Montrealer Rachel Dara was a teenager when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and she found herself with a lot of time on her hands.
Her father encouraged his kids to find new hobbies and learn new skills to make the most of the situation.
That prompted Dara to pick up a guitar and play. Fast forward five years, the now 18-year-old has turned her hobby into a career and is making waves in the city’s music scene.
“I picked up the guitar just because I liked the way it felt,” Dara said.
“I think that it’s very, very important to be you and to do what makes you happy and to listen to your calling.”
Dara was surrounded by all sorts of music in her childhood.
“I grew up with opera, Jackie Evancho, Andrea Boccelli,” she said. “And my dad also used to tell me stories of Chris de Burgh, and I was obsessed with Katy Perry growing up – she was my everything.
“And then when I was about 11 years old, I discovered Billie Eilish and now she’s one of the biggest pop artists in the world. Seeing someone so young be so successful and have their own identity inspired me to venture into a different realm of music, and through her I got into genres like grunge and R&B and folk even, but I’m very inspired to make my folk music through grunge and R&B.”
There were also moments of insight at an even younger age, such as being inspired while watching cartoons.
“I always wanted to know where music came from, and I remember watching when I was about six years old this episode of ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks,’ and they were talking about songwriting, and I realized that’s how you make a song. And then I started experimenting with that.”
Dara’s father Jason Stadtlander says his daughter always had musical talent within her.
“She had started developing it, but what ended up happening was she came to me, we were locked down and very hard because I had found out I had an issue and because of her music she was looking for an outlet, desperate for an outlet,” Stadtlander said. “She was crying about it, she came to me and said, ‘Daddy, what can I do?’ And I said, ‘Why don’t we do concerts every Saturday?’”
So during the pandemic, Dara played concerts in her living room, and since then she’s hit bigger stages – like a festival in Pennsylvania last year. She’ll also be playing the West Island Blues Festival in Montreal Aug. 9.
Errol Johnson, co-founder of the West Island Blues Festival reached out to Dara last year, and invited her to join the Blues Festival lineup; something Dara is incredible grateful for.
“I’ve worked to be here and I’m grateful for every opportunity I have,” she said.
The young woman is a culturally diverse singer with Iraqi, Egyptian, Russian, Polish and German roots. And she has a message for young artists hoping to follow in her path.
“You just take every opportunity,” Dara said. “If I know someone, I will ask them or I did ask them, ‘Hey can I play here?’ And eventually, with the people I met, I would take those opportunities and people would find me through there and help give me other opportunities I think that the reason why I’ve been able to grow as an artist is also from the support that I’ve received from the music community here in Montreal.”
Dara has her sights set on growing her career even further. But where does she see herself in five years?
“I don’t know, but I hope it’s on every single stage across Canada,” she said.
