It's always awesome to have the cool and talented James Reid on the station! We've guested him several times but it still makes us pretty excited whenever we'd get the chance to catch up with him. What has James been up to? Well, just a lot of great and bigger things!
For starters, James released a new song under his label Careless Music titled "Soda" - almost 4 years since his last album and 2 years from his latest single with Just Hush! Reception-wise, it's safe to say how well-received his new song is! James did share that he was fully hands-on with producing the track, even with the help of his team composing of Bret Jackson, Isagani Palabyab, Nadine Lustre and Massiah, it definitely came to be the track he has envisioned it to be! James also dropped a lyric video yet the thrill of it was on a high as he and his team did a watch party during the live premiere of the lyric video and boy, was it a party! We can't wait what celebration James and his team will have once the MV drops!
James Reid doesn't stop there as he has more music to release and live performances on the way, and it's only the first month of the year! Ecstatic is an understatement for this young artist and we're here to support him 100%!
James continues on grinding from music production to brainstorming content for all his music-related stuff. Just like the rest of the people involved in the entertainment/music industry, James and his team had to shift all of their content to digital as live performances and gigs are on an indefinite shut down during this time. Not only does James have a lot in store for us but he also shared that Nadine does have things up her sleeve as well - a dance video with award-winning dance group A-Team! How awesome is that! The Careless Music team are really taking extra efforts to create creative, fresh content and music that's on a different level! We're gonna have to wait patiently for this as great works of art do take time! Worth the wait, for sure!
James' new single "Soda", an electro-funk track, is definitely a reinvention for him in terms of music. It's surely different from the previous type of music James has released in the past as the vibe of the track is "somewhere in between Daft Punk and Tame Impala" - if you're familiar with both you'd know how different Daft Punk to Tame Impala is, with Daft Punk leaning more into the electronic, disco genre and the latter is more psychedelic, synth-driven rock. He also shared his favorite lyric out of the song which goes, "Out of control, that's the way I like it, unpredictable." The song basically send out a message to let life pleasantly surprise you and that specific line just resonates with him. Life is out of control, but for James it's not a bad thing since we really can't control whatever is going in on outside of us, only our feelings. It's certainly a new sound for James and so far we're already loving it!
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In terms of collaboration, it really is a brainstorming team effort as they all give one another creative freedom with their processes. While in terms of James' creative inspiration, he mentioned how Bret Jackson and his creative director have such a huge influences on him. He also did share how it gets difficult when it's just him and he's grateful for his team and surely trusts their taste when creating his sound.
Careless Music label has been around for quite a while but it already created a buzz in an instant when it first started. And 'till this day, the label has been thriving on fresh tracks, dope releases and crazy talented artists! James gives us a little bit of an inside scoop on what it's like to be part of their family; they're always able to accomplish so much despite having a small team just because they rarely spend time apart. They're always working together 12 hours a day weekly and everyone's basically bumping heads with each other. Careless Music comprises of around 9 people! It's just like one barkada making and creating art and music! It's amazing as well, how a small team can pull of huge, mind-blowing projects. Trusting in each other's creative directions, best interests and tastes definitely helps them out a lot as their creative juices are all flowing in just one big bowl.
Before James was a musician and a music label head, he was known of course as an actor. Now that James is juggling 3 different roles in his career, experience is what sets James different from each role he takes on. He became raw and opened up that for acting, the pressure of being in the spotlight would really get to him which made him rather prefer making music. For music, it's more open to him seeing as he can put more of his ideas and visions into it. Shifting into operations handling of Careless, it was quite tough for him especially at the start of the pandemic thinking if he'll drop everything or continue working on the label. It took a lot of maturity for him and his whole team to really focus on what they find inportant and put everything else aside and really go all out!
With so much on James' plate right now, how does one creative beat the burn out blues? Re-energizing and rejuvenating thru meditation is what helps him the most. It's a way for him to reset his mind and separate himself from negative energy. He does admit that getting burnt out is inevitable but it's also a mean of really pushing himself and working hard.
A lot more to look forward to from James as he has so much in store for his musical future. Starting off with his newly-released single "Soda", he spilled that there's a lot more content to be dropped soon! A visualizer for the song made by their creative director is also in the works. Live performances, a "Little Prince meets 2001 Space Odyssey" inspired music video for "Soda", Nadine Lustre's upcoming concert in mid-April, a Massiah album, digital events and a launch of a new Careless Music artist! No words! Just pure excitement for what's to come! Everything's looking bright and going well for Careless Music and it's all well-deserved!
James gives some heartfelt advice for struggling creatives or people yet to find their passion: "Work on something that you're passionate about." "Passion is something that you really love doing, or something that you have a natural affinity for. But it becomes a purpose when you can use that passion to help other people or service of other people and that's when you really feel you have a purpose." "As long as you know why you're doing it and feel that there's purpose behind it and the passion about it, nothing is really off the table."
James' new single "Soda" under Careless Music is out now for streaming on all digital platforms and on Youtube! Stay tuned as well for the visualizer, to be out soon.
Watch the full interview of James Reid on All Out here: