PHOTOS // MALLORY TURNER
STORY // MOLLY HUDELSON
When we spoke to rising R&B singer Reece, he was still in New York City following his first-ever show in the Big Apple, supporting Finneas at Baby’s All Right. “It was amazing!”, he exclaims. “It couldn’t have gone any better! The crowd was great, my whole team was there, and I had my friends there. It was a perfect show. It was so fun.” He also recently performed at the legendary Troubadour in Los Angeles, and while performing at noteworthy venues is an achievement of its own, these shows were “totally different” from any past performances
because now, the songs he’s performing are from his first project ever, the EP I’m Not Sure Yet.
The songs included on I’m Not Sure Yet changed over the course of two years; his only vision was to make “a project full of songs that I loved and I wanted people to hear.” Lyrically, things to tie together as each song sees Reece writing about himself. The tracks relate to love, getting older, and learning to deal with hardships in life like mental illness. Speaking on the connecting threads, Reece says, “I wanted to have a theme of maybe a little bit of a brain vomit but kind of like — a brain vomit that’s a little bit… put together as well.”
I’m Not Sure Yet opens with “3 AM”, a vulnerable track that sees him “run from the pain, run from my yesterday.” It’s the type of song that’s bound to connect with whoever listens. “That’s definitely my goal when I make these songs,” Reece explains, “to write about things that happened in my life in a way that can relate to other people, because I think that’s what the beauty of music is – being able to reach people with what you write and what you sing.” He wants anyone who’s experienced the same things he has to be about to think about it “and know that they’re not alone.”
A few years ago, just after graduating high school, Reece’s first release was the song “Ghost.” At the time, he wasn’t sure if music was a career path, but the song quickly picked up steam, gaining traction on music blogs. That bit of attention and success made him realize music was the career path for him; now, with an EP under his belt, his approach to writing has become much more serious. “I’m a lot more meticulous when it comes to my music now,” he reflects.
He’d always wanted to make music as a career, but had self-doubt: “I was like, ‘you know maybe it won’t work out’ — so I didn’t take it as seriously because I kind of was expecting it, in a way, to not work out, if that makes sense.” Now, he’s got the confidence to continue pursuing music as a serious career path.
We discuss the saying, “Hope for the best, expect the worst,” and how it’s important to have an optimistic, positive outlook but also be prepared and ready to work hard if things aren’t just thrown in your lap. “That’s a lesson that sucks about life,” Reece tells me, “but that’s the truest lessons. Throughout my career, I’m like, ‘why didn’t this happen? [but] I’ve learned now to — even if things don’t go my way, to be thankful for every little thing I get, and also to keep working to get what I want.”
And what is it that he wants? By the end of 2019, Reece hopes to be touring (“I love performing
live, so I think that’s the biggest goal I have for now”); five years from now, he hopes to be commercially successful and critically acclaimed. He waxes poetic about his idols Frank Ocean and Adele, who’s known for writing music that’s “raw and real and honest… that will stand the test of time”, saying, “I always want to be known for creating quality music… people associate them with quality music, and that’s what I want for my career.”
“The End,” which details the end of a romantic relationship as things are deteriorating, was written when Reece moved to LA (he’s now “all over the place,” traveling to New York and LA often). At 20 years old, he was in a dark place and had left everyone he loved and cared about when BMG set up a songwriting session with producer Joe Black. He strives to write about the situations in his life “in a way that people can relate to”; while “The End” saw him getting “a little bit moody… a little dramatic, but that’s me.”
And what is it that he wants? By the end of 2019, Reece hopes to be touring (“I love performing live, so I think that’s the biggest goal I have for now”); five years from now, he hopes to be commercially successful and critically acclaimed. He waxes poetic about his idols Frank Ocean and Adele, who’s known for writing music that’s “raw and real and honest… that will stand the test of time”, saying, “I always want to be known for creating quality music… people associate them with quality music, and that's what I want for my career.”
“The End,” which details the end of a romantic relationship as things are deteriorating, was written when Reece moved to LA (he’s now “all over the place,” traveling to New York and LA often). At 20 years old, he was in a dark place and had left everyone he loved and cared about when BMG set up a songwriting session with producer Joe Black. He strives to write about the situations in his life “in a way that people can relate to”; while “The End” saw him getting “a little bit moody… a little dramatic, but that’s me.”
Reece is currently working on a second EP to come later this year; he’ll also be sharing a music video for “Man Down” soon. For now, he hopes that anyone who listens to I’m Not Sure Yet can take the time to think about their own lives and relationships. “My favorite artists I’ve ever listened to, the reason why I got in to music in the first place, is because they made me think and feel nostalgic and look and reflect on my own life,” he shares, adding that, “My biggest goal with this EP is for people to just listen- be a little sad, and know that it’s okay to be sad, and think about stuff that’s not fun to think about, and know that they’re not alone.”
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