This episode is part of the Lunchador partnership with the ESL Rochester Fringe Festival (@rochesterfringe) to preview events you might not know about!

Guest: Silver Rein (@silverreinmusic)

Venue: The Spirit Room - Ticketed

Time: 9/11 @ 8:15pm, 9/12 @ 7pm

Show Link: https://rochesterfringe.com/tickets-and-shows/silver-rein-a-goth-folk-music-experience

Check out RochesterFringe.com for all the events and get the app to able to find events on the fly when you visit.

Mentioned in this episode:

Mind of Magnus

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Well, that music means it's another episode of Just Can't Not.

I'm your host, Chris Lindstrom, and we're here for a fringe preview podcast, one of many that's going to be coming out on the Lunchadore Podcast Network over the next week and a half or so.

And that's for the ESL Rochester Fringe Festival starting on September 9th, running till the 20th.

Go to rochesterfringe.com to find all of the events.

Get the app so you can get events whenever you want.

But I'm here with a guest.

Guest, why don't you introduce yourself?

Hi there.

Thanks, Chris, for having me.

I'm Sarah of the solo electric cello and operatic vocals, Silver Rain.

And you are based out of Ithaca, New York, right?

Yes, that's correct.

Now, Ithaca is a fascinating place because from the outside, you know, I think of it as one of the crunchiest towns in upstate New York.

Do you feel like it still lives up to that, or is Ithaca changing a lot over the last few years?

I would still agree that it's one of the crunchier areas in New York.

Does that, does that suit you?

It suits me very well.

So before we get into your, let's get the plugs out for your show and where people can find your music.

So when is your show at the Rochester Fringe Festival?

So I have two shows, Thursday and Friday, September 11th and 12th at the Spirit Room.

And the first show is on September 11th at 8:15pm and the 12th is 7pm and they are two hour long shows.

Oh, that's awesome.

Have you been to the Spirit Room before?

Yes, I actually played there last year in November on my Midwest tour on my way out there.

That's awesome.

And like, I was just.

So I was listening to some of your music last night and I was just thinking about how perfect of a venue, and I know that this is Spirit Room's basically last hurrah.

So you're going to be one of the last performers at that venue.

And I was just thinking, like, how perfect of a combination is that for that vibes, for the kind of music that you do?

Absolutely perfect.

When I first went to the venue, I just loved the decor.

The owner is awesome, had a wonderful time there, and I cannot wait to get back.

Yeah, Jacob's a character and a half, isn't he?

Yes, he is.

I've known him for a hot minute.

And, you know, the fact that they were able to run that as long as they did is just a testament to how singular of a place that is.

And that's kind of what I want to pivot to is when I was listening to the music last night, so I was listening on YouTube.

It seems like you can get your music on YouTube, follow on Instagram to see shows coming up.

And that's Under Silver Rain.

That's R E I N. Correct?

Yes.

I was listening to some of the songs, and I was trying to.

I'm an analytical person.

I was trying to figure out how to categorize your music, and I think in the best possible way.

I was struggling to categorize it, and my wife was sitting next to me, and she was saying it sounds like traveling music, where it has this beautiful, atmospheric, ethereal vibes to it, but it could be like a traveling party.

I'm like, if you took away some of the.

Like, some of the production and you gave you a lute, it feels like this could also be at a Renaissance Faire all at the same time.

It just feels like this atmospheric, ethereal, cold, but warm.

And it's just this beautiful confluence of so many different things all at the same time.

Thank you so much.

I would agree that it is very difficult to categorize.

Just like human beings, we're all very layered and multidimensional.

And I think that this is the truest expression of myself as a musician, and so it reflects that.

That being said, I get a lot of feedback that it sounds Viking, Romantic, good witch energy, medieval.

I do like the good witch energy.

I think that matches one of the vibes that when I saw pictures of you performing or videos of you performing, like, yeah, that kind of works.

And then I think the other thing was what she picked up on, because she's much more of a music person than I am, is some of those little bits of psychedelic 60s things, just those there's little nods to, like, that 60s psychedelic tonality that she picked up right away.

And she's like, oh, it just feels like this would be like a whole party walking in the snow and be an interesting, diverse party of people walking in the snow.

I'm like, yeah, I love that as a vibe for that.

I love that imagery.

And in fact, one of my biggest musical influences is Jethro Tull.

That was exactly the one she mentioned was Jethro Tull.

I was thinking, like, Jefferson Airplane, you know, the big 60s psychedelic rock thing.

But that was exactly the one she mentioned was Jethro Tull.

And I love that that's the influence because it's.

That's another group that is hard to define.

Agreed.

And I like the Journey as well.

The show at the Fringe Festival will be a curated collection of my songs and it's meant to take you on a journey.

So when you're thinking about producing a show versus just not just, but like, say you're just doing a live performance at a venue, do you think about that as like you're providing a journey of experience?

Do you think of that as, this is the music I've created, I'm just playing it.

Do you always think of it that way or is that really just for Fringe?

I always think of it that way.

Yeah.

My set lists every time I play a show, depending on how much time I have.

I am very thoughtful about how I put the show together.

That being said, there are going to be a few little surprises at the Fringe shows.

I love that and I could see it on your face too.

Like, I love when people are excited about providing something different to the audience, especially something like Fringe.

Like you have a receptive audience that's ready for something different.

Why not go for it, try something different?

I agree.

So what I'm kind of intrigued with is when did you start actually producing, you know, recording and producing your own music?

It's a Boss RC600 loop station.

Okay.

And that was a big inspiration for me to create multi layered solo work.

So talk about that piece of equipment for a second, because you mentioned it specifically, that it's something that it seems like was an important part of the journey.

What does that device do and how does that tie into how you like to make music?

So what is it and how does it work?

I'm not like the guts of it, because we could talk about electronic engineering all day, but what's the function of it?

Well, it has nine different stump pedals and you can reconfigure them however you like.

And I usually use them for live looping.

I'm also able to create backing tracks that are saved into the memories.

And there are 99 memories.

So it's a very versatile piece of equipment that quite frankly is essential to the music that I make right now.

And it allows me to play solo and to save all of those songs.

And.

I forget your original question.

No, it's okay.

The reason why.

So I was asking, like we started with, you know, when did you start?

And you know, why did you start?

But I love talking about equipment like that though.

And it's not about the tech, it's about you have this idea in your head and Sometimes equipment's necessary and sometimes it inspires something different that maybe you wouldn't have thought of because you didn't have the ability to execute on something like that.

Absolutely.

And this piece of equipment is cool because I am a cellist.

I play in a five string electric cello and it allows me to be hands free, so I'm able to play and press buttons with my feet as I go.

Now, when it comes to.

When it comes to using that is that you're playing parts of the music during your live performances versus like actually making.

You're not making new loops while you are performing.

I know some people do.

I'm doing all.

Oh, are you doing that too?

Oh, that's.

That's so cool.

Because I've.

I've seen that a couple times and as a nerd first, I adore watching that because like.

Oh, that's like.

It's just that creative juices.

You can see it on the people's faces while they're creating.

It's that focus, but that excitement that you're making something fresh.

Obviously you have an intent, but you're making something also cool in the moment.

I agree.

Yeah.

So a lot of the stuff that I write I compose, so I'm not improving as much.

But many of my songs include live loop layers.

And one of my favorite songs that will be on my upcoming album that will be released sometime this fall, involves maybe 20 layers of cello and voice.

Wow.

You just kind of have to be there to experience it.

That's cool.

Unless you picked up the cello for the first time in 22, in which case I'll be wildly impressed.

No, I was just telling someone the other day when I was in fourth grade and they were bringing instruments in to our classrooms to show us what the options were.

I saw the cello, wanted to play it immediately.

Was there something about it that grabbed you at that age?

That.

Because it has, you know, string instruments have a distinct kind of shape and a, you know, a vibe about them.

You know, there's.

There's a curvature, there's this, you know, intricate work that is needed to make something like that.

Even at, like, even at the intro level.

Right.

You can't randomly make something that sounds.

That sounds good.

Right.

There's a romance to it, I think.

Oh, very romantic.

I loved the tone of the cello.

I love the shape of the cello.

I love that it was just Big.

Yeah.

Especially.

Especially in fourth grade, where it's like, at that point, it's what, taller than you are, probably.

Yes.

And that's like.

That's a lot.

It's an intimidating thing.

But I love that that's the one you picked because that's like, yeah, I'm going for it.

I'm going big, definitely.

And I think it's the most similar to a human voice.

Well, I like that too, because you can play with it in many different ways.

Especially with, like, if you want to bring a different tonality to things, you want to bring that drama to it.

Right.

It has that ability to bring drama, to bring depth, but it can also be quick and bouncy, too, in a very fun way.

Definitely.

And this particular cello has five strings, so it has a low F. So it has an even bassier feel to it.

So tell me about the difference between a five string and what is typical.

Well, a typical cello has four strings.

A, D, G, and C are the notes that are the open strings.

But this one has an extra fifth.

String that's a low F. So was that something where you found during the process that that's something you wanted to get into, or was it accidental?

I have been in a handful of bands, and a couple of them, I played acoustic cello, and it was lovely.

But you always run into the issue of feedback from the acoustic aspect of the instrument.

And so I was looking for an electric cello and came upon this really amazing brand, and it's called NS Design, and they're on the higher end, quality wise.

And I went to North Carolina to a store to test one out and really fell in love with the five string.

So.

Yeah, and I love that too, that, like, you.

You made a trip for it.

Right.

It's not like it's not just an order.

Like you went to go experience it first because you wanted to have that, you know, that tan.

There's something tangible about.

Tangible about?

Yeah.

You have a physical instrument that makes something happen, and that.

That's just neat stuff.

What was about that time that said to you in your own head, I want to make my own music under this moniker?

What was running through your head at that time?

Great question.

I was coming out of the Pandemic.

Yes.

As we all were.

And just feeling like I wanted to create again.

I had been in many creative projects, but had lost my spark during the Pandemic for various reasons.

And Started writing music, got the.

The pedal that allowed me to do what I wanted to do.

And then I started creating.

A big thing for me is that I thought there was a lot of undealt with grief during the pandemic and a lot of heavy emotions.

And so a lot of my music deals with themes of isolation and grief and sadness.

Kind of through the lens of a mysterious old time place of the past.

It's meant to kind of take you outside yourself to explore these feelings.

Is that something that is, I would say, not to use pandemic terms, but is that endemic to your music or do you see that as something that is changing as even these three years have gone on?

I definitely think my sound and subject matter has evolved over the last three years.

I'm leaning more into the operatic aspect.

You listen to my album that I have available.

It's even more ethereal and operatic and grandiose and cinematic.

Yeah.

Than the first.

And I.

And I'm definitely leaning into other themes too.

But I would say by and large I'm attracted to the heavier aspects of life and I'm attracted to helping people through hard times in general.

Yeah, I think that's, you know, that's one of those.

It's one of those things that is.

I'll say, you know, from my perspective as somebody who listens to limited music, it's when something grabs you, it's hard to define and it's often a very personal thing.

Right.

Something that hits somebody emotionally.

You don't know sometimes what's the thing that's gonna grab you.

And I think something about the music I was listening to yesterday was you had to sit with it.

You can't listen to a 3 minute, 13 minute song and capture what it feels like to listen to that.

I think you have to sit with it and not be paying attention to something else.

You know, you could listen to it in the background, but when I was sitting with it, I could feel that there's this depth, there's this intentionality to it.

Because you don't accidentally make that tone.

No.

When you mentioned operatic, do you have vocal training towards that style or have you self taught?

Some is vocal training and some is self taught.

I've been in choirs all my life and I did take a few voice lessons in college.

But it's something I've developed on my own.

I kind of like to do my own thing.

Yeah.

Cause it didn't ring to me as like operatic training because it did ring to me as somebody who did sing choral and Performed at a decent level through high school, that I could hear the clean tonality, and I could hear that there's a richness both to your voice and how it's processed and everything else.

But at the core was sound, technical singing that, you know, feels like every moment, again, was on purpose.

I use that.

I say that a lot because it matters to me, you know, as a food and drink person and everything else.

When people do things on purpose, you can tell.

But that.

That technical acuity also rings to me as a nerd.

Like, oh, she's really.

She's really solid at singing, too.

Well, thank you.

What was.

What was your.

What was your vocal range when you were.

When you were younger in choral singing?

Well, the highest note that I could hit when I was in high school, I believe was a high E. Now it's a high D. Okay.

That's actually pretty good.

That's pretty good.

My range has dropped significantly.

I was.

I was like a 10 or two, but I could go pretty high.

I don't have that anymore.

Both.

I'm not trained anymore, and two, like, I've definitely dropped a solid tone, but every so often, I try to stretch, and it's fun.

It's fun.

It almost makes me wish I would, you know, do a little bit more.

Because it is a blast to try to sing and either replicate or try something new.

It's so much fun.

And what I also have been enjoying doing recently during our podcast recordings, I'll come up with different lyrics for songs and things like that.

When you're thinking about lyrics for these, because I would say in many ways, the tonality is what people are going to notice first.

The vibes.

When you're thinking about lyrics, how do you balance both, you know, the lyrics and the tone?

Do you think they always merge together, or is that something you've had to work on.

The lyrics and the tone?

Could you explain a little bit more?

Yeah, so.

And the reason I was thinking about this is, like, one of the bands that I listened to a lot was Talking Heads, right?

Where sometimes the tone is very bouncy and then the lyrics are discordant from that.

Some music is very, very synchronous, where the tone of the music and the lyrics are very.

Are very together.

Like, when you're thinking about writing, do you think about the lyrics first?

Do you think about the tone first?

How does that process work for you?

I see.

I asked it better the second time.

That's so good.

I usually write a couple of riffs at first, and then I'LL write some poetry that's very free form and is inspired by the riffs.

And then I create the structure of the song and I fit the poetry into it.

So it is very meant to be together.

Yeah.

When you talked about.

When you're mentioning poetry, is that something you've also developed over time?

I believe so.

I was really into literature.

I'm really into 19th century literature and poetry, and I think it's just a matter of practicing it.

Yeah, it's.

So what.

What about.

What about that era?

Right, that, you know, 19th century era grabbed you personally?

Well, back in the day, when I lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota, I formed a band with a friend of mine, and we were inspired by 19th century topics as it related to women and madness in the 19th century.

And there was a period called the Great Confinement, when people were being sent to sanitariums right and left, and hysteria was a thing.

And being a feminist, I was really drawn to that era for that reason.

And the Bronte Sisters, and there are several short stories that we were really into and then just kind of branched out from there.

Yeah.

And I think that's a very.

It's an interesting springboard.

Right, because it's, you know, listening, you know, thinking about.

Thinking about then versus now, and you're like, oh, there's way more echoes than I would prefer from.

From that time period to now.

But, you know, thinking about, thinking about how assertive that that was at the time and writing around that.

Was it.

Was it an experiment in.

Not an experiment, but was it wasn't an expression of.

An expression of, you know, anger and those things?

Was it more of an exploration?

How did that emotionally hit you, working through that?

I think it was all of the.

All of the above.

Yeah.

Yeah, we definitely had a little anger, but I was fascinated by those stories and how literature was affected by what was going on with women in that time period.

But nowadays I like to explore different times because I like my music to be more timeless.

Yeah.

And I think that's.

It's also just, you know, having that opportunity to make something that you could have played, you could have played 50 years ago, you could have played it 80 years ago, and you could.

Might play it 80 years from now that you could still feel that.

And, man, I really appreciate you.

Appreciate you coming on the podcast and talking through the stuff before we close out.

You mentioned that your new album was going to be coming out soon.

Tell people roughly what they should expect.

Do you have a name for it yet?

Do you know where people are going to be able to find it.

Well, I don't have a name for the album yet, gone back and forth over and over again, but expect it to be released this year and it will be on all streaming platforms and it will be on Silver Rain, r e I n.bandcamp.com and also YouTube and I will have physical copies, including potentially vinyl records next year.

Very excited for this album.

It is, you know, the first album was lovely and I got out a lot of things I needed to get off my chest.

The second album, I curated specific.

I created specific pieces to fit in along the way and created the album very intentionally.

That's awesome.

And as a reminder to anybody listening, if you like independent musicians and things like that, if they give you an option first to support them by going to that place, go to that place first.

Using Bandcamp is a great way to support independent artists in a more direct way versus many of the other platforms.

So I'm glad you mentioned that first.

And I will say the undertone words because I think it's important to tell people that, hey, support them the way they want to be supported.

And speaking of supporting artists, again, where can people, where can people find you for the Fringe Festival dates and times?

So Silver Rain will be performing on September 11th at 8:15pm and September 12th at 7:00pm at the Spirit Room in Rochester.

Can't wait to see you.

Thank you so much for joining the podcast.

And again, a reminder to everybody, the ESL Rochester Fringe Festival will be from September 9th to 20th, hosted in scenic downtown Rochester, New York.

And we'll see you out at the Fringe Festival.

This has been a presentation of the Lunchadore Podcast Network.