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Rachel Croft's sound is cinematic, moody, and classic; Her atmospheric origins defend her powerful and dramatic vocals, which gently blend folk, rock and soul styles.
Her songwriting skills have led to her being the center of attention at many UK festivals and European tours, attracting the attention of Fresh On The Net, csgm blog, POPMUZIK and Liverpool Sound and Vision.
Rachel's debut album Hours Awake (2019) was over 95% funded by fans around the world and garnered over 130,000 views on YouTube.
She has endorsed artists like Skerryvore and released three singles, which have earned regular broadcasts and secured Rachel with spots at Moseley Festival, Warwick Festival, and Costa Del Folk Portugal.
Rachel now returns with Reap What You Sow E.P., exploring more powerful cinematic blues styles.
We've had the pleasure of talking to her about this release and hers for her future projects. Enjoy!
Hi Rachel, how was the last year for you personally and creatively? Looks like you've been keeping busy!
Thank you, yes! Very busy behind the scenes working on some new sounds. It wasn’t always smooth sailing, there were a lot of low points and questioning my path - particularly at the start when I thought I would have to move home once all my gigs were cancelled - but it led to some very personal and liberating music for me so I’m grateful in a way.
I was really lucky to be able to get into the studio and escape, with the help of my lovely Patreon family supporting me - that time away from my house was a real godsend, and I’m so proud of what has come out of that time, I think not having any pleasant distractions from your work really took my music and production knowledge to a whole new level. Had to use the lockdowns for something, right? Plus I sucked at making sourdough!
What does 2021 have in store for us? Is there something on the way that excites you as much in music as in other fields?
5 new songs, exploring the style of music that I never thought I could create, but always wanted to! I wasn’t sure if rock would work for my followers who know my folk roots, but the lockdowns made me reassess why I was doing what I was doing, so I decided to take those constraints I put on myself away, and see what I could do.
Hopefully the evolution in my sound over the different releases comes through, and people like the new, liberated version of me.
What could you tell us about your latest work: Reap What You Sow? How was it born? What do you want to express?
Reap What You Sow is song that just came out of me on a really bad day I was having. It was an accumulation of frustration and it felt great to vent some feelings though song, rather than saying them at anyone directly. Maybe a small part of me now feels like I was being a bit overly harsh, but then, it’s not aimed directly at one person, and I love how the song came so easily and not overthought, and I think it’s relatable, so I kept it! Something about the feel and rhythm lent itself so naturally to a cinematic production, I couldn’t not turn it into a deadly soundtrack!
What advice would you give to those who want to embark on a journey towards music creation?
I would say, find the thing you want to shout about most, and write about that - something that you feel strongly about will fuel you the best I think. Allow yourself room for experimentation, don’t try to force it, but don’t avoid it either. Come back and try, then try again. You won’t come away with something every time but the practice and perseverance will pay off eventually. Not everyone will understand your career choice, often there’s a misconception that unless you’re someone mega famous, like Adele or for example, you can’t be a successful musician, and that’s just not true. I would recommend easing yourself in gently, and get used to playing in front of people. I started in open mic nights and it really helped me, as did busking. One last thing, don’t let opportunities pass you by (whilst remaining wary of promises that are too good to be true) - you have to fight to be heard, don’t sit around waiting to be discovered!
And personally, what mistakes would you have liked not to have made?
Two main things:
1. I think I would have liked to have been less naive - it’s great to be open to opportunities as I said, but I wish I’d protected myself from some of the bad things that have happened to me, by getting things in writing, not just word of mouth. Still, things like that make you wiser and tougher, and though I learned the hard way, it’ll never happen again!
2. I would have put more effort into my career much sooner; not just the playing aspect, but all the other parts you have to be on top of as a small independent artist. I look back and think about all the time I could have been pushing for what I wanted - you can have the greatest voice in the world but if you don’t push it to be heard, no one will ever hear it.
Do you have any more releases in the future that we can look forward to?
I have an awful lot of songs from the lockdowns still waiting to be shared, so I think it’s only a matter of time before I start on something new after the EP “ reap What You Sow" is released on 3rd September! You can keep up to date on my social media channels for new music coming, or if you want to get behind the scenes for some exclusive content first, including live songs and behind the scenes footage, check out my Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/rachelcroftmusic) and become part of my little family!
WEB / SOCIAL MEDIA:
PRE ORDER / BUY: Single: https://ffm.to/rachelcroft-rwys-single EP: https://ffm.to/rachelcroft-rwys-ep
