as a result is
currently in pre-production for his debut film as a director,
'Amor en defensa propia' ('Love In Self-Defence'). |
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He is also in the process of mixing
tracks for his fourth studio album and showcasing some
of the songs in acoustic clubs around Madrid. |
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