Rachel Bochner on Heartbreak Anthems and Finding Inner Peace
Photo by Carina Allen
Everyone processes heartbreak differently. Whether that’s playing out revenge fantasy scenarios in your head, crying to your best friend or going out with the girls, it plays a vital role in stepping into a more empowering attitude. Rising pop singer and songwriter Rachel Bochner releases feelings of heartbreak and refuses to let it rule her life in her newest single “If I’m Gunna Be Sad (I Might As Well Look Hot Doing It”). As she navigates releasing what doesn’t serve her, Bochner acknowledges feelings of betrayal and grieving as she finds inner peace.
“If I’m Gunna Be Sad (I Might As Well Look Hot Doing It)” follows the songstress’ upcoming EP’s lead single, “Sucker Punch.” Produced by and co-written with her frequent collaborator Tiger Darrow, “If I’m Gunna Be Sad (I Might As Well Look Hot Doing It)” is the ultimate breakup anthem. Over moody, distorted alt-pop production, Rachel delivers relatable truth bombs about coping with a broken heart: “Cuz if I’m gunna be… sad / I’m gunna look… bad / Might as well feel hot tonight.”
Bochner elaborates on the sentiment behind the single saying, “When I showed up at Tiger’s studio the day we wrote this single, all I knew is that I wanted to make a song we could strut to. We started off writing something that embodied more of an IDGAF attitude, but after a while we realized it just didn’t feel super authentic. There was a moment when we were working on it when we realized, okay, maybe we do kind of give a fuck… but if we’re going to be sad, we might as well look hot doing it.”
Setting the tone for the rest of the EP, the narrative behind “Sucker Punch” and “If I’m Gunna Be Sad (I Might As Well Look Hot Doing It)” sees Bochner emerging from the ashes of heartbreak. Across the EP, she delivers a concoction of songs that dance between vulnerable, melancholic, energetic and playful, providing us with soundtracks to listen to when we want to get in our feels, vent our frustrations and dance your heart out on the dancefloor.
“I definitely think that a lot of my songs – especially in this project – touch on the different ways that you might try to make yourself feel better when you're going through a breakup or you're just going through it in general,” Bochner says. “What I hope is therapeutic for people listening to my music is being able to feel seen by it. It’s being able to hear something and it can be really validating.”
Since making her debut in 2020, the New York-based artist has gone on to make some serious waves with her fiery, playful pop sound and whip-smart lyricism. Giving grit to vulnerability, she is unafraid to own the thoughts, mistakes, and emotions we tend to shy away from. With her new EP set for release later this year, Rachel Bochner is poised to set the pop world ablaze.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Thanks for sitting down and talking to Unpublished Magazine. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar with you or your music, what inspires your creative persona and artistic style?
[RACHEL]: I'm a pop artist. I'm based in New York City. I've been releasing music for a couple years now, but I feel like with this upcoming project, I've really stepped into the sonic world that feels the most authentic to me, which is exciting. I'm inspired by a mix of things that I'm going through in my own life, the experiences of the people that are close to me and finding a way to mix the autobiographical with fiction and keeping things interesting. I think with my creative style, I try to make sure that no matter what I’m talking about, the emotion behind it feels authentic.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Say if someone hasn’t heard your music before, what song would you show them that perfectly encapsulates your artistic growth?
[RACHEL]: That's a really good question. It's funny that you say this because one of my good friends who is one of my oldest writing collaborators, sent me this demo that she had saved to her phone that I wrote in late 2019. It's just so wildly different from what I'm doing now. It was a cool moment to see that growth. I would say off this new project, “Hard To Please” and “You Don’t Want Me Like That.” In terms of sound and the production, they’re really different from each other. It shows the range I’m gravitating towards and I loved writing both of the songs.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What do you need in your space when you feel creative inspiration hitting?
[RACHEL]: I don't think I have a ritual necessarily. I write a ton of crazy shit in my notes app on my phone and voice memos. I let inspiration come as it does. I feel like when I try to force it, I never end up really feeling that close to the finished product, and so I think letting the wave of creativity come and go has helped me accept that I don’t need to feel the pressure of writing a song that I’m obsessed with everyday. I’m more creative when I’m driving or on the train. I think that movement and being alone with your thoughts triggers random thoughts. I like coming up with concepts when I’m on the move.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Your newest single “If I’m Gunna Be Sad (I Might As Well Look Hot Doing It)” just released. What is the inspiration behind the track?
[RACHEL]: I wrote it with my best friend Tiger who is on the song and produced it. When I came into her studio that day, I wanted to write a song that we could strut to and that would make me feel like a baddie. As we started to write this song, it turned into a post-breakup song, but with the sentiment of ‘I don’t care, I don’t need you and I’m fine.’ We both had a moment where we recognized we were pretending to be unbothered when in reality, we were quite bothered. We accepted it was okay and we can be bothered and still be hot and have a good time. We pivoted and then that song came pretty quickly after that. Maybe I am potentially going to cry about this later, but for now I'm gonna go out with my friends and have a good time and not let this heartbreak rule my life.
[UNPUBLISHED]: “If I’m Gunna Be Sad…” is a breakup anthem and you are healing from that experience. What message, emotions or story do you hope listeners can take away from this?
[RACHEL]: I think everybody processes heartbreak and relationships ending whether it's romantic or platonic in different ways. What I really liked about writing “If I'm Gunna Be Sad…” is that it contrasts from the rest of the project. “Sucker Punch” is a revenge fantasy and being really angry and letting yourself sit in that feeling of being betrayed. “If I’m Gunna Be Sad…” is acknowledging it's okay to be a little emotionally ruined over something and you don’t have to make it seem like you’re totally fine. Sometimes you need to go out with your friends and have a moment where you're crying in the bathroom and that's okay. That's part of the grieving process of relationships coming to an end. It's okay to feel your feelings, whatever the feelings are, whether it's sadness or anger.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What advice can you give to listeners who are trying to heal from a breakup?
[RACHEL]: I think if you are a creative person, whatever your creative medium is, I think that art is a great outlet to be able to release some emotions that you’re having while processing a breakup. That can help you process a lot, as well as finding a support system around you that doesn't have any judgment. Talk about how you’re feeling and have them support you in ways that you need and it’s different for everybody. You should never feel pressured to go at it alone.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Since the single addresses healing, do you consider music to be therapeutic?
[RACHEL]: I definitely think that a lot of my songs – especially in this project – touch on the different ways that you might try to make yourself feel better when you're going through a breakup or you're just going through it in general. What I hope is therapeutic for people listening to my music is being able to feel seen by it. It’s being able to hear something and it can be really validating. I think what makes releasing music the most fulfilling is seeing how people are able to apply it to their own lives and experiences and how it can be really meaningful to them. You don't know what they've been through and they don't necessarily know what I've been through, but you're connected by that shared emotion and general experience.
[UNPUBLISHED]: “If I’m Gunna Be Sad…” is from your upcoming EP set to release this summer. I would love to hear anything you would want to share about the EP?
[RACHEL]: The EP is called It's Not Me, It's You, and it has some of my favorite songs that I've written to date. I'm really excited for everything to be out. I'm working on some more videos for it. I'm just really excited to continue rolling it out and seeing how people respond to the songs and I hope that they love them as much as I do.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What can listeners expect from this new era of music?
[RACHEL]: I think it has a little bit more edge than some of my past releases. I tried to balance the lightheartedness and the whimsical soundscapes with a little bit more darkness and grit. With this EP, it reflects my attitude behind the songs and it feels like how I pictured it in my head.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What are you most excited for in regards to the EP?
[RACHEL]: I'm so excited for all the songs to be out. It's definitely hard when you're trying to show restraint and put things out and do singles and not just put everything out at once because you want it to be out. I think being able to see the reactions of people along with the rest of the songs that are going to be released and being able to play them live after they’ve been released, because it’s the coolest thing ever to see people singing my lyrics back to me at shows. I’m super excited for summer and see how it translates live.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What's your favorite song to play live?
[RACHEL]: So my next show, I'm going to actually play all of the EP, so a couple of them I haven't done live yet, so this answer might change literally in two days. “You Don’t Want Me Like That” is always really fun live and I feel like I get a lot of comments afterwards, usually about that specific song of people being really excited. I'm most excited to play “Hard To Please” live for the first time this week because it's one of the more vulnerable songs on the project but it also bangs.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like for you that you would like to share with Unpublished?
[RACHEL]: I think it's hard sometimes when you're in the thick of it to appreciate the progress that you've made, but my friends sending me that random demo from mid-2019 forced me to have a moment of like, ‘Wow, I have grown so much as a writer and as an artist and just have come into my own.’ My sense of self assurance has been totally different and it’s really cool to have a moment to appreciate that. I have a lot more that I want to accomplish and have a sold-out world tour, but I feel really good about where I am now with where I started and I’m excited to keep making music that I love and keep getting better and reaching more people.
