Rachel Jack
RECOMMENDED: Rachel Jack
Rachel Jack is what you might call a Covid-19 artist, that is she has not performed live (aside from a University showcase before the pandemic) and her debut release, her excellent Calgary Tapes EP, was only released this year (July specifically). We featured Rachel as our Artist of the Week in Scotland On Sunday (<< click to read) on 12 July.
Since then she has gone in an electro-pop direction and it’s absolutely brilliant! Airplay and features have poured in, the new BBC Introducing in Scotland show with Phoebe I-H and Shereen Cutkelvin, The Roddy Hart Show on BBC Radio Scotland as well as Amazing Radio with Jim Gellatly, Rapal on BBC Radio nan Gàidheal. And her new single For You (released on Friday 20 November) and taken from her new EP Magazine Girls, has already been featured on TWO Spotify Editorial playlists New Pop UK and Scotify listen ⬇️
Visit https://www.racheljack.co.uk (join her mailing list for an un-released song and access to her music video)
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/7g9p7NptP3Dn6j9Ncgruqk | Facebook: @RachelloJack | Instagram: @rachellojack | Twitter: @rachellojack
QandA and official video below ⬇️
<< click play or photo above to listen to For You
What is your new single For You about?
“I had a period of illness that completely altered my perspective on life. During my 4-month long recovery, I didn’t know if I’d be able to sing again and the thought of having my voice taken from me was devastating. I figured if I grieved the possible loss of my voice that much, it was probably time to do something with it. For You is a song to my friends and family who got me through that time, to the Paolo Nutini scholarship, my mentors, my new friends in music and also to the scars I now carry - they’ve taught me so much..”
-How are you finding the pandemic, anything positive or all negative?
As a new artist who’s only ever released music during the pandemic, I’ve enjoyed having the time to learn how to self-release without having the pressure of performing at the same time. It’s not been a very creative time for me as I’m mainly focusing on releasing music I wrote while I was on the songwriting course. Having all that release admin has kept me focused and really busy. Don’t get me wrong though, I have my bad days. I quit a very safe, full-time career to make time for music and it really does feel like the worst time to do that. I also lost one of my best friends to Covid and so it’s been pretty rough at times. I think that everything I’ve been through over the past 2 years almost prepared me for this pandemic to be honest. I’ve built a little protective bubble around myself and I’m very careful of what I let into it. And when I have those harder days, songwriting or journaling continues to be a great outlet for me.
-What are your plans for 2020 and has Covid-19 forced you to make changes or rethink things?
Covid has definitely helped me to be more intentional and specific with my plans. I had originally planned to do a song a month from March but I started to space those out when I realised I had some knowledge gaps that needed to be addressed. I’ve learned a lot about digital marketing from building my own website, mailing lists, running social media campaigns, making music videos etc and in future I think I’d be less inclined to start any new writing projects until I have completed and released others. I’m going to Mull in December to record a new project with a band which I’m really looking forward to. As soon as that’s done I’ll be pushing pause on recording and release plans with the main focus for 2021 being the full release of my Magazine Girls EP, and live performance whether it be online or in person.
-Tell us a bit about yourself, how did you get into music?
Although I’ve always enjoyed music, I didn’t really get into it until I undertook the Paolo Nutini scholarship. Once I overcame the initial fear of singing in front of people in my late 20’s, I kept getting asked to sing covers at weddings and I worked with a couple of people who wanted me to sing their songs. I found it really hard to connect with other peoples songs and I also realised that most people I jammed with didn’t take it as seriously as me. That helped me realise that I wanted to tell my own stories in my own way and that’s what led me to apply for the songwriting course at University of West of Scotland (UWS).
-How did you receive a Songwriting Scholarship from Paolo Nutini?
The scholarship wasn’t actually awarded until the course started so the first step was just getting on to the course. I wrote a very personal statement which included my motivations and future aspirations along with two studio produced demos and the rest were voice notes. I still to this day scratch my head a little bit and wonder why they picked me. I’ve never been given a detailed explanation as to how I got it but when I asked course leader he said I “had the spirit of Paolo”.
-Career highlights / whats next?
Getting the scholarship was the biggest highlight for me. It made me feel validated after taking such a massive jump from a full time career of 12 years. I’m not someone who’s ever been encouraged into music, it’s very much all off my own back and I feel like I needed that experience/endorsement to take the leap. In terms of what’s next - Magazine Girls the EP will be out in Q1 of next year. I hope to spend the summer focusing on live performances and then come October I’d imagine I’ll start releasing some music from my 3rd EP which gets recorded this December.
-Tell us something most people won’t know about you?
This is a hard one because I have a blog on my website where I have shared almost everything there is to know about me! I had an operation at birth which resulted in a crescent shaped scar on my tummy that I call my shark bite. Whenever people ask me about it I tell them about how a shark diving trip went wrong and how I killed a shark with my bare hands. You’d be surprised how many people believe me. Haha.