April 16, 2025 • 70 mins
Ever feel like you're doing all the right things as a singer, but something still feels… off?
Billboard charting songwriter and artist Rachel Siegel joined coach Juliana and I for a talk about disciple, pressure, and how to find your true voice in your artistry.
If you’ve been feeling disconnected, this episode will help you get clear on what you actually want—and how to start enjoying your voice again.
📍Mentioned Resource: Follow Rachel on Instagram @rachel.m.siegel and check out her music here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0HbwlzJrEnYfQSCKTLQb8p?si=nyg22Rc6T9Ct-yFzRzWp9g
👉 Want to make practicing easier? Grab our FREE warm up track here: https://lessons.voxtapestudios.com/free-warm-up-track
👉 Want to know exactly what your voice needs to improve? Get a vocal evaluation from our professional coaches here: https://lessons.voxtapestudios.com/vocal-evaluation
👉 Book a 1:1 session with Coach Lara: https://lessons.voxtapestudios.com/trial-lesson
🔔 Subscribe & follow for new episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
in that first year and a half
(00:00):
I wrote one song that ended up charting No.
6 on the Billboard international charts
whoa which was like
like casual like a pretty cool thing
yeah that's amazing
but at that time was
when I was starting to pull back from the music
industry
hey voxstar
and welcome to from singer to artist
I'm Lara Chapman award winning singer and songwriter
turned viral vocal coach and the host of this show
at VoxTape Studios
we help singers from all over the world
level up their voices
by teaching them the 3 fundamental skills
(00:20):
all singers need technique
awareness and artistry whether you're looking to go pro
or just develop your voice for fun
my team and I are here to help
check the link in the description
to book your first session
or grab some of our other resources
Alrighty are you ready
let's get started
with me today because I'm in awesome LA Los Angeles
the land of dreams
I've got two amazing guests with me here today
I've got Coach Juliana from our team hello
hello and very special guest today
we've got Rachel Seagal with us
hi thank you for having me
thank you for being here
I'm so excited to have you here
I've been following you on social media forever
haha cause you two are really good friends
(00:42):
yeah from what I can tell
at least you pretend really well
we hate each other I'm kidding
I love her and so obviously
I followed you forever because you're
we work together right
you're a coach of Oxsave yes
and you guys hang out and you make music together
and I'm like who's this chick
so I checked you out and then
you know I'm so glad that we were able to
to make this happen here and me too
yeah thanks for taking the time
so let's just maybe get right into your story
because we were just talking a little bit
right before we started rolling
and I was like oh my God
that is so crazy so
tell us a little bit more about yourself
and how you got into this crazy world of music singing
songwriting being an artist
all of the above I grew up in New Jersey and like a
(01:03):
like a a super
super small town
where my mom always jokes that there were like
more cows and pigs than people
yeah same yeah
shout out to Bloomingstein
wow Flower Stone
we always joke more cows than people
okay amazing
so you get it I guess
it was a fun time it was
it was good
so I just like started singing before I started talking
I couldn't shut up I would be like
like just singing wherever I went
and um
my plan
in middle school and high school
was to go into musical theater
I love being in a small town
that's kind of the avenues that I could do
(01:23):
music and so I just loved it
it was like a way to express myself and
and playing these characters was so much fun
it was so magical um
but I always gravitated like
to new musical theater and new musical theater writers
and so I would come home from high school
and spend hours researching new musical theater
composers and then um
I there was this talent show in my church
where it was like I don't know
I just like had a song to write
and so I got with a friend of mine and I was like okay
like could we write this song
and I wrote and performed this song
and I just like fell in love with songwriting
(01:44):
and it was just the like a full circle moment
but also like the beginning of everything um
and I like all my plans changed for my life
I was planning to pursue musical theater um
go to school in Texas
be on Broadway and have my little life in New York yeah
but when I started writing
I was like no
I could tell my own story and like it felt like this
it was like so connected with my personal growth and
and it was just something like I had to do
and so I went to Berkley College of music
yeah and Berkley
and I was just like I'm gonna become a songwriter
if it's the last thing I do in my life
and I would write every day
(02:04):
I would bro
blow off all the projects I didn't wanna do
I would pay people in burritos to do my homework
which I'm not proud of
but I would just like write and write and write
I would put myself in three songwriting sessions a day
and wow I was just obsessed and incessant
so what's this at Berkeley we're three songwriting yeah
like all my classes and in between classes
I would be doing songwriting sessions wow
I was crazy I remember when when I was at Berkeley
we just missed each other
but when I was there they told us that only like
your classes that you're taking
should only be about 30% of what you do
(02:25):
at Berkeley
you should be collaborating like songwriting sessions
and yeah use the studio space
and just do things with people there
so it sounds like you did a lot of that yeah
that really was I think
the most magical thing about Berkeley
was the people I met there
because where else do you have like
3,000 people who are
as equally as passionate about music as you are yeah
you know so that was so special yeah
I I do agree cause you know
like music school it's like the skills that you learn
like even for songwriting skills and singing skills
and music business skills and all that stuff
in today's day and age
there's so many all night coaches haha
(02:46):
Tada you know like us haha
where you can learn the skills that you need to succeed
yeah anywhere
like you don't need to pay Berkeley tuition
totally for that but it's the people
yeah community exactly
and anything any skill is what you make of it
and what you do with it so you're completely right
I mean it was just you didn't go to Berkeley
but you went to MI here in L in L a
the Musicians Institute
that's where I initially wanted to go
that's why it was like
I wanted to go to Berkeley and I ended up in MI
and you wanna yeah
I auditioned for both
and then I got into Berkeley and everyone was like
you have to go to Berkeley cause it's Berkeley
(03:06):
and I was like but I wanna live in L A
I don't wanna go to Boston cold
but anyways ended up there
I assume it was probably a similar experience for you
where the classes not that they're not important
but it's the people yeah
especially with the program I was in
it wasn't like a full 9 to 5 school schedule
so it was very much like very sporadic
and we had a lot of free time
and it was us just like in rehearsal rooms
or just like writing songs or
you know
walking around Los Angeles being inspired by everything
I think it's so
so fun to be somewhere where like you said
you're surrounded by people that have the same drive
and same passion and talent
(03:27):
and even sometimes like that
even just being around them
makes you wanna do it even more
instead of just being home like
what do I do right yeah
but it can also sometimes be a little bit intimidating
oh yeah
for sure like
you know like in high school
you're from a small town in New Jersey
you were probably the best singer at your high school
and then you go to Berkeley and everyone's amazing
yes and it's like
oh yeah this
is not gonna be as easy as I thought it was gonna be
yeah oh no
did you ever have any of those feelings
or were you just super inspired
honestly like I was really good in high school
but I was never the best
and I was never the one who was like
oh she's our singer
(03:47):
so I always felt like the underdog
and and so I was at Berkeley
like I was well known and well liked
but I also was not like the star singer at times
I I hated it and regretted it
but I now am very proud
and I think it's benefited me in my life and career
that I've always had to pick myself
that I've never had like these huge
like huge crowds of people being like
that's the girl who's gonna make something of herself
yeah and I'm like no
I'm the girl who's gonna make something of myself
that's cute I think it would have been a lot
(04:08):
felt a lot easier and more fun
if everybody was championing
championing me from the start
but I now I'm like oh
it's so cool that I got to learn to be that person
for myself so early yeah
it's gonna give you the longevity because like
what happens if people stop cheering you on right
right right
because now you're one of many uh huh
and you know
it's LA it's gonna be a little competitive sometimes
yeah right
so you know it's like well
what happens if nobody's there cheering you on anymore
you're gonna quit right
but because for you was it was an internal
yeah experience yeah
(04:29):
and the internal work that you did from day one hmm
you're hopefully not gonna run into that issue of like
I'm gonna quit because nobody believes in me yeah
you know so absolutely yeah
I feel very blessed to
to have to be so connected to that internal drive
because there are a million opportunities to give up
like every day and
and LA is being a
an artist is a diamond dozen and and it really is
I think the people who don't quit who win yeah
and really learning to be connected to that like um
internal vision and
and finding out what you're committed to
(04:49):
and doing that um
that is gonna be the thing to make the difference
so I'm grateful wow
what do you do like
on your day to day life
or regular basis to keep that dry for yourself hmm
that's a good question that's a good question
we all need that I have a friend
um I make a lot of lists okay
I like to have a list of what I need to do
and then break it down into like micro list
so I can cross a lot of things off
so even if it's like make myself breakfast
I'm like oh yes
I did it yeah
(05:10):
and like okay
sit at my piano yes
and it's not always that small
but whatever I need to do to motivate myself
lists really help me
also like spending a lot of time by myself
I think why I came here with a
a large community of writers
and people I went to school with
which is such a blessing but as time has gone on
it's gotten more solitary
in some ways that I think have been good for me
because I've kind of
shut out the noise of what everybody else is doing
and it's like no
what do I actually want
what actually makes me happy as a person
what actually like feeds me as a creative yeah
(05:31):
like doing it the way other people have done it
which is so amazing isn't necessarily right for me
and I that was a long journey to figure that out
so I just think for me
the more connected I get to myself and then like
some of these goals are quote unquote impossible
so what are the what are the
like how small can I break it down
so that it's things that I can accomplish
and then it fuels me to keep going
so then eventually I do reach these impossible goals
but it was one step at a time
basically
what you're saying is you taught yourself discipline
(05:51):
hmm bingo haha yeah
cause a lot of times I feel like
especially when it comes to songwriting
people are waiting for inspiration and I'm like
well sometimes you
you you gotta make it happen
or when it comes to singing and practicing
we're gonna talk about that later
when it comes to practicing
it's like well
I don't really feel motivated to practice
so I'll I'll do it tomorrow
well guess what
nobody's motivated to practice
we just have the discipline
and when I say we very loose term I don't
whatever we'll get into that later
but it's it's discipline
and so you figure it out
that lists and breaking big goals into like
(06:12):
just how small can you make
each action step helps you with your discipline
and when you're in it
it's you feel so much more motivated right
cause then the the wheels are turning and you're
you're doing the thing it's
it's the getting started part that's the hard part
and so if you can teach yourself
discipline and you can keep yourself accountable
honestly that is something that I struggled with
with my own career before I became a vocal coach
I was you know
doing music haha
it feels like another lifetime ago
but for me why I loved vocal coaching so much
was because other people
depended on me to show up and do a good job
(06:33):
versus when I was the artist myself
it was like well
it's just me right
like obviously
there were people I was working with
had producers and co writers and
you know all these different people
but at the end of the day
it very much still felt me
me and if you are not super connected to your why
and to yourself
and then it kind of falls apart pretty quickly
which is kind of what happened to me
no regrets no regrets
I'm very happy where I'm at
a lot of people ask me sometimes like
do you wanna go back to writing and releasing music
and I'm like honestly no yeah
not right now maybe that'll change again
yeah so
maybe that was just what was supposed to happen for me
uh huh but like you said
(06:54):
there's a million reasons every day to quit like yeah
why why you should stop doing it because it's so hard
uh but if you're really connected to yourself
then it's much easier to not
so I love that hmm
I think that's so cool cause I
what came to mind is like
also really tuning into how things feel
and like we have these ideas
what we want but then like
am I betraying myself to make that happen
like do I actually like what that feels like
do I actually like the day to day life that
that requires and the more I have slowed down to notice
the way something feels in my body
(07:14):
the more I can actually do the things that
there is energy to do and then there's more energy
for the things that take just like
flat out discipline that I know I need to do
but maybe aren't as energizing
when I've stopped doing the things
I don't necessarily need to do
but I felt like I had to do
but they weren't my things
if that makes sense yes
absolutely
things that you have to do no matter what job you have
even if it's your dream job
there will always be things that you have to do
that you don't wanna do yeah
so what are some of those things for you
where you're like you know
you're a songwriter you're an artist releasing music
what are some of the things that you're like
(07:35):
don't love it but I'm I have to do it anyway
well one of them is like practicing like okay
yeah vocal warm up
yeah I love singing
I sing all the time but that concentrated practice time
yeah if I'm not necessarily
rehearsing for a show is a little bit hard for me
sometimes I'm doing less of it now
because I'm recording my own album
but sometimes when I'm going into day after day
sessions with people that I don't know if I drive with
that can feel a little daunting
cause I love doing sessions and co writing with people
when the vibe is good yeah
(07:56):
but there's always people that like
maybe you have to work with
or you're just wanna try it out
who it's not necessarily the best vibe or you
you even if you didn't know it ahead of time
it just doesn't gel yeah
and that can feel a little daunting also
yeah and then another thing is like self promotion
that's a thing I know you can relate
that can feel also like uh
like a chore a little bit like a chore
I think yeah
that's a a lot like a chore
yeah a lot of singers can relate to that
I think they're like social media
I don't want to do social media
but you know it's
it's a way to to share your message and
(08:16):
and reach people
and so you have to figure out a way to do it in
in a way that like you like doing it
but anyways we're not here to talk about that
which I feel like you've actually mastered
like you have
you have done so well at marketing yourself
sharing your craft and your business on social media
thank you thank you
thank you thank you both
you know it's interesting
because I hated it when I was the artist
when I had my artist project
lumain is what I was called okay
uh haha
um I hated social media
because there was a disconnect again right
like I wasn't super clear on what my thing is
what I liked and what I wanted to do and so forth
(08:36):
and so
uh it was a chore
it was a big big
big chore and I hated it
and I didn't know what I was supposed to do
a lot of just like not clear on the vision
you know
and then I switched to vocal coaching and I mean
I did both at the same time for a long time but uh
when I went vocal coaching full time and you know
created Vox Tape
it was so easy to do social media because I was like
yeah I know what to talk about
I'm gonna talk about this and this
and this and this and this
and if the ideas were just flowing
it was so much easier for me to do that
as a business owner cause I mean
it's so weird
because I identify more as a business owner these days
(08:57):
uh huh a creative person
even though I am very much a creative person yeah
otherwise you wouldn't be here right now right
so it's like it's
it's interesting yeah
it's just a completely different thing
much easier as a vocal coach than as an artist
you're providing a service
yeah right
so it's it's less about look at me yeah
and more about let me help you
here's what you can do yes
yeah yes exactly
so I think that's the the biggest
the biggest thing
so if we can like figure out how as artists
we can create content that's about them
your audience and not about you yeah
how what you're offering can help them stories like
(09:18):
I don't know yeah
I don't know yeah
again I did not figure it out for myself
no I am not a qualified person to talk about it
but that's just kind of like
you know what's the difference between the
local coaching business and the
the artistry business that's an amazing idea
and such like a such a quest
like I'm like oh
I need to think about that
like how can I um
make social media
not just about sharing my story or promoting this song
but like how can I relate what I'm doing to you
how can I service you through my music and my art
and yeah that's a journey too
that's a journey I'm on but I love that yes
well maybe now you have some inspiration
(09:38):
some sparks of inspiration
and I'll check out your new content
okay and I'll see next week we're gonna have ten reals
yes minimum
I'll be so inspired I love it
this is a big question Mark
for a lot of people who wanna do music full time
or just music in general
even if it's not full time and you have like a
a part time job or even a full time job
and you're doing music on the side
but music is your passion right
like okay
you went to school for music
what now you graduate and well
how how do you actually go and do the thing
because I love Berkeley
but they don't teach you how to now go and do the thing
so yeah you I assume you were in Boston right on campus
(09:59):
so how did you make the move to LA
and how did you get started
like what's that transition like
that's a great question it's wild
it is wild and like there's no right way to do it
but I'll share what I did
so I came to LA I wanted to move to New York
but I felt just like this call to come to LA
I knew it was what was right for me
so I shipped a couple suitcases
I packed a couple bags and I
I came and I had no job set up
I had a little bit of savings
I didn't know I didn't know what I was gonna be doing
(10:20):
but I knew I wanted to write
I started just like for the first year and a half
I just would go out and meet people
ask anyone and everyone to write with me
and I was putting myself in sessions
um just by my own volition
but I was scheduling a full time schedule of
songwriting sessions
um I didn't have an artist project at that time
but I knew that like
I am an artist who writes foreign with other artists
I love doing both sides and they're both like
of somewhat equal importance to me and
but at that point
I was just focusing on like the writing
knowing that the artist side would come
(10:40):
so in that first year and a half
um I was blessed to come out here with like
a great network and my friends were growing
they were like they were signing deals
they were really able to push forward
and for whatever reason
I like knew that those steps were wrong for me
I was like this isn't gonna get me where I'm going
and so for me
it like created this tension where I was like
I'm so pumped for you these are the dream steps to take
but it's not right for me yet
so for me there was some separation
(11:01):
in that first year and a half
I wrote one song that ended up charting No.
6 on the Billboard international charts
whoa which was like like casual
like a pretty cool thing yeah
that's amazing but at that time was when
I was starting to pull back from the music industry
I started like I was teaching um
some songwriting privately
I was teaching little Kid Rock Band lessons um
and and I started acting as a day job
and sorry but like
hold on we got it
this cycle okay
people can say that like acting is my day job
(11:21):
you know it's like
it's what I have to do to support myself
no I'm kidding whatever
you know it's like
you know I work at Starbucks so that I can act right
yeah yeah yeah
that is so what and I was just like
but I was so ashamed of it cause I wasn't
I wasn't even though I was teaching
I wasn't pursuing the music industry professionally
yeah and in that time
I like wrote an album in my bedroom
um I
I felt like I was totally failing
but I Learned to like let more life in
which I coming out of a school like Berkeley
which I'm sure like any music school
um there is like this
there was like
(11:41):
this pressure that I had already aged out
that I like couldn't do anything else
it was just like this internal like
oh I hate to say it
but like hopelessness in a way that I was
it was just like
I didn't I didn't know how to
I didn't know what was happening
and in that time I just like Learned how to let more
life in and realize that like
actually the answer was inside of me
and by trusting myself that I like actually
could listen to myself and it was okay
that other people's journey wasn't right for me yeah
I was able to do things that like
(12:01):
starting to act was like oh
I I can actually feel successful
I can actually like
get hired for jobs and have energy to pursue my music
instead of just doing like
everything is trying and there's no ways to succeed
it just became a dynamic that actually empowered me
and that learning to trust myself has like
empowered what my career has become
so then in the pandemic I launched my artist project
I um
I got back into writing for other people
little by little
and I have this other part of my career
where I work as an actress in commercials and okay cool
and little by little build out a full picture of like
a life that for me is actually fun to live
(12:23):
yeah so yeah
I'm like that sounds so cute
a life that is fun to live
I love that for you thank you
trademark that thank you
right now
and not saying that like
there's so many places that like
I wanna get to that I have yet to get to
of course
but like it's cool to be at a place where I'm like
oh no but I'm actually building it
and you're enjoying the process
yeah
like a lot of people are just focused on the end goal
yeah I'm so guilty
get that sometimes same
where you know just want to get there
just want to get there same
hold on hold on
hold on is it really about the destination
or is it about the journey
yeah it's so cliche
but it's true but it's true
and like
I think by like that theme of like listening to myself
(12:45):
like learning to take myself seriously
and not just go after the thing in spite of myself
it's like now
cause a lot of my friends got pub deals
when they first came out here
which is pub deals yes
like publishing deals as songwriters
that's what I was thinking
I don't know if you're talking about an Irish pub or
publishing deals yes
yeah they
they signed a contract to go drink every day of perfect
I know
I know
and I think that's an amazing life if you want it
but I think for me where I do have an equal emphasis
or somewhat of an equal emphasis on being an
(13:05):
artist and a writer and wanting to approach my writing
that I do for other people
maybe a little more artistically and intentionally
like I love
sitting with an artist
and helping them tell their story
or like
or getting a brief from like a movie or something
and writing something for that for me
at the publishing deal route
felt sort of like a treadmill
that I didn't have control over it
oh yeah
and where I love doing those things
what I realized is
I wanna do them in a way that feels a little more
intentional
instead of getting thrown into rooms every day
where I don't have any say in it
and and so figuring out
(13:25):
I think just like the right angle for me has helped
has been really empowering
and I've now found collaborators where I'm like
oh these are the collaborators
I've been waiting for my whole career
and I don't know if I would have found them
if I was so caught up in trying to do what everybody
else was doing you just preach
yeah
yes
I like that you're that you're point
like touching on not right for me and not right
right now and like ah
it's so difficult to compare yourself to everybody
and you're like okay
they're doing this so I have to do that
(13:46):
and singing too like if we relate this to just voice
yeah not even like whole artist project
but just voice absolutely
I remember growing up like I was like
okay love um
Christina Aguilera
gotta sound just like Christina Aguilera
so I did everything I could
to sound like Christina Aguilera
because I was like in my brain
if I wanna see success
I need to be able to belt like Christina
and do all of the stuff that Christina does right
pick whoever right
doesn't matter which example you pick
but you just hold on to this idea
and then that idea is holding you back
from actually seeing the success
that you deserve to see
yeah and you're not seeing like what else you could do
yes that's not
(14:06):
maybe that hasn't been done before like yeah
what sides of your voice you haven't touched
I feel like that's what we do a lot with our students
like we we help you find your voice um
but we do like it's I yeah
sometimes have to force people to completely
change the genre of the song or like
the rhythms
cause they don't know what their voice is capable of
yet and they're like
this is cool I didn't know I could do that or
you know whatever
but same idea like absolutely
because you're trying to be someone else
or follow someone else's path
you don't know your own
and you might not even be doing it intentionally yes
most of the time
it's out of good intention and wanting to succeed and
and where else do you start
other than copying your heroes right yeah
(14:27):
but that's such like a beautiful point
it's like wow
I could actually find out what I do
and then that's what people might resonate with
or what might resonate with me
and like it's so much better yeah
cause the world doesn't need more Christinas no
you already have one and she's fantastic yeah
but the world needs a Laura yeah
you know like and so it's it's so beautiful yeah
like and it's hard it's like a daily choice
it's a practice but I think it's worthwhile
you know for me
it's interesting to hear that you say
I struggle with practicing singing
we haven't actually set that
while the cameras were rolling yet
(14:47):
but we were talking about it before
yet you have so much discipline
so can we dig into that
usually we don't talk about that till way later
but I feel like this is a good time to talk about this
so before we started rolling the cameras haha
you said that practicing was was difficult for you
that was kind of like your your big singing question
I struggle with practicing
how can I practice more yeah
you have such discipline
why do you think you struggle with the discipline
when it comes to vocal practice
cause I think that's in your case what it comes down to
it's not about the discipline of doing it yeah
I think it's because like
(15:07):
singing has always come easily to me
hmm and I can fake certain things very well
so I could get away with not putting the work in
and fake it
and then maybe it's not gonna be there all the time
but I could get away with not doing the work
and I I know that's something that is not gonna serve
is not servicing me
and I'm not gonna be able to get away with forever
so it's definitely a
can I like say the s word
yeah okay
you can you can swear all you want
it's on your shit
I need to call myself on my bullshit and like
it's like enough is enough
yeah well
(15:28):
it to me it sounds like it's just
that pain point
just hasn't been big enough for you yet
to solve the problem right
cause like at the end of the day
people are lazy yeah
so am I right like we're all we're all lazy
we like a comfortable life and um
we only make changes when we have to yeah
so you know
for you singing has always come easy
so you don't have to
you never had to practice a lot or whatever
so you never had to build discipline in that side
of your life right
and maybe it never comes down to it where you're like
no I can get away with it forever
maybe not but then that's when you're like
(15:49):
okay hold on
well now I have to address this
and because you are so in tune with yourself
hmm and you know what you like and what you want
and you're breaking it down into action steps
like because you have that
I do believe that even if you hit that wall of like
well shit now
now I have to work on my voice
uh you will do it
uh huh
we're just not there yet
the pain point isn't big enough yet
no I
I love that and I think like
there have been big times
where I really did have to work to get my voice back
in high school
I really struggled with acid reflux and allergies
oh yeah
and I lost my voice for seven months
(16:10):
oh it was a hot mess
and so I had to go through like
learning how to talk properly
cause I was like frying when I
in my speech kind of like talking like this
yeah yeah
and and that
with the acid reflux got me into a cycle of swelling
uh huh and then um
again at the end of college
I was in a very serious car accident
which left me like intubated for
for like 10 days no way
yeah and
and in recovering from that I
my voice got into a similar cycle of swelling again
and it was a few years where I didn't have
(16:30):
like the baseline of my voice
and before that I was just coming out of Berkeley
I worked as a professional singer
as a wedding singer for three years
so I was doing 70 events a year
so I was like I was singing yes
um and it took a few years
maybe four years
before I was even at like the baseline to start
building skill up again and in 2021
I started working with a new voice teacher who um
he's really puts a lot of emphasis on
singing athletically and like
(16:51):
he trains a lot of people for tour and
and he helped me work to a place where I felt like oh
I can get whatever I'm trying to get again yeah
and then it's it's just like maintaining that work
so you're 100% right that it's like
it just takes the pain point becoming big enough yeah
to then put the work in yeah
but I would love to build the
the habit of daily practice yeah
so let's talk about that
let's let's do it cause you know
it's like with students like yeah
they are actively taking voice lessons
so they are taking a step
but then sometimes they still struggle with practicing
which is why I'm so excited about our new program
(17:11):
but we don't have to talk about that
cause that solves that issue
but anyways so just action steps
like what can we do to get into get into practice
I'll let you go first
having a look at your weekly schedule
and this goes for you and for you
whoever's watching we all live such different lives
so what works for me might not work for you or
my aunt I don't know yeah
anyone if you have a you know 9 to 5
it's gonna be different if you have kids
it's gonna be different for us
since we have very flexible schedules
thankfully we can get away with whatever
I feel like because you're such a visual person
it would help a lot and I
it helps me too to put it in your calendar
(17:33):
whether it's in your phone list
you like list on your list on your daily list okay
yeah 10 minute warm up
15 minute whatever um
cause if if feels good to check it off
like I did it I
I actually did the thing I was set out to do
yeah and I always start small
I feel like with newer students
or with people that are like
really busy when I'm like
can you warm up daily
they just like immediately are like
whoa whoa whoa whoa yeah
that's so much like okay
let's start with three times a week Monday
Wednesday Friday
10 minutes in the morning
you're done let's start with that
then week 2 maybe add two minutes every day
then add a second day then add a
you know and give yourself the weekend off if you wish
(17:53):
it's okay I take the weekends off
I don't take the weekends off
there you go oh wow
there you go okay
amazing I sing
oh no no no
actually I don't sing all the time
that's a lie I do not
I barely I barely ever sing
oh no uh
but I'm in music all the time where I'm like
the weekend I mean let's be real
I work six days a week or seven days a week sometimes
depending on the week but when I'm not working
I'm like no
I'm not even singing yeah
I need to shut the brain off and watch some TV
which I think that is productive as well
oh yeah because it's like as
as women and as people were cyclical and
and and so
I think by being able to take that time to turn off
(18:13):
you can be on more successful
absolutely 100% yeah
it's really cool cause it is like you said
like your coach used to say like athletic singing
is that what it is he's at um
it is a muscle yeah
and every time I'm explaining this to a student
I always related to an athlete
it is something that you train
it is a muscle it's a combination of yeah
however many muscles
from your core to the tip of your head wow
it's crazy how much goes into singing
so the more all of those muscles are moving
you know sustainably and consistently
it's just easy to jump in and out of it yeah
I had a similar thing before what was it like 20
21 as well maybe 22
(18:34):
2 where I wasn't warming up daily
and I'm in vocal coaching before that
and I was very much like not doing that
because similar to you it came easily easily
so when I wake up in the morning I would just
wow and just start going right
and so my friends were like
how can you just like sing when you wake up
I'm like I don't know
I've been singing since I gave birth
like gave birth gave birth
yes I gave birth to myself
since my mom gave birth to me
that's funny um
until I was hired to be a singer
for four hours straight and then I was like
oh I need to practice
and yeah when I started daily warm UPS
which honestly I hadn't been doing even in music school
(18:55):
I didn't do it I would warm up for the lesson
that's it yeah
I'm being super honest now
I daily warm up um
it just changed completely
like your stamina changes
your elasticity changes the strength
everything is just yeah
like when people tell me that I don't practice
and I'm like you're doing yourself a dishonor
it's bad for you haha
it's so healthy to just keep that muscle moving
and like you said um
I think you mentioned something like
I don't know if it's gonna um
be sustainable forever or something like that
if you wanna be staying until you're 99 years old or
yeah older
like you have to train a muscle
I know you're right yeah
I know you have to train your muscle
(19:17):
in a loving way I say that
thank you just local maintenance
yes takes training
yeah yes
like you don't have to be pushing yeah
you don't have to work daily to like
push your highest note or
you know your longest note or do a quicker run
it's just you know
keeping those muscles active and working
that's important it is work yeah
is what it comes down to like
I wish we could all just wave a magic wand and be like
sing forever and beautiful and it's amazing yeah
it is it is work
and we have to sometimes look at it as work too
and not just as I love singing yeah
it is it is a little bit of work obviously
it's fun right
I'm not gonna be like you're gonna hate singing like no
(19:37):
it is fun
but we have to look at it as as a little bit of work
so for me I struggled with practicing my entire life
also something that came easy to me in the beginning
certain parts
not everything like could not sing high at all
didn't know the head voice existed like oh my god
so you know
had to practice for that and work hard on that
but just singing in general would be would come
would come easily
so I didn't practice that much honestly
and then when I went vocal coaching full time
and the business just kind of blew up
I was like
now I have zero time to focus on my own voice
so I wouldn't even warm up for lessons
that I was teaching right
(19:57):
I would just like go in cold and then it was
it was a bad bad bad
bad bad cycle
and my voice just got worse and worse and worse
I lost a lot of range
and my voice would get really heavy and stiff
and it was just not a good time
so I enrolled myself in voice lessons again
and that changed everything
but even then
I was struggling with practicing because I was busy
just like everybody else too
so the biggest change for me was making vocal tracks
for me like exercise tracks
oh wow so you know I would do uh
an exercise with my teacher in uh
in a lesson and you know because it's online over zoom
they're all recorded
so I can just look at the recording after like
okay I like this exercise
(20:17):
and because I know how to create tracks
I just made vocal exercise tracks for myself
and so every morning
I just go through my list and I'm like
that one that one
that one that one
while I'm answering emails
or even if it's just like
10 minutes of them sitting there
and I'm practicing
that's how I can get my vocal practice in
if I have to get up from my desk
and go to the other room to go sit down at the piano
and then be like okay
what scale do I wanna do
it's not happening it's just not happening yeah
there's too much brain power thought yeah
yes too much brain power that goes into just starting
yeah right
like what should I do today
and so I just made these tracks
(20:37):
and I have an entire library of tracks
and I just go through them
and I created tracks for our students as well
because it's really difficult for most people
you really do I love them
oh thank you
that's so fun yeah
that's a perfect I love them
it makes it so much easier to do it
we just want to remove that barrier of entry
yeah and make it as easy as possible to start
and for me that's pressing play
um hmm I can press play easy
I'm like I need to get some of those
follow along I got you girl
thank you hook you up
I'm your dealer now oh
I love it it's so fun
obviously like it
it depends on on
you know what you're trying to work on
(20:57):
if it's like just like breathing
like core engagement management or like runs or belting
whatever obviously
but even if it's just an you know
overall range practice like that will go a long way
a long way yeah
a long way yes
anything is better than nothing
like sometimes it doesn't
I tell it to our students all the time
sometimes it doesn't even really matter what you do
just as long as you do something yeah
and use your whole range and and go from there hmm
like that is gonna be a big
big big difference
especially in the beginning yeah
right and a big thing
and I think
I only really started being conscious about it
was when I started working with you
was cooling down hmm
(21:18):
not just warming up I never cool down ever ever
neither did I haha
at first and it makes I did haha
such a difference it does
it's crazy even
and it doesn't have to be anything complicated
two minutes 5 minutes yeah
two minutes two minutes is plenty
like when you're packing up after a gig
just
yeah
easy yeah
I'm like I need to get on that
it's yeah it's so smart
it's a habit yes
right and creating new habits
it's more difficult than you
and that's why New Year's resolutions
is something that fails for a lot of people yeah
because it's not a habit
and they set these crazy goals from them
for themselves from the beginning
and then they fail at it and then they're like
(21:38):
it's not for me and then they stop right yeah
so break it down into small things that you can do
and I got you girl I'll hook you up with my tracks okay
thank you haha
and then from there you can see like oh
I really like this I really like that oh
this is challenging
I wanna spend more time on this and then you can
you know create your own experience
uh your own vocal practice from there
and we have to record
an episode on just how to practice with tracks yeah
I don't wanna dig dig deeper into this now
because otherwise we'll be here in three hours
there's a way to practice with tracks
because you don't just wanna press play and go
and that's it like
I mean you can
and that's obviously still again
(21:59):
better than nothing
but we wanna be smart with how we're using these tracks
very intentional so I'll record an episode on that haha
and I'll send it to you okay perfect
coming to you soon coming to you soon
there you go does that help with
with practicing absolutely
yeah I mean I I
I'm so excited to like
think about it more and just start building the habit
because I know I know it's gonna like help everything
you said something about doing yourself a disservice
yeah and I'm like
I especially when I was younger
I always had this feeling of like
letting myself down
because I knew I could do all these amazing things
(22:19):
but because of not being prepared
I would not be able to show how amazing I was
and I was like but I know I can do it
and so I really know that like
building that habit of practice is gonna like
help me be able to fully do what I know
I can do consistently and so as I'm like going into
I want a tour at the end of this year
with this album that's coming
and I want like
I know it's gonna be like of great importance
yeah so I'm excited
and I can't wait to listen to those tracks
well and it's great that you're thinking about this now
if you want to go on tour by the end of the year
(22:41):
time to build these muscles
yeah I always love it when people come to
to us for a lesson and they're like
so I have an audition tomorrow
I'm like love that
uh let me help you
I'm happy to help you but also can you next time
can you please come to me months in advance
because that's really what it takes to fully prepare
yeah for what it is you're doing
so it's great to not wait till you hit that pain point
yeah but rather do preemptive
is that the word you're asking for
yeah yeah
just do the work before yeah
so that you never run into that pain point
yeah yeah
you're working for your future self
(23:01):
yeah and at the same time honoring your younger self
oh my God Juliana's these are words to live by
yeah I'm really loving it
I feel like I need to be like this and every lesson
I feel like it gives me so
so much power
yes I like the set up
have a microphone in front of you
we can hit you up Amazon list yes
yes I love it
can I ask about this album
uh please
can you tell us a little bit about it
what's the theme what's the storyline
like when is it coming
it's called The Woman Misbehaving and I really love it
thank you done subscribe yes
Woman Misbehaving is a song that I wrote
at the end of last year and
(23:22):
I had had this experience where there were these two
male like
producers
who were trying to convince me to take a bad deal
and they were like but we brought you this opportunity
and it was like a song that I had written 100% of
and they were trying to get me to sign over um
66% of the rights and they were just like berating me
and I after it
I wrote the after that conversation
I was like a hell no and um
I wrote this song about
like picking myself and about like
um like I lit a match
(23:42):
I found a bridge and I burned it down like
and sometimes you have to not be the nice girl who says
yes to everything
my last album was a concept album about grief
and that was necessary for my life
but this is just like totally moved forward
it's just like a good time
it is women misbehaving it is like disco songs
wow it is like
it is like
you take Donna Summer and Fleetwood Mac and what
they have a baby
and it's women misbehaving and it's Rachel's table haha
okay and so I'm really exciting or excited about like
(24:03):
what I'm making you right now
you are exciting us so yes okay
yeah you are exciting
I'm excited and excited haha
okay thank you
you know just social norms
it's kind of sad that you
standing up for yourself
and doing what's right for you
makes the title woman misbehaving
I'm like yeah
come on it's woman behaving yeah
you do what's right for you
but like thank you
it totally makes sense what you're saying
so I I can't
I can't wait to hear the whole record
thank you oh my goodness
this album is just like a deeper level of like
me figuring out who I am and
and doing things my own way
and like we're recording it like
(24:23):
at least half or more like analog
and it's so fun to like to just like
play real instruments and be in the room
creating real music yeah
I love doing electronic music
but it's it's like
just really fun to give myself this experience
and work with people who um
maybe have a little bit more of a musiciany background
like in jazz and like
but then also make commercial music
so it's feeling like like
a little bit more of like
a tangible experience or like a heartfelt
like wholesome experience
and that is making me come alive
so hopefully it will make you guys come alive too
(24:44):
oh I'm sure
listen haha
the the artist's energy translates and like infects us
just yeah
cause if you're not excited about it
then your audience is not gonna be exactly
excited about it either
but if you're super excited about it
then we can be excited about it too yeah
we didn't do a vocal warm up yet right
did we no
cause I was like we did something
but did we do it but I would love to sing with you okay
so I would love that yes
are you are you up for it
I would love it a vocal warm up please um
and and then we'll look at a little something
something that you can sing for us okay
we'll talk about that sound good
yeah let's do it
(25:14):
oh okay
let's keep going do you want to try Rachel
you're so right no
no
no no
that that that
(25:35):
woohoo woohoo
that's fun so fun yeah
okay I didn't know how long it was gonna be
I know like where we going
this is perfect this is perfect
I never know how long to go either
but this is so fun and it's
it's so interesting every time
like usually I'm the one leading these
so I love not being the person leading
because I get to hear where your beautiful
creative brains are going
you both were just perfectly in key for the
like there was a key for the entire thing
when I do it I go all over the place and it's just like
it's not within a certain key
so it can sometimes sound off key
but there is no key so I can't sound off key
yeah but that's actually so fun too because it's like
(25:56):
it's more like it makes you think like
it's more challenging and you have really focus
yeah and sometimes I don't do it on purpose
haha and like
well that didn't come out the way I wanted it to
but hey it doesn't matter
here we go
exactly it's part of it
it's fun yeah
it's hard to just make stuff up on the spot
yeah I think it's very fun
it is fun I think it is too a little like
oh oh
like I'm on the spot but once you're in it
it's like oh no
this is it's playing
it's playing yeah
it's very playful yeah
I love it well
miss Rachel do you wanna sing a little something for us
yes what should I sing
anything you want give us a little sneak
oh my gosh well
women misbehaving is like not
(26:26):
where you are I haven't warmed up yet and
(26:47):
hi yeah
I love that song I
I'm like oh
that's so cool thank you
I can't wait I'm like
I should warm up before I sing
that song next time oh
it's super high and it's so fun
but it's it's high hahaha
I don't know what note that is
cause I don't got perfect pitch
me neither it's high
it's a little high yeah
it's like one of those songs where you like
have to like approach it correctly to sing it
which is like I when I'm in my writing
sometimes I like to write challenging things
that are challenging concepts
because then it kind of mimics each other
that it's like
like you have to really be in it to sing it
(27:07):
because it's not a relaxed thing
it's like an effort so I
I like that but singing it without warming up challenge
yeah yeah
it is it is a ton
but it sounded awesome I love the writing of it too
it's so cool super
it's super she's very
she's a really good writer this
thank you guys well
who would have thought
haha it's not like she had a what
top six oh boy child
oh no
thanks guys haha
that's awesome so
you know besides like those
those high notes uh
you know being like
oh my God I need one more for these yeah
how did it feel good
the first part like the verse
that feels like easy
but I think then going into the pre chorus
(27:28):
I don't know if the placement of it was like the best
okay like I think pre chorus and chorus
I could place that to sing it
like to feel more solid in the way I'm singing it yeah
do you wanna workshop it a little bit
I would love that yes
oh my gosh let's do it okay
so do you wanna go straight into that pre chorus in
so I little match and then that's yeah
that's the chorus so I little match okay
um I got something you start okay
so you got it in your tongue okay
so just for me the first thing I usually do is like
(27:49):
try and identify any sort of tension
that might be holding you back
so just looking at you because I got you right
your beautiful face right in front of me
I can see it uh
your jaw likes to when you're
when you're dropping your jaw
it goes sideways do you also see it definitely yeah
your jaw goes a little sideways down into the
your this way right right yeah
then into the
to your right when you're dropping your jaw
when you're hitting higher beltier notes yeah
you don't do it otherwise
so it's your your jaw is trying to like figure out okay
how can I help to help you to
to get you up to that note
like making more space for that right yeah
(28:10):
you know
the brain's weird sometimes and it does weird things
it does it could be for space
it could be for it you never know and
a lot of times it's um it's holding you back right
it's adding all this tension
so can you try singing the same thing
while just pushing in here
so up here's your cheekbone down
here's your jawbone in between
all the way by your ears
just a little bit for the back yeah
right there
so if you push in here and you drop your jaw
should feel that muscle uh huh
push against your hands yeah
feel that muscle right there yeah
so this is just gonna help you guide your jaw
straight down rather than down into the right okay
cool so can you try that pre chorus again
(28:31):
while just pushing in here
out am I singing at a lower key
you lowered it a little bit
but your your jaw is it's better
(28:54):
yeah so we are just a little bit lower yeah
where we were before
yeah and I know you
and I know you're trying to save me from a better
right there yeah
so there's a lot of mouth movement happening
uh huh boring face uh huh
give me the most boring face you can I'm a woman
haven see see the difference in my face
give give me the most boring face you got I'm a
and okay one more time I'm a
and great can you relax your forehead
yeah
how do I relax my forehead
you can you can put a hand up here I'm
(29:16):
that feels nice how does that feel good
it feels like more inside me hmm
um like
instead of like I feel like
maybe there's room to project it more outwardly
but I feel like I'm not focusing on my lip motion
like it feels like the sounds actually like focused
yeah that's cool
yeah that's really good
thank you
strong so yeah
so okay
we're all pointing the Spider Man
so you said I feel like that
like I could protect more and you said it's strong
hmm so there's a difference between strength and volume
we got these beautiful things right here
(29:37):
hmm we don't need to be loud
that's cool they do the work for us wow
we just wanna get the tone
the strength right hmm
I love that
and then the microphone's gonna do the rest of the work
for you that's awesome
yeah that sounded really good to me
hmm and I know it's
it's so interesting because one of the things are like
no like this is a challenging song to sing and like the
the story of the song to it's like no
like I need to work for it and I get it and I love it
don't work harder than you have to
totally and it shouldn't be hard to sing
that's the thing it shouldn't be hard to sing
we want it to feel like it's not
not physically feel like it's hard
but we want to make people feel like this is yeah
(29:58):
like yeah
getting after it right
like this is so hard yeah
but it should feel physically
yes yes cool
yes yes
uh try the whole chorus there one more time
like the pre chorus leading into the chorus
yeah with just that boring face in mind
relax those eyebrows wherever you want to hold
hold haha
our little man
(30:22):
okay what's that
the
but not the woman misbehaving lyric
the other one I didn't match
a bad reputation OK
and I know you're gonna save me from a bad reputation
OK yeah
last time you did it there
you switched more into a headier
into a headier place
is that what you want to do
or do we want to make it stronger
I think maybe more of like a mixed place
like so a little stronger
yeah a little stronger
okay apple
I know you're trying to save me from a bad reputation
apple
oh more brighter
like twangier a little no yeah
it's a mental thing for her though
hmm
(30:42):
you you so got those notes hmm
it's not a problem you're
you're just like and here comes the high note
yeah right um
can you kind of like do this
I know you're trying to save me from a bad reputation
oh my God that already felt so much easier
just kind of like moving your upper body
I know you're trying to save me from a bad reputation
but again and I know
bad reputation but truth was meant to be found okay
great can you do more just in your neck
(31:05):
down so much easier
yes you did
oh my gosh yes
you burnt that bridge okay
I'm like okay
who is she yeah cool
see like to me in my ears on like yeah
that's not loud but it is strong
and it doesn't like cause I know
so much comes down to how much tension I'm holding
and that feels easy that doesn't feel tense
that feels like oh nice
she could sing that all day
yes girl
yes that's how we wanna feel
okay guys
thank you yeah
well you know
it's the the movement helps you
like it gives your brain something else to do
so we can't hyper focus on that thing
movement in general is kind of like a tension killer
(31:26):
it's the enemy of tension
so if you can move a little something however
when you were shaking your shoulders and your head
it was it was kind of this yeah
you know and that create tension in your shoulder
so it's like okay
hold on let's drop the shoulders
let's just look side to side
so that your neck can feel free and I know
and it can just woo yeah
flow flow a little more again for you
you got the notes yeah
it's not the problem at all
it was the mind the beautiful mind
which I think is what a
like so many things come down to yeah
(31:46):
yes so it's
it's a mental game every day yeah
oh yeah
yeah singing is 90% mental
life is 90% mental say that again
life is 90% mental louder for the people in the back
okay hold on
life is 90% mental
life is 90% mental
ah incredible
sorry for screaming I
it's cute wait
can I sing it one more time to see if I can
yeah yeah yeah yeah
okay bless us um
(32:07):
and yeah and it's the same thing there right cool
and if you if you just can't get out of your head
it's literally all that right
just shaky shaky
shaky shaky
shaky whatever movement feels good to you
yeah and then cool
and then you got it thank you
that was really good yeah
one thing my one of my teachers back in music school
used to make me do I
I am also a very mental singer
hmm a mental singer um
so sometimes even if I'm doing like my first thought
funny enough when she was like not fully in mix
but more heady I thought apple
cause for us that's a Lara term
it's lifting so you go into your mix a little bit more
and you drop your jaw
so it's as if you were biting an apple
(32:28):
right so that helps a lot of people
cause it's a physical thing
but if you're up here it might not do
much so that movement helps a lot
and then sometimes because we start doing something
and we're thinking about doing that something
then it becomes another thing to do yeah
so my teacher made me like sing like this and move
no way which is really hard to do right
yeah but then you're like
struggling so much that your voice is just like
huh and it just comes out yes
oh it's crazy cool yeah
sometimes I would even sing like swaying my arms
like I would like be standing
oh yeah and down fully and just like sway
and I would have to sing at the top of my lungs
I sure have done that
there's a lot of things you could try
hmm yeah
(32:49):
here I was just like
what can we do sitting down in a chair
yeah you know
that's comfortable but yeah
if you can sing it in a chair
you can sing it anywhere anywhere
there you go oh
that rhymes ah
if you can sing it in a chair
you can sing it anywhere oh yeah
there you go yes yeah
haha wow
songwriter over new catchphrase yes
if you can sing it in a chair
you can sing it anywhere
we should print that that on t shirts
totally should going back to what you said
apple versus the head thing
yeah does the same thing
just a different approach to getting to the same result
and for some people we wanna approach it more of like
okay here
let's try the apple and for other people
it's more like hold on
let go of it let go of it
yeah you know
just just
just think stop thinking about it
(33:09):
yeah uh
and incorporating movement helps with that
so it just depends on what resonates more with you
and if we don't know you we've never worked with you
that sometimes takes time for us to figure out like
well what clicks with you
uh huh yes
I'm just glad that we were able to find it
thank you guys so good
you're so welcome I love it
do we wanna play a quick little game
a little one breath challenge
you're just picking a song
from that little box of yours
hopefully you know it
and then there's just some lyrics on there
where it's like how long can you go my lonely
(33:30):
you
okay okay
it's hard that is hard isn't it
yeah yeah
it's hard it's hard
I suck at one breath challenges so let me try
(33:55):
here
wow there you go
I wanted to go I don't belong here
but I couldn't reach the note anymore
without only any of that breath
it's like nope
nope nope
that was the good well
and also so depends on the key yes
that you pick hmm
cause if I'm going I'm a creep
it's much like I will run out of breath a lot faster
than if I'm going a little bit lower on purpose
so you know
anyways that was fun
let's do maybe one all together
and see who can go for the longest
I wanna dance with somebody
Whitney Houston yeah
my gosh what key
do it somebody pick a key I can do
oh I wanna dance with somebody alright
(34:15):
oh is that okay
yes okay
I just jumped in no
you got it
oh okay
oh one
two three
oh
loves me
haha
wow
nice I love that harmony
me too I love harmonizing
it's like my favorite thing whenever
this was so fun so much fun
thank you so much for being here
(34:36):
please let us know where can we find your stuff
well thank you so much again for having me
this was a blast
you guys are lucky
to have the best teachers in the world
just saying wow
in the world and we are the best
it's just a fact it's just a fact
it was so nice to meet you
my name is Rachel Siegel
and you can find me on all platforms at Rachel s I E
L Rachel Siegel
and you can follow me on Instagram at Rachel dot m
dot siegel
I'm also on TikTok at Rachel dot m dot seagle music
and all things Rachel Seagle are at Rachel seagle
music.com there are so many things coming this year
and I would love to have you along
(34:57):
for the journey thank you so much
I'll be sure to include those links
in the episode notes and on YouTube and all the places
uh so that people can find you with just one click
and thank you again so much for being here
for sharing your beautiful voice with us
for sharing your wisdom with us on
you know how to be authentic to yourself
how to find yourself and how to not to
you know get distracted by what other people are doing
I think that's so powerful
so thank you so much for being here
and we gotta do this again sometime
yeah I would love that
this was so much fun thank you for having me
thank you thank you
thanks for everybody watching
and we'll catch you next time bye bye
in that first year and a half
(00:00):
I wrote one song that ended up charting No.
6 on the Billboard international charts
whoa which was like
like casual like a pretty cool thing
yeah that's amazing
but at that time was
when I was starting to pull back from the music
industry
hey voxstar
and welcome to from singer to artist
I'm Lara Chapman award winning singer and songwriter
turned viral vocal coach and the host of this show
at VoxTape Studios
we help singers from all over the world
level up their voices
by teaching them the 3 fundamental skills
(00:20):
all singers need technique
awareness and artistry whether you're looking to go pro
or just develop your voice for fun
my team and I are here to help
check the link in the description
to book your first session
or grab some of our other resources
Alrighty are you ready
let's get started
with me today because I'm in awesome LA Los Angeles
the land of dreams
I've got two amazing guests with me here today
I've got Coach Juliana from our team hello
hello and very special guest today
we've got Rachel Seagal with us
hi thank you for having me
thank you for being here
I'm so excited to have you here
I've been following you on social media forever
haha cause you two are really good friends
(00:42):
yeah from what I can tell
at least you pretend really well
we hate each other I'm kidding
I love her and so obviously
I followed you forever because you're
we work together right
you're a coach of Oxsave yes
and you guys hang out and you make music together
and I'm like who's this chick
so I checked you out and then
you know I'm so glad that we were able to
to make this happen here and me too
yeah thanks for taking the time
so let's just maybe get right into your story
because we were just talking a little bit
right before we started rolling
and I was like oh my God
that is so crazy so
tell us a little bit more about yourself
and how you got into this crazy world of music singing
songwriting being an artist
all of the above I grew up in New Jersey and like a
(01:03):
like a a super
super small town
where my mom always jokes that there were like
more cows and pigs than people
yeah same yeah
shout out to Bloomingstein
wow Flower Stone
we always joke more cows than people
okay amazing
so you get it I guess
it was a fun time it was
it was good
so I just like started singing before I started talking
I couldn't shut up I would be like
like just singing wherever I went
and um
my plan
in middle school and high school
was to go into musical theater
I love being in a small town
that's kind of the avenues that I could do
(01:23):
music and so I just loved it
it was like a way to express myself and
and playing these characters was so much fun
it was so magical um
but I always gravitated like
to new musical theater and new musical theater writers
and so I would come home from high school
and spend hours researching new musical theater
composers and then um
I there was this talent show in my church
where it was like I don't know
I just like had a song to write
and so I got with a friend of mine and I was like okay
like could we write this song
and I wrote and performed this song
and I just like fell in love with songwriting
(01:44):
and it was just the like a full circle moment
but also like the beginning of everything um
and I like all my plans changed for my life
I was planning to pursue musical theater um
go to school in Texas
be on Broadway and have my little life in New York yeah
but when I started writing
I was like no
I could tell my own story and like it felt like this
it was like so connected with my personal growth and
and it was just something like I had to do
and so I went to Berkley College of music
yeah and Berkley
and I was just like I'm gonna become a songwriter
if it's the last thing I do in my life
and I would write every day
(02:04):
I would bro
blow off all the projects I didn't wanna do
I would pay people in burritos to do my homework
which I'm not proud of
but I would just like write and write and write
I would put myself in three songwriting sessions a day
and wow I was just obsessed and incessant
so what's this at Berkeley we're three songwriting yeah
like all my classes and in between classes
I would be doing songwriting sessions wow
I was crazy I remember when when I was at Berkeley
we just missed each other
but when I was there they told us that only like
your classes that you're taking
should only be about 30% of what you do
(02:25):
at Berkeley
you should be collaborating like songwriting sessions
and yeah use the studio space
and just do things with people there
so it sounds like you did a lot of that yeah
that really was I think
the most magical thing about Berkeley
was the people I met there
because where else do you have like
3,000 people who are
as equally as passionate about music as you are yeah
you know so that was so special yeah
I I do agree cause you know
like music school it's like the skills that you learn
like even for songwriting skills and singing skills
and music business skills and all that stuff
in today's day and age
there's so many all night coaches haha
(02:46):
Tada you know like us haha
where you can learn the skills that you need to succeed
yeah anywhere
like you don't need to pay Berkeley tuition
totally for that but it's the people
yeah community exactly
and anything any skill is what you make of it
and what you do with it so you're completely right
I mean it was just you didn't go to Berkeley
but you went to MI here in L in L a
the Musicians Institute
that's where I initially wanted to go
that's why it was like
I wanted to go to Berkeley and I ended up in MI
and you wanna yeah
I auditioned for both
and then I got into Berkeley and everyone was like
you have to go to Berkeley cause it's Berkeley
(03:06):
and I was like but I wanna live in L A
I don't wanna go to Boston cold
but anyways ended up there
I assume it was probably a similar experience for you
where the classes not that they're not important
but it's the people yeah
especially with the program I was in
it wasn't like a full 9 to 5 school schedule
so it was very much like very sporadic
and we had a lot of free time
and it was us just like in rehearsal rooms
or just like writing songs or
you know
walking around Los Angeles being inspired by everything
I think it's so
so fun to be somewhere where like you said
you're surrounded by people that have the same drive
and same passion and talent
(03:27):
and even sometimes like that
even just being around them
makes you wanna do it even more
instead of just being home like
what do I do right yeah
but it can also sometimes be a little bit intimidating
oh yeah
for sure like
you know like in high school
you're from a small town in New Jersey
you were probably the best singer at your high school
and then you go to Berkeley and everyone's amazing
yes and it's like
oh yeah this
is not gonna be as easy as I thought it was gonna be
yeah oh no
did you ever have any of those feelings
or were you just super inspired
honestly like I was really good in high school
but I was never the best
and I was never the one who was like
oh she's our singer
(03:47):
so I always felt like the underdog
and and so I was at Berkeley
like I was well known and well liked
but I also was not like the star singer at times
I I hated it and regretted it
but I now am very proud
and I think it's benefited me in my life and career
that I've always had to pick myself
that I've never had like these huge
like huge crowds of people being like
that's the girl who's gonna make something of herself
yeah and I'm like no
I'm the girl who's gonna make something of myself
that's cute I think it would have been a lot
(04:08):
felt a lot easier and more fun
if everybody was championing
championing me from the start
but I now I'm like oh
it's so cool that I got to learn to be that person
for myself so early yeah
it's gonna give you the longevity because like
what happens if people stop cheering you on right
right right
because now you're one of many uh huh
and you know
it's LA it's gonna be a little competitive sometimes
yeah right
so you know it's like well
what happens if nobody's there cheering you on anymore
you're gonna quit right
but because for you was it was an internal
yeah experience yeah
(04:29):
and the internal work that you did from day one hmm
you're hopefully not gonna run into that issue of like
I'm gonna quit because nobody believes in me yeah
you know so absolutely yeah
I feel very blessed to
to have to be so connected to that internal drive
because there are a million opportunities to give up
like every day and
and LA is being a
an artist is a diamond dozen and and it really is
I think the people who don't quit who win yeah
and really learning to be connected to that like um
internal vision and
and finding out what you're committed to
(04:49):
and doing that um
that is gonna be the thing to make the difference
so I'm grateful wow
what do you do like
on your day to day life
or regular basis to keep that dry for yourself hmm
that's a good question that's a good question
we all need that I have a friend
um I make a lot of lists okay
I like to have a list of what I need to do
and then break it down into like micro list
so I can cross a lot of things off
so even if it's like make myself breakfast
I'm like oh yes
I did it yeah
(05:10):
and like okay
sit at my piano yes
and it's not always that small
but whatever I need to do to motivate myself
lists really help me
also like spending a lot of time by myself
I think why I came here with a
a large community of writers
and people I went to school with
which is such a blessing but as time has gone on
it's gotten more solitary
in some ways that I think have been good for me
because I've kind of
shut out the noise of what everybody else is doing
and it's like no
what do I actually want
what actually makes me happy as a person
what actually like feeds me as a creative yeah
(05:31):
like doing it the way other people have done it
which is so amazing isn't necessarily right for me
and I that was a long journey to figure that out
so I just think for me
the more connected I get to myself and then like
some of these goals are quote unquote impossible
so what are the what are the
like how small can I break it down
so that it's things that I can accomplish
and then it fuels me to keep going
so then eventually I do reach these impossible goals
but it was one step at a time
basically
what you're saying is you taught yourself discipline
(05:51):
hmm bingo haha yeah
cause a lot of times I feel like
especially when it comes to songwriting
people are waiting for inspiration and I'm like
well sometimes you
you you gotta make it happen
or when it comes to singing and practicing
we're gonna talk about that later
when it comes to practicing
it's like well
I don't really feel motivated to practice
so I'll I'll do it tomorrow
well guess what
nobody's motivated to practice
we just have the discipline
and when I say we very loose term I don't
whatever we'll get into that later
but it's it's discipline
and so you figure it out
that lists and breaking big goals into like
(06:12):
just how small can you make
each action step helps you with your discipline
and when you're in it
it's you feel so much more motivated right
cause then the the wheels are turning and you're
you're doing the thing it's
it's the getting started part that's the hard part
and so if you can teach yourself
discipline and you can keep yourself accountable
honestly that is something that I struggled with
with my own career before I became a vocal coach
I was you know
doing music haha
it feels like another lifetime ago
but for me why I loved vocal coaching so much
was because other people
depended on me to show up and do a good job
(06:33):
versus when I was the artist myself
it was like well
it's just me right
like obviously
there were people I was working with
had producers and co writers and
you know all these different people
but at the end of the day
it very much still felt me
me and if you are not super connected to your why
and to yourself
and then it kind of falls apart pretty quickly
which is kind of what happened to me
no regrets no regrets
I'm very happy where I'm at
a lot of people ask me sometimes like
do you wanna go back to writing and releasing music
and I'm like honestly no yeah
not right now maybe that'll change again
yeah so
maybe that was just what was supposed to happen for me
uh huh but like you said
(06:54):
there's a million reasons every day to quit like yeah
why why you should stop doing it because it's so hard
uh but if you're really connected to yourself
then it's much easier to not
so I love that hmm
I think that's so cool cause I
what came to mind is like
also really tuning into how things feel
and like we have these ideas
what we want but then like
am I betraying myself to make that happen
like do I actually like what that feels like
do I actually like the day to day life that
that requires and the more I have slowed down to notice
the way something feels in my body
(07:14):
the more I can actually do the things that
there is energy to do and then there's more energy
for the things that take just like
flat out discipline that I know I need to do
but maybe aren't as energizing
when I've stopped doing the things
I don't necessarily need to do
but I felt like I had to do
but they weren't my things
if that makes sense yes
absolutely
things that you have to do no matter what job you have
even if it's your dream job
there will always be things that you have to do
that you don't wanna do yeah
so what are some of those things for you
where you're like you know
you're a songwriter you're an artist releasing music
what are some of the things that you're like
(07:35):
don't love it but I'm I have to do it anyway
well one of them is like practicing like okay
yeah vocal warm up
yeah I love singing
I sing all the time but that concentrated practice time
yeah if I'm not necessarily
rehearsing for a show is a little bit hard for me
sometimes I'm doing less of it now
because I'm recording my own album
but sometimes when I'm going into day after day
sessions with people that I don't know if I drive with
that can feel a little daunting
cause I love doing sessions and co writing with people
when the vibe is good yeah
(07:56):
but there's always people that like
maybe you have to work with
or you're just wanna try it out
who it's not necessarily the best vibe or you
you even if you didn't know it ahead of time
it just doesn't gel yeah
and that can feel a little daunting also
yeah and then another thing is like self promotion
that's a thing I know you can relate
that can feel also like uh
like a chore a little bit like a chore
I think yeah
that's a a lot like a chore
yeah a lot of singers can relate to that
I think they're like social media
I don't want to do social media
but you know it's
it's a way to to share your message and
(08:16):
and reach people
and so you have to figure out a way to do it in
in a way that like you like doing it
but anyways we're not here to talk about that
which I feel like you've actually mastered
like you have
you have done so well at marketing yourself
sharing your craft and your business on social media
thank you thank you
thank you thank you both
you know it's interesting
because I hated it when I was the artist
when I had my artist project
lumain is what I was called okay
uh haha
um I hated social media
because there was a disconnect again right
like I wasn't super clear on what my thing is
what I liked and what I wanted to do and so forth
(08:36):
and so
uh it was a chore
it was a big big
big chore and I hated it
and I didn't know what I was supposed to do
a lot of just like not clear on the vision
you know
and then I switched to vocal coaching and I mean
I did both at the same time for a long time but uh
when I went vocal coaching full time and you know
created Vox Tape
it was so easy to do social media because I was like
yeah I know what to talk about
I'm gonna talk about this and this
and this and this and this
and if the ideas were just flowing
it was so much easier for me to do that
as a business owner cause I mean
it's so weird
because I identify more as a business owner these days
(08:57):
uh huh a creative person
even though I am very much a creative person yeah
otherwise you wouldn't be here right now right
so it's like it's
it's interesting yeah
it's just a completely different thing
much easier as a vocal coach than as an artist
you're providing a service
yeah right
so it's it's less about look at me yeah
and more about let me help you
here's what you can do yes
yeah yes exactly
so I think that's the the biggest
the biggest thing
so if we can like figure out how as artists
we can create content that's about them
your audience and not about you yeah
how what you're offering can help them stories like
(09:18):
I don't know yeah
I don't know yeah
again I did not figure it out for myself
no I am not a qualified person to talk about it
but that's just kind of like
you know what's the difference between the
local coaching business and the
the artistry business that's an amazing idea
and such like a such a quest
like I'm like oh
I need to think about that
like how can I um
make social media
not just about sharing my story or promoting this song
but like how can I relate what I'm doing to you
how can I service you through my music and my art
and yeah that's a journey too
that's a journey I'm on but I love that yes
well maybe now you have some inspiration
(09:38):
some sparks of inspiration
and I'll check out your new content
okay and I'll see next week we're gonna have ten reals
yes minimum
I'll be so inspired I love it
this is a big question Mark
for a lot of people who wanna do music full time
or just music in general
even if it's not full time and you have like a
a part time job or even a full time job
and you're doing music on the side
but music is your passion right
like okay
you went to school for music
what now you graduate and well
how how do you actually go and do the thing
because I love Berkeley
but they don't teach you how to now go and do the thing
so yeah you I assume you were in Boston right on campus
(09:59):
so how did you make the move to LA
and how did you get started
like what's that transition like
that's a great question it's wild
it is wild and like there's no right way to do it
but I'll share what I did
so I came to LA I wanted to move to New York
but I felt just like this call to come to LA
I knew it was what was right for me
so I shipped a couple suitcases
I packed a couple bags and I
I came and I had no job set up
I had a little bit of savings
I didn't know I didn't know what I was gonna be doing
(10:20):
but I knew I wanted to write
I started just like for the first year and a half
I just would go out and meet people
ask anyone and everyone to write with me
and I was putting myself in sessions
um just by my own volition
but I was scheduling a full time schedule of
songwriting sessions
um I didn't have an artist project at that time
but I knew that like
I am an artist who writes foreign with other artists
I love doing both sides and they're both like
of somewhat equal importance to me and
but at that point
I was just focusing on like the writing
knowing that the artist side would come
(10:40):
so in that first year and a half
um I was blessed to come out here with like
a great network and my friends were growing
they were like they were signing deals
they were really able to push forward
and for whatever reason
I like knew that those steps were wrong for me
I was like this isn't gonna get me where I'm going
and so for me
it like created this tension where I was like
I'm so pumped for you these are the dream steps to take
but it's not right for me yet
so for me there was some separation
(11:01):
in that first year and a half
I wrote one song that ended up charting No.
6 on the Billboard international charts
whoa which was like like casual
like a pretty cool thing yeah
that's amazing but at that time was when
I was starting to pull back from the music industry
I started like I was teaching um
some songwriting privately
I was teaching little Kid Rock Band lessons um
and and I started acting as a day job
and sorry but like
hold on we got it
this cycle okay
people can say that like acting is my day job
(11:21):
you know it's like
it's what I have to do to support myself
no I'm kidding whatever
you know it's like
you know I work at Starbucks so that I can act right
yeah yeah yeah
that is so what and I was just like
but I was so ashamed of it cause I wasn't
I wasn't even though I was teaching
I wasn't pursuing the music industry professionally
yeah and in that time
I like wrote an album in my bedroom
um I
I felt like I was totally failing
but I Learned to like let more life in
which I coming out of a school like Berkeley
which I'm sure like any music school
um there is like this
there was like
(11:41):
this pressure that I had already aged out
that I like couldn't do anything else
it was just like this internal like
oh I hate to say it
but like hopelessness in a way that I was
it was just like
I didn't I didn't know how to
I didn't know what was happening
and in that time I just like Learned how to let more
life in and realize that like
actually the answer was inside of me
and by trusting myself that I like actually
could listen to myself and it was okay
that other people's journey wasn't right for me yeah
I was able to do things that like
(12:01):
starting to act was like oh
I I can actually feel successful
I can actually like
get hired for jobs and have energy to pursue my music
instead of just doing like
everything is trying and there's no ways to succeed
it just became a dynamic that actually empowered me
and that learning to trust myself has like
empowered what my career has become
so then in the pandemic I launched my artist project
I um
I got back into writing for other people
little by little
and I have this other part of my career
where I work as an actress in commercials and okay cool
and little by little build out a full picture of like
a life that for me is actually fun to live
(12:23):
yeah so yeah
I'm like that sounds so cute
a life that is fun to live
I love that for you thank you
trademark that thank you
right now
and not saying that like
there's so many places that like
I wanna get to that I have yet to get to
of course
but like it's cool to be at a place where I'm like
oh no but I'm actually building it
and you're enjoying the process
yeah
like a lot of people are just focused on the end goal
yeah I'm so guilty
get that sometimes same
where you know just want to get there
just want to get there same
hold on hold on
hold on is it really about the destination
or is it about the journey
yeah it's so cliche
but it's true but it's true
and like
I think by like that theme of like listening to myself
(12:45):
like learning to take myself seriously
and not just go after the thing in spite of myself
it's like now
cause a lot of my friends got pub deals
when they first came out here
which is pub deals yes
like publishing deals as songwriters
that's what I was thinking
I don't know if you're talking about an Irish pub or
publishing deals yes
yeah they
they signed a contract to go drink every day of perfect
I know
I know
and I think that's an amazing life if you want it
but I think for me where I do have an equal emphasis
or somewhat of an equal emphasis on being an
(13:05):
artist and a writer and wanting to approach my writing
that I do for other people
maybe a little more artistically and intentionally
like I love
sitting with an artist
and helping them tell their story
or like
or getting a brief from like a movie or something
and writing something for that for me
at the publishing deal route
felt sort of like a treadmill
that I didn't have control over it
oh yeah
and where I love doing those things
what I realized is
I wanna do them in a way that feels a little more
intentional
instead of getting thrown into rooms every day
where I don't have any say in it
and and so figuring out
(13:25):
I think just like the right angle for me has helped
has been really empowering
and I've now found collaborators where I'm like
oh these are the collaborators
I've been waiting for my whole career
and I don't know if I would have found them
if I was so caught up in trying to do what everybody
else was doing you just preach
yeah
yes
I like that you're that you're point
like touching on not right for me and not right
right now and like ah
it's so difficult to compare yourself to everybody
and you're like okay
they're doing this so I have to do that
(13:46):
and singing too like if we relate this to just voice
yeah not even like whole artist project
but just voice absolutely
I remember growing up like I was like
okay love um
Christina Aguilera
gotta sound just like Christina Aguilera
so I did everything I could
to sound like Christina Aguilera
because I was like in my brain
if I wanna see success
I need to be able to belt like Christina
and do all of the stuff that Christina does right
pick whoever right
doesn't matter which example you pick
but you just hold on to this idea
and then that idea is holding you back
from actually seeing the success
that you deserve to see
yeah and you're not seeing like what else you could do
yes that's not
(14:06):
maybe that hasn't been done before like yeah
what sides of your voice you haven't touched
I feel like that's what we do a lot with our students
like we we help you find your voice um
but we do like it's I yeah
sometimes have to force people to completely
change the genre of the song or like
the rhythms
cause they don't know what their voice is capable of
yet and they're like
this is cool I didn't know I could do that or
you know whatever
but same idea like absolutely
because you're trying to be someone else
or follow someone else's path
you don't know your own
and you might not even be doing it intentionally yes
most of the time
it's out of good intention and wanting to succeed and
and where else do you start
other than copying your heroes right yeah
(14:27):
but that's such like a beautiful point
it's like wow
I could actually find out what I do
and then that's what people might resonate with
or what might resonate with me
and like it's so much better yeah
cause the world doesn't need more Christinas no
you already have one and she's fantastic yeah
but the world needs a Laura yeah
you know like and so it's it's so beautiful yeah
like and it's hard it's like a daily choice
it's a practice but I think it's worthwhile
you know for me
it's interesting to hear that you say
I struggle with practicing singing
we haven't actually set that
while the cameras were rolling yet
(14:47):
but we were talking about it before
yet you have so much discipline
so can we dig into that
usually we don't talk about that till way later
but I feel like this is a good time to talk about this
so before we started rolling the cameras haha
you said that practicing was was difficult for you
that was kind of like your your big singing question
I struggle with practicing
how can I practice more yeah
you have such discipline
why do you think you struggle with the discipline
when it comes to vocal practice
cause I think that's in your case what it comes down to
it's not about the discipline of doing it yeah
I think it's because like
(15:07):
singing has always come easily to me
hmm and I can fake certain things very well
so I could get away with not putting the work in
and fake it
and then maybe it's not gonna be there all the time
but I could get away with not doing the work
and I I know that's something that is not gonna serve
is not servicing me
and I'm not gonna be able to get away with forever
so it's definitely a
can I like say the s word
yeah okay
you can you can swear all you want
it's on your shit
I need to call myself on my bullshit and like
it's like enough is enough
yeah well
(15:28):
it to me it sounds like it's just
that pain point
just hasn't been big enough for you yet
to solve the problem right
cause like at the end of the day
people are lazy yeah
so am I right like we're all we're all lazy
we like a comfortable life and um
we only make changes when we have to yeah
so you know
for you singing has always come easy
so you don't have to
you never had to practice a lot or whatever
so you never had to build discipline in that side
of your life right
and maybe it never comes down to it where you're like
no I can get away with it forever
maybe not but then that's when you're like
(15:49):
okay hold on
well now I have to address this
and because you are so in tune with yourself
hmm and you know what you like and what you want
and you're breaking it down into action steps
like because you have that
I do believe that even if you hit that wall of like
well shit now
now I have to work on my voice
uh you will do it
uh huh
we're just not there yet
the pain point isn't big enough yet
no I
I love that and I think like
there have been big times
where I really did have to work to get my voice back
in high school
I really struggled with acid reflux and allergies
oh yeah
and I lost my voice for seven months
(16:10):
oh it was a hot mess
and so I had to go through like
learning how to talk properly
cause I was like frying when I
in my speech kind of like talking like this
yeah yeah
and and that
with the acid reflux got me into a cycle of swelling
uh huh and then um
again at the end of college
I was in a very serious car accident
which left me like intubated for
for like 10 days no way
yeah and
and in recovering from that I
my voice got into a similar cycle of swelling again
and it was a few years where I didn't have
(16:30):
like the baseline of my voice
and before that I was just coming out of Berkeley
I worked as a professional singer
as a wedding singer for three years
so I was doing 70 events a year
so I was like I was singing yes
um and it took a few years
maybe four years
before I was even at like the baseline to start
building skill up again and in 2021
I started working with a new voice teacher who um
he's really puts a lot of emphasis on
singing athletically and like
(16:51):
he trains a lot of people for tour and
and he helped me work to a place where I felt like oh
I can get whatever I'm trying to get again yeah
and then it's it's just like maintaining that work
so you're 100% right that it's like
it just takes the pain point becoming big enough yeah
to then put the work in yeah
but I would love to build the
the habit of daily practice yeah
so let's talk about that
let's let's do it cause you know
it's like with students like yeah
they are actively taking voice lessons
so they are taking a step
but then sometimes they still struggle with practicing
which is why I'm so excited about our new program
(17:11):
but we don't have to talk about that
cause that solves that issue
but anyways so just action steps
like what can we do to get into get into practice
I'll let you go first
having a look at your weekly schedule
and this goes for you and for you
whoever's watching we all live such different lives
so what works for me might not work for you or
my aunt I don't know yeah
anyone if you have a you know 9 to 5
it's gonna be different if you have kids
it's gonna be different for us
since we have very flexible schedules
thankfully we can get away with whatever
I feel like because you're such a visual person
it would help a lot and I
it helps me too to put it in your calendar
(17:33):
whether it's in your phone list
you like list on your list on your daily list okay
yeah 10 minute warm up
15 minute whatever um
cause if if feels good to check it off
like I did it I
I actually did the thing I was set out to do
yeah and I always start small
I feel like with newer students
or with people that are like
really busy when I'm like
can you warm up daily
they just like immediately are like
whoa whoa whoa whoa yeah
that's so much like okay
let's start with three times a week Monday
Wednesday Friday
10 minutes in the morning
you're done let's start with that
then week 2 maybe add two minutes every day
then add a second day then add a
you know and give yourself the weekend off if you wish
(17:53):
it's okay I take the weekends off
I don't take the weekends off
there you go oh wow
there you go okay
amazing I sing
oh no no no
actually I don't sing all the time
that's a lie I do not
I barely I barely ever sing
oh no uh
but I'm in music all the time where I'm like
the weekend I mean let's be real
I work six days a week or seven days a week sometimes
depending on the week but when I'm not working
I'm like no
I'm not even singing yeah
I need to shut the brain off and watch some TV
which I think that is productive as well
oh yeah because it's like as
as women and as people were cyclical and
and and so
I think by being able to take that time to turn off
(18:13):
you can be on more successful
absolutely 100% yeah
it's really cool cause it is like you said
like your coach used to say like athletic singing
is that what it is he's at um
it is a muscle yeah
and every time I'm explaining this to a student
I always related to an athlete
it is something that you train
it is a muscle it's a combination of yeah
however many muscles
from your core to the tip of your head wow
it's crazy how much goes into singing
so the more all of those muscles are moving
you know sustainably and consistently
it's just easy to jump in and out of it yeah
I had a similar thing before what was it like 20
21 as well maybe 22
(18:34):
2 where I wasn't warming up daily
and I'm in vocal coaching before that
and I was very much like not doing that
because similar to you it came easily easily
so when I wake up in the morning I would just
wow and just start going right
and so my friends were like
how can you just like sing when you wake up
I'm like I don't know
I've been singing since I gave birth
like gave birth gave birth
yes I gave birth to myself
since my mom gave birth to me
that's funny um
until I was hired to be a singer
for four hours straight and then I was like
oh I need to practice
and yeah when I started daily warm UPS
which honestly I hadn't been doing even in music school
(18:55):
I didn't do it I would warm up for the lesson
that's it yeah
I'm being super honest now
I daily warm up um
it just changed completely
like your stamina changes
your elasticity changes the strength
everything is just yeah
like when people tell me that I don't practice
and I'm like you're doing yourself a dishonor
it's bad for you haha
it's so healthy to just keep that muscle moving
and like you said um
I think you mentioned something like
I don't know if it's gonna um
be sustainable forever or something like that
if you wanna be staying until you're 99 years old or
yeah older
like you have to train a muscle
I know you're right yeah
I know you have to train your muscle
(19:17):
in a loving way I say that
thank you just local maintenance
yes takes training
yeah yes
like you don't have to be pushing yeah
you don't have to work daily to like
push your highest note or
you know your longest note or do a quicker run
it's just you know
keeping those muscles active and working
that's important it is work yeah
is what it comes down to like
I wish we could all just wave a magic wand and be like
sing forever and beautiful and it's amazing yeah
it is it is work
and we have to sometimes look at it as work too
and not just as I love singing yeah
it is it is a little bit of work obviously
it's fun right
I'm not gonna be like you're gonna hate singing like no
(19:37):
it is fun
but we have to look at it as as a little bit of work
so for me I struggled with practicing my entire life
also something that came easy to me in the beginning
certain parts
not everything like could not sing high at all
didn't know the head voice existed like oh my god
so you know
had to practice for that and work hard on that
but just singing in general would be would come
would come easily
so I didn't practice that much honestly
and then when I went vocal coaching full time
and the business just kind of blew up
I was like
now I have zero time to focus on my own voice
so I wouldn't even warm up for lessons
that I was teaching right
(19:57):
I would just like go in cold and then it was
it was a bad bad bad
bad bad cycle
and my voice just got worse and worse and worse
I lost a lot of range
and my voice would get really heavy and stiff
and it was just not a good time
so I enrolled myself in voice lessons again
and that changed everything
but even then
I was struggling with practicing because I was busy
just like everybody else too
so the biggest change for me was making vocal tracks
for me like exercise tracks
oh wow so you know I would do uh
an exercise with my teacher in uh
in a lesson and you know because it's online over zoom
they're all recorded
so I can just look at the recording after like
okay I like this exercise
(20:17):
and because I know how to create tracks
I just made vocal exercise tracks for myself
and so every morning
I just go through my list and I'm like
that one that one
that one that one
while I'm answering emails
or even if it's just like
10 minutes of them sitting there
and I'm practicing
that's how I can get my vocal practice in
if I have to get up from my desk
and go to the other room to go sit down at the piano
and then be like okay
what scale do I wanna do
it's not happening it's just not happening yeah
there's too much brain power thought yeah
yes too much brain power that goes into just starting
yeah right
like what should I do today
and so I just made these tracks
(20:37):
and I have an entire library of tracks
and I just go through them
and I created tracks for our students as well
because it's really difficult for most people
you really do I love them
oh thank you
that's so fun yeah
that's a perfect I love them
it makes it so much easier to do it
we just want to remove that barrier of entry
yeah and make it as easy as possible to start
and for me that's pressing play
um hmm I can press play easy
I'm like I need to get some of those
follow along I got you girl
thank you hook you up
I'm your dealer now oh
I love it it's so fun
obviously like it
it depends on on
you know what you're trying to work on
(20:57):
if it's like just like breathing
like core engagement management or like runs or belting
whatever obviously
but even if it's just an you know
overall range practice like that will go a long way
a long way yeah
a long way yes
anything is better than nothing
like sometimes it doesn't
I tell it to our students all the time
sometimes it doesn't even really matter what you do
just as long as you do something yeah
and use your whole range and and go from there hmm
like that is gonna be a big
big big difference
especially in the beginning yeah
right and a big thing
and I think
I only really started being conscious about it
was when I started working with you
was cooling down hmm
(21:18):
not just warming up I never cool down ever ever
neither did I haha
at first and it makes I did haha
such a difference it does
it's crazy even
and it doesn't have to be anything complicated
two minutes 5 minutes yeah
two minutes two minutes is plenty
like when you're packing up after a gig
just
yeah
easy yeah
I'm like I need to get on that
it's yeah it's so smart
it's a habit yes
right and creating new habits
it's more difficult than you
and that's why New Year's resolutions
is something that fails for a lot of people yeah
because it's not a habit
and they set these crazy goals from them
for themselves from the beginning
and then they fail at it and then they're like
(21:38):
it's not for me and then they stop right yeah
so break it down into small things that you can do
and I got you girl I'll hook you up with my tracks okay
thank you haha
and then from there you can see like oh
I really like this I really like that oh
this is challenging
I wanna spend more time on this and then you can
you know create your own experience
uh your own vocal practice from there
and we have to record
an episode on just how to practice with tracks yeah
I don't wanna dig dig deeper into this now
because otherwise we'll be here in three hours
there's a way to practice with tracks
because you don't just wanna press play and go
and that's it like
I mean you can
and that's obviously still again
(21:59):
better than nothing
but we wanna be smart with how we're using these tracks
very intentional so I'll record an episode on that haha
and I'll send it to you okay perfect
coming to you soon coming to you soon
there you go does that help with
with practicing absolutely
yeah I mean I I
I'm so excited to like
think about it more and just start building the habit
because I know I know it's gonna like help everything
you said something about doing yourself a disservice
yeah and I'm like
I especially when I was younger
I always had this feeling of like
letting myself down
because I knew I could do all these amazing things
(22:19):
but because of not being prepared
I would not be able to show how amazing I was
and I was like but I know I can do it
and so I really know that like
building that habit of practice is gonna like
help me be able to fully do what I know
I can do consistently and so as I'm like going into
I want a tour at the end of this year
with this album that's coming
and I want like
I know it's gonna be like of great importance
yeah so I'm excited
and I can't wait to listen to those tracks
well and it's great that you're thinking about this now
if you want to go on tour by the end of the year
(22:41):
time to build these muscles
yeah I always love it when people come to
to us for a lesson and they're like
so I have an audition tomorrow
I'm like love that
uh let me help you
I'm happy to help you but also can you next time
can you please come to me months in advance
because that's really what it takes to fully prepare
yeah for what it is you're doing
so it's great to not wait till you hit that pain point
yeah but rather do preemptive
is that the word you're asking for
yeah yeah
just do the work before yeah
so that you never run into that pain point
yeah yeah
you're working for your future self
(23:01):
yeah and at the same time honoring your younger self
oh my God Juliana's these are words to live by
yeah I'm really loving it
I feel like I need to be like this and every lesson
I feel like it gives me so
so much power
yes I like the set up
have a microphone in front of you
we can hit you up Amazon list yes
yes I love it
can I ask about this album
uh please
can you tell us a little bit about it
what's the theme what's the storyline
like when is it coming
it's called The Woman Misbehaving and I really love it
thank you done subscribe yes
Woman Misbehaving is a song that I wrote
at the end of last year and
(23:22):
I had had this experience where there were these two
male like
producers
who were trying to convince me to take a bad deal
and they were like but we brought you this opportunity
and it was like a song that I had written 100% of
and they were trying to get me to sign over um
66% of the rights and they were just like berating me
and I after it
I wrote the after that conversation
I was like a hell no and um
I wrote this song about
like picking myself and about like
um like I lit a match
(23:42):
I found a bridge and I burned it down like
and sometimes you have to not be the nice girl who says
yes to everything
my last album was a concept album about grief
and that was necessary for my life
but this is just like totally moved forward
it's just like a good time
it is women misbehaving it is like disco songs
wow it is like
it is like
you take Donna Summer and Fleetwood Mac and what
they have a baby
and it's women misbehaving and it's Rachel's table haha
okay and so I'm really exciting or excited about like
(24:03):
what I'm making you right now
you are exciting us so yes okay
yeah you are exciting
I'm excited and excited haha
okay thank you
you know just social norms
it's kind of sad that you
standing up for yourself
and doing what's right for you
makes the title woman misbehaving
I'm like yeah
come on it's woman behaving yeah
you do what's right for you
but like thank you
it totally makes sense what you're saying
so I I can't
I can't wait to hear the whole record
thank you oh my goodness
this album is just like a deeper level of like
me figuring out who I am and
and doing things my own way
and like we're recording it like
(24:23):
at least half or more like analog
and it's so fun to like to just like
play real instruments and be in the room
creating real music yeah
I love doing electronic music
but it's it's like
just really fun to give myself this experience
and work with people who um
maybe have a little bit more of a musiciany background
like in jazz and like
but then also make commercial music
so it's feeling like like
a little bit more of like
a tangible experience or like a heartfelt
like wholesome experience
and that is making me come alive
so hopefully it will make you guys come alive too
(24:44):
oh I'm sure
listen haha
the the artist's energy translates and like infects us
just yeah
cause if you're not excited about it
then your audience is not gonna be exactly
excited about it either
but if you're super excited about it
then we can be excited about it too yeah
we didn't do a vocal warm up yet right
did we no
cause I was like we did something
but did we do it but I would love to sing with you okay
so I would love that yes
are you are you up for it
I would love it a vocal warm up please um
and and then we'll look at a little something
something that you can sing for us okay
we'll talk about that sound good
yeah let's do it
(25:14):
oh okay
let's keep going do you want to try Rachel
you're so right no
no
no no
that that that
(25:35):
woohoo woohoo
that's fun so fun yeah
okay I didn't know how long it was gonna be
I know like where we going
this is perfect this is perfect
I never know how long to go either
but this is so fun and it's
it's so interesting every time
like usually I'm the one leading these
so I love not being the person leading
because I get to hear where your beautiful
creative brains are going
you both were just perfectly in key for the
like there was a key for the entire thing
when I do it I go all over the place and it's just like
it's not within a certain key
so it can sometimes sound off key
but there is no key so I can't sound off key
yeah but that's actually so fun too because it's like
(25:56):
it's more like it makes you think like
it's more challenging and you have really focus
yeah and sometimes I don't do it on purpose
haha and like
well that didn't come out the way I wanted it to
but hey it doesn't matter
here we go
exactly it's part of it
it's fun yeah
it's hard to just make stuff up on the spot
yeah I think it's very fun
it is fun I think it is too a little like
oh oh
like I'm on the spot but once you're in it
it's like oh no
this is it's playing
it's playing yeah
it's very playful yeah
I love it well
miss Rachel do you wanna sing a little something for us
yes what should I sing
anything you want give us a little sneak
oh my gosh well
women misbehaving is like not
(26:26):
where you are I haven't warmed up yet and
(26:47):
hi yeah
I love that song I
I'm like oh
that's so cool thank you
I can't wait I'm like
I should warm up before I sing
that song next time oh
it's super high and it's so fun
but it's it's high hahaha
I don't know what note that is
cause I don't got perfect pitch
me neither it's high
it's a little high yeah
it's like one of those songs where you like
have to like approach it correctly to sing it
which is like I when I'm in my writing
sometimes I like to write challenging things
that are challenging concepts
because then it kind of mimics each other
that it's like
like you have to really be in it to sing it
(27:07):
because it's not a relaxed thing
it's like an effort so I
I like that but singing it without warming up challenge
yeah yeah
it is it is a ton
but it sounded awesome I love the writing of it too
it's so cool super
it's super she's very
she's a really good writer this
thank you guys well
who would have thought
haha it's not like she had a what
top six oh boy child
oh no
thanks guys haha
that's awesome so
you know besides like those
those high notes uh
you know being like
oh my God I need one more for these yeah
how did it feel good
the first part like the verse
that feels like easy
but I think then going into the pre chorus
(27:28):
I don't know if the placement of it was like the best
okay like I think pre chorus and chorus
I could place that to sing it
like to feel more solid in the way I'm singing it yeah
do you wanna workshop it a little bit
I would love that yes
oh my gosh let's do it okay
so do you wanna go straight into that pre chorus in
so I little match and then that's yeah
that's the chorus so I little match okay
um I got something you start okay
so you got it in your tongue okay
so just for me the first thing I usually do is like
(27:49):
try and identify any sort of tension
that might be holding you back
so just looking at you because I got you right
your beautiful face right in front of me
I can see it uh
your jaw likes to when you're
when you're dropping your jaw
it goes sideways do you also see it definitely yeah
your jaw goes a little sideways down into the
your this way right right yeah
then into the
to your right when you're dropping your jaw
when you're hitting higher beltier notes yeah
you don't do it otherwise
so it's your your jaw is trying to like figure out okay
how can I help to help you to
to get you up to that note
like making more space for that right yeah
(28:10):
you know
the brain's weird sometimes and it does weird things
it does it could be for space
it could be for it you never know and
a lot of times it's um it's holding you back right
it's adding all this tension
so can you try singing the same thing
while just pushing in here
so up here's your cheekbone down
here's your jawbone in between
all the way by your ears
just a little bit for the back yeah
right there
so if you push in here and you drop your jaw
should feel that muscle uh huh
push against your hands yeah
feel that muscle right there yeah
so this is just gonna help you guide your jaw
straight down rather than down into the right okay
cool so can you try that pre chorus again
(28:31):
while just pushing in here
out am I singing at a lower key
you lowered it a little bit
but your your jaw is it's better
(28:54):
yeah so we are just a little bit lower yeah
where we were before
yeah and I know you
and I know you're trying to save me from a better
right there yeah
so there's a lot of mouth movement happening
uh huh boring face uh huh
give me the most boring face you can I'm a woman
haven see see the difference in my face
give give me the most boring face you got I'm a
and okay one more time I'm a
and great can you relax your forehead
yeah
how do I relax my forehead
you can you can put a hand up here I'm
(29:16):
that feels nice how does that feel good
it feels like more inside me hmm
um like
instead of like I feel like
maybe there's room to project it more outwardly
but I feel like I'm not focusing on my lip motion
like it feels like the sounds actually like focused
yeah that's cool
yeah that's really good
thank you
strong so yeah
so okay
we're all pointing the Spider Man
so you said I feel like that
like I could protect more and you said it's strong
hmm so there's a difference between strength and volume
we got these beautiful things right here
(29:37):
hmm we don't need to be loud
that's cool they do the work for us wow
we just wanna get the tone
the strength right hmm
I love that
and then the microphone's gonna do the rest of the work
for you that's awesome
yeah that sounded really good to me
hmm and I know it's
it's so interesting because one of the things are like
no like this is a challenging song to sing and like the
the story of the song to it's like no
like I need to work for it and I get it and I love it
don't work harder than you have to
totally and it shouldn't be hard to sing
that's the thing it shouldn't be hard to sing
we want it to feel like it's not
not physically feel like it's hard
but we want to make people feel like this is yeah
(29:58):
like yeah
getting after it right
like this is so hard yeah
but it should feel physically
yes yes cool
yes yes
uh try the whole chorus there one more time
like the pre chorus leading into the chorus
yeah with just that boring face in mind
relax those eyebrows wherever you want to hold
hold haha
our little man
(30:22):
okay what's that
the
but not the woman misbehaving lyric
the other one I didn't match
a bad reputation OK
and I know you're gonna save me from a bad reputation
OK yeah
last time you did it there
you switched more into a headier
into a headier place
is that what you want to do
or do we want to make it stronger
I think maybe more of like a mixed place
like so a little stronger
yeah a little stronger
okay apple
I know you're trying to save me from a bad reputation
apple
oh more brighter
like twangier a little no yeah
it's a mental thing for her though
hmm
(30:42):
you you so got those notes hmm
it's not a problem you're
you're just like and here comes the high note
yeah right um
can you kind of like do this
I know you're trying to save me from a bad reputation
oh my God that already felt so much easier
just kind of like moving your upper body
I know you're trying to save me from a bad reputation
but again and I know
bad reputation but truth was meant to be found okay
great can you do more just in your neck
(31:05):
down so much easier
yes you did
oh my gosh yes
you burnt that bridge okay
I'm like okay
who is she yeah cool
see like to me in my ears on like yeah
that's not loud but it is strong
and it doesn't like cause I know
so much comes down to how much tension I'm holding
and that feels easy that doesn't feel tense
that feels like oh nice
she could sing that all day
yes girl
yes that's how we wanna feel
okay guys
thank you yeah
well you know
it's the the movement helps you
like it gives your brain something else to do
so we can't hyper focus on that thing
movement in general is kind of like a tension killer
(31:26):
it's the enemy of tension
so if you can move a little something however
when you were shaking your shoulders and your head
it was it was kind of this yeah
you know and that create tension in your shoulder
so it's like okay
hold on let's drop the shoulders
let's just look side to side
so that your neck can feel free and I know
and it can just woo yeah
flow flow a little more again for you
you got the notes yeah
it's not the problem at all
it was the mind the beautiful mind
which I think is what a
like so many things come down to yeah
(31:46):
yes so it's
it's a mental game every day yeah
oh yeah
yeah singing is 90% mental
life is 90% mental say that again
life is 90% mental louder for the people in the back
okay hold on
life is 90% mental
life is 90% mental
ah incredible
sorry for screaming I
it's cute wait
can I sing it one more time to see if I can
yeah yeah yeah yeah
okay bless us um
(32:07):
and yeah and it's the same thing there right cool
and if you if you just can't get out of your head
it's literally all that right
just shaky shaky
shaky shaky
shaky whatever movement feels good to you
yeah and then cool
and then you got it thank you
that was really good yeah
one thing my one of my teachers back in music school
used to make me do I
I am also a very mental singer
hmm a mental singer um
so sometimes even if I'm doing like my first thought
funny enough when she was like not fully in mix
but more heady I thought apple
cause for us that's a Lara term
it's lifting so you go into your mix a little bit more
and you drop your jaw
so it's as if you were biting an apple
(32:28):
right so that helps a lot of people
cause it's a physical thing
but if you're up here it might not do
much so that movement helps a lot
and then sometimes because we start doing something
and we're thinking about doing that something
then it becomes another thing to do yeah
so my teacher made me like sing like this and move
no way which is really hard to do right
yeah but then you're like
struggling so much that your voice is just like
huh and it just comes out yes
oh it's crazy cool yeah
sometimes I would even sing like swaying my arms
like I would like be standing
oh yeah and down fully and just like sway
and I would have to sing at the top of my lungs
I sure have done that
there's a lot of things you could try
hmm yeah
(32:49):
here I was just like
what can we do sitting down in a chair
yeah you know
that's comfortable but yeah
if you can sing it in a chair
you can sing it anywhere anywhere
there you go oh
that rhymes ah
if you can sing it in a chair
you can sing it anywhere oh yeah
there you go yes yeah
haha wow
songwriter over new catchphrase yes
if you can sing it in a chair
you can sing it anywhere
we should print that that on t shirts
totally should going back to what you said
apple versus the head thing
yeah does the same thing
just a different approach to getting to the same result
and for some people we wanna approach it more of like
okay here
let's try the apple and for other people
it's more like hold on
let go of it let go of it
yeah you know
just just
just think stop thinking about it
(33:09):
yeah uh
and incorporating movement helps with that
so it just depends on what resonates more with you
and if we don't know you we've never worked with you
that sometimes takes time for us to figure out like
well what clicks with you
uh huh yes
I'm just glad that we were able to find it
thank you guys so good
you're so welcome I love it
do we wanna play a quick little game
a little one breath challenge
you're just picking a song
from that little box of yours
hopefully you know it
and then there's just some lyrics on there
where it's like how long can you go my lonely
(33:30):
you
okay okay
it's hard that is hard isn't it
yeah yeah
it's hard it's hard
I suck at one breath challenges so let me try
(33:55):
here
wow there you go
I wanted to go I don't belong here
but I couldn't reach the note anymore
without only any of that breath
it's like nope
nope nope
that was the good well
and also so depends on the key yes
that you pick hmm
cause if I'm going I'm a creep
it's much like I will run out of breath a lot faster
than if I'm going a little bit lower on purpose
so you know
anyways that was fun
let's do maybe one all together
and see who can go for the longest
I wanna dance with somebody
Whitney Houston yeah
my gosh what key
do it somebody pick a key I can do
oh I wanna dance with somebody alright
(34:15):
oh is that okay
yes okay
I just jumped in no
you got it
oh okay
oh one
two three
oh
loves me
haha
wow
nice I love that harmony
me too I love harmonizing
it's like my favorite thing whenever
this was so fun so much fun
thank you so much for being here
(34:36):
please let us know where can we find your stuff
well thank you so much again for having me
this was a blast
you guys are lucky
to have the best teachers in the world
just saying wow
in the world and we are the best
it's just a fact it's just a fact
it was so nice to meet you
my name is Rachel Siegel
and you can find me on all platforms at Rachel s I E
L Rachel Siegel
and you can follow me on Instagram at Rachel dot m
dot siegel
I'm also on TikTok at Rachel dot m dot seagle music
and all things Rachel Seagle are at Rachel seagle
music.com there are so many things coming this year
and I would love to have you along
(34:57):
for the journey thank you so much
I'll be sure to include those links
in the episode notes and on YouTube and all the places
uh so that people can find you with just one click
and thank you again so much for being here
for sharing your beautiful voice with us
for sharing your wisdom with us on
you know how to be authentic to yourself
how to find yourself and how to not to
you know get distracted by what other people are doing
I think that's so powerful
so thank you so much for being here
and we gotta do this again sometime
yeah I would love that
this was so much fun thank you for having me
thank you thank you
thanks for everybody watching
and we'll catch you next time bye bye
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