Interview: Gigi Rich Breaks Out with Same Kind of Crazy

A crackling, retro vinyl effect leads into a more updated sound when it comes to "Mr. Bossman," the kickoff track to Gigi Rich's new EP, All In My Head. For all of 20 years, the New Jersey native has spent a fair number of years making inroads in an industry that prizes youth, but does not always seem to give it time to grow.

That seems not to worry Rich in the least. She speaks with confidence about the new recording, in particular the single "Same Kind of Crazy." "It's actually going really well," she says, "people have only gotten a little taste of what I have been working on the past few years. Each song is kind of just a little glimpse into my life, it all really comes from when I'm dealing with something, and I sit at the piano when I write. I got to work with some really amazing producers who let me come into the studio and let me have my creative freedom."

As often songs come, "Same Kind..." came out of a line: "I was out in LA for a little while," Rich explains. "I was going through a certain situation, I was really upset for it, and then I got this idea when I was walking through the supermarket and I was like 'you know we have the same kind of crazy.'"

The song came together through Rich and British songwriter/musician Stefan Skarbek, whose credits include Amy Winehouse and Lilly Allen. To be in the circle of collaborators has also not fazed Rich, who's been around the names since the age of thirteen.

"Nobody played instruments in my family growing up," Rich says, "but everybody was a big music lover, so I was constantly surrounded by different types of music which I think helped influence me. My father was big into Frank Sinatra and Al Green; my mom was into the Stones and the Cars, Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald...that was playing in my house my entire childhood." She also credits Christina Aguilera and Demi Lovato as influences closer to her own generation.

The various names mentioned are not that overbearing. Elements you'd hear on the records of those above are still subtle, compared to Rich's own strong craft, and that of the likes of Skarbek and Anthony Saunders, whom Rich credits with much of the collaboration of All in My Head.

Rich took up piano at around age five. "You know, you don't take it too seriously," she admits, but the classical training took, as did a singular influence, Alicia Keys. "She would incorporate 'Moonlight Sonata' or some classical pieces (into her performances). I put two and two together....I was already reading and writing poetry, I was around twelve, I think...and then ever since that, oh man...I remember I went and recorded a demo, it was something that there's potential and I really wanted to do it."

That first song came at thirteen, and friends of friends took it from there. "My dad was friends with this guy who knew an A&R at Atlantic," Rich explains, "and he was like, 'I love her music mind if I send her stuff over'? My family said yeah; she really liked it, she called me in."

The traveling about to the songwriting capitals began, including Nashville and Los Angeles. "I was very lucky that the writers I started working with, especially in Nashville," Rich says, "they were supportive of what I was doing."

And what was it like being in the big room with the writers? "If I was the youngest in the room I was a little over my head," Rich admits, "but I was like what do I have to lose, so keep trying. So if you don't let it scare you, I feel like people will respect you for that. I don't think I recognized the magnitude of the people I was with. It wasn't like they were the best and I was just the little girl in the room, that helped a lot."

The jump to TV, and The Voice followed after being seen through her active YouTube account. "I was flying back and forth to LA a lot," she says, "it was definitely a lot of pressure for sure, but it taught me a lot about how I am as an artist, and how I want to make myself seen.

'During the course of this show, I have to make my quick decisions, and working with Gwen Stefani, she is really amazing because she really spends time giving advice especially during the battle rounds. She just really dug in and got up with us."

In terms of image, Rich keeps that in hand. "You really have to have a very narrow focus," she says. "If I list everybody that gave me an opinion, I would be like a basket case of a human being. Everybody has their own opinion of what they want you to do; there are weird things people will say all the time, but this is me...I'm not closed-minded, I think what I'm doing appeals to different people. I can go a lot of different directions from here...at the end of the day it's my life."

Rich will be doing shows in LA in May, with a possible tour to follow, but her mind is on the next recording, which she hopes to have out by the end of the year.

"It's gonna be a fun summer."

http://www.gigirich.com/

https://www.facebook.com/iamgigirich/

https://twitter.com/iamgigirich

https://www.instagram.com/IamGigiRich/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXE6znZF4AipH_uwNPq7RMw