We recently connected with Rebel Noire and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Rebel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
The risks I’ve taken so far as a vocalist, songwriter and poet are ones that have only served to confirm my path as a creator. Like the time I signed a contract for an hour long set at the biggest theater downtown with only a few months to build a band and hone enough material. These kinds of calculated gambles have often seemed a little crazy to others and like dancing on a tightrope to me. But they have also been proving grounds for my commitment as an artist and to my persistence and audacity as a human being. One of the biggest risks I’ve engaged in thus far was co-organizing and headlining a house concert in Mittagong, Australia in 2018. It involved sharing my music with a pianist in Sydney, and rehearsing for the first time on the day I landed; and practicing with a local guitarist a couple days before the show. The evening of the event, the house was packed with an audience from different walks of life who didn’t look anything like me and who I would have no further connection with after I finished. To see eyes filling with tears, to feel how much my voice and words touched the crowd, to receive words of heartfelt affirmation from people I didn’t know — it all demonstrated the power of my presence and message. To have coordinated a successful show, across time zones and continents, despite the limitations of geography, made it clear there is no place I cannot go. The experience was definitely pivotal, and bolstered my desire to keep going.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I’m a native Trinidadian turned New Yorker who has called Elkhart, Indiana, home for almost 20 years. From at least as early as elementary school, I wanted to be a singer. I remember being in musicals in the 5th and 6th grades; participating in choir from junior high and onward; and even trying out for a singing competition. I also wanted to be a musician, going so far as trying (and failing) to teach myself piano. As it turns out, I wouldn’t really make music a priority until my mid-30s. Since I couldn’t play any instruments, I started by teaching myself basic digital music production. When life circumstances shook up my world, it led me away from writing songs that were largely disconnected from my personal experiences, to singing lyrics, vulnerably rooted in my lived reality — especially as a Black woman living amidst White supremacy. Over time, I began to work with other independent musicians to continue expressing my power and pain and the joys and struggles of my community. I’ve since assembled a band of exceptional musicians I call “the accomplices,” and we have played regionally at all sorts of venues from an art gallery to local music festivals, Last year, we released our “truthteller EP” and are working on our second project with a spring 2023 release.
Is there a mission driving your creative journey?
As a human, I try to live by my motto, “liberation for every body.” As an artist, this looks like singing and songwriting out of my own experiences and producing work around historical and present Black narratives, such as a meditation on un/lynching; and the destruction of the African American town, Rosewood. To create in the key of Black Womanness is to be more than a musician who happens to be Black, and instead, to use the platforms I’m given to be a distinctly Black voice. Two of my absolute favorite quotes that summarize this internal mission come from Nina Simone and fellow Trinidadian, Claudia Jones. From Nina: “An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times…IThat, to me, is my duty. And at this crucial time in our lives, when everything is so desperate, when everyday is a matter of survival, I don’t think you can help but be involved…How can you be an artist and NOT reflect the times? That to me is the definition of an artist.” And from Claudia, “A people’s art is the genesis of their freedom.” Recently, I’ve also felt called to create songs that speak to Black joy, vibrance, self-determination. These are the legacies I try to stand in.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
First, I would say to define your identity before social media defines you. Because I came to my craft later in life, I knew the kind of artist I wanted to be before anyone was watching and that helps me resist trying ro do what everyone else is doing. There will be a lot of temptation to do what seems to be working for others, to start telling your story based on what we think will appeal instead of what’s true, and to do flashy things to get followers fast. But as I like to say, if you’re not absolutely obsessed with what you see on your own feed — if your content doesn’t resonate with you and the core — then you’re doing it wrong. It’s being precisely who we are regardless of the trends and pressures out there, that will bring the right people. And the more confident I am about this, the more I receive feedback from my audience that this energy speaks to them, which only increases my commitment to maintaining that approach. With that in mind, the other thing I would say is not to despise the small beginnings. Every single person started with 1 person clicking that blue button or one like, and if we choose gratitude for each success, we will eventually see our audience begin to increase and snowball.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rebelnoirexaccomplices.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebel.noire/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebelnoire
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCajLAPUYOTy491lcxKU0kMw
- Other: http://rebelnoirexaccomplices.bandcamp.com/
Image Credits
Eric Vandrick Sayde Alejandra Photography Alexis Castellanos