Artist Highlight: Rachel Rolleri
Every week we are going to be asking a new artist a question - not the classic "Tell us about how you started playing music?" Rather, we are more interested in stories. What kind of stories you ask? Stories about how artists gained inspiration, grew as individuals, or even about the time when they ate too many mushrooms and ended up naked in a bath tub... it's up to the artist.
This weeks feature is a singer-songwriter out of San Francisco, CA named Rachel Rolleri. Rachel wrote one of the most beautifully put together albums of 2017 titled: "Black Book." Everything from the songwriting to the production, to the lyrics, even the branding and look of the release, was flawless. And it was all her vision. She wrote all of the songs on this record and was also the executive producer. The most incredible part of it all: Rachel is only 21 years old and this was her first record. You might be thinking... well everyone has to have a 1st record, right? Yes. But this 1st record was special. Rachel sounds like she's been making records for years and knows exactly what she's going for. Needless to say, the future is bright for this undiscovered-star and we can't wait to hear more music from her.
Our question for Rachel was:
"San Francisco is one of the most culturally and musically diverse cities in the world, how has the city inspired you, or helped you grow as an artist?"
I hadn’t really considered myself to be a part of the SF music scene, I used to feel like I’d been kind of on the outside looking in. But since we recorded my first album there at Hyde Street Studios, I figure now I qualify to some degree.
Lots of growth in that studio. I went in as just this gutted girl, and came out with something to show for myself as an artist. It was empowering and humbling and frustrating, and I was just dying to tell this story, because it meant so much to me, and maybe it could mean something similar to someone else. There were some truly magical moments, that at the time didn’t always register as such, but in retrospect, I wouldn’t trade a single moment of it.
Our first day recording, I was scared absolutely shitless. We went in to lay down live takes of the rhythm section with essentially no plan; just some ideas we’d built around the bones of what I’d already written. Thank God for Bob Rabbit, he helped produce it and offered his unbiased opinion on the takes and kept it moving. Also I firmly believe we had the dopest crew going in to it— Scott Dunbar on bass, Jason Slota on drums, Will Chason as the sound engineer. Honestly though, without Bob Rabbit, it’s likely we would still be in there. But we kept grinding, because we knew we had to have it done by a certain date in October.
But yeah, that first day I thought— Why am I doing this? What is the point? Am I shit? Do people need to hear this? I know what I am trying to say, but what will everyone else hear? The usual debilitating self-doubt. But you walk through the halls at Hyde Street, and they’re lined with these iconic artists and their records, and you think, “They MUST have had the same doubts and fears, standing in this same studio,” yet they’re on these walls.
The music they made here is being played halfway across the world in someone’s kitchen while they make breakfast for the first time in their new home, or offering them a daydream while they stress in traffic, or they’re singing these songs to their children while they tuck them into bed. And it kept me going. It might not even be true of these artists, but the thought kept me warm. Like, if I could get this album just right enough, yeah, it could be on a wall, but more importantly, be the soundtrack to someone else’s love story.
San Francisco, to me, will hold the stories behind the making of my first album. From the daily runs to Philz for our sixth cup of coffee, and walking to Chicken and Waffles in our socks, to crying when we heard the songs come together (“Cover You” & “Now You Know” just about killed us all I think), and crying when it felt like I was making every wrong move with mixing. Like it’s the place where I came into myself as an artist, just like so many before, and learned to create with, listen to, and learn with fellow musicians that live for the same high that I do— a good song, with a good story, that comes from a good place.
Click here to go to Rachel's website and keep up with music, tour dates and more!
With love,
Our question for Rachel was:
"San Francisco is one of the most culturally and musically diverse cities in the world, how has the city inspired you, or helped you grow as an artist?"
I hadn’t really considered myself to be a part of the SF music scene, I used to feel like I’d been kind of on the outside looking in. But since we recorded my first album there at Hyde Street Studios, I figure now I qualify to some degree.
Lots of growth in that studio. I went in as just this gutted girl, and came out with something to show for myself as an artist. It was empowering and humbling and frustrating, and I was just dying to tell this story, because it meant so much to me, and maybe it could mean something similar to someone else. There were some truly magical moments, that at the time didn’t always register as such, but in retrospect, I wouldn’t trade a single moment of it.
Our first day recording, I was scared absolutely shitless. We went in to lay down live takes of the rhythm section with essentially no plan; just some ideas we’d built around the bones of what I’d already written. Thank God for Bob Rabbit, he helped produce it and offered his unbiased opinion on the takes and kept it moving. Also I firmly believe we had the dopest crew going in to it— Scott Dunbar on bass, Jason Slota on drums, Will Chason as the sound engineer. Honestly though, without Bob Rabbit, it’s likely we would still be in there. But we kept grinding, because we knew we had to have it done by a certain date in October.
But yeah, that first day I thought— Why am I doing this? What is the point? Am I shit? Do people need to hear this? I know what I am trying to say, but what will everyone else hear? The usual debilitating self-doubt. But you walk through the halls at Hyde Street, and they’re lined with these iconic artists and their records, and you think, “They MUST have had the same doubts and fears, standing in this same studio,” yet they’re on these walls.
The music they made here is being played halfway across the world in someone’s kitchen while they make breakfast for the first time in their new home, or offering them a daydream while they stress in traffic, or they’re singing these songs to their children while they tuck them into bed. And it kept me going. It might not even be true of these artists, but the thought kept me warm. Like, if I could get this album just right enough, yeah, it could be on a wall, but more importantly, be the soundtrack to someone else’s love story.
San Francisco, to me, will hold the stories behind the making of my first album. From the daily runs to Philz for our sixth cup of coffee, and walking to Chicken and Waffles in our socks, to crying when we heard the songs come together (“Cover You” & “Now You Know” just about killed us all I think), and crying when it felt like I was making every wrong move with mixing. Like it’s the place where I came into myself as an artist, just like so many before, and learned to create with, listen to, and learn with fellow musicians that live for the same high that I do— a good song, with a good story, that comes from a good place.
Click here to go to Rachel's website and keep up with music, tour dates and more!
With love,
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