A Quick Chat with Rachel Maria Cox

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE NEW TRACK AND WHAT YOU WANT PEOPLE TO TAKE AWAY FROM IT?

The Track is called Say You Love Me, it’s a fun little pop song that’s about being in the early stages of a relationship, where you’re not sure exactly what to call it but you’re spending a lot of time together. I just want people to get that light, excited feeling you get when you’re in that stage of seeing someone!

WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR INFLUENCES AND WHY?

For this song I really drew heavily on a lot of my favourite alternative pop artists, so artists like Years and Years, Troye Sivan, Lauv, MNEK, as well as some commercial top-40 artists like DNCE, Dua Lipa, people like that. More broadly I listen to a really wide range of genres and styles so sometimes that creeps in - like rock, punk, musical theatre, RnB, even some classical sneaks in there.

WHAT'S THE CREATIVE PROCESS FOR YOU, FROM WRITING THROUGH TO RECORDING?

The creative process for these songs started with melodies and lyrics first, and I’ll sit down at the piano and try and play around with some chords. Usually I’ll have a production style, arrangement or vibe in mind for what I want the song to be so I very quickly move to working in Logic to flesh out an arrangement, find sounds I like and get a better picture for how the whole song will fit together. I’ll usually go through this demoing process for ages, often editing and re-writing lyrics, adding or removing sections, and then once I’m done I will send that demo off to any potential collaborators and work with them. I like to stay flexible - with some of the songs on this EP, we were editing as we were recording because things weren’t working the way I wanted them to. The recording process for this EP was also a bit piecemeal - I worked with Jono Tooke on the vocal engineering and guitars, and we would just do a few hours here or there when we were both in the same city and could find a studio.

WHAT DO YOU THINK MAKES A GREAT SONG?

A great song is one that people see something about themselves in, or see something that they want to be true about themselves in.

YOUR NEW EP IS SET FOR RELEASE ON NOV 24, CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT SOME OF THE OTHER THEMES YOU EXPLORE IN IT?

The EP is called ‘the day you left’ and it basically is a bunch of snapshots of moments in a relationship as it starts and as it starts to fall apart, and then rebuilding back after that. Without giving too much away, there is also a song that addresses toxic masculinity in the music industry, which is at the moment my favourite song off the EP and I’m super excited for people to get to hear it.

IF YOU COULD COLLABORATE WITH ANY ARTIST, WHO WOULD IT BE AND WHY?

Easy! Lady Gaga. Aside from the obvious fact that it’s Lady Gaga, I am just consistently amazed by the way she puts together albums, artwork, costume, makeup and videos that all are part of this larger body of work. The vision that takes is so impressive. Plus, she can really sing and knows how to write a song.

WHEN NOT WORKING ON MUSIC, WHAT OTHER CREATIVE OUTLET/S DO YOU HAVE?

I’ve been DJing a whole lot in the last couple of years, and I love that different kind of creative/performance experience. I also like composing music for solo piano, and have recently been learning more piano and vocal repertoire aside from just my own songs. Outside of those other musical outlets, I like knitting and solving Sudoku variants, which may not seem like creative ventures very much but they are my favourite things to do to unwind and relax, which helps me stay creative and not burn out.

WHO ARE SOME LOCAL BANDS WE SHOULD CHECK OUT?

Two shows I recently saw that absolutely blew me away were Nite Fruit and Light Transmissions (if you like Hyperpop/Alt Pop) and Cherish (If you like hardcore music). There’s also a band in Newy called Collidescope who I think are fantastic, more of a pop-punk/emo sound.

WINTER OR SUMMER AND WHY?

Winter! My pasty white skin is not built for summer and I burn way too easily.

WHAT ELSE DO YOU HAVE PLANNED FOR THE YEAR?

More music and live shows are in the works so keep an eye out for that!