Rebecca Schiffman is a singer-songwriter, jewelry designer, and visual artist from New York City.

Biography

Rebecca Schiffman was born and raised in New York City and now resides in Los Angeles.

Music career

Rebecca Schiffman studied cello and piano from a young age. She later picked up guitar and in high school joined classmate Colin Kindley to form The Meaningful and Wise whose sound was influenced by The Buzzcocks and The Soft Boys. Schiffman soon began writing and recording her own songs on a 4-Track in her bedroom. In 2000–2001, while attending The

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

School of Art, Schiffman played bass guitar for the pop-punk band Pearl Harbor, whose other members were Walter Schreifels (

Quicksand Quicksand (also known as sinking sand) is a colloid consisting of fine granular material (such as sand, silt or clay) and water. It forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. When water in the sand cannot escape, it crea ...

Rival Schools ''Rival Schools: United by Fate'', known in Japan as is a 1997 3D fighting game produced by Capcom originally released as an arcade game on Sony ZN-2 hardware. ''Rival Schools'' revolves around tag team battles between groups of students fro ...

) on drums, Ryan Stratton ( Walking Concert) on guitar, and Masayoshi Nakamura on vocals. Schreifels then produced Schiffman's first album "Upside Down Lacrimosa," which included new recordings of many songs from her 4-track demos. It was released on Some Records in 2003. In 2009, Schiffman self-released her second album "To Be Good for a Day" which she co-produced with Michael Musmanno in Brooklyn. The album was named "Best Album of the Month" in the February 2009 issue of

Vice Magazine ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. It was founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, and its founders later launched the youth media company V ...

. In 2010, Schiffman's song "Aaron" was featured in the soundtrack to

Lena Dunham Lena Dunham (; born May 13, 1986) is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series '' Girls'' (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy Award nominations and two G ...

's breakout film "Tiny Furniture." Schiffman also lent her vocals to "When U Come Home" by

Teddy Blanks Teddy is an English language given name, usually a hypocorism of Edward or Theodore or Theodora. It may refer to: People Nickname * Teddy Atlas (born 1956), American boxing trainer and fight commentator * Teddy Bourne (born 1948), British Olymp ...

which plays during the movie's end credits. Schiffman's vocals also appear on another

song for the soundtrack to

Alex Karpovsky Alexander Karpovsky (born September 23, 1975) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and film editor. He is best known for his role as Raymond "Ray" Ploshansky on the HBO comedy drama series '' Girls'' (2012–17), for which he wa ...

's movie "Red Flag". In 2016, Schiffman's self-titled third album came out on Fayettenam Records. It was produced by

Money Mark Mark Ramos Nishita (born February 10, 1960), known professionally as Money Mark, is an American producer and musician, best known for his collaborations with the Beastie Boys from 1992 until 2011. Early life Born in Detroit to a Japanese-Hawai ...

and featured

Nels Cline Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been a guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004. In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex, a percussionist. He has wor ...

on guitar. Also in 2016, Schiffman recorded a cover version of the theme song for the TV show

Squidbillies ''Squidbillies'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Jim Fortier and Dave Willis for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. An unofficial pilot for the series aired on April 1, 2005. The series later made its o ...

. The episode with her version aired in August of that year.

Line-Up

Rebecca Schiffman performs solo as well as with a variety of musicians. Past Band Members * Reka Reisinger - Keyboard, Back-up Vocals * Jay Israelson - Piano *

Christopher Bear Christopher Robert Bear (born July 19, 1982) is a drummer and multi-instrumentalist member of the Brooklyn-based indie-rock group Grizzly Bear. Bear joined the group with singer Ed Droste for contributions on their first record, '' Horn of Ple ...

- Drums * Paul Jenkins - Bass guitar * Ryan Stratton - Bass guitar, Guitar * Mike Stroud - Guitar, Keyboard *

Dan Crowell Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

- Drums * James Ransone - Bass * John MF Anderson - Guitar * Ethan Glazer - Bass * Matt Bogdanow - Drums

Discography

Albums

'' Upside Down Lacrimosa'' (September 23, 2003, Some Records)
Personnel: Rebecca Schiffman, Walter Schreifels, Colin Kindley, Mike Stroud, Mike Skinner, Andy Action, Chuck Scott, Tom Hutten, Jordan Rosenblum (artwork) '' To Be Good for a Day'' (January 28, 2009, Self-released)
Personnel: Rebecca Schiffman, Mike Musmanno, Jay Israelson, Don Piper, Alex Walker, Tony Leone, Ryan Stratton, Matthew Morandi, Peter Toh, Benjamin Degen (artwork) '' Rebecca Schiffman (self-titled)'' (digital August 12, 2016, Fayettenam Records), (vinyl January 3, 2017, Fayettenam Records)
Personnel: Rebecca Schiffman,

, Jay Israelson, Ethan Glazer, Mike Bloom, Clinton Patterson, Justin Sullivan Angelo Hatgistavrou, Max Bernstein, Eric Broucek, Jeff Kolhede, Manuel Jimenez, Raina Hamner (cover photo), CHIPS (design)

Art career

Rebecca Schiffman graduated from The

School of Art with a BFA. Her paintings have been included in group shows at Ratio3 in San Francisco and the now closed New York City gallery, Guild & Greyshkul. In 2006, Rebecca Schiffman and fellow

alum, Javier Hernandez exhibited paintings in a two-person exhibition titled "Faster Sleeper" at The Bas Fisher Invitational gallery in Miami, Florida. Schiffman's watercolor portrait of philosopher

Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek ( ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian Marxist philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, Global Distin ...

appears on book jacket for the UK edition of his book "Violence."

Jewelry Design

Rebecca Schiffman studied

wax carving {{unreferenced, date=April 2012 Wax carving is the shaping of wax using tools usually associated with machining: rotary tools, saws, files and burins or gravers. Actual knives can be used and most certainly are, but the hardness of the material i ...

for three years with the Dutch-born master model maker Fred de Vos in New York. Previously she earned a certificate in casting and mold making from Studio Jewelers in New York. In 2009, Schiffman launched her Ill-Made Knight (IMK) Collection of chainmail accessories. IMK was carried by

Henri Bendel Henri Bendel, Inc. (pronounced BEN-del), established in 1895, was a women's department store based in New York City which in its later history sold women's handbags, jewelry, luxury fashion accessories, home fragrances, chocolate and gifts. Its ...

and featured in

Nylon Magazine ''Nylon'' is an American multimedia brand and publishing company, which produces a lifestyle magazine that focuses on pop culture and fashion. Its coverage includes art, beauty, music, design, celebrities, technology and travel. Originally a pri ...

and Jalouse Magazine, among other publications. In 2011, Rebecca Schiffman used Kickstarter and her wax carving skills to launch her "Upper East Side Collection" of sterling silver jewelry inspired by architectural ornament in her native neighborhood. The collection was profiled in The New York Times. Schiffman was then invited by the

Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a New York state public benefit corporations, public benefit corporation in New York (state), New York State responsible for public transportation in the New York metropolitan area, New York Ci ...

to design a similar collection for

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal station, terminal located at 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York Ci ...

's centennial anniversary. The musician and artist

Grimes Claire Elise Boucher (; born March 17, 1988), known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her lyrics often touch on science fiction and feminist themes. The visuals in her videos are elabora ...

has performed wearing Schiffman's chainmail jewelry, including at both 2016

Coachella Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music festival, music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valle ...

performances. The musician

Neko Case Neko Richelle Case ( ; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case's singing voice has been described by contemporaries and critics as a "flamethrower", "a pow ...

has also worn Schiffman's chainmail jewelry.

External links

Official Websites

Rebecca Schiffman's Official Website

Rebecca Schiffman Jewelry

Articles and Reviews

Review by Tyler Wilcox
in Doom & Gloom from the Tomb January 2017
Review by Kelly Amner
in

February 2009
Who's That Girl? It's Rebecca Schiffman!
from George Gurley in

The New York Observer ''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper established in 1987. In 2016, it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainment ...

Who's That Ass? Please Meet Our Lovely Cover Girls
in

Review in Lost at Sea by Sarah Peters

Review by Steve Klinge in Harp Magazine

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schiffman, Rebecca American folk singers Cooper Union alumni Singers from New York City Living people 1982 births 21st-century American singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from New York (state)