Today we’d like to introduce you to Isabel Rodriguez Siblesz.
Hi Isabel, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, within a family in which music was a value. All of our family gatherings would end with someone grabbing a guitar and singing through coffee and dessert, every holiday was somehow related to music which inevitably woke up the desire in me to understand and participate in these musical traditions. I started studying piano and percussion when I was 7 years old which then sparked my interest in other instruments such as guitar, bass, and voice.
By the time I was 16, I knew that music was going to be an important part of my life but it wasn’t until I started working in recording and production that I understood this was what I would dedicate my life to. I fell in love with everything that happens behind the scenes of a record and decided I wanted to learn from the greats, so with the help and encouragement of family and friends I applied to Berklee College of Music, where I studied Music Production and Engineering and Contemporary Writing and Production, these two majors deepened my understanding of the process of making music and gave me the skills that have allowed me to slowly grow in the music industry. I also had a work-study job at the Berklee Performance Center in which I learned the ins and outs of live sound and theater performances.
I moved to Miami right after graduating college and here it is been a wild journey of discovery and learning, I’ve had the opportunity to work with artists I looked up to as a young girl such as Danny Ocean, Piso 21, Bacilos, David Bisbal, and many others. Through friendships, I have also been able to travel the country doing live sound for renowned festivals like Movement in Detroit and Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I don’t think any artist ever has it easy, this industry is complicated and we have to spend a lot of time and resources to develop our craft. To me one of the biggest struggles was leaving home and coming to a competitive market like the US, but I knew that what I wanted to learn/do was here. Today I am proud of the projects I am working on and I see the little bumps as a motivation to keep on growing and working on impactful music projects with artists who are contributing to the industry with new ideas.
Even though I had the full support of all my family I worked my way through college to be able to afford to live in the US which on top of coursework and extracurricular activities that are very important for the development of young musicians made the whole experience very challenging.
Moving to Miami hasn’t been easy either, there are so many talented songwriters, producers, and engineers here that making your name and earning the respect of your peers is not a simple task, personally, I think is a constant choice to give your 100% every day, to own up to your mistakes when you have to, to always keep learning and to be a great human; it is amazing how far values and human quality can take you, sometimes we forget that because we are in a professional field but we can’t forget that we are making art and art is fundamentally human.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I like to describe myself as a music creative, I feel like my background allows me to have an understanding of the music-making process as a whole. I love telling stories through lyrics and sharing experiences with other songwriters to create a layered context for a song, I love utilizing production elements and sounds to support the story and add depth to it.
In general, I think what describes the music I make is collaboration, the energy in a room, and the relationship that the engineer, songwriter, producer, and artist have impacted the result so much.
Even when it comes to the technical roles that I’ve had (recording engineer or live sound engineer) being on the same wavelength as the performer guarantees a better result and a more enjoyable experience for everyone, once we all trust each other it allows our best creative to come out at the same time and we can all add our little piece to the mix to make impactful music.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I think the biggest way to support any up-and-coming producer/songwriter is to listen to independent artists, we live in a world in which we could relinquish all control of the media we consume, streaming services will play popular music for us, social media will show us ads of artist with huge marketing budgets.
I think as music lovers we have a calling to reclaim the choice of which art we are consuming and who we are supporting. If you find an indie artist you love, stream their songs, request them on the radio, add them to playlists, and go to their shows; all this allows them to grow and get more recognition in the industry, and with them the team that is helping them create their music.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sibleszmusic
Image Credits
@octagono_studio
