Rae Isla is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer from Seattle, WA, now living in Los Angeles, CA, and Brooklyn, NY. She often refers to her Alternative, folk-pop music as “ether pop” and Complex refers to her sound as having a “noticeable influence of Americana and even a touch of country in the sliding guitars and wistful writing.”
Rae Isla stands above most new artists today due to her quality of voice, songwriting gift, and self-marketing elan. Quite a bit of deliberation in the last 3 weeks over this artist and a few others, we first discovered on X (see Twitter). Rae Isla’s songwriting, creativity, and self-filmed videos pushed us over the top on her talent and drive to creatively succeed on her terms. Rae was featured in November after selling the first 600 NFTs from her “Rocks” project — a collection of 1,000 NFTs made up of four tracks, each with different rarities and artwork released through Nifty Music — a music NFT accelerator. While reviewing the NFT rock collection page for Rae Isla we learned the following interesting details: Rae Isla’s Rocks is a 1,000 Music NFT collection for music lovers, rock hounds, and web3 believers. It features 111 unique rocks from Rae’s real-life collection, attached to 4 fully produced studio songs from her forthcoming album, and a combination of unique visual traits that come with their own IRL activations. Holding 1 rock gets you access to a weekly living room concert, 2 rocks get you into live shows, 3 songs gets you 3 free mints from Rae’s next collection. Free vinyl with Star hand, Gold hand, or 5 frames. Merch discount with Lunar & Star traits. 9 hands to join the council. The “R” sticker unlocks a claimable rock analysis NFT with an exclusive song! Learn more here
She released her debut EP, “No Longer Blue”, with contributions from Gianluca Buccellati (Tei Shi, Yellerkin), in 2018. Identifying as a queer artist, her intention with the EP was “to create a narrative for spirituality within the LGBTQ community.
Isla studied Music Business at Berklee College of Music
Rae Isla – The Gardener (Lyric Video)
Rae Isla takes her performance as an opportunity to not just give you a spiritual experience but also an inquisitive one. What I most love about her style is her intent. She WANTS you to look at the fabrics and foundations that construct you as a human being and thus make you divine.
Rae Isla – Waiting (Live Session)
As a musician in web3 and the music industry, here are my 2 cents (or rather .002 cents) on the Spotify discussion.
First, I’ve noticed a couple of things are firing us up that really should be separate.
1. Fairness
2. Ownership
Spotify is not a fair business model.
Be selective with how you use it, pull your songs if it doesn’t feel right to have them on there.
Ownership has nothing to do with Spotify.
If you signed a bad deal, those folks are sadly going to exploit you wherever they can. 😢
Today it’s on streaming platforms, next year it may be in web3. If they own your IP they will use it.
Be like Taylor Swift. She suffered from a bad deal, she found a workaround and is now bigger than ever. She’s also the #1 global artist on Spotify, a stat I’m sure she’s leveraging to close massive deals.
OWN YOUR MASTERS
OWN YOUR PUBLISHING
Now back to Spotify.
🪛 Spotify can be a useful tool
💰 Spotify is a horrible business model
Let’s face it, if Spotify can’t turn a profit for itself, it likely won’t turn a profit for you!
Artists should understand the value it *does* have and stop trying to find value that it *doesn’t* have.
VALUE IT DOES HAVE:
– Super well-designed music player.
– Massive user base = Top of Funnel for new fans of the actual songs.
– A data point that if *leveraged correctly* can be used to get more tangible opportunities.
VALUE IT DOESN’T HAVE
So so much…
For better or worse, a music career is Choose Your Adventure.
Choose to innovate. Choose to use the tools available. Choose what’s best for you 🚀
Rae Isla loves driving long distances. “I’m a road girl,” she explains to me over Zoom, as we discuss the upcoming tour for her May release, Another Life. The tour begins in Brooklyn this week, and Country Queer is excited to join as a media sponsor.
If you’re a touring musician, it helps to have a penchant for travel, which Rae has in abundance. Today, she’s calling from Mexico City, one of a trinity of cities where she currently splits her time (the others are Brooklyn and Seattle), and a new home that she’s grateful to have. “I finally feel like I have friends,” she laughs as she tells me about recently seeing a production of the British play Shopping and Fucking that features an actor she’s befriended in town. “I’m mostly down here to record music, and now I happen to have a life here.”
In this respect, Another Life is a fine album to be touring behind. Delving into cross-country attachments and long-distance relationships, it feels transitional and yearning, like an Americana-fied version of certain early Lana Del Rey tracks, or Sharon Van Etten’s 2014 release Are We There. Whether Rae is threading in people (“California, do you love me?”) or politics (“this country, so divided with its science and its faith”), there’s a distinct preoccupation on the album with places, and the long roads that link them.
Rae Isla – Lovely Lies (Official Video)
49,244 views Mar 23, 2021
Official video for “Lovely Lies” from the album “Another Life” by Rae Isla
Listen and Download “Another Life” by Rae Isla out now:
https://raeisla.com/anotherlifelp
Concept by: Rae Isla & Claire Dub
Directed by: Sol Rodriguez
AD: Felix Ernst
Cinematography: Anna Tormenta
VFX & Color: Danny Chandia
Edited by: Sol Rodriguez & Danny Chandia
Costume Design: Renata Bricio
Production Design: Valeria Olvera
Hair & Makeup: Tania León
Gaffer: Isaac Bobadilla Dolores
Production Assistant: Nick Leger
Dancers: Joan Gómez Cuevas & Karla Ballina Merrem
Dancer Costume: Marea Lunar
Saxophonist: Aaron Alonso
Frog Wrangler: Dardo Corazón de Selva
Memory Footage: Forrest Smith
Song produced by: Garrett Eaton, Rae Isla
Drums: Jake Robert Beale
Saxophone: Jaedon Alvira
Mixed by: Ronnie DiSimone
Mastered by: Dan Millice
I’ve been sleeping on a pile of stones
Slowly weakening my back bone
Every morning I hear it creak
I guess time’s wheel is spinning for me
My love sleeps in the same old bed
She sleeps right and I sleep left
When we go to dream at night
Both our heads tell lovely lies
Ohhhh and I believe those lovely lies
Ohhhh yeah I believe those lovely lies
I close my eyes
To revel in those lovely lovely
Liiiiiiies
Lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lies
Those lovely liiiiiiies
Lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lies
We married young at twenty-three
I always feared she’d bury me
She promised that we’d grow old
Be the protectors of each others’ bones
If there’s just one thing I know
It’s that the only honest thing is hope
I see the future in her eyes
And I believe her lovely lies
Ohhhh yeah I believe her lovely lies
In the morning light
I revel in her lovely lovely
Liiiiiiies
Lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lies
Her lovely liiiiiiies
Lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lies
Lovely liiiiiiies
Lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lies
Her lovely liiiiiiies
Lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lies
Rae Isla – Turbulencia (Official Music Video)
Like the river that rages to the east We were strong, we moved fast But our moment could not last Once my arms met the mouth of your sea The branches that grow thick upon the trees Won’t survive the winter storm They will break, and they will fall Just like me Just like me Oh, what happens to the ones who believe? They hold on long enough to see How to weather all the elements of A turbulent love I’ve done my best to pretend When we move in the dark I am still, while you do your part Now it’s quiet while we wait for the end I don’t know if I can do this again You are strong, you are pure While I’m still so unsure If it’s better to give up Or give in Oh, what happens to the ones who believe? They hold on long enough to see How to weather all the elements of A turbulent love
