Sundance award winner and serial entrepreneur Cameron Rafati, began his musical journey at the age of thirteen years old when he picked up his uncle’s dusty guitar. Realizing that his passion existed within the realm of song playing, Rafati began to pursue his musical interests by attempting to follow in the footsteps of his rock idols and form a band for the 7th Grade Talent Show. His efforts to rock the school auditorium with fellow junior high band mates resulted in the rejection of his peers and the eventual pressure to become an athlete due to his 6’6” stature. Though he replaced the guitar with a basketball for the next several years, Rafati did not forget his passion for songwriting.

“The jocks and their little prepubescent minions were booing so loud that I stopped singing, lowered my head in shame and exited stage right as the band slowed to a sad dissipating halt.”
After High school, Rafati moved to Los Angeles and began attending the University of Southern California, where he formed a band called Vertices, a group that ultimately broke up after a three-year stint together. Following the demise of Vertices, Rafati once again felt that he needed to be “realistic” about his goals and moved to Texas where he put on wranglers, cowboy boots, adopted a Texan drawl, and entered into the world of door-to-door sales. Though Rafati became a highly successful salesman, he continued to feel as if something was missing. Rafati ultimately moved back to California and began working as a self-employed dating coach for older women who wanted to attract younger men.“It got creepy after a while and I honestly still don’t know what the hell I was thinking”

Tired of trying to reinvent the wheel, Rafati dropped the Texan accent, and the cougar-coaching act, and decided to re-connect with his true identity; that of a songwriter. Since his decision to dive head-first into the world of music, Rafati has been rewarded with nothing but positive feedback, a growing fanbase, and a “Best Score” nomination during the 2008 Sundance Film Festival for his “Lost In Translation”inspired ballad, “53RD Story.” Rafati’s nomination led to the prestigious invitation to come back to the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, this time working as an Official Artist, where he played ten shows in eight days in his home state. Flying high from his experiences during the festival, Rafati made the decision to temporarily relocate himself back in Utah to work with acclaimed producer, Scott Wiley (Elliott Smith, Beck, Snoop Dogg).

Rafati’s escape back into music has led to the successful completion, and June 2009 release of his self-titled, debut album. Filled with raw emotion, catchy tunes, and ironic lyrics, Cameron Rafati’s album is an eclectic creation that anyone who is a fan of music can relate to. With a completed album, an increasingly recovering mother, and an ever-growing fan base, it is apparent that Cameron Rafati is on his way to becoming one of the best new independent and savvy artists in the emerging industry.

On a cold, snowy night during the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, IN is hanging out at the Nostalgia café, waiting to interview singer/songwriter Cameron Rafati. The Utah native is visiting from Los Angeles, where he now resides, to hang out at the festival as an officially invited guest, and to perform 10 different shows in a mere eight days. Rafati enters the coffee shop in a whirlwind of energy and confidence.

He orders a coffee while simultaneously talking to the guy behind the counter about the Jonestown Massacre and the coffee guy’s dating life. Rafati is definitely all over the place and observing him can be both stressful and awe inspiring as one realizes that despite his tendency to bounce from subject to subject without so much as a pause for breath, Rafati always gets back to his point and somehow makes sense of the chaos that previously ensued.

Perhaps it is Rafati’s tendency to get off track a bit that has enabled him to secure a spot for himself within the world of music. Before making the decision to put everything aside and really pursue a career in music, Rafati experimented in careers that ranged from a uniform salesman in Texas to a relationship coach in L.A.

“I worked with MILF-y women and taught them how to hit on young guys,” laughs Rafati, who goes on to explain that the whole cougar-relationship-coaching thing got a little too weird for him, so he abandoned the job.

“I finally decided to pursue my real passions,” says Rafati.
As one might guess, Rafati’s “real passions” consisted of singing and writing songs, something that he has proven to be exceptionally talented at within a very short amount of time.

During the 2008 Park City Music Festival, Rafati received a “Best Score” nomination for his ballad “53rd Story,” a song that Rafati says was inspired by the film, “Lost in Translation.” “I felt like the last five minutes of ‘Lost in Translation’ had really shitty music. So, I wrote a different song for the ending. Friends have told me that they have sex to this song,” laughs Rafati.

The nomination for “53rd Story” led to Rafati receiving an invitation to participate in the 2009 Sundance Film Festival as an official artist, which explains the flurry of shows that he has had to play in such a short amount of time.”Being here for Sundance has opened up doors for me. I live in L.A. but I decided that since I would be here for Sundance, that I would come back to Utah to record with Scott Wiley,” says Rafati, “I thought it’d be great to record in Provo because of the complete irony.”Fast forward four months and it is now June. The seasons have changed from winter to spring to almost summer, and Rafati has successfully completed the recording of his debut album, despite experiencing immense familial hardships as his mother had a severe stroke.

Following his mother’s stroke, Rafati tried to balance his time between caring for his mother and being in the studio working to record his album. “I took all of the pain and anger and fear that I was feeling about my mother’s condition out in the studio, onto this record,” explains Rafati, who goes on to say that though his mother has a way to go, she is doing much better now than she was just a couple of months back.

When asked what kind of music listeners can expect to find on his self-titled, debut album, Rafati says, “My music is kind of reminiscent of old-school Coldplay. It reveals a deeper layer that contrasts with my personality during social interaction.”Rafati will be headlining a fundraiser for the Utah Food Bank on Friday, June 12 at Pierpont Place. Rafati is not only excited about the fact that his CD release party is serving a purpose, but also because the concert will be an all-ages show and will allow him the opportunity to introduce his music to anyone and everyone who is interested in checking it out.

After the show, Rafati plans to get back to L.A. and taking the grass-roots approach by organizing his own tour to promote the new album. With his soulful music, serious determination and the ability to charm the pants off of anyone he encounters, Rafati is guaranteed to reach success within the world of music. Hell, he most likely already has a flock of cougar groupies just waiting to jump in and go along for the ride.