{"id":19418,"date":"2020-03-06T07:58:13","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T14:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=19418"},"modified":"2020-03-06T07:58:13","modified_gmt":"2020-03-06T14:58:13","slug":"album-premiere-web-exclusive-interview-rachael-sage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2020\/03\/album-premiere-web-exclusive-interview-rachael-sage\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Premiere &#038; Web-Exclusive Interview RACHAEL SAGE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Album Premiere &amp; Web-Exclusive Interview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Artist:\u00a0 <strong>RACHAEL SAGE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Video:\u00a0 Exclusive <em>Character<\/em> Full-Album Stream<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qoWH_m593as\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>M Music &amp; Musicians<\/em> magazine is proud to share the exclusive premiere of Rachael Sage\u2019s forthcoming album <em>Character<\/em>, produced by Sage and Grammy winner Andy Zulla (Kelly Clarkson, Rod Stewart).<\/p>\n<p>Sage is an award-winning, singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and producer. Her latest collection, <em>Character<\/em>,\u00a0was recorded while the beloved indie artist was recovering from an unexpected health crisis. Throughout the revelatory 12-song album, Sage reflects on such concepts as gratitude, compassion, authenticity and optimism, questioning what comprises character\u2014and lifting herself up in the process. Sage muses:\u00a0\u201cI hope these songs honor just how resilient the human spirit can be, and remind us that sometimes \u2018it\u2019s ok to not be ok\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Balancing the poetic lyricism for which she is best known with a newfound reverence for music as a healing tool, Sage is in the midst of a creative renaissance, merging her experience of survivorship with both music and activism.\u00a0<em>Character<\/em>\u00a0is a musical testament to the miracle and mystery of the human experience, in all its inspiring, painful\u00a0and confounding glory.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19426\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-01.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-01.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-01-300x256.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Recorded with engineer Mikhail Pivovarov and Zulla at both Carriage House Studios and her home studio in New York City, <em>Character\u00a0<\/em>features\u00a0longtime\u00a0collaborators\u00a0cellist Ward Williams\u00a0and violinist Kelly Halloran, alongside\u00a0cellist\u00a0Dave\u00a0Eggar (Amber Rubarth), drummer\u00a0Doug Yowell\u00a0(Suzanne Vega), guitarist\u00a0James Mastro (Ian Hunter), and MPress labelmates Seth Glier and Grace Pettis.<\/p>\n<p>We talked with Rachel Sage about her songwriting and the creative inspiration of this bold new album which explores survivorship and how it now means\u00a0balancing her new commitment to staying healthy with a renewed sense of purpose: creating work that uplifts and empowers others in any way she possibly can.\u00a0\u201cI have\u00a0come to realize that music\u00a0is the most powerful healing tool I have ever encountered. It has quite literally saved my life, and I intend for the rest of my career to be a long, slow dance of gratitude.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>RACHAEL SAGE<\/strong> Interview<\/p>\n<p>with\u00a0<strong><em>M Music &amp; Musicians<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>magazine publisher,<strong> Merlin David<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Character<\/em><\/strong><strong>\u00a0is a 12-song collection recorded during cancer recovery. Which song helped you start this album process?<\/strong><br \/>\n\u201cBravery\u2019s On Fire\u201d was the song that absolutely had to come out. It was not an easy song for me to write, but it was a huge relief once I was able to take a step back, and say \u2018this is exactly how I have been feeling, and now I have the words to help explain it.\u2019 In a way, I definitely felt like my health and my attitude\u2014just being able to be authentic and not let those feelings stay bottled up\u2014really hinged on writing that song!<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19425\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-02.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-02.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-02-300x256.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>What is something new you learned about yourself while recording this album?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I learned and relearned over and over just how vital it is for me to curate the energy around me. I have always prided myself on being the kind of person who will give someone many more than \u2018three strikes.\u2019 In the past, as an empath, I have ignored red flags and allowed negative energy to permeate in a way that literally, made me sick. But I am such a positive, optimistic person by nature. I suppose I have learned, foremost, that just as we \u2018are what we eat,\u2019 we are also the people with whom we surround ourselves. I don\u2019t think it is weak to admit that we are vulnerable to shared energy. Now, I listen much harder to my instincts than I did prior to my illness, and to this project. I suppose you could say I have learned to have healthy boundaries that help me prioritize my health, both mentally and physically.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Was writing \u201cBlue Sky Days\u201d therapeutic?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Writing it felt like creating my own roadmap. The music is propulsive, and the piano is very much in my ongoing style as an artist. By harnessing something familiar and fast-moving, I was trying to balance the lyric that admits I \u2018don\u2019t know where I\u2019m going.\u2019 For someone who has always wanted to be as in control as possible, that was definitely therapeutic because as most people know, there is only so much one can control, when it comes to cancer itself. But you\u00a0<em>can\u00a0<\/em>control how you approach each day from the moment you wake up, to the relationships you nurture, including the one with yourself. So there is an abundance of hope in remembering that, and it\u2019s a very uplifting song for me to perform as a result.<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19424\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-04.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-04.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-04-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>How did the idea of \u201cBravery\u2019s on Fire\u201d come to you?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt was written from a place of frustration and overwhelm, no question. Being someone who has generally been a leader and in charge\u2014whether of my own career, my record label or even to an extent, the <em>grounded<\/em> one in my personal relationships\u2014it was incredibly difficult to wave my white flag, so to speak. There came a point during my treatment when it crystallized very clearly that I had to start asking for what I actually needed, not what would make anyone else\u2019s life easier, just because it has been in my nature to <em>handle<\/em> not only my own stuff, but a lot of other people\u2019s too. I had to create a new language to express what I was feeling. And while it\u2019s a metaphor, I can say with a certain degree of sadness that I literally felt, at points, like there was so much internal chaos in my attempt to handle everything a particular way\u2014that I did truly feel like I was burning out. It can be very exhausting holding up a \u2018brave front,\u2019 and that was something I was pretty sure, as I was writing it, that a lot of people would relate to.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What are the challenges of writing a personal song like \u201cDamaged\u201d?<\/strong><br \/>\nI almost didn\u2019t put \u201cDamaged\u201d on the record, because it was so very personal. But I felt it was important, because it reflected a very real part of my cancer experience, when my proverbial skin became so thin that I could no longer ignore issues that I might have otherwise tolerated, in a difficult relationship, in spite of love\u2019s best intentions. It is a song, ultimately, about seeing a situation clearly and being able to reflect on it with compassion, while also making the difficult decision to take care of oneself. In the context of the album, the title also plays with the\u00a0concept of \u2018preexisting conditions,\u2019 and how they can be either mental or physical. When it comes to cancer, unfortunately the physical trauma one is experiencing from treatment may be compounded by the anxiety or preconceptions of others. Not everyone can handle it, unfortunately\u2014but luckily I was able to summon strength and achieve a kind of cleansing just by writing about it.<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19423\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-06.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"497\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-06.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-06-300x226.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The powerful song \u201cWhen I Was Young\u201d is compelling.<\/strong><br \/>\nIt is essentially about the feeling of humility that occurs when instead of asking \u2018why me?,\u2019 you ask \u2018why not me?\u2019 I mean, everyone is young, eager, full of hope, dreams and has an idea of how their life might go. I have always known cancer ran in my family, but still\u2014I never pictured myself getting that. Why is that? What is it about our wiring as human beings that allows us to be a child, then a teenager, then a young adult and even get to middle age, and just go about each day with blinders to what\u00a0<em>could<\/em>\u00a0happen? Whatever it is, it is certainly a blessing in the sense that it allows us to keep worrying to a minimum. But unfortunately, it can also create a kind of complacency. This song is a meditation on that idea\u2014that no one person is any more or less apt to encounter illness or \u2018lose their dignity\u2019 than another, however temporarily. We all bleed red, as the saying goes. We are all equally important and insignificant. We are all a universe and a speck of dust. I have always written a lot about duality, perhaps because of my being raised Jewish\u2014but that\u2019s really what I was exploring here, juxtaposing youth with the frailty of aging and experiencing a life-threatening illness.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cAtmosphere\u201d should be in a movie. What inspired that song?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt was inspired by Willem Dafoe\u2019s portrayal of the artist Van Gogh, in a film [<em>At Eternity\u2019s Gate<\/em>] I saw as I was recovering. It was playing at the Angelika Theater in Soho, where I often go by myself to catch up on the latest indie movies. I don\u2019t want to say too much about it other than that there was a scene in the film that prompted the words to the bridge, and I went home and wrote it very quickly. I hope that it reflects a kind of impressionistic feeling I got from the film.<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19422\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-07.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"454\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-07.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-07-300x206.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Why did you choose to close the album with \u201cCatch the Light\u201d?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe music was written when I was in seventh grade. I performed it as an instrumental at my junior high school class graduation, and at the time I called it \u201cWe\u2019re Moving On.\u201d When I was getting back to playing, during my recovery, it naturally came to my fingers and the lines \u201cI\u2019m gonna be fine one day \/ no memories in my way\u201d popped into my head, over that piano melody that I\u2019d written as a child. Any songwriter knows how satisfying that is, when lyrics just find their way naturally to an existing melody. I kept at it, and once the song was finished, it felt like a full circle\u2014not only to end the album with, but to be able to say, with absolutely certainty, \u201cmy youth is over.\u201d I don\u2019t say that as a negative, but rather, a kind of letting go and welcoming of a new phase of my womanhood, and as a cancer thriver.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The album\u2019s production and use of strings is very powerful.<\/strong><br \/>\nI have always loved layering strings in the studio, but in this case I started with the essentials and built around them. I have a violinist (Kelly Halloran) and a cellist (Ward Williams) in my band The Sequins, and both happen to be incredible people and close friends. My cellist friend Dave Eggar was also very eager to be a part of the album. It was very natural for me to want to highlight strings and build our arrangements from there, as a result of these amazing friends coming to visit me while I was recovering. In the case of the string quartet, I was very encouraged by my coproducer Andy Zulla to go down that path, for \u201cBoth Hands\u201d and \u201cBravery\u2019s On Fire.\u201d He also coproduced my album <em>Choreographic<\/em>, and has always agreed that strings help bridge my affection for pop with the more orchestral influences of my early years as a ballet dancer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Has your approach to songwriting changed after your diagnosis with cancer?<\/strong><br \/>\nI don\u2019t think my approach to songwriting has changed one bit since my cancer diagnosis. If anything, the various methods and means I have cultivated to \u2018harness the muse\u2019 have been one of the only forms of stability I could muster, once I had the actual energy to resume doing so. Craft and discipline are things I look to know with appreciation for the time I put in all these years, to allow me to continue to use songwriting as a means of self-expression. One of my doctors said to me early on: \u201cYou may have cancer, but you are still the same person. Don\u2019t forget that!\u201d It was easy to forget, while I was really struggling with the worst of the chemo and so forth. I felt like someone else, something else. But as the clouds lifted, her words rang very true. I think my approach to eating, exercise and many other things has changed, yes. Songwriting? Not so much, thankfully.<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19421\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-08.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"528\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-08.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-08-300x240.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Were you eager to get back to live performance?<\/strong><br \/>\nI find performing live to be pure joy and couldn\u2019t wait to get back to it once I was well enough. Being on stage is the one area of my life that feels entirely void of struggle in any way whatsoever. Though, of course, I am always working on becoming a better player, singer and when appropriate, in terms of between-song banter, a \u2018comedienne.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><strong>Have you had to overcome any challenges of performing live?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe main challenge for me on tour really boils down to self care: sleeping enough, eating well and exercising, which affects everything else\u2014including the knowledge that I am doing everything I can to remain in remission. The time on stage is the easy part\u2014and hopefully that comes across as the joyful exercise in communication that I strive for.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You have an amazing team. Did you approach this album differently?<\/strong><br \/>\nI never make demos anymore and haven\u2019t for years. I just rehearse or tour behind new material, and build on that. For this album, my coproducer and I felt it was important to go through a good old-fashioned process of demo-ing each song, so we wouldn\u2019t lose the vibe of each song, just me and my instrument. We were able to do all that at my home studio, and some of the more intimate arrangements, \u201cCave,\u201d for example\u2014were entirely built around my demos, and for such a personal record, that felt appropriate.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What instruments\/equipment more accurately help you play this album live?<\/strong><br \/>\nI use a few guitar pedals on both my electric and acoustic guitars, that I also used in the studio, including a ZVEX Box of Rock for distortion, and a Boss Tremolo pedal. I play vintage Martin and Gretsch guitars in the studio but they\u2019re a bit delicate to tour with, so I travel with my trusty red Guild. It\u2019s the only acoustic guitar I\u2019ve ever toured with, and the Fishman pickup I put in it decades ago still sounds great. And of course, my Casio Privia is always with me, and while I play a Steinway in the studio, there\u2019s really no better, lighter and altogether easier digital piano to tour with.<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19420\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-09.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"459\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-09.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-09-300x209.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>You\u2019ve written strong, socially-conscious songs (<em>The Tide<\/em>\u00a0album). Tell us about \u201cCharacter.\u201d<br \/>\n<\/strong>I wrote my title track \u201cCharacter\u201d to be a socially conscious song, but it\u2019s in a different vein for me, stylistically. The lyrics may initially seem cryptic because the imagery is a bit abstract, but essentially they examine corruption in our current political landscape. As a songwriter, I hope I have managed to do so in a way that feels as poetic as it is timely, and as musical as it is urgent.<\/p>\n<p>I still believe very much in the idea of an album as a collection and a concept, but yes\u2014in terms of marketing and releasing, it is my job (also because I run a record label, MPress Records), to evolve with the times and be aware of how people are actually consuming\/discovering music. Generally, we have been releasing 1-4 singles over a few months, in advance of the album. With some of the other artists on my label (Grace Pettis and Seth Glier), we are experimenting with stand-alone singles; it really just depends on the songs themselves, and what the rest of the plan may be, in terms of touring and so forth. We try not to be rigid, but for me personally, there is something about creating a full album that feels more satisfying and challenging. Plus, having come from a theatrical background as both a dancer and actor, it feels more like \u201cAn Evening With&#8230;\u201d. Just like a live show, I want to take the listener somewhere, and hopefully leave them feeling just a little bit altered. That\u2019s a different agenda than, say, wanting one particular track to stick in someone\u2019s head.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s next?<\/strong><br \/>\nI\u2019m continuing to be on the road with Howard Jones, until the end of March. Then I\u2019ll do some headline touring with various band members in the U.S., as well as the U.K. But I guess that\u2019s now up in the air with travel restrictions. I\u2019m aiming to be in the UK for all of May. Then back in the U.S. in June for the summer. I\u2019ll be working on our new artist signing. She\u2019s the brilliant and talented Grace Pettis. She\u2019s phenomenal and full of positive energy. We here at MPress Records are thrilled to work with her.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Where can new fans get more info and stay updated?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rachaelsage.com\/\">www.RachaelSage.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>instagram: Rachael_Sage<\/p>\n<p>twitter: @rachaelsage<\/p>\n<p>facebook: facebook.com\/rachaelsagepage<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19419\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-10.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-10.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rachael-Sage-10-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Album Premiere &amp; Web-Exclusive Interview Artist:\u00a0 RACHAEL SAGE Video:\u00a0 Exclusive Character Full-Album Stream M Music &amp; Musicians magazine is proud to share the exclusive premiere of Rachael Sage\u2019s forthcoming album Character, produced by Sage and Grammy winner Andy Zulla (Kelly Clarkson, Rod Stewart). Sage is an award-winning, singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and producer. Her latest collection, Character,\u00a0was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19428,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7725],"tags":[11462,10812,8377,11463,11464,11465,11466,10714,11467,11468,11469,11470,8379,10174,11471,8380,10177,11472,8384,11473,3244,11474,5140,9758,10181,7964,10182,8391,11475,10187,10188,2959,8394,7566,3277,7856,3010,11476,7978,9127,11477,483,482,11479,11478,6544,359,10049,10211,3616,8402,11480,11381,11481,11482,11483],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19418"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19418"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19427,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19418\/revisions\/19427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}