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RACHAEL
SAGE
HER CAREER
 I
have released two albums, "Morbid Romantic" ('96) and "Smashing
The Serene" ('98), and am currently tracking my third, tentatively
titled "Painting of a Painting" which will be released sometme in
the spring of 2000....Where am I in my career?! That is a question
I struggle with every day now as I gear up for my third release
and deal with questions like, "do I need a booking agent?" "do I
need a publicist or a radio promoter and which one won't rip me
off?" etc., and all of the options as to how to do many of the promotional
things I've been basically doing on my own until now; I'm a bit
overwhelmed a lot of the time, but also excited by the opportunities
to delegate some of these areas to a couple of other qualified folks
who would allow me to focus more on what I love best: PLAYING!
HER SUPPORTERS
The people who have been the most important to me in my career are
the people who have believed in me and listened to my work all along:
my family, who have been incredible at understanding what it is
I've wanted to do since I first got my hands our piano and haven't
shut up since!
Other than my family, my friends have always been an integral system
of support for what I'm trying to do, and many of them are musicians
struggling with the same challenges I face everyday. Andy Zulla
and Bill Fuller, both producer/engineers with whom I've collaborated,
are also dear friends I can share everything with and who often
give me great advice as they know me and my work so well. My band,
of course, and all of the musicians I've played with since I've
been in NY, have taught me so much about articulating my vision
and often helped me realize what I wanted musically just by presenting
the OPPOSITE, and me knowing it wasn't quite right!
Lisa Cohen, who helps me run my label, has been an amazing source
of support and has kept me grounded through much of the work we've
done supporting my latest release, "Smashing The Serene"; it's really
important to have someone on your business team you can trust and
who knows you and your music inside and out. Debby Hambrick also,
an independent publicist and close friend, has been wonderful. My
voice teacher, Greg Drew, is also a close friend and he offers a
great deal of "non-vocal-related" support as well, he's been in
the business so long...
HER MUSICAL INFLUENCES
Both Ani and Sarah, musically and career-wise, early: classical
music, Gershwin, Carole King, Laura Nyro, James Taylor, Cat Stevens,
Jim Croce, King Crimson, early Billy Joel/Elton John... mid: Depeche
Mode, Annie Lennox, Howard Jones, U2, Crowded House... later: Elvis
Costello, Indigo Girls, Marc Cohn, Chrissie Hynde, Ani D., Maria
McKee, Sarah McLachlan, Me'shell Ndegéocello, Rob Giles, Andy Stochansky.
ethnic: Irish, Russian, Middle Eastern.
HER LABEL
Yes, I have my own label, MPress Records. I started my own label
in '96--without any real distribution--because I didn't feel like
waiting for some intangible sense of "being discovered", and I had
about 20 albums worth of material building up, I thought I'd explode
if I didn't do something to start communicating to more than my
small circle of friends and relatives, ha, ha...Basically, the more
I'd learned face-to-face about the major label machinery and bureaucracy
(and I'd wanted to make records since I was a teenager), and the
demands to change one's work to adhere to corporate-driven sensibilities,
the more confident I grew that I could produce my own material and
"get it out there".
ABOUT MP3
I think like any other area of promotion or sales, there are benefits
to a medium that is so easily distributed and can introduce you
to new audiences. But of course, I am concerned about copyrights
and being able to still sell CD's and pay rent and continue to make
music! It's a balance, I guess, between recognizing that it only
helps to "spread the word" about your work, and hoping that if you
embrace this format that is very high quality and gives people a
chance to hear your work "risk free", they'll support you if they
want to hear an entire album by buying instead of copying it or
downloading it for free.
I have MP3's available at so many sites I can't think of them all
offhand, but they're at a lot of major sites: UBL, Rollingstone.com,
Audiosurge, BuyMP3.com, Cdbaby.com, etc. We make an effort to only
actively put up certain songs or clips, so that a few of the most
popular tracks from the album(s) are available, but it doesn't discourage
someone from supporting the album if they really dig what they hear.
Listen up:
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/28/rachael_sage.html
GIRL STUFF
Basically, I guess my style is "art student-hippie-glam-chic", ha,
ha! I love beads and rhinestones and cheap clothes that have a touch
of theatricality. I make or decorate many of my clothes, and I don't
really shop in one place; when I see something I love or could decorate,
I just get it, I never really "go shopping" ... sometimes I'm on
a trip and I go to a used clothing store, or walking by a boutique
in the East Village or SoHo. I guess my favorite stores in NYC are
along Eighth Street, Patricia Field is really fun.
I love wearing glittery makeup and I don't care what the magazines
say or what's trendy or whatever: I like my eye makeup to match
what I'm wearing! I guess I just try to have fun and be entertaining
but casual and comfortable with my appearance, unless I'm onstage,
then I suppose I do glam it up...
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_________________________________
For
More Information on Rachael Sage visit:
http://www.rachaelsage.com |
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_________________________________
Meet more Planet Girl artists: Heather
Eatman, Fuzzy Comets, The
Hissyfits, Lauren Hoffman,
Jill Jack, Jenifer
Jackson, Michelle Lewis, Mary
Lee's Corvette, Rachael Sage,
Debby Schwartz, and Brenda
Kahn. |
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