Kaye Ree said that “music is the door to our soul.” This is true, and all we need is a beautiful spirit to introduce us to that music, elevate us and to help us vibe – not just with that sound – but, with the essence of the universe which is all of us.
Kaye Ree is an independent artist who has recently taken charge of her own music career, is flourishing and constantly seeking new opportunities. As women, we have to take charge of ourselves, our bodies, our minds and our careers….
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You’ve worked very hard in your industry and it seems to be paying off. Do you do music full time, or do you have other means of supporting yourself in addition to the music?
I have studied marketing and communication and been working for an airline for a long time but I am now focusing on the label I recently started, as well as our management, licensing, songwriting and shows etc.
It seems you have a good, solid team in terms of the musicians who work with you and your management. Was it easy for you to find good people or did you have to go through a lot of other people to get to your current team?
I believe that everything is happening the way it is meant to be. Therefore the musicians that I work with were surely heaven-sent and I love working with them. It is essential to work with people that you love in order to do good work, specially when it comes to music, I believe. The production team/label has changed because I did not feel enough support from their side, so I decided to do it all myself. I still learned a lot from the time working with them, since I had to do a lot of things on my own and that´s what made me start my own label….so everything is everything. The new producer we chose was actually somebody who is usually not really working with artists but is specialized for sound design for major companies like Mercedes-Benz, etc. That is how we met 4 years ago, doing a production together for a huge marketing campaign for Mercedes-Benz. We loved the way of working with him so much that we asked him if he would be willing to produce our new album with us.
What is your process like for deciding who you will work with?
Nowadays I chose to work with people that I feel have a positive energy and the same type of passion for the music as we, my musicians and I. So, when I meet new people in the industry, I have to first trust my intuition, to feel if I could feel comfortable working with them, check their personality, their business background and have a very honest and direct conversation with them. How I meet these people? I meet them at international music fairs, concerts, online, through friends or unexpected places. They are being sent to me…
You’re really garnering notariety in Europe. Are you looking to get over to the US for performances also?
Oh yes!!! We were performing in ATL a couple of times in the past years, as well as in Miami, New York, Philly and West Palm Beach. Since I write all of my songs in English, the American crowd is way more receptive and appreciate my poetry in my songs than the German crowd for example! Our new album “New Air” recently got released in Europe on my own label “Reelement Records” and I´m currently looking for labels outside of Germany to work with and license the album to. So far, we got Italy and Japan in the boat!!! ;)
U.S. artists are looking for ways to obtain performance opportunities over there. European artists are seeking ways to get to the US. What is the strategy for getting you overseas to the US and what are the target areas?
Nowadays, all we have to do is reach out to people online and show your professional skills as far as delivering quality material that can represent you well enough for people to see you as worthy to invite you over. You need to know what the needed budget would be for you to travel, have a place to sleep, eat and drink and eventually make some money on top if you´re not a complete newcomer and only need exposure. We have done quite a few “investment-trips” as well in order to introduce us to a market that didn’t know us yet. That is how you test the waters. Nowadays people invite us and we go wherever they are professional enough to take care of us the way artists should be taken care of.
Kaye Ree, since you were a small child, you sang, you danced and you’ve continued that throughout your life into adulthood. Why? It may seem like a simple question, but it’s nice to give non-artists and “music appreciators” more of an understanding why artists do what they do.
As a little child I seemed to have such a great passion for singing and dancing already that my parents saw it and supported me by allowing me to have ballet lessons and sing in a choir.
One of the reasons for continuing though and for making it all bigger than just a hobby, was the inspiration of artists like Michael Jackson, who took their mission of being a positive influence in so many peoples lives very serious. His way of performing, singing, spreading a positive message, even in his movies, touched me deeper than anybody else has and it encouraged me to also use my position on stage to do create something positive, healing and inspiring for people, including myself.
Do you play any instruments?
I recently started learning the bass…but it´s really only the beginning!!! I dream of really being on stage with it one day to jam with my musicians. If I prove to have enough discipline and talent for it, you´ll find out in a couple of years, I guess ;)
If not, why not and what would you play if you did?
I’d love to play the drums, guitar, piano, cello, trumpet, hang, tabla, conga…every instrument! I admire every musician who has the patience and discipline to learn an instrument!
When you write songs, how do you create your melodies? What is your process like?
I hear melodies in my head…or better yet, I feel them…sometimes even dream whole arrangements of an orchestra. The only way for me to remember it is to record it. Therefore I really need to learn an instrument, so I don’t have to sing the piano lines, etc. Most of the times my melodies and lyrics are inspired by Felix Justen’s guitar composition. Whatever he plays puts me in a certain mood to write a song to it. Then we record it and I have to learn the lyrics in order to perform it on stage. The songs finally develop on stage to the versions you get to hear on the album.
Let’s say you get to tour everywhere, will you feel totally satisfied as far as that goes or will you have greater expectations?
I love performing! There’s nothing I’d rather do than being on tour with my musicians. The only “other” thing I will do with my voice, is to work with kids, use music as a therapy and help people…since I believe that music is the door to our soul.
Is there an end to your goals? Will you get to the point where you’ve fulfilled yourself completely – when you’re satisfied?
I try to live in the here and now, since that is the only thing that is real. It helps to be satisfied with life in general. My main goal is to spread our music and its message worldwide, work with many different artists, sing in different languages, help people with my music to enjoy life. One day soon, I would like to use the profit of my music to start schools/homes for kids one day. Also, I would like to be a role model for other young people, be an inspiration to do good, just like Michael Jackson did it for me once. I believe that this is a life-long mission that I’m
fulfilling every day step by step.
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