Rel’s debut EP “Big Try” comes out March 7, and they’re performing at a release party at AS220 March 14. You can find out more about Rel’s music at HeyRel.com.
Luis Hernandez: When did you start playing music and what got you into music as a performer?
Rel: So I started playing guitar when I was 16, or 17. And I’ve been writing songs since as long as I can remember, like little jingles and things like that. But when I started taking myself seriously as a writer, I went to this writing program at the University of Virginia called Young Writers Workshop. And it was like, oh, you’re not just sort of some cute kid making music, you’re an artist and we’re going to give you feedback and we’re going to critique and give you sort of really thoughtful consideration of your work.
Hernandez: What did they say to you in that critique? Did they say, “You can be a performer, you have what it takes.” Or did they teach you something?
Rel: I actually think about a specific moment with one of my fellow writers, it was an overnight program, so like, we shared a bathroom and I had just performed at this open mic night. And I was really nervous. I was like, you know, are people going to like my songs? I don’t know. I was washing my hands and someone was taking a shower and I hear them singing my song in the shower. And I was like, oh, okay, I wrote something that stuck.
And then another, sort of mark, in myself as a musician and a writer, was moving here, just because I was surrounded by so many artists and designers and writers and musicians that were just taking themselves so seriously and just had such a unique viewpoint. And I just thought, “I want to do that too.” I’ve just found the most wonderful, supportive community. I’ve just been amazed by how many people want to help me and see me succeed. Just people who are willing to just sort of pitch in and help me and support me and It’s been wonderful.
Hernandez: You told me that you were writing since you were a child, even jingles. first of all, do you remember any of them?
Rel: Oh, yes.
Hernandez: Give me one.
Rel: Okay, so, I’m gonna give you some free promo for some places that may or may not still exist. One of them, it’s this place in Orlando, Florida. And it just goes like this, “Florida’s Orlando Resort.” And then I imagine like, waves. And then like, so that’s my shorter jingle. I wrote a lot of songs about my cat. Which I can sing for you, if you’d like. You want me to sing them?
Hernandez: Alright.
Rel: Okay, which one, which one should I do? This one’s called Boo Nanina, and it was like the first one that I wrote. My cat’s nickname is Boo. I wrote it when I was maybe seven. It goes like this. “Boo, na ni na, boo, na ni na, boo, na ni na, boo. He can appear out of anywhere. Boo, na ni na, boo, na ni na, boo.”
Hernandez: Ha, ha, ha, ha. Love it, I love it.
Hernandez: Your debut record, a five song EP coming out March 7th, it’s called Big Try. Tell us about it.
Rel: Yeah, I would describe it as definitely eclectic. Like I said earlier, very much a collage of my different influences. And something that’s really earnest and from the heart. I have had these songs In my head, some of them since high school, some of them I wrote this year, and I really just feel this love of writing and love that I felt for my community, I feel that on the record when I listen to it.
Hernandez: So since high school? This has been a long time coming then.
Rel: Yes, absolutely, absolutely.
Hernandez: How does it feel to be releasing your music like this?
Rel: Terrifying, terrifying for sure. Again, it’s like still there are those voices in my head. That’s like, “You’re not good enough. You’re not. You don’t have these particular skills.” But that’s kind of why I called it Big Try.
Hernandez: One of the singles is “Blue Hour American Dream.” It’s about an unrequited crush. Tell me about it.
Rel: I was writing that song in undergrad and at that time I was taking a lot of photography courses and doing a lot of photography, driving around Western New York and just seeing these like massive cornfields and giant barns. I grew up in the suburbs so things that I hadn’t really seen, you know, on my own without my parents. So I was just sort of going alone and taking all these pictures. And in photography, there’s this period of time, people know the golden hour, there’s also the blue hour, which is the last hour after the sun sets when the light is this blue, and it’s like this last gasp of light. And I just sort of saw that as kind of a metaphor for my feelings about this person, who is, at that time, you know, they were moving away and I was moving and that crush that was ended up being requited, but never quite materialized. That last gasp.
Hernandez: Tell me about who you were listening to growing up.
Rel: I think a lot about the Indigo Girls in particular. Just my mom playing their CDs for me and like a kid and like being in the backseat. There’s this really funny meme that I came across. It was like, ‘my mom not knowing that she was turning me gay by playing Indigo Girls CDs in the early 2000s.’ So I definitely, I love their music. I mean the two of them are just incredible writers and guitarists and vocalists. Their harmonies are just so sharp. And I’ve actually been lucky enough to see them a couple of times and they’re even somehow even better live.
Hernandez: Do you find any of that influence coming through in your work?
Rel: Yeah, absolutely. A lot of their sort of chords that they use. Sort of these unconventional little moves that, like, there’s a suspended chord in there. And I remember when I was first learning guitar, of course, I had to learn “Closer to Fine” and just sort of those little licks that they did on guitar that I would try and learn. I feel like that definitely soaked into my songwriting.
Hernandez: The album ends with a song called Moth. More stripped down, just vocals and an acoustic number, plus what sounds like a recording of crickets in the background. Tell us about this one.
Rel: Yeah, so I recorded the EP at Big Nice Studio in Lincoln, Rhode Island. Shout out to Big Nice Studio, they’re amazing. And I gave Chaimes Parker, who produced it, what I like to call a vibe sheet of how I wanted the songs to sound. And since I was kind of new to music production, and newer to the studio environment in addition to sort of writing out, ” Oh, I want reverb on the sound,” I would give kind of a poetic description and for “Moth” the description was a dusty old porch light, a bite in the tall grass. And so Big Nice Studio actually has a dusty old porch light. So what Chaimes did is he took a microphone and he placed it next to the porch light and captured the beautiful nature sounds of Lincoln Rhode Island.
Rel: The one thing I want people to take away from listening to my music is that you can do it, even if you think you can’t. And the way that you can do it is through community and your friends and people that might not be your friends yet, but if you’re brave and reach out, they’ll be your friends. And to just gather that network of supportive, loving, wonderful people, and bring them all together, and you can make it. You don’t have to be some level of musician or some level of writer. If you just start doing, that will be enough.
Hernandez: This has been such a joy. I really appreciate the conversation. Thank you.
Rel: Yeah, thank you so much, Luis. It’s been wonderful.
Music heard in this story:
- “Margery,” recorded live at The Public’s Radio
- “Feeling Better,” from the “Big Try” EP
- “Blue Hour American Dream,” from the “Big Try” EP
- “Moth,” from the “Big Try” EP
- “Moth,” recorded live at The Public’s Radio
- “Blue Hour American Dream,” recorded live at The Public’s Radio
