Meet Ives (rachael Gold)

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ives (rachael Gold). We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with IVES below.

IVES , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

My answer to any question like this typically goes something like “what other choice do I have” or “I don’t have a plan B if this doesn’t work out”, but I think the truth is that my resilience comes from my personal commitment to not abandoning myself. When I set my goals I am not just making a literal plan but I also am investing my thoughts and energy towards believing that everything will work out in my favor. Before I started writing music and singing with my band I was locked and loaded on a Broadway dream. The countless days I spent in NYC auditioning for show after show after show really steeled my nerves for rejection, and while I didn’t know it at the time, that experience prepared me to grab the helm of my own career and let the “no’s” slide off my shoulders. When Covid hit, I was ejected from my NY trajectory back to Seattle and I was bursting at the seams with music but the only thing I could do was write and teach myself guitar in my childhood bedroom at my parents house. The path became pretty clear at that point, I was so ensconced in my own lyrical voice and dreaming of playing big venues that I just decided to suspend any disbelief and rewrite my future plans. I knew I had what it took to try and try again because I had proved it to myself in New York, so if I could do that then starting an entirely new career should be pretty easy right? Wrong. Over the last 4 years of Ives (my project) I have had many a fall out with band members that I loved, a million setbacks, weird lateral moves, and an overhaul of the sound at least 3 times. To be completely honest my remarks above about not having a plan B is true. If this doesn’t work, I will try again. When you study musical theatre (which I did in college) you are pretty much forced to develop a mindset that is rejection proof because the industry is so saturated and the opportunities are few and far between. The idea is to prepare so much so that when your one shot to shine comes around, you’re ready for it. So that’s what I do. I prepare a little bit every day, I practice a little bit every day, I take a baby step towards the dream every day. The fruits of my labors do show up in little bits all the time; we just played our first festival show and that was a huge deal. I am also a voice teacher and my main clientele is teenage girls that remind me of myself, and every time I am giving a hype speech in a lesson I can see my inner child in my students so I let my words of encouragement and determination rain on them but also bounce back to me. I suppose my resilience comes down to belief in myself. As a woman in the music industry, I see other woman topping charts and winning Grammys all the time. If they can do it, so can I. In a world of skepticism and hyper critical opinions, my greatest weapon is being confident and believing in the work that I do. I have to protect the possibility of a happy ending and I can’t do that if I let myself give up.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

When IVES first came to fruition, my dream was to be a band like Paramore. I have since claimed the name as my own, become IVES herself, and have rotated musicians in the band to nail down a sound I am chasing. I lovingly refer to the music as rock and roll, but I think it has a lot of pop influence as well as some punk motifs here and there. All of the songs are accounts of my life, some are more vulnerable stories of heartbreak and some are anthems about hating your ex, so there really is something for everyone. I am heavily influenced by the early 2000’s rock band sound as well as 70’s and 80’s rock and roll. My vision for the sound is big huge drum sounds to headband to, soaring electric guitar riffs, catchy synth and big powerful vocals. On that note, I have been hyper focused on developing my voice since high school, I now teach rock stylings as a vocal teacher in Seattle, but I am constantly obsessing over my own technique and textures in my voice to become a standout vocalist like many of my idols. My main mission right now is to write more songs for the direction we’re headed in, develop a painfully authentic voice for the person I am today, and then record/ release, world domination, etc. etc. I am extremely excited for the next show we have lined up: August 17th we are playing our first ever acoustic set. This will be a showcase of new arrangements of songs that we already have, we are debuting a new song, and reaching back into what we are calling the archIVES for some original IVES songs that haven’t been played in years. We have a single out called Angel Arc on all streaming platforms, and are looking forward to releasing more music in 2025.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I think a big first one for me is balance, maybe that is a skill you eventually develop but accepting that you need balance in your life and to much of anything can be not super great. In order to write great songs you have to live your life, in order to work really hard you have to allow yourself pleasure and fun. Knowing when to buckle down and when to ease up on the gas is something that might be different for everyone but you really have to listen to the pull either way. Art is a delicate and vicious cycle in my opinion, and you can’t force something when it’s not the right time. That leads me to my second quality which is patience. I think it is incredibly rare to have a short journey to success in music or art in general so having the patience to run the marathon and not blow it in a sprint is key. Follow your heart, but also take the time to educate yourself, learn the theory, make the time to practice and deeply fall in love with the process. Keep learning and being curious, try to say yes to as many experiences that you can, you’ll either learn from it or maybe you’ll find its exactly what you needed to get the train moving again. Everyone hates this one: but you have to be true to yourself. Be ruthless with your vision, speak your mind, and take your art seriously. It’s really easy to be discouraged and play the comparison game but if you can avoid that entirely and focus on one upping yourself instead of anyone around you then you’re doing the work you need to do. I am no expert by any means on execution of these skills, but when I call on them over and over again I am always happy that I did.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

I would love to call out the people in my life that have helped me through this entire wild journey. First off, my parents have supported my music and musical theatre dreams from day one. I don’t know if they were worried about me going to school for musical theatre but they never said anything to oppose it and they have endured my entire life of shower singing, audition tapes, costumes, makeup, and general artistic decisions. I have them to thank for the copious consumption of John Cougar Mellencamp, Heart, Eagles, Journey, Van Halen, and all the classic rock that I love. My close circle of girlfriends that I basically depend on for all of my life decisions. I have 3 best friends and they have all listened to all the late night demos, cheered me on from the front row and believed in me. For that and much more I owe them my whole life, there aren’t enough words to express my gratitude for them. The people in my band have raised me up to a level that I could have never imagined. The group of people that I have right now in my band are an absolute treasure. Each of them has brought with them their expertise and kindness, and I couldn’t be more grateful to share the stage with them.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @ivesivesivesives

Image Credits

Kaitlyn Gadbow, Constantine Star- Bozko, Brittne Luniss