Meet Rachel Lark | Writer, Musician, Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rachel Lark and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rachel, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I think most artists don’t start their business with entrepreneurship in mind. They just start sharing stuff, and then they think, oh, people like this, I should probably charge money so that I can spend more time creating. And then you wake up one day and you realize that you’re spending about 10% of your time making art and about 90% running a small business.

And if you’re an anti-capitalist like me, something inside you might even bristle at that realization rather than feel a sense of pride at what you’ve built. Artists don’t like thinking of themselves as business people. We’re supposed to not be “in it for the money.” So if we’re making money then it means that maybe we’ve sold out somehow.

All of this confusion around my entreprenuerial identity was causing me to shift course frequently. The moment that really steadied me was getting the opportunity to participate in a residency in Oakland, CA called Zoo Labs which teaches musicians how to think of their business as a business. They give you free recording studio time (the hook for most musicians) but they pair that time with workshops about startups and forming business plans and brand strategy.

It was truly illuminating. I think that residency is really the beginning of me understanding that I was running a business.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m a singer/songwriter, playwright and performer who makes funny heartfelt songs about complicated taboo topics. I stumbled into a niche of writing sex-positive anthems from a comedic feminist lens when I started writing custom songs for a storytelling show in San Francisco called Bawdy Storytelling.

When my raunchy songs caught on I was confronted with a bit of a business conundrum. Here was music that, according to everything I knew, was not commercial. It couldn’t be on the radio. It wasn’t the type of music that music venues and festivals were looking to book. And yet, there was a clear enthusiasm for it and it seemed like I was doing something no one else was doing. So I decided to double down. And I created my own platform by producing my own shows and starting a patreon page.

The fanbase grew mainly through word of mouth, though I’ve now started working harder on reaching new fans via social media. I think if there’s a lesson here it’s that if no one else is doing what you’re doing, great! As long as people are responding to it, you can creatively find a way to give those people what they want, and then you’ll have a thriving community of treasured fans and they will sustain you better than any other “market.”

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m still getting to know LA, having just moved here over the summer, but there are a few gems I feel pretty attached to at this point.

The Museum of Jurassic Technology is one of the coolest places I’ve ever been in my life. I feel like my creative spirit gets a jumpstart whenever I visit. It’s just stunning and clever and deep and creative. There’s nothing like it.

Also, no one talks about the incredible hiking in LA! There are so many epic hikes! My favorite one lately is Bailey Canyon which gives an incredible view for almost the entire hike. There are lots of cute little bench lookouts to hang out and have a sweet conversation with a treasured friend.

I live near Highland Park which has lots of cute spots to eat and drink. Kitchen Mouse is probably my favorite brunch place that I’ve discovered so far. And Home State has incredible Austin-style tacos.

And Hotel Cafe is the loveliest listening room I’ve ever been to. The crowds there respect music so deeply and the songwriters who perform there are top notch. I’ve never seen a bad show.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to shout out Zoo Labs from Oakland, California. Their residency gave me the freedom to define what my mission was and the tools to understand whether or not I was achieving it. They gave me an expansive understanding of the role of business in the world of art that made me feel more comfortable creating systems that worked for me and made my life and career more sustainable.

Website: rachellark.com

Instagram: rachellarkmusic

Youtube: larksongs

Other: Tik Tok: @rachellark

Image Credits
Photo 1 – Danny Bristoll Photo 2 – Danny Bristoll Photo 3 – Kelly Mason Photo 4 – Maris Jones Photo 5 – Kristen Wrzesniewski