The latest british pop sensation that's been on repeat on MY iPod is someone I've had the pleasure of getting to know on a personal level. She is 22 year old Rachel Silva, currently preparing her debut album release and releasing another of a string of hits overseas. Rachel is currently making the transition into the American music market releasing such hits as Livin' a Lie, Gone, Never Felt Like This, and Losing Control.
Rachel's voice isn't a fresh one, however. She has been singing since she was four years old when she first picked up a microphone for the first time at her cousin's wedding. She started sinking in front of a complete audience after first asking the band to play "Daisy, Daisy" for her to sing along to. Soon after, she joined the school choir. At 15 and after primary school, she joined a proper singing group, called "Phoenix". It was around then she started getting noticed for her jazz tunes and ballads. After then completing every available school singing competition and show, she started taking voice lessons to learn to better control her vocals. Soon after, at 16, she started deciding she could actually build a career in the music industry, after studying performing arts and thought "This is for me!" She then got her first agent who got her many local performances solo and with other performers. Then, she performed in theaters, pubs, golf clubs, hotels, and a venue called "Llandudno" town hall. It all gave her the knowledge and confidence to succeed.
In December of 2009 Rachel was invited to sing the Christmas Special of London's "Pop Revue"-- where other artists who write and perform their own music get invited to perform at a funky club, called Freedom on Monday nights. The acts are all different types of music and some are even invited back multiple times, such as Rachel Silva. Being invited onto and back to Pop Revue has helped her grow immensely and she looks forward to the additional traffic future shows will bring her. Rachel now has a manager, Russ with Northern Star, who has helped her achieve her dream of being heard on American, Canadian, UK, and other European radio stations. She's also currently finishing up her debut album, which she started work in 2009, having eleven finalized songs with more on the way and looks forward to it's worldwide release. She's also looking forward to other top London performances and going on tour, in August, with Nikita Angus from X-Factor!
After the release of Rachel's album, keep an eye out for her music videos, and American tour dates to be added to upcoming tour schedules.
What's your fondest performing memory to date? "The first night of the "Martyn Barry and friends" show, Martyn was being an idiot and control freak and bloody worked us hard. However, the show turned out fabulous and the crowd enjoyed every minute. It was worth it."
And the least? "I did a show last year and all the lights just went out! I just kept singing, I didn't know what to do. It was a nightmare! Eventually someone lit a torch for me so I could get backstage but five minutes later they came back on for the next singer! I freaked out but you must remain professional."
What have you found to be the most challenging part of making an album? "Oh god… not making all the songs sound the same… You can't do something in more than one song but all songs need to have a similar sound throughout the album. You have to just be patient and enjoy what you do and just focus on different ideas for each song."
What's your latest release, 'Livin' a Lie' all about? "Someone business-oriented really pissed me off. It also used to be a nasty hard beat-- because I was so angry… So the lyrics are from that incident but with the producer's help, we slowed it down and came up with this."
