Rebecca Schiffman profile picture

Rebecca Schiffman

they won't let me write a long enough quotation!

About Me


Or, My first album, Upside Down Lacrimosa, is available in the iTunes store but I would prefer if you bought it through Snocap above.
I was born in New York City on April 9, 1982. I went to Spence (private all girls school) up through 8th grade and Dalton (co-ed private school featured in the movie Manhattan) for highschool. Dalton is a very Jappy school. For anyone that isn't from New York, JAP does not mean Japanese person- It means Jewish American Princess- the Jewish counterpart to Wasps.
My parents got married and had kids late. They met at IBM doing computer consulting but my dad is also a Rabbi. Our family belongs to a branch of Judaism called Reconstructionism. The daughter of the founder of Reconstructionism was the first girl ever to be Bat Mitzvahd. Until then only boys could go through the ceremony. I am not religious.
I studied cello for 9 years since I was 6, piano for 2 years, and upright bass for 2 years. I taught myself guitar since I was 10 or 11 but it definitely doesn't sound like I've been playing for 11 years. My first band was the Meaningful and Wise in which I played guitar and cello. We played my schoolmate Colin Kindley's songs and I guess our biggest influences were the Buzzcocks and The Soft Boys. Then I was in Pearl Harbor which was a kind of punky band fronted by a Japanese guy. We played around the city for a year.
I signed to Some Records and recorded "Upside Down Lacrimosa" in 2000 as I was starting at Cooper Union School of Art. For many reasons (mostly lame) it did not come out until 2003.
I used to be very afraid of playing live but after forcing out a couple of performances I think I got over the hump. One milestone event was when I got invited to play at this "festival" called AugustArt. The only people that showed up to see all three acts were my close friends and family. I had lost my voice earlier that day and could literally only squeak and whisper. I had everyone come up close and sit on the stage so they could hear. I thought, no show will ever be worse than this, and since then I have been less afraid. Also, the promoter, who was very apologetic, said he was moved by my struggle or drive to perform despite the lost voice.
I graduated from The Cooper Union School of Art which I loved. My art website is art.rebeccaschiffman.com
My day-job is webmaster and multi-tasker at Guild & Greyshkul Gallery .
My pet project is The U.E.S. Journal
Music Video

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 9/10/2005
Band Website: rebeccaschiffman.com
Band Members: Rebecca Schiffman (occasionally special guests Reka Reisinger, Jay Israelson, Johannes Vanderbeek, Paul Jenkins, Chris Bear, Stefan Marolochokis)
Influences: Neil Young, Burt Bacharach, Leonard Cohen, Sandy Denny, Gram Parsons, Skip Spence, Francoise Hardy, Billy Joel, Willie Nelson, The Zombies, John Cale, Serge Gainsbourg, Paul Simon, Jeffrey Lewis, Gillian Welch, Harry Nilsson...

Maybe this should be a blog entry, but it falls under the subject of influences: I hate it when reviewers list your "influences" when really they mean "sounds like in their narrow opinion". Someone wrote that my influences were Liz Phair and Amy Mann, neither of whom I know any songs by. Female is not a genre.
Sounds Like:

Record Label: Some Records + Recommended If You Like Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Zizek

So they (the publisher) used my painting in this book without asking or crediting me. I had no idea 'till my friend Jamie who got a copy e-mailed me. I called the publisher and they sent me two copie...
Posted by Rebecca Schiffman on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:37:00 PST

Paris, Munich, Bratislava - Vacation photos - 7/17/07 - 8/1/07

http://www.rebeccaschiffman.com/photos/eurovaca2007.html...
Posted by Rebecca Schiffman on Mon, 20 Aug 2007 06:05:00 PST

french radio

hello, i am at an internet cafe in paris and not used to this keyboard so forgive my inelegance - tomorrow i will be interviewed by one of my favorite singers nicolas vidal on his radio show "petite c...
Posted by Rebecca Schiffman on Sun, 05 Aug 2007 09:01:00 PST

I'm on the cover of Vice Magazine

Click here to see the little article.I am on the right and Lily is on the left. Lily passed away a week after they interviewed us for the article and it was too late to add or change anything but ther...
Posted by Rebecca Schiffman on Fri, 13 Apr 2007 01:45:00 PST

Paris Vacation Photos

www.rebeccaschiffman.com/photos/paris.html...
Posted by Rebecca Schiffman on Sun, 13 Aug 2006 12:10:00 PST

5:35am watching C-SPAN

http://securingamerica.com/node/560
Posted by Rebecca Schiffman on Mon, 06 Feb 2006 02:58:00 PST

Faster Sleeper

Hosted By: Bas Fisher InvitationalWhen: Saturday Jan 14, 2006 at 6:00 PMWhere: Bas Fisher Invitational (Miami Design District)180 N.E. 39th St. Suite 210Miami, FL 33137USDescription:New Paintings by ...
Posted by Rebecca Schiffman on Thu, 05 Jan 2006 10:52:00 PST