LBC CenterStage Empowering People Through The Arts A Conversation With Faith Rivera by Sander Roscoe Wolff Faith Rivera has been working as a professional musician for many years. She's toured, worked as a hired gun in vocal sessions, fronted a variety of performance groups, and continues to write and record her own songs. She's released two solo albums, most recently Faithgroove and, previously, In Search of Faith. She serves as a mentor and teacher for aspiring vocalists, and is a tireless advocate for local Arts and Culture. Currently, she is serving as musical director for the 2nd annual Women's Festival of the Arts, presented by the Second City Council Art Gallery. LBC: How did you come to be involved with this event? Faith Rivera: Last year, I had been forwarded a link about Cheryl needing some young singers for an exhibit. I was teaching a number of girls at that time, so I went down to Cheryl's and saw her great space, not to mention her great positive vibe. We really connected with the whole empowering people through the arts and she basically told me about her idea to do a Women's Festival, and I jumped on board. LBC: You're talking about Cheryl Bennett and the Second City Council Art Gallery... Faith Rivera: Yes I'm talking about Cheryl & her gallery at the Ocean Center Building, 2nd City Council. I told her I could take care of the music end of things but didn't really realize what a big job that would be. It meant me not only booking the talent, but also figuring out logistics of all the equipment/gear, getting tables & chairs, etc. I realized it was going to be a bit more challenging than I thought when all the mail started coming in from all the potential artists. LBC: Do you remember how many submissions you received? Faith Rivera: As for submissions, I'm not so sure...between the mailings & calls, possibly 50 or more... That doesn't sound like too much, but I was just taking this on part-time and the amount of time to be in touch with everyone was more than I expected. LBC: I've booked a few bands for Cheryl's openings, and they've all loved playing there. What kind of feedback did you get? Faith Rivera: The feedback was overwhelmingly supportive! Lots of comments like 'We love the vibe the WF created! We need to do this every year!' Between Cheryl & I, we try our best to communicate our true appreciation for the artists and the gift they're sharing. Especially in LA, where bands have to 'pay to play,' it's so easy as an artist to lose value in what you do. We're all about reminding them how awesome they are! LBC: That's so important. So, here you are, again, making it happen. What's new this year? Faith Rivera: What's new?! Well, it is now 2 days (3/8-3/9 1-6pm) & we have about 30 artists including belly dancers, a spoken word band, an a cappella group led by a Grammy-winning producer, and so much more. Also we'll have artist vendors available doing Henna tattoo work, silk artists, not to mention the great artwork in the gallery and also surrounding the rooftop patio made by local kids. Also coming will be other empowering groups that support artists like your great LongBeachCulture.org plus Songsalive.org, JPFolks.com & Femmuse.com LBC: I was thrilled to see so many Long Beach bands participating this year! Faith Rivera: I felt it was important to highlight the bubbling music scene we have here in Long Beach. I just wish it could be an even longer festival to fit in all the deserving female artists out there. LBC: Now, if you don't mind, can we talk a bit about you? Faith Rivera: otay! LBC: I read your bio and you talked about singing songs with your grandma when you were 6. Lots of people love to sing, and some even sing well, but when did you get the performance bug? Faith Rivera: I got the performance bug as a sophomore. I had been playing piano at recitals, quite nervously I might add, since I was 6. But in high school I joined an all girls band called APB and really worked on my stage presence from that time on. LBC: APB as in 'All Points Bulletin'? Faith Rivera: Yes - I didn't really get it, but the guy who owned Rock Works & put the band together named the group. LBC: What's Rock Works? Faith Rivera: Rock Works is a really great concept that put students (no matter what age) into real bands depending on their skill level. LBC: What was your roll in the band? Faith Rivera: I was the lead singer and keyboard player and, eventually, wrote our originals that we recorded. LBC: Wow! Right to the front! In your student recital days, were you singing also? Faith Rivera: No singing at recitals, just classical pieces and a few duets. Growing up though in an all girl Catholic school, I had many opportunities to sing & play for worship. Actually, in high school, I'd start every day singing the national anthem to about a thousand girls through this telephone receiver. It was pretty funny because they'd bring the phone outside & I'd sing into the receiver. LBC: Cute! I can just see you doing that... So, it must have been a big stretch, and lots of hard work, to do the APB thing. Faith Rivera: I think, since I loved the band thing so much, it really wasn't hard. It really taught me how to balance my time. My poor dad though had to drive pretty far for all my rehearsals & performances. LBC: Was there a local APB craze? Faith Rivera: Not so much a craze...we did all the local TV shows & malls and had a few loyal fans but no stalkers :) LBC: Did guys throw their jocks on stage? Faith Rivera: No undies hit the stage :( LBC: When did you start dancing? Faith Rivera: Well I took hula lessons when I was younger, then jazz dance lessons in 8th grade. I'm a big wanna-be dancer, which is probably why, for my first CD, I performed it with the whole Janet-Jackson-headset-mic routine. LBC: Is it hard to dance, sing, and play keyboard too? Faith Rivera: All at the same time yes, but definitely dancing and singing is fine. You just have to be really in shape. Playing keys and singing is fine too, but I would honestly not call myself a seasoned keyboard player. I know enough to write with piano & to accompany myself simply. LBC: How did you wind up at CSULB? Faith Rivera: It's funny how I ended up at CSULB...after realizing that I really needed to pursue music, I started looking for the right program. I spent a year up in Belmont, CA at the College of Notre Dame thinking I'd be a communications major. Well so I [was] looking for pop music programs and found one at CSULB called Commercial Music. I thought 'Perfect'. So I move down and find out that "Commercial" meant 'jazz,' and to get to the jazz program I had to do classical music. LBC: Ooops! Faith Rivera: I was freaked out to say the least, but it has so made me the versatile singer/musician I am today. LBC: So, you stuck with the program anyway? Faith Rivera: Not really, I noticed that all the Commercial Music students were on the average taking 5-7 years to [finish]. Jazz is pretty intense and we'd be learning scoring and all that, not to mention these instrumentalists would practice all night and day. I decided I'd rather be working in the industry sooner than later so I opted for a B.A. in Music with an emphasis on vocals. LBC: Sounds like a good choice! Faith Rivera: I'm proud to say I whipped outta there in about 3-4 semesters. LBC: In your bio, it says you then did some touring, even with The Time. What was that like? Faith Rivera: Actually I played keys and sang back-up for Interscope artist Xavier. It was with him that we opened for The Time on a number of concerts. Suffice it to say, I was the only chick on this tour and we traveled by RV across the country. LBC: Tell me about that? Faith Rivera: It was a GREAT experience, though at the time it was pretty scary. Wow...too many stories...like playing concerts half drugged up because of this tooth problem I had, or getting our entire RV stolen in the French Quarter in New Orleans... LBC: Oh my! Were you treated with respect? Faith Rivera: Yes they respected me, probably even too much - I would've much rather have been 'babied' by the guys. But I guess they thought I was tough & could take care of myself. LBC: Did you ever think, 'maybe I should have stayed in Hawaii!' Faith Rivera: Never. I miss my family a whole bunch & wish I could share every adventure with them, but aside from that it just wasn't the place for me to grow & to experiment. LBC: After having that experience, what did you do then? Faith Rivera: I can't remember exactly now...I think I decided I'd much rather be home than be on the road, so I focused on getting local session work. Oh duh...it inspired me to release my first album...that's what happened! LBC: Tell me about LA Carpool. Faith Rivera: LA Carpool is a salsa/rock band I sorta fell into I think around 2000. The music was incredible & people all over just dug the sound. LA Carpool was very successful on mp3.com & we did a video for Farmclub TV and also had a guest appearance on CBS's First Monday. The funny thing is we never played out live. The majority of the success was from the album itself where I sang lead and got to co-write a few songs. LBC: And that's still a regular gig for you? faith > No not anymore. We parted ways last year. They chose to go with a Latina singer and I had my own band & project as well. LBC: Their loss! I know we've covered a lot of ground, and skipped a lot too, but before you go, will you be performing at this year's Women's Festival? Faith Rivera: Yes I will. I'm performing on Sunday 3/9 around 2pm. Joining me will be Daniel Ho, who fronted smooth jazz band Kilauea in the 90s. He is my old time buddy & songwriting partner. He just recently flew me to Hawaii for a number of shows. The most exciting one was in January when we opened for Dave Koz and played with Honolulu Symphony. It was soooo cool to hear an entire symphony play our songs! LBC: Did you have much rehearsal time? Faith Rivera: Not too much rehearsal time - actually just about 1-2 hours since all the musicians were on the clock...y'know the union :) LBC: How magical that must have been... Did you get a recording of it? Faith Rivera: No recording, but the plan is backed by PBS Hawaii at least and they're talking about doing a DVD of our show and calling it 'Sounds of Hawaii.' I'll let you know what pans out. LBC: Please do! Well, thanks so much Faith! You were an early member of LBC, and we really value your participation and hard work in support of music and the arts in Long Beach! Many props to you! View Faith Rivera's LBC page and events Learn more about Sander Roscoe Wolff Do you know an artist that we should feature in LBC CenterStage? We'd like to hear from you. Send us your LBC CenterStage suggestion View Previous CenterStage Features