I'm a songwriter?

A few weeks ago I was fumbling about Instagram in bed (as I always do when I first wake up) thinking about the next steps in achieving my career goal as a front woman/ vocalist. As I pondered the steps I needed to take I saw a post that particularly caught my eye, Dan Claremont of Set It Off was giving guitar and songwriting lessons. There was an email at the bottom to talk to Dan and ask about rates, and I was interested. After talking and getting some financial things out of the way Dan and I planned our first lesson. The night before our first lesson some things happened that I'm not going to go into grave detail about but just know, these events lead me into knowing what I wanted to write about, much like Ms. T Swift, my subject was heartache. Dan and I had meetings and lessons every other day for about 2 weeks and the more we met, the better my song became. Along the way of writing the beauty I call Take Care, Dan and I got to know each other fairly well and I started talking to him about my job, life, Set It Off, ect. I got to meet his super sweet girlfriend, Sydney, and his loud but adorable chihuahua, Monkey. And he taught me something I wish I would've taken in high school, music theory. Being a self taught musician, you think "Oh music theory and reading music isn't needed, just highly recommended." Or thoughts pretty close to that, but let me tell you, basic music theory made things go a lot smoother. Our lessons consisted of 30 minutes to an hour of talking about melodies, chord progression, music theory, lyrics. And Dan was always super helpful and positive. Dan also made me a super great promise, when they come to MD I'm going to be performing Take Care with Dan. I've also been invited to hang out with the guys after and before the show which is super cool, because not only did I make a kick ass song and learn some things, I made a really great friend. I won't be posting the song just yet, but be on the lookout for it. Until next time, Rachel Vanity. ✌🏻️❤️

Disclaimer: I'm not here to please everyone!

Hey guys, apparently this post needs to be made because at school a girl came up to me and said "X didn't like what you said about them in your review." Well let me make something clear, I'm here to state my opinion and to state facts more than anything. I know for a fact that I'm not going to please everyone and that's just the way that these things go. I'm not changing my style or sugar coating anything just to please people. You want to know my opinions or the facts? I'm here to state those. Don't come to me asking for my opinion and then become upset about it. I'm here for constructive criticisms, to tell you what I, and possibly others, may have liked or disliked about your stuff. I'm here to give suggestions, I'm not trying to boost any egos or bring anyone down, I'm giving the feedback that you ask for. I'm sorry for those who don't enjoy my reviews but that isn't going to stop me from doing what I enjoy doing, which is writing these posts and reviews because a lot of people have been enjoying them! So all in all, I know for a fact I won't please everyone and I don't intend to. Sorry.
                                                                    XOXO,
                                                                        R. Vanity ♥

Bands you should know: Social Repose

Social Repose is a one man band from Bethesda, MD. Richie Giese formed Social Repose in 2011 and remains unsigned, he's posted many EPs on his bandcamp and has a massive support system. His Facebook page has 5,079 likes, he's attended Warped Tour, and has played many shows in areas such as New York and Pennsylvania. Knowing Richie or Social Repose, on a semi-personal level, I can tell you he's extremely fan devoted and extremely nice. If you look on his Facebook you'll be sure to notice he posts a lot of short ukulele covers of songs such as "The Drug in Me is You" by Falling In Reverse, "Bacon Pancakes" from Adventure Time, "If You Can't Hang" by Sleeping With Sirens, and more. Social Repose also has a cover of Lana Del Ray's "Summertime Sadness" out on their Bandcamp, he has seven EPs out on his Bandcamp (Link here to all his discography), the most recent being Crazy Manic Love (which will be reviewed here soon) which is six tracks including a remix of Breathe Carolina's "Sellouts". I get good vibes from Social Repose, I'll be sure to keep an eye on him and I'm sure you all will too! The link to the lovely Social Repose Facebook is right here so go give him some love by liking the page!

Bands you should know: Conquer The Oceans!

Conquer The Oceans is a metalcore band based out of Northern Virginia consisting of members Emilio Truitt (vocalist), Sebastian Trudeau (drummer), and John Dolan (guitiarist/back-up vocals). The band is unsigned and is currently recording an EP! The band was founded September 13th, 2013 by John Dolan and previous vocalist. The band has 171 Facebook likes, two YouTube videos (which you can view here), twelve subscribers on YouTube, and they are currently writing an album as well! Also you can find some sneak peeks of their EP work on their Facebook so give them some Facebook love here! Stay tuned to my blog where I will review Conquer The Oceans new EP called Broken Morals and their future album coming soon!

Spooky Casual Reveals Big News!

This morning at 10:30 A.M. Spooky Casual announced a lot of amazing things. The band is releasing their split with Naked through Sunset View Records, Nick Overfelt (Jack Motel) is offically going to be drumming for Spooky Casual (yay!), and that they are going to begin writing an EP soon! Spooky Casual is also looking for a bassist! To qualify you need to be out of high school, have reliable transportation, and have professional gear. If you're interested please contact Spooky Casual here. For all the latest Spooky Casual news stay tuned into Rachel Vanity Reviews: Local Bands!

Bands you should know: Dungeon Kids

Dungeon Kids is a pop band from Baltimore, Maryland. The band consists of members Dan Windsor, Zac Yelnosky, Ben Woodworth, and Kinsey Mathews. The vocals are very unique to each song and the instrumentals are very calming and beatiful, but can be very upbeat as well. Each song has its own unique sound which is very refreshing in the pop scene. I would describe Dungeon Kids as great driving music for sure, especially for long drives. This band has 543 Facebook likes, a Tumblr, and a Bandcamp which has Three EPs on it. The band's most recent EP is titled "Oh How it Hurts" and has four tracks on it. "Oh How it Hurts was released on September 11th, 2013. I think this band has true potenial is very underrated, let's fix that! Give Dungeon Kids some love by liking their Facebook page here, following them on Tumblr here, and listening to them on Bandcamp here. Oh and here's a lovely fact, if you're like me and you really like these guys' music can download any of their EPs on their bandcamp for whatever price you want! Go give them a listen, trust me you'll be glad you did!

Local bands play show in Eldersburg area!

A bunch of bands including Spooky Casual, Naked, Jack Motel (Nick Overfelt), Danger Parker, Paul O'Sullivan of Woodbine Hotline, Shane Conard of Playtime Revenue, and Nolan Kerbert played a show in Eldersburg, Maryland last night, Wednesday, August 6th, 2014 at Victor's Italian Ice. While I wasn't able to go I was told there was a great turn out and Naked was selling merch. The event lasted from 6-9:30 P.M. and there was even an after party at Denny's for the musicians who played! I did get a few quotes from some of the musicians that played last night, Matt Hiles of Spooky Casual had this to say about their set "The harmonies were sharp, the melodies were on point, and everybody was in top sad boi shape." Carl Smith had only two words to say about the event, "Turn Up." Nick Overfelt, or Jack Motel, had this to say about the show "It was the epitome of DIY local shows, great to meet people that are as into the music and not the notoriety as I am." and finally Emma Pailer of Spooky Casual had this to say about last night's show, "Even though our wires were in wet grass and we almost got electrocuted, it was still fun and spooky and we were still the saddest sad boys on the block." I heard that the show went extremely well and everyone had a good time! Great job to everyone that played last night all of you are incredibly sick musicians so I bet it was amazing!

(Pictured above is Spooky Casual preforming)

Bands you should know: Encasing Embrace

Encasing Embrace is a melodic metalcore band from Alexandria, VA. The band consists of bassist Bowtie Steele, vocalist Ryan Thornton Olsen, lead guitarist Matt Neyland, and drummer Malcolm Richardson. These guys are no small band either! Having over 2,000 Facebook likes, popping up in the search bar on youtube like any other large band, playing shows like crazy, and working on an album Encasing Embrace is getting bigger by what seems like the second. The band is already a household name around most teens in the metal scene! What are these guys really like though? Well I can tell you from experience they are some of the nicest guys you will ever meet and will go out of their way to make any fan happy. I have the wonderful pleasure of being friends with Bowtie who is probably one of the nicest people I've ever met despite the heavy sound of the band and the metal look. If you've never checked them out I suggest you should, these guys are definitely worth your time. Give them a Facebook like (hi this is that link), a listen to on Soundcloud (that link is here), check out their YouTube (just look up Encasing Embrace), and stay tuned into my blog for a full review of their album when it surfaces!