Catawba College

SALISBURY — Catawba College senior Lisette Rodriguez calls her signature musical style, “cinematic pop.”

“I’m still figuring out how I want to shape my sound and bring out what I hear in my head into my music,” she said.

Writing and producing her debut single, “Run This Far,” released in late June, allowed her “to shape and mold things as I hear them and want them.”

This Fayetteville resident who has been playing guitar, piano and singing at venues and competitions around the state since she was 16 years old, had experimented with different genres such as rock, classical and acoustic singer-songwriter before she set about creating her own “bold, Lisette sound.” That sound blends elements of classical music with dark, electronic pop, pulsating bass drums, electronic beats, and floating piano strains to shape a synthetic cinematic world of her imagination.

“The song came to me so organically,” she said. “It started with just piano and vocals and I gradually added layers of synth, different types of drums, strings, and vocals. I’m really proud of this release, especially knowing that I created and produced everything myself. I put a lot of time not only into the song, but also into the marketing and promotion efforts. I did everything from creating graphics and videos to emailing music blogs, publications, and playlist creators. It’s a rewarding feeling.”

“Run This Far” was mixed by Lisette’s audio recording teacher, Gregg Sartiano and will be one of the songs included in her debut EP that she is currently at work on. The single is available for listening or downloading on all major music platforms at https://linktr.ee/iamlisettemusic.

Lisette is a double major in music business and popular music and the general manager of the Artist Development Program at Catawba. She recently completed a summer internship at the non-profit Blissfest Music Organization in Michigan and also performed at the sold out 38^th annual Blissfest Music Festival July 13-15.

She says her ultimate goal is to be on tour and recording and performing, but she knows she will need financial stability to do so and her summer internship opened some new possibilities to her.

“Blissfest made me think about working festivals to support my music,” she said.