Quack, Quack

R&B singer Raquel Serenil's first stab at show business was a Star Search audition at age 11. When that didn't work out, she started making the rounds here in her hometown, Houston. At 14, she tried to start a Latino version of Destiny's Child called Kloud 9. When 18 girls came -- and left -- in the first year, Serenil decided to go solo. Four years later, with her first CD almost completed, illness forced her to shelve everything for a year. That CD was never released. Now 20, Serenil has almost finished recording another CD. She talked to us in the Houston Pressoffices, with her mom, Elaine Gracia, acting as chaperone/PR rep/support system/manager.

Houston Press: You have a big female following, does that surprise you?

Raquel Serenil: I do get a lot of love from the ladies, but I have my share of male fans.

At one of my very first shows, I actually had two lesbians in the front row and they were going like, 'Woooohooohooo!' (laughs) But I love all people, so it was fine.

HP: You've played all over Texas, I know. And you did a big tour of Mexico, right?Serenil: I did, with the Italian soccer team, and that was pretty cool. [At each game] I sang the Italian national anthem, then I did the half-time show. Because I sang the anthem in Italian and then did the half-time show, some in English and some in Spanish with mariachis, they never knew what I was. Was I Italian singing mariachi? Was I a Mexican singing Italian? They were all confused. (laughs)

HP: What was it like traveling around with the Italian soccer team?

Serenil: It was fun! Every guy on the soccer team is super-famous so it was like traveling with 40 Brad Pitts or something.

HP: You had to shelve the first CD you recorded. Why was that?

Serenil: Somehow I had broken my nose and it had healed crooked (laughs), so they had to break my nose and reset it. That changed everything, my voice, my breathing, everything, so I started over on the album.

HP: Getting your nose fixed changed your voice that much? How?

Serenil: It changed everything, and for a while there I sounded like I was tone deaf because I couldn't make my voice do what it used to do. It was horrible. I had to relearn everything. At one point we didn't think I was ever going to sing again and my mom was like, "It's okay, Raquel, you can still be a teacher, mija. It's okay." I was like, "Nooooooooo! I want to sing again!" So I started vocal lessons and then after three months, I was sounding better. Now it's all good.

HP: But wait, you don't know how you broke your nose? When or how or anything?

Serenil: I think it was just before the Thanksgiving Day Parade two years ago. I was going to perform in the parade. I was so excited, I was just running around and I ran into a door. It made me cry, but I didn't think it broke my nose. Maybe that was it.

Or it could have been some other time I don't even remember.

HP: You run into doors a lot, do you?

Serenil: Yeah, actually, I do. People laugh at me because I'm so clumsy. When I was in Mexico with the soccer team, I was getting on the bus at this one stop and there were like a thousand people there, everyone was screaming my name, and I was waving at them and then boom, I fell. My dress flew over my head. I was just, splat, out there. Everyone was, "Raquel! Raquel! Raqu-ooooooh!" (laughs) But I bounced up and they clapped for me, like, "Oh, look, she can walk!" I told my mom later, "Thank God I wore some pretty panties!"

HP: Who do you think you sound like?

Serenil: I get a lot of comparisons to Christina Aguilera, but I like to say that I have my own sound. Being that I live here in Houston and this is such a diverse community, I've taken hip-hop, pop, Latin, R&B, everything and I've put it all together. I sound like me.

HP: What's your favorite thing about being on the road?

Serenil: I have a blast when we go on the road, I love to talk and sing along with the radio. After a while everyone is like, "Shut up! It's already been ten hours, be quiet, please!" But I just keep going. On tour, sometimes you get just a couple of hours of sleep a night, which, of course, makes me even more hyper (laughs), and that makes me talk even more! I'm okay with it, but I think I make everyone else tired.

HP: How many guys have you picked up with the line, "Hi, I'm a singer?"

Serenil: I don't usually pick up guys like that. I usually am at a show and they know I'm a singer so they come up to me with (lowers voice) "Hey baby, maybe me and you could do something on my next CD."