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Rachel is a sixteen-year-old student, model, actress, vocalist, drummer, and ukelele-player. She is in two bands, The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players and Supercute!. Coat made by her Mom, shorts that were her mother's, Vintage Shoes from her bandmate's grandmother -
Rachel, her mother Tina, and her father Jason make up The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players. "[We are] an indie, conceptual art, pop-rock band." Gifted Socks, Thrifted Boots from Texas -
"I'm really close to my family. I'm very comfortable with adults and I mostly hang out with older people." Cuffs from a Vintage Dress, Vintage Reworked Skirt -
Several underground performance artists from the Lower East Side inspire Rachel. Reverend Jen and Faceboy are two of them. Vintage Tube Top worn as a Skirt, Dollar Store Belt, Vintage Led Zeppelin T-Shirt -
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Rachel went to a public school in Seattle that she loved before moving to New York. "It was very alternative. You could go to classes or not go to classes. You could choose your classes, wear whatever you wanted, and call the teachers by their first names." Now, Rachel is home-schooled. -
On her band, Supercute!: "It's me and two other teen girls. It's very indie, bubblegum teen, very '60s, psychedelic, pretty. We don't have drums, it's very acoustic. [We have a] ukulele and keyboards." Rachel's Old Tap Shoes -
On the difference between The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players and Supercute!: "Having a teen band is very different, because now I'm with my peers and people my age. I'm getting used to it." Vintage Dress from her Mom, Sock Man Tights -
Hair Bow made out of a candy wrapper -
Rachel with her dog Munchkin. Vintage little girl's Dress -
"I love touring and being somewhere different every single night. I get freaked out if we stay in New York or anywhere too long." Tights from The Sockman, and Vintage Shoes -
"I sometimes [pay attention to trends]. Like the whole sequin thing was in for a while, and I [wanted] a sequin dress. Then, I was like, 'you know, Rachel just wear what you want to wear and if you like sequins at that point, then that's okay, but just wear what you think is cool and what makes you feel good and comfortable.'" Cuffs from a Vintage Dress, Reworked Vintage Skirt -
Vintage Shoes from her bandmate's Grandmother -
"I can never say I'm bored, because I can always think of something fun to do. Even if I'm sitting in a blank room with nothing, I can come up with a song inside my head." Vintage Dress -
On the term hipster: "I feel like we were thinking it was [invented] to look down upon people who were trying to be different. I think, of course, there are all those young college kids who follow trends, but for the most part I think it can be for pretty cool artists." -
Ice Skates that a friend sawed the blades off of. -
"[I listen to] mostly '60s and '70s music. I like King Crimson, Black Sabbath, and Daniel Johnston." -
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Rachel's dog Munchkin -
"People like to think that [rats] are dirty and gross, but [they're] really smart and amazing creatures, and so are pigeons. I think, in New York, since we don't have very much nature we should take advantage of all the cool creatures we do have." Vintage Led Zeppelin T-Shirt, Vintage Tube Top worn as a Skirt, Dollar store belt -
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"Led Zeppelin is my favorite band of all time. I feel like every song is different and not one song sounds alike and they have slow songs that are so beautiful and the really hard rocking ones. I think they're just completely amazing. I've loved them since I was 8 years old. They're very influential." Vintage Shoes from the '20's -
"I feel like in New York, living on a cheap budget you can have the best of times. I like going to shows a lot, like open mic. nights in the East Village. There's one at the Bowery Poetry Club that I like to go to every Monday night." -
"These shorts were my mom's when she was ten or twelve. I love wearing my mom's clothes that she's saved... This coat was made by my mom. I've had it since I was really little. The sleeves have just gotten shorter." Coat made by her Mom, Vintage Shorts -
"In Bushwick, I get laughed at a lot. My mom and I get 'It's not Halloween' a lot when we walk down the street, which can be upsetting." -
"My mom always says, 'only boring people get bored.'" -
"I like Lily Allen and The White Stripes, but newer stuff not so much. It's mostly older stuff that I like. I don't like indie rock. I think they all sound the same. I like stuff that's really unique, like Joni Mitchell, I'm a huge fan." -
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"Yesterday, I got Facebook [for the first time]. I've been putting it off forever. I feel like most of it is a waste. People are tweeting about what they're doing instead of actually living it, but for your career and promoting yourself, I think it's good." -
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Rachel's Parents -
Vintage Dress that belonged to her Mom, Sock Man Tights -
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On getting ridiculed for her clothes: "It's so stupid. I kind of just zone it out. I don't let it affect me. They feel like they can't wear what they want to wear. They want to blend in." Vintage little girl's Dress -
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Rachel is extraordinary for sixteen. She is a powerhouse personality, with tons of creative talent and drive – think Wednesday Addams’ precocious smarts mixed with Rainbow Bright’s kaleidoscopic color sense and the 1970s earthy vibe of one of her idols, Joni Mitchell. Rachel has been nurtured to be herself, and her freedom of expression, creatively and intellectually, is abundant. She has been playing the drums in her family’s traveling band since she was six, and I don’t think there are many her age with a handmade Syd Barrett hair clip (her favorite Pink Floyd member) and without a Facebook profile until this year (for work purposes only). Rachel has insight beyond her years, including a knack for converting every piece of clothing into something else, like the shirt that she sewed cuffs onto, ice skates that she made into shoes by sawing off the blades, and hair bows made from recycled plastic candy bags (the kind that chocolate chips and Hershey’s Kisses come in). Rachel attributes homeschooling to her voracious appetite for learning, with interests that range from a deep knowledge of classic rock (Led Zeppelin is her favorite band), judicial history, and open mic night at The Bowery Poetry Club. Being bored is not an option for Rachel: “Even if I were sitting in a blank room, I would come up with a song in my head.” Rachel writes songs for her own teen band, Supercute!, many of which have messages about society, and a range of musical beats that are unusual for her age group. In one song, she sings about someone with an average desk job waking up from a Candy Land-filled dream, all sung to the tune of “psychedelic, pretty, fun ’60s pop.” Along the lines of thinking outside of the box, she is an advocate for NYC’s rats and pigeons (she makes hair clips out of pigeon feathers, too), whom she believes are undervalued for their contributions to the city, (rats clean up some of the filth in the subway and pigeons, admirably, mate for life). Wearing a children’s dress from Goodwill and without a pair of skinny jeans in sight, Rachel Trachtenburg is as authentic as they come, a fresh young voice worth paying full attention to.
If you like Rachel, you might also enjoy Natasha Ghosn and Athena Stuebe.
