Meet Kelsea Robin | Violinist/Singer/Songwriter, Cofounder of Sad Girls Club

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kelsea Robin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kelsea, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I moved to Phoenix in 2019, and immediately started trying to make connections and book gigs. Of all the cities I’ve lived and worked to establish a presence in, Phoenix, has been the toughest. I started keeping a spreadsheet of every opportunity I tried to get because I couldn’t keep track of the rejections. At one point, I even made a fake artist manager to make me seem more legitimate. She got me one gig. To be fair, much of that time was the covid years, but there was a good few years where people were definitely back to booking live music, and nothing. I believe in myself and my music, and I would receive rave reviews at open mics, so I know the problem wasn’t my product, but I simply couldn’t get my foot in the door anywhere.

Fast forward to fall 2023, and I started frequenting this small wine bar in Old Town Scottsdale called Yellow Spruce. They had had a coffee shop for a while, but had just opened the wine bar next door, so I was able to get my foot in the door while the owners were still hands on, and they didn’t have established acts they were prioritizing. I got to talking with a lot of the other girls who were regulars there, and realized we all had the same problem of having a difficult time getting opportunities, despite there being so many bars and restaurants with live music every night in our city.

I was playing a show at Yellow Spruce with one of the other regulars, Vox Manicka. We both write songs that are really honest and don’t pull our punches when it comes to writing emotional music, and we started joking around about it being the Sad Girls Club. And we realized, Sad Girls Club could be more than just a cute joke, but something we could use to help ourselves and the other female songwriters facing the same challenges we were.

The purpose of Sad Girls Club is to leverage the power of community to create more opportunity for femme songwriters in Phoenix, and build a scene based on collaboration rather than competition. By building the brand of Sad Girls Club to one that audiences trust to bring them a good show, even if they don’t know the artists that are on the bill, we can give any of the songwriters we schedule a chance to perform for an appreciative audience and leave with new fans, and help fans discover Phoenix’s saddest lady songwriters. By having a collective of songwriters to draw content from, it also reduces the lift to consistently create content to build our online presence. We’re building on brand presence in person through our Sad Girl Nights, and on our Instagram page @sadgirlsclubphx

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m a violinist/songwriter who creates atmospheric orchestral pop with just my violin and voice, and the clever use of technology. I grew up studying classical violin, and while I adore classical music, it never felt like the genre where I could shine my brightest. In my early 20s, I discovered a knack for and love of songwriting. I dabbled in accompanying myself with piano and ukulele (I grew up in Honolulu, so I learned to play in middle school), but when I discovered looping pedals, I realized that there was a way to accompany myself on the instrument I’m most comfortable on.

Because I was a bit of a late bloomer in finding my musical voice, I made the choice early on not to hinge my livelihood on my music, so that I could take my time developing my craft to be what I wanted it to be and not have to rely on more immediately monetizable projects that weren’t in line with my goals for my own work. In January 2022 I began working for ASU’s entrepreneurship department, empowering students in creative fields to connect with entrepreneurship and explore how it can support their careers. This job has made me be more open minded and learn about entrepreneurship beyond the stereotypes I had of silicon valley bros making apps. I’m able to apply ideas I work with at work in my own practice, and apply my experiences in my practice to more effective in my job.

Sad Girls Club is a kind of culmination of my personal creative projects and my professional work. Because I’ve been working with entrepreneurs, when I identified a problem (female songwriters having trouble getting opportunities), I realized that I could be the one to find a solution and make a difference.

If it weren’t for my current job, I don’t think I would have had the confidence to actually start Sad Girls Club. Through my job, I’ve gained a lot of knowledge around how to start a business and build a brand. I also know about so many of the entrepreneurial resources available here in Phoenix, and I have so many co-workers who are amazing entrepreneurs, so there are so many ways I can get support if I run into any questions.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I think that if you’re going to live in the desert and put up with the heat, you should enjoy the unique landscapes and flora. I always recommend the Desert Botanical Garden, or if there’s more time, a visit to Boyce Thompson Arboretum. I love a good day trip, so I love to head out to the Superstitions, or up north somewhere. A few weeks ago, I took a little day trip to Jerome, which was fun,

I work in Downtown Phoenix, and if I don’t have lunch, I’ll order something from Cibo. It’s also a great choice if we have guests we need to take out to lunch. Phoenix has weirdly good pizza, and Cibo definitely holds it’s own against the other top contenders for best Pizza. Hapa Food Company in Mesa is my favorite place to get Hawaiian food. And of course, when in Phoenix, eat Mexican food! I don’t really need to give a recommendation for that–any hole in the wall place you see in a slightly run down neighborhood will be excellent.

Any time you visit a place, I think it’s important to learn a little bit about the cultural history, including the darker side. I grew up in Honolulu, and I always very strongly encourage visitors to go to the Bishop museum because so few people understand how colonialism affections the Hawaiian Islands. In Phoenix, I definitely recommend visiting the Heard Museum and the S’edav Va’aki Museum.

In the summer, when being outside isn’t really an option, I spend a lot of time at Chase Field. It’s a great way to spend some time out of the house, getting excited about something, especially when the Diamondbacks are winning!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
A big shoutout to Vox Manicka, singer/songwriter and fellow Sad Girl. While I handle the day to day operations, the concept of Sad Girls Club is as much Vox’s idea as it is mine, and she’s been a great champion of our cause. She is also so much better than I am at recruiting new Sad Girls to our dark army.
I also want to thank Lucy and Brian, the owners of Yellow Spruce for giving us Sad Girls the space to find each other and get Sad Girls Club started.

Website: linktr.ee/SadGirlsClubPHX https://www.kelsearobin.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sadgirlsclubphx/ https://www.instagram.com/kelsearobin/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvgRv9d96_67C6ieItS5BWg