Photos and Interview by Harlen Cruz
January 10, 2023
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY
We’re in the 2nd week of 2023, how are you feeling towards starting the new year strong with a show in NYC?
Amazing! I’m incredibly excited for it! I’m excited to release new music and perform waymore shows than I did last year.
How many shows did you perform in 2022?
Last year, I performed my first show ever which is really weird to think about, I think 5 total. 3 of them, I headlined, which is really cool. This year, I’m planning... I don’t even know how many, but hopefully touring!
You have a strong presence on social media, can you share some of the things
that followers share with you that you found to be helpful in your music writing or
creative process?
I feel like I play a bigger sister role for my fans, I don’t even like to call them my fans,
they’re more of like a friend base to me. A lot of the time they share stories with me that
are very vulnerable and open with me that help me write about situations that they’ve
gone through that I’ve also gone through. My whole goal through music is to make
people feel less alone. It’s very much ripped out of my diary when I write, and lot of the
time people hide that kind of that thing because they feel it’s not normal. I try to
normalize mental health, body image, breakups, and friendship breakups as much as I
can because I have an audience that also goes through it.
Personal experiences are at the center of your songs. Do you feel that it makes
the songwriting process easier or do you experience creative challenges when
writing music?
I feel like I’ve become a lot more emotionally mature, I am able to digest my emotions a
lot better. Now that I write about it, that’s kind of my way of closing the chapter in my life
when I go through things. Writing about it can be hard sometimes when it’s really
vulnerable, but at the end of it, it’s very rewarding where I’m able to actually put my
feelings into words. It gives me the closure I need and then when I see how it impacts
everybody else, it makes me want to continue doing it if not more than I already do.
Can you share some of the impactful messages, comments or feedback that you’ve
received about your music?
My whole goal and the reason why I feel like I’ve been put on this earth is to help other people so there’s times where I get messages like I saved their life and just knowing that I have that power to be able to express my emotions and allow someone else to feel like they’re not the only one going through it is really cool and so inspiring, it just makes me want to do it more and more every time I do it. I’ve gotten such incredibly inspiring words from everybody that follows me that it has changed my life as an artist
and as a person.
Do you currently have a favorite song in your work?
Out of all the songs currently out, I would say “Outsider” is my favorite song of mine just
because that was a moment where I challenged myself being incredibly vulnerable, just
knowing that a lot of people needed to hear it and felt the same way but didn’t know
how to put into words, I finally figured out a way to put into words and I just knew that it
was definitely going to help at least one person.
Are there any artists that influenced your music as a whole or do different artists
inspire the creative direction one at a time (song)?
There’s so many, I draw inspiration from everybody that is vulnerable in their music, I
can’t even say specifics, if I did, I would go on forever! But a lot of upcoming artists, I
love watching what they do. I love going back to like Adele and that world where ballads
and just being just being as vulnerable as possible was the number one thing that
people did. I’m inspired by every artist who is able to write out their feelings and share it
with a big crowd of people to digest it and let them make a story of the work that we
create.
Which platform do you use to discover new music and inspiration for ideas?
Mainly TikTok, I try to go onto New Music Friday as much as possible and see what’s
going on. But TikTok is definitely the number one place for anybody to find artists.
You performed with Boyce Avenue on a few songs like True Colors, Let it Go.
Can you share more about this collaboration and how this collaboration came
about?
It was really cool, when I first started in the music industry, I started posting videos on
YouTube of me releasing covers, I never knew that I could write music at the time, I
always wanted to, it was always a goal for me. I didn’t know how to make that goal
become real life, I used to watch Boyce Avenue growing up so it was really cool when
they reached out to me, they found me on TikTok and followed me on all socials.
Working with them and just seeing the way they create and that being my first real
collaborative thing in the industry was really cool. It was inspiring especially when they
shared stories with me from when they first started to compare and see that they
believe in me and they’ve done it, it was amazing.
You have an upcoming release of a new song “HOW DARE YOU,” can you share more
about the song’s message?
“HOW DARE YOU” is about a relationship, I don’t want to call it a relationship, more of a
situationship that I was in where I was too patient with a person and I ended getting hurt
by it just because it was almost a push away for me being too close. I feel like a lot of
people experience that where they come back and beg for you once you’re gone so it’s
definitely related to previous releases where I talk about times where I’ve been hurt by
other people in the past. I’m really excited for this one and feels really special to me.
In 2023, can your fans expect a EP or LP release?
Maybe :)
Rachel Grae’s band consisted of Isaac Singer on piano, Liam Fennell on guitar, Marley
Striem on bass, and Izzy Lamberti on drums.
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