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Rising Music Star Sivan Arbel On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Music Industry

As a part of our interview series with leaders, stars, and rising stars in the music industry, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Sivan Arbel.

Critically acclaimed Israeli Vocalist Sivan Arbel is a composer and arranger, a worldwide performer, and an effervescent talent on the international jazz scene. Some of her recent performances have taken place at the Minsk Jazz Festival, Bratislava Jazz Days Festival, Lincoln Center in NYC, Boston Jazz Festival, 4020 Festival in Austria, to name a few.

Since moving to NYC in 2014, Sivan has put out two albums: “Broken Lines” (2016) and “Change of Light’’ (2019), which was selected by Jazz2K as Best Vocal Disc of 2019. Sivan has collaborated with a wide array of musicians such as Japanese band Ichimujin, Pandero player Tuliio Araujo, Groove it Forward Project pianist Guy Mintus, as well as several dance projects.

Sivan holds a B.A. with high honors in Jazz Performance from the Newpark Music Centre (Dublin, Ireland) and is a graduate of the Jazz Performance program at the acclaimed Rimon School of Music (Israel).

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit about your “origin story”. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

In a nutshell, I was born in Jerusalem and raised in Kfar Uriyah, a small village in Israel. Music and dance have always been a big part of my life. Already in elementary school, I started to study voice and dance at an arts center at a local kibbutz near my home. In high school I was one of the teens who started the music department at my school. There, I was lucky enough to have a teacher who saw my musical curiosity, and introduced me to African-American based music… Gospel, R&B, the Blues… and Jazz!
I was captivated by this new discovery of music and sound, and from the moment I heard “Ella Fitzgerald’s” scat singing I said to myself: “WOW — I want to know everything about this!”.

In the years following high school, I did a one-year intensive program with The Vertigo Dance Company in Jerusalem, while beginning to formally study jazz at the Rimon School of Music. There was a breaking point during my college years when I distinctly felt that dance was not going to be my career path. I came to the realization that music is what I want to pursue professionally. My final year of college was actually in Dublin, Ireland where I graduated with a degree in Jazz Performance. After that, I moved to NYC — where I have been exploring and making music ever since.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

As I mentioned, I have been “all-in” when it comes to studying Jazz, and I have been researching, exploring and learning music non-stop for well over a decade. However, a major turning point for me took place when I was twenty years old, and of all places on the train. Till that day, I was concentrating on performing and scatting. But on the train, I had a chance encounter with a guy (who became one of my closest friends back in Israel), who opened a creative and expressive door to the writing of lyrics. He has helped me to naturally discover my own voice through the creating process of writing lyrics and has motivated me to compose music to them. Till then, I never had much confidence in writing my own songs, but through him I found a way to accept who I am and find my own sound and expression. The result has been two original albums and one more along the way.

A second development that brought me to my career path happened after completing three years of study at the Rimon School of Music in Israel. Immediately after, I moved to Dublin, Ireland to finish my academic degree in Jazz Performance. Living in a foreign country was such a beautiful experience! I got to know new people, artists and musicians from all over the world. I didn’t realize how much I would learn from my fellow students and from living in a different culture. After graduating, I wanted to keep on exploring and learning new music through the prism of different cultures. I thought to myself, what’s the best place for that? The answer was New York City — the place that welcomes everyone from everywhere and creativity flows from every corner. NYC has opened up so many doors to unexpected and creative sounds and cultures. This has influenced my music by enabling me to include different sounds from across the globe into a new and unique sound of my own.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

Dance and movement have been a big part of my life but as I mentioned, I chose to focus on it more as a hobby and not a serious career path. Since moving to NYC, I became a part of a conscious dance community. Maybe some of our readers are familiar with Ecstatic dance or Dance Lab in NYC. It’s a community and space that focuses on connecting to ourselves and our surroundings through movement, meditation and sound healing. Most of those events end with a closing sound meditation. As a participant in these events, I always enjoyed the music and performers but never thought to participate in it as a musician or singer. Nonetheless, my dear friend and organizer of that community asked me to do a sound meditation at one of the dance events. It was so different. As a bandleader, I have always had rehearsals, and lots of preparation with the band. So, having this opportunity to create a sound meditation, just me, no band mates or rehearsals was something that was completely new. But interestingly enough, the moment I entered that space and shared that musical gift, it felt so natural. It was as if I had been doing it for years. Since then, I’m truly humbled to share that I’m a sound meditation facilitator as part of the Ecstatic Dance community.

It has been said that sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I believe that nothing is really a mistake. During my creative process, I try to find that perfect chord, melody or lyric. And sometimes, I play something that I didn’t mean to play, but that “mistake” was actually the thing that was missing! So, what I would take from it is that every mistake has something for us or for our music, and we should embrace it because we can often find a lovely song or melody out of it.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Very true. And it’s hard to choose because I’m lucky enough to have a bunch of people to be grateful for. So, I will share that I am truly grateful to three incredible women who have become my chosen sisters. Living in NYC brings many challenges in so many ways. It takes forever sometimes to just meet a friend, travel to a gig or rehearsal, and many times it can be very lonely. I was lucky enough to end up living in a small apartment with three women who are all independent artists (musician, actor and make-up artist). Let me tell you, the amount of support and collaboration that we had there was like living in a co-working space but full of laughter, cooking and deep conversation. These women gave me the strength to be my most creative self: I was challenged to transcend my proverbial “box” and explore my creativity in the most supportive environment. At the same time, I felt that I could do the same for them. I don’t know if I would have had the strength and motivation to stay in NYC if it wasn’t for them. And if you want a specific story, there are just too many. I think we should wait for a documentary or a show series about that household:)

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“You smile to the world and the world will smile right back at you”

This quote for me is much more than smiling. It’s about treating your surroundings in the same way that you want to be treated. I remember walking down the block where I first lived in Brooklyn. There was a big guy at that corner who looked pretty scary to me. As I walked past him, I was too fearful to even make eye contact. The minute I passed him, he said to me “Heyyyy smile! It’s a beautiful day!” and that was the moment when I realized that I can’t be afraid of living in my own neighborhood and fear just closes us up. So, I smiled back at him and said “you’re right”. This person turned out to be my guardian angel on the block (which was, and probably still is, in not such a safe area). Through him I got the opportunity to get my first gig in Brooklyn and it has opened many doors to me since. When sharing that aura of kindness and positivity, it somehow draws those things right back at you. This is relevant in the music industry as well: The people you play with, venue owners, and so forth. Life is not all rainbows and butterflies, but if we focus on the positive things and energy, then we can create a better life for ourselves and for the rest of the world.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

My group and I actually released a new single for Hanukkah called “Maoz Tzur”, which is one of my favorite Hanukkah songs. We sing it every night while lighting the candles of the menorah. You can check it out on all streaming platforms and Youtube. Apart from that, I’m working on my third album which will be entitled “Oneness”. The vision behind “Oneness” is to bring healing and connection through the spirit of music in a time when the world feels very fragile: After the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic, the horrific war in the Ukraine, global warming and so much more. This album is an invitation to find connection in the present — with ourselves and our surroundings — rather than drown in separation and fear. So stay tuned:)

We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in music, film, and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

I truly believe that diversity is so important in the entertainment industry. For two main reasons:

The first and foremost reason is to nurture understanding, unity and a sense of peace between different people and communities — whether locally or globally. The human race suffers from separation because of differences in culture, religion and something as superficial as skin color. Innocent people are tragically murdered over these differences — whether through the act of an individual or all out war. Music and art helps bridge these gaps. When diverse people play together, it doesn’t matter where they come from, the color of their skin or even their age, music helps serve a higher purpose of unity. When people see a show with diverse performers, they are witness to diverse artists being in the same space and creating something beautiful together. And that brings me to my second reason:

The creative reason. If I write a song with all like-minded musicians, then I’m sure we will write beautiful music. But if there’s someone who thinks a bit differently, comes from a different musical, cultural background, it can shake that creative comfort zone and challenge us to explore new sounds and rhythms which will stretch all of our musical boundaries and perhaps bring a new creation/genre to this world.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

Ask for help. I always thought that by asking for help, I’m wasting someone else’s time. I was also in this mind set of “Oh! I can do everything on my own. This would make moments when I was feeling stuck very challenging. Throughout the years I’ve learned that most people really like to help. It makes certain things easier and also helps advance the music! If I don’t need to take care of everything 100%, then I can devote my energy and have the emotional freedom to truly be there for the music.

Things take time! When I recorded my first album, I thought that we would be able to finish everything in a certain amount of time, including the graphics, mixing, mastering, etc. But during the process, I learned that certain things take longer than expected — either musically or logistically. I feel that there is something still missing or needs to be tweaked or the mixing studio is not available. It’s often a bunch of small things that create a delay in the process and schedule. I’ve learned that instead of being under pressure to reach a certain deadline, we all have to plan more in advance to accommodate all the unexpected things that ultimately occur.

Get ready for ups and downs. Highs and lows. There are many magical moments in being a freelance musician: Having an amazing performance, creating music with inspiring musicians, going on tour and more. Those experiences have given me a beautiful euphoric feeling. When that feeling dissipates, I have found myself feeling low and even questioning the purpose of my life. Once I realized that these ups and downs are just part of the journey, I took action to balance it out with self-care practices. Today, I know not to take the lows too dramatically and I know that the “high” from a performance or touring is only temporary and it’s ok.

Don’t be afraid to take chances and push boundaries. Some of the most inspiring musicians in my opinion are the ones who go deep in their craft and take chances. I’ve noticed that when I’m not holding back musically, then the whole sound spectrum, the energy between the musicians is being pushed into a deeper level of musicianship and performance.

It’s all about connections. It doesn’t matter how good the music is. It won’t be shared if you don’t take real action. And that action depends on a lot of other people: professionals at the venues, the press, sound engineers, fellow musicians and more. In order to be able to share a musical gift, we have to surround ourselves with people who can help make that happen.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Take your time

Make time for friends and hobbies

Listen to your gut and body

It’s ok to take a break and rest

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Hmm… I would start a movement that would create time for every person on the planet to have at least one hour of self-care — body, mind and spirit, before going to work or ”doing the things they need to do”. I do this every day and I feel it gives me peace of mind. It enables me to interact with people, work, and, in general, continue my day in a more mindful and peaceful manner. I believe if everyone would carve out this time for themselves, it would create a more giving and peaceful world.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

That person in music/entertainment would be “Michael League. I would love to have breakfast and play music with Michael League — The founder of “Snarky Puppy”, one of the most successful large bands who tour all over the world nowadays. They tour and play their own original music. That inspires me so very much. Michael is a wonderful bass player and composer, band-leader and he also founded the “Ground Up” Record Label, which is like the Blue Note Record, but for today’s hip fresh new jazz music and incredible talented musicians. He just had a vision and made it happen. I’m so curious to hear about his journey, and it would be a dream to collaborate and play with Michael and the “Snarky Puppy” music collective. I am such a huge fan of “Snarky Puppy’s” music, I arranged and did a cover of one of their songs.. “Lingus”.

How can our readers follow you online?

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success! Thank you!

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