At a Portland Starbucks one windy February afternoon, USM student and musician Rachel Griffin talks about music, school, and saving the world. As she sips her heavily sugared coffee, she discusses her light, pop-jazz music style, conveying the inspiration that has made her one of the best singer/songwriters to hit Portland for quite some time. With her disarming laugh and whimsical sense of humor, she at times seems like anyone other than the determined, globally-conscious person she really is.
Imagine pop-style piano with jazzy vocals, and you will have a notion of what Rachel Griffin’s music is like. The songs on her new album, “I’m Up To No Good,” range from the lighthearted angst of “Don’t You” to the complicated breakup song “Lighter Than Air.” She touches on some very real aspects of human nature, from skipping work to reminiscing about a summer day, without skipping a beat in her intricate piano accompaniment.
Griffin’s music often draws comparisons to the jazzy, Grammy-winning pianist Norah Jones, but she insists that her real inspiration comes from Ben Folds and his pop piano style. She learned many of her techniques by listening to Folds and playing along with his albums.
She also counts pop musicians like Dave Matthews, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell and Carole King among her influences. Griffin refutes the “jazz singer” label that some listeners give her, explaining that there is a difference between being a jazz singer and simply incorporating jazz elements into her music as she does.
“I’ve been singing all my life,” Griffin says. “When I was really little I just broke out into song and I told my mom I wanted to be a famous singer. I got this little microphone for Christmas that stood up and I was just blown away by it. I loved it so much. I used to sing to karaoke tapes.”
As a kid she would run around her backyard and sing songs about birds and trees, composing weird songs in her head. Then one day at the age of nine, someone made her mad at school. “I went straight to the piano and started playing and singing about how it made me upset,” she recalls. “It was so innate.” This proved to be just the catalyst she needed to begin her music career.
Today, she says, “Everything inspires me to write. Usually, I feel a song inside me. It’s really weird. I’ll be out and all of a sudden I’ll be like ‘I need to get to a piano.’ So I get to a piano and my hands just sort of start moving on the keys and words just come out. It’s really funny, sometimes words will come out and I’ll be like ‘I don’t want to write a song about this!'” She laughs and takes another sip of coffee. “I have some really sexual songs. I just felt in that kind of mood and that’s just what came out.”
Griffin is enrolled in USM’s School of Music part-time, and says she is impressed by her professors. Another thing she likes about USM is its close proximity to Portland, which is the place to be in Maine for good musical exposure. “I like Portland. If I was really adventurous maybe I’d go to New York or Boston. They seem really dark; people aren’t as friendly there,” she says. “People are really supportive around here. It’s a slow process if you’re going to just stick around, though. It’s not like someone is just going to grab you up and help you.”
That doesn’t dampen Griffin’s spirits, although she says there are a lot of decisions to make, like choosing a path to bring her music to a wider audience. “There is the indie route, where you do it all yourself, and that’s really cool. I respect a lot of people who do that. And then there is the John Mayer route where I could try to do what he’s doing.” She pauses to think for a moment. “And I think that I do want to go that route. I’d love to make music videos, I think that would be amazing.”
With that route comes some temptations, like yielding to producers who want to over-produce artists’ music so it fits a certain market niche. This corporate aspect of the music scene is very imposing, and many pop superstars are produced out of nowhere and sold to young people for some quick cash.
Griffin admits she would love her music to get out there and play internationally, but she is determined to retain her dignity. “I always want to stay true to myself,” she affirms. “I don’t want to change my image and be anything I’m not. I’ve had deals where I’ve been offered to write a song for a TV show pilot. They wanted to change the song and I wasn’t going to give in to that. I’m always going to be a musician first. I’m always going to be playing the piano. I’m not going to sell out that way.”
This passion about not compromising her integrity doesn’t stop there. Griffin expresses her urge to do something positive if she someday attains the fame she seeks. It is arguable that entertainers influence people more today than politicians and other public figures, and Griffin plans to use this power to help others someday. “The reason I want to do something big is because I have dreams of helping the world. World hunger is something I am very passionate about. The gap between the rich and the poor in the United States right now is so terrible. I’d like to speak out against that. I’d like to be the richest woman in the world and then give all my money away. I never want to live in excess. I never want to be a rock star.”
Griffin has plenty of ambition. “I dreamed of winning a Grammy since I was little. Sometimes I get really jealous and I’m like ‘Rachel, be decent; maybe things will happen.'” But she knows she will just have to take things one step at a time.
Back at the coffee shop, as the rush hour traffic begins to creep downtown, Griffin finishes her morbidly sweetened coffee and describes her new album. “It’s honest. It’s really not produced at all. It’s just me and my piano, really acoustic. I’m excited about it. I’m really happy with the way it came out, and that’s hard for an artist to say.”
After a full length album last year and two more recent demos, Griffin’s new album, titled “I’m Up to No Good,” will be available soon at Bull Moose Music.
Jon Blood can be contacted at [email protected]