Born in Madrid to Argentinean parents, Rafa started his musical career in New York playing at some of the famous Greenwich Village Clubs such as 'The Bitter End' and 'Kenny Castaway's'. He then moved to London and settle there for the next nine years. Whilst in the U.K. 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 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).
At the same time, Rafa began to develop a career as screenwriter and later as a film director. His first screenplay 'Lluvia En Los Zapatos' (a.k.a. 'Twice Upon A Yesterday') attracted the attention of many producers and was finally made into a film in 1997, 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.
Rafa made then the leap to film directing and, making two short films: 'El Cumplido' ('The Compliment' 2000) and 'Nada Que Perder' ('Nothing To Lose' 2002). 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 2003. 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.
And finally 2006 saw the release of his debut feature film as a director 'Amor En Defensa Propia' ('Love In Self-Defense' 2006), a Mediapro/Universal production, starring Ana Fernández and Gustavo Garzón, which was premiered at the Málaga Film Festival in the Official Competition Section. The film was critically acclaimed and features Rafa's own soundtrack, which will be released by Junk Records in April 2007, including songs by Rafa and other artists such as Garrett Wall, Martin Ansell and Nacho Campillo. The film is now out on DVD.
Rafa is now finishing his new album 'Sunken Ships' which will be released later in the year, and preparing new projects as a writer and film director.
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