ALEXANDER SMITH caught up with rising star RACHEL SERMANNI in the middle of a hectic schedule.

Rachel Sermanni at Ceol Mor (Photo Al 'Houdi' Donnelly)

WITH a simply frightening summer schedule which has already included Rockness, The Insider, Wikerman, GoNorth, a session with Scotland’s premier taste-maker Vic Galloway and track of the month in the influential Under the Radar column in The Scotsman, Rachel Sermanni is a hard girl to tie down.

I met the 18-year-old singer-songwriter from Carrbridge fresh from a triumphant King Tut’s appearance the previous night, an early morning drive up to the Highland Capital, and en-route to a show on hoem territory in Aviemore. With a further three shows leading up to her Belladrum appearance and a bursting diary for the foreseeable future, including a KT Tunstall support, Loopallu and Green Man, the ever-growing buzz surrounding the young artist shows no sign of losing momentum.

What is more impressive, or perhaps perplexing, is the fact that in the last twelve months she has achieved all this, appeared on the Communion compilation, and supported Stornoway without a booking agent, label, management or product. Before we touch on all this however, she is keen to discuss her new live set up and last night’s show.

ALEXANDER SMITH: You have recently completed your live line up – are you aiming for this to be a pretty permanent set up moving forward?

RACHEL SERMANNI: Yes, I’d like to have the guys with me as long as possible really. Last night was our first performance with our drummer and I wasn’t really sure about it at first, but it just all took off and it sounds really powerful – well, it feels really powerful – and some of the songs just work so well now, so I’m really excited about that.

Rachel Sermanni and Band (Photo Al 'Houdi' Donnelly)

ALEXANDER SMITH: In terms of the recruitment process, how did you arrive at the current live set-up?

RACHEL SERMANNI: Well it took quite a while to get this band together. I did have a band before, but it didn’t really work out, at that stage I just felt it was all too much, so I pulled back from that and decided to experiment a little more. I started off with two fiddle players and from there I gradually started getting other musicians involved.

Starting in this way kind of enabled me to make better musical decisions and I always felt things were manageable and I could handle the song. We then brought in some piano and very recently a drummer, so it has all built up really naturally over time. The idea, if I’m honest, was to try and keep control, and I’m really happy with the band at the minute, and I think we are sounding pretty good.

ALEXANDER SMITH: I take it your process will remain the same, though; you will write the material and then introduce it to the other guys at rehearsal?

RACHEL SERMANNI: Yes, pretty much, but they all contribute something positive. I often have really clear ideas in my head and they generally exceed any expectations I had for the songs, so I feel very lucky to have found them.

ALEXANDER SMITH: The last twelve months have been pretty hectic, and you have built a genuinely impressive musical CV very rapidly; how does it feel having all this attention?

Rachel Sermanni at Ceol Mor (Photo Al 'Houdi' Donnelly)

RACHEL SERMANNI: It feels really good, especially up here. I know I’m fairly young but I feel like I’ve been around a while, and I guess it’s an indication that I’m doing something right. I mean, it’s nice that people up here know about me now because I started gigging in Inverness at 15, but in some respects it’s been harder to build things up in the Highlands, but all the guys involved in the scene up here have always been really good to me and that’s helped a lot, like getting me on the Stornoway tour and things like that.

ALEXANDER SMITH: That must have been pretty exciting – was that your first experience of being on the road?

RACHEL SERMANNI: Yeah, pretty much. I had done a couple of really small tours before but nothing on that scale. That whole tour had a really nice atmosphere and for my first one, I’m really grateful it was with them. I learned a lot on that tour, and the guys were really welcoming and down to earth. In Aberdeen, they got me onstage with them for one of their songs and they joined me for one of mine, so that was great. I have some really magical memories of that tour.

ALEXANDER SMITH: Having had a pretty exhausting summer already, what else have you got coming up?

RACHEL SERMANNI: Well, I have Belladrum next and then a solo slot at Green Man which should be fun. Then I’m off on a short tour with Admiral Fallow which I’m especially looking forward to because I really love those guys. I am also off to Orkney to support KT Tunstall, which I only found out about two weeks ago, so I was over the moon with that.

ALEXANDER SMITH: So how are you getting these shows without management or booking agents involved?

RACHEL SERMANNI: Well, what’s becoming really apparent is that I have some truly great friends, and I guess I have been in the right place at the right time on a few occasions. I feel really fortunate with the guys I have met up here because they have put me forward for a lot of these things, like the Stornoway tour, the slot with KT Tunstall, Belladrum and Loopallu. They really look out for me, which is very useful indeed.

ALEXANDER SMITH: So you’re pretty busy for the rest of the year, really?

RACHEL SERMANNI: Yes, the diary is really filling up. I think I have either a festival or at least three gigs every week for the foreseeable future, so that’s great.

ALEXANDER SMITH: What about a release of some kind, where are you sitting on that?

Rachel Sermanni at Ceol Mor (Photo Al 'Houdi' Donnelly)

RACHEL SERMANNI: Well, sitting pretty far away at the moment, if I’m honest! But I hope to set up a really simple but high quality studio at home and start experimenting with recording and try to establish a sound. I mean, right now I just don’t feel ready to record an album, I feel I need to explore my sound further before embarking on any major recording. But I do love the recording process and experimenting with a little bit of producing. I am also featured on a few compilations, such as the GoNorth release and the forthcoming MIDAS album, and I also recorded a track for the Communion record, which was a great experience.

ALEXANDER SMITH: Yes, how did you end up on that record?

RACHEL SERMANNI: Well, they [Mumford & Sons – see Communion link below] were playing at Loopallu last year, and me and some friends went along to see them and afterwards we found them in a pub and just asked if they fancied a jam?

ALEXANDER SMITH: Really?

RACHEL SERMANNI: Yeah, and fortunately they said yes, so a whole group of us headed off to a beach and sat jamming until about three in the morning. I played them some of my songs, they all joined in and it all came from that, really. I met them again the next morning and Ben [Lovett, Mumford & Sons pianist and producer of the Communion compilation] asked me if I wanted to go down and record for it.

I thought it was a joke at the time if I’m honest, but about a month later I got an email from their management and it all went from there. I went down for about four days and recorded My Friend Fire and the whole experience was just amazing, that compilation is really special to me. Looking back now, it’s clear just how significant that experience was for me because it sort of changed everything really and I feel very lucky to have had that opportunity. I guess it just opened things up for me in terms of how to make music and what was possible.

ALEXANDER SMITH: How important is the Highlands to you in terms of the music you make?

RACHEL SERMANNI: I think being from the Highlands has really helped as the scene is really great up here, and I have found that there are always opportunities for me. There is lots of support up here for artists, maybe more than I would have got had I been based down in Glasgow when I started out.

ALEXANDER SMITH: So have you relocated down there permanently then?

RACHEL SERMANNI: Well, sort of, I guess. I suppose I’m in Glasgow more than up here these days, but I’ve been so busy lately I’m kind of living out a suitcase at the moment. But it’s really important for me to get back here as often as possible, though.

ALEXANDER SMITH: That’s a pretty significant relocation, are you finding the city environment a stimulating one creatively?

RACHEL SERMANNI: Well actually, when I first moved down there I found it really difficult to write, and in some ways, now you bring it up, I think I still do. I have certainly had to change my pattern of writing. I just don’t have the same space or time in the city, I guess, but I’m slowly adjusting and really enjoying the change.

ALEXANDER SMITH: Has swapping mountains, space and tranquillity for concrete, people and energy affected your material in any way, and how have you adjusted on a personal level?

RACHEL SERMANNI: Well funnily enough, I was never really a big city person and I never really imagined myself living in a city, but I’m really enjoying it and I guess it is making me think a little bit bigger musically. But to be honest, I haven’t really written much for a while, so I’m looking forward to getting back to it and see where it goes.

ALEXANDER SMITH: I hear a fairly explicit traditional thread running through much of your material – were you exposed to a lot of traditional music growing up?

RACHEL SERMANNI: Yes I was totally immersed in traditional music as a child and started playing fiddle and whistle when I was really young, and we always had acoustic guitars around the house and every now and then I would pick one up and eventually one of my dad’s friends started teaching me a few things.

ALEXANDER SMITH: Other influences I pick up are more classic, such as Carole King and Joni Mitchell; did they come onto your radar at all?

RACHEL SERMANNI: Yes, eventually. A local woman in Carrbridge introduced me to them later, and I guess I would count both as influences now for sure.

ALEXANDER SMITH: How aware are you of either joining or attempting to avoid the Nu-Folk slipstream, or do you try not to think in those terms?

RACHEL SERMANNI: I really try not to. I’d like to write material which stands up regardless of trends. Some people have said that maybe I should push it while there appears to be some momentum building, but I’d rather just keep letting it go naturally as I have up until now. I think my writing is developing and becoming darker and I want to explore this material further, but keep the gentler side of my writing going too.

ALEXANDER SMITH: Why is your material turning darker?

RACHEL SERMANNI: I don’t know really, I think it’s just my head (laughs), but coming to think of it, I’ve always been drawn to quirky, darker things. For example, I really love Tim Burton’s movies and like the music he uses, and I’m into the idea of beautiful things being weird. Humans and the dark parts of them have always interested me, and I suppose I am keen to explore this further.

ALEXANDER SMITH: You must have had a fair amount of interest from industry, though?

RACHEL SERMANNI: Yes there have been a few people who have asked me for recordings and met me for coffee and things like that, but I have tried to make it clear at the moment that I’m not really ready for management at this stage. I want to establish a band and a sound before taking any other steps. Maybe it’s a fear thing, but up until now I feel I’m doing okay without management really and I guess there is a trust thing as well: I want to make sure I make the right decisions. As well as that though, I feel I want to get to know the business better and that is definitely happening, but I do want to make a living out of music, I am ambitious and I’m determined to focus on my music as much as possible at the moment.

ALEXANDER SMITH: What about your session for Vic Galloway, was that a first for you guys?

RACHEL SERMANNI: Yeah, pretty much, and he was just lovely and so supportive; he really calmed us down and the experience was really positive all round.

ALEXANDER SMITH: So I take it you are postponing other things in order to concentrate fully on your music at the moment, things such as academic study for example?

RACHEL SERMANNI: I am, yes, but I want to do this now and try and make as good a job of it as I can, then look at academic studying later perhaps, as it is definitely something I would love to do; but having made that sacrifice for the moment, I really want to try and do well at this.

ALEXANDER SMITH: What about now, who are you currently listening to?

RACHEL SERMANNI: Well, I really like Tom Waits, I love his darkness and some of his weirder material, I also think Admiral Fallow are incredible, and I just love Alessi’s Ark.

ALEXANDER SMITH: How about other Highland-based acts, who are among your favourites?

RACHEL SERMANNI: I really like Abagail Grey, I saw them at the Insider Festival and they were great, that was a really good show. I’m also really into some of the local solo artists like Maryann Frew and Moteh Parrot. The Boy Who Trapped the Sun from Stornoway is another favourite, he’s just amazing.

© Alexander Smith, 2010

Links

• Rachel Sermanni

• Communion