Meet an artist redefining modern jazz through passion, purpose, and bold creativity. Glasgow-based DJ, producer, band leader and label owner Rebecca Vasmant is a force in contemporary jazz, blending deep musical knowledge with an unwavering love for sound. With the release of her second album Who We Are, Becoming on May 9th, Rebecca continues to redefine the genre through bold, personal storytelling and rich, collaborative arrangements. Leading a diverse 25-piece ensemble and championing female representation in her music, the label Rebecca's Records and other work, she invites listeners on a powerful journey of identity, growth, and self-discovery.

Outside of music, Rebecca loves being around horses. "...I also love to learn about things related to science and the universe, in particular quantum physics and the power of the mind, as well as modern medical science (I sometimes get lost in watching documentaries and end up awake all night watching things at the end of my day)." She enjoys nice food, shopping in charity shops for interesting clothes, and people watching - imagining what the stories of all the lives walking by are. She says: "I guess I am interested in people, and sound and music as well as science. That would summaries my interests."

How did you get into your industry / What motivated you?

For me, I became fascinated with Jazz from a young age through being shown Hip Hop by my big brother who would travel to the US to Skateboard a his job. My brother gave me an album by A Tribe Called Quest and I really loved it. I got more and more into hip hop, in particular instrumental hip hop which had a lot of samples from Jazz in the music, and I later discovered that it was the samples which made me love the sound of the music so much. From that point grew an insatiable appetite to learn about Jazz, new records I had never heard before, new musicians, labels, how they record and everything about it. Finding out where all the samples in the records came from then going out my way to learn about the music I really love discovering music, and Jazz is one of those things that one person can never know everything about. So for me it has been a journey that I have enjoyed immensely. I still am grateful for every piece of music that I am lucky enough to discover, and I will never learn enough.

I simply cannot describe the way that some music makes me feel. It is like a completely cleansing experience and the emotion that it derives from this can allow us to feel however we want to feel. Whether this is good or otherwise, we just allow ourselves to feel emotion that we may not feel in our daily lives and this is a beautiful thing. And I really do appreciate and respect musicians and producers for allowing us to be able to do that. When I hear a piece of music that I really feel, it can almost put me into a meditative state and I can allow myself to purely focus on what that piece of music is saying, whether it is classical, Jazz, Soul or Techno.. The emotion is still the same. It is for this reason that I have always allowed myself to play different styles of music wether it be House, Techno or Jazz.

What is a day in the life like?

Oh that's a great question! I probably spend most of my time looking to discover music that I haven't heard. I wake up, go and see my horse, then come home to do emails and admin for the label and touring things, and then am able to spend my day doing what I love...music!

Both producing music in my home studio, and discovering music. I realise that even if we spent every waking minute of every day searching for music, we would not have enough time to discover it all.. and this thought is overwhelming. I thank every musician, composer, maestro and producer for every piece of music whether it has been noticed or unnoticed and wake up every day happy to be able to just take the time to just listen and appreciate music. Music really is a privilege and I can honestly say that deep within my heart I am totally grateful for every piece of amazing music that I have been lucky enough to have been able to hear.

What has been / is the most difficult part of your job?

I would have to say, the difficulties I have faced in accessing opportunitues due to being a woman, it's definitely gotten better in the past few years as to how it was 10-15 years ago which is wonderful to see though.

What advice do you have for someone wanting to get into pursuing what you're doing?  

...be truly yourself.

I would say my advice would be to be truly yourself, decide what music you are passionate about and stick to what you truly believe in. Go for it, don't be scared if what others think and always be true to yourself.

What types of things are happening in your industry / with vinyl that you're excited or worried about?  i.e. innovation, or trends you're seeing

Over the past 5-10 years, there has been a huge rise here in young kids being open to hearing jazz in clubs, and jazz gigs have been doing really well, selling out and being really largely filled with young people who want to have a party, but to this music instead of house and techno only. People are really starting to jump on it.

I was approached by three documentaries and one movie just in the last year, plus the gigs have been selling out here now too. I feel like Glasgow gets a lot of attention for its rich electronic scene, but there is also this jazz scene bubbling just now thats becoming insanely awesome. The long and short of it is: I think that there's something really amazing / interesting and different happening here in the Glasgow jazz scene and I feel really passionate about helping other people be able to hear it. This massively influences my work and is the whole reason for making music how I do, as collaborative records with some of the cities amazing young talent.

Are you a vinyl collector yourself?  What drew you to it?

Yes! I am a massive record collector and have pretty much centered my home around my record collection. I would say that my influences come from a lot of different places, sometimes I feel influenced by a jazz record, sometimes I will listen to techno and I feel inspired to sit down and make a techno mix, and sometimes I listen to classical music and the energy and emotion will inspire me to sit down and start working on a new mix or track. I have also been influenced on many occasions by simply seeing something beautiful, for example, I was on a return journey from a gig last weekend and I witnessed something that almost reduced me to tears, a couple in there 80s got on the bus I was on and sat in front of me. The wife got out an amazing feast for them and the husband got out his sandwich and took a bite, the wife asked him "is it nice" and he said "yes it's lovely" she then kissed him on the head and got her own out. Such a simple sentiment, sometimes seeing something as lovely as this makes you really appreciate all the beauty in the world, this inspired me to go home and start working on a mix that I had been meaning to get done for a few weeks.

I sometimes sit and listen to jazz and let the music completely become everything I think about in that moment, this usually always clears my head of any everyday thoughts and stresses and allows me to have nothing in my mind but what I am working on at that moment. I think that pure moment of clarity when you know that something amazing is going to happen when you open logic/cubase is one of the most wonderful moments. Sometimes this happens a few times a week, and sometimes this only happens once a month, the key for me is to embrace it when it does happen, sometimes this means forgetting to eat and working all through the night but this feeling is one of the best feelings I can imagine anyone could ever have.

I would say that my music taste and my record collection is constantly evolving, but the core elements remain always the same. I love 'warm' sounds within music, emotion within music and if the music makes me feel something then I like it. I started out listening to hip hop when I was around 10 years old because my big brother gave me an album from A Tribe Called Quest and I remember thinking 'Wow, what is this'. From then on, things kind of grew and evolved. So I guess everything I am into now, I owe to my big brother for giving me that album!

Who has been influential to you and your growth as a professional in this industry?

I would have to say Gilles Peterson and his events and festivals. He has done so much for the UK Jazz scene, brought so many new artists through and helped them to have their music heard where they would perhaps otherwise not have the opportunity to. I really respect everything he has done and continues to do for jazz, the genre and it’s growth in popularity and new music being created out of the UK.

Anything else you want to share? If not, tell us what you're listening to right now?

I run a record label called Rebecca's Records showcasing and platforming female led Jazz in Scotland, we create vinyl releases and am very grateful to be doing so. My favourite Genre is any music which makes me feel emotions.