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"    Scarlett Rabe, a classically trained pianist-turned-pop star, has risen to fame with haunting riffs and empowering words. Her song &amp;quot;Battle Cry,&amp;quot; inspired us with a chord pounding message as strong as the words of Sheryl Sandberg with a Tori Amos flair. With an atypical story about breaking away from the pressures of family, society, and expectations, Rabe writes herself into her lyrics, giving women a new anthem to live by. We chatted with the pop star about her story and what is behind her Marie Claire exclusive release of her music video &amp;quot;Battle Cry.&amp;quot; Marie Claire: You were raised as a classical pianist, so how did you begin merging this skill with pop music?Scarlett Rabe: I always craved pop music but wasn&amp;#039;t really allowed to have any pop culture in my life because my parents were very strict. One time on a field trip, I heard &amp;quot;We Didn&amp;#039;t Start the Fire&amp;quot; by Billy Joel and everybody on the bus was singing. I secretly wrote songs and always fancied myself like a pop star. I knew I had to openly pursue it. This dissapointed of a lot of people, I guess because they had hoped that I would be tour the world classically, which is also really wonderful, but not my complete passion.  MC: It is interesting to hear that you didn&amp;#039;t listen to pop music when you were younger because it is as if you crafted your own totally unique sound.Scarlett: Well, I started experiencing pop music all at once. I didn&amp;#039;t get to experience it in a typical fashion. When I started listening, it was through the context of piano theory and chord progression. I don&amp;#039;t know how it would have been if had I experienced pop music a different way.  MC: In your lyrics for &amp;quot;Battle Cry,&amp;quot; you have a strong female point of view. Who are the strong women you look up to?SR: Some of the inspiration comes from females who are actually powerful and have achieved great things, but truthfully, a lot of it comes from a place of seeing the need for that kind of a strength. For females, it is unfortunate that in so many ways we have to fight harder and stand stronger. I think it&amp;#039;s really a beautiful time for women and for being a female because we are so powerful and so strong, but it&amp;#039;s a different kind of strength that is also fragile and vulnerable but immensely powerful.  MC: Were there any specific instances that inspired the lyrics for &amp;quot;Battle Cry&amp;quot;?  SR: I have always been a very strong spirited girl, and I wouldn&amp;#039;t want to throw my parents under the bus, but my family dynamic wasn&amp;#039;t necessarily conducive to [my passion]. I was the first of eight children and there was this huge amount of pressure to be completely perfect\u2014to be &amp;quot;the example.&amp;quot; And, with my success as a classical pianist and the pressure of all that\u2014 everyone had a picture of me and my life \u2014 my own spirit wasn&amp;#039;t necessarily welcome in that decision. It was a major clash. I lost my family for a period of time because they didn&amp;#039;t agree with the voice that I found and the decision that I finally made. It gets to a point where you&amp;#039;re actually not afraid of losing anything anymore because what you have already lost is greater than what you could actually lose. You are taking a step, so there comes a tipping point, when the pain you have experienced and the darkness that you have felt is already worse. Even though you lose so much love, support, or friends, you&amp;#039;re better off where you are anyway even if you are alone.  That was a completely pivotal moment in my life and it actually was really dramatic because in my family&amp;#039;s eyes I was abandoning all of them. They are very religious and had very strong opinions about how the choices I was going to make were going to eternally ruin my soul. I can&amp;#039;t blame them because they had a lot of fear and that&amp;#039;s one of the reasons why the chorus is &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m not afraid.&amp;quot; I feel now that those fears were fake, yet they rule your life. But when you do cross that line of fear, all of a sudden you realize &amp;quot;wow,&amp;quot; I am the same person and I have the same heart, the same strengths, the same weakness, and the same imperfections.    MC: As someone who has completely followed her own path, what would you advise young women who are being somewhat shoved into a box? SR: There is a quiet little voice that should always be the biggest focus. I&amp;#039;ve come to moments in my life where every single thing has told me to quit, stop, back up, or you&amp;#039;re crazy. Yea, that little tiny voice is always just saying, &amp;quot;This is where you belong.&amp;quot; You just have to make your choices around that little voice. I&amp;#039;ve never been sorry when that was the source of my power, but anytime I go against that voice and I listen to reason or convention or advice, then all of a sudden you are so sorry. MC: You&amp;#039;re like a musical of Sheryl Sandberg! SR: I&amp;#039;ve never heard that before but I love that! MC: What artists influence you? SR: Tori Amos, Regina Spencer, and FionaApple. Fiona and Tori are really dear to me because they are the ones that I heard first. Also all the piano players, like Billy Joel and Elton John [are influences]. And, Jeff Buckley just stabs you in the heart with what he gave to the world.   Watch the EXCLUSIVE video premiere of &amp;quot;Battle Cry&amp;quot;         "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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