Meet Reggie Volume

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Reggie Volume a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Reggie , we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

I’d say my purpose found me before I ever sought it out. I went through something pretty traumatic as a pre-teen going into high-school. Coming out of that experience I began to escape and express through music. I believed this saved my life and gave me a glimpse of my purpose at an early age. I always had a strong connection with music through my parents playing fusion jazz, funk, yacht rock and gospel in the car. Also being emotionally overwhelmed by the spirit during praise and worship growing up in the church. I slowly found my own way of communicating feelings that I struggled putting into words. Whether it was through making up melodies on a midi keyboard or soloing on my sax in church, all of it was a call back to some sort of channeling the Creator and showing my gratitude. I started to harness my gift by studying those that came before me trying to figure out how they did what they did. Why this chord? Why this workstation? Why this sample? I was deeply inspired to help artists tell their stories through music, so much so that I wrote my personal statement about winning a Grammy and sowing seeds of musical expression for future generations. I believe a piece of my purpose was confirmed for me when I nervously went to do my music audition at Elizabeth City State University. I doubted my skills and to be honest I wasn’t sure if I was fully prepared for it. I prayed one my most fervent prayers the night before my audition, asking God to give me a sign that music was truly my calling. After I passed my audition I never doubted my gift again and I was sure that a part of my purpose was to shed light and bring healing with music as my medium.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

As a musician and producer I think of myself as an audio alchemist. I bring together a variety of elements—chords, drum loops, melodies, samples, vocals, random sounds, and personal experiences—and shape them into something cohesive and tangible. I think that’s one of the most exciting things about the process. The same way a painter throws colors on a blank canvas or a clothing designer may recycle old threads to construct a new piece to wear. The process is all about using the resources (sounds and equipment or lack thereof) you have on hand and making something beautiful out of that. There’s truly a magic to it.

This is something I leaned into heavily on the collaborative eponymous BLACK MOSS EP that I dropped with rapper HANZ. Half of the beats were made using old Logic sessions and the other half using a version of Ableton that would only allow for only 8 or 16 tracks at a time. Exploring Ableton allowed me to unlock fully while also presenting a challenge to refine my creativity with concise sound choices. With producing I believe the beauty is in collaborating with artists who aren’t afraid to try new approaches and direction. It takes a certain level of courage, openness and vulnerably to do so. This is clearly reflected in BLACK MOSS, where the project seamlessly merges HANZ’s musical world with my own, intertwining our shared life experiences.

As a teaching artist my purpose is to simply plant the seeds of creativity within the youth by showing them how to do what I do with the hopes that they’ll do it better than me one day. Giving them a glimpse of how far they can go with their talents. It’s more of a guiding than anything. Showing them multiple ways to approach their own style of creativity. Youth artist development and mentorship is how I approach it. The learning is a collaborative process with my mentees just as it is with fellow artists. Engaging the youth within their world as a teacher of general music and mentoring young artists in the studio have played a very pivotal role in my growth as a producer, musician and DJ.

This year I’m focusing on producing for more artists, doing more DJ sets, releasing a dance driven project, and scoring films, video games and tv shows. I formed the N * R T H S T * R production duo with my homie Flaire as well. We’re working through ideas for a compilation project while executive producing rapper GVVAAN’s next album. Aside from those things I’d like to provide more mentorship for youth who are looking to produce and engage with the music industry. I don’t think there’s enough guidance in a realm where it’s really needed.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I think audacity might be the number one quality that has impacted my journey. Most of my creative choices stem from me asking myself, “What if I sampled this or why hasn’t anyone tried this yet? What if I tried it? Why not? Oh because I’m supposed to do it”, is often the answer that comes up. My favorite artist and producers possessed the audacity to just try ideas out. Audacity says, “I’m not afraid if anyone else like this, I’m gonna try it anyway.” The Neptunes, Timbaland, Missy and Dilla all embodied this in their approach to the craft. I recall Pharrell saying in an interview, “I like doing things that don’t exist.” That is true audacity to me. To throw convention out the window and go seeking something completely non-existent. There’s also a trust in knowing that the “aliens” are going to help you create something out of this world when you go into the void.

I believe my faith has propelled me to achieve many things that I wouldn’t have without it. Faith is truly a superpower when paired with audacity. With audacity my level of faith increases. Faith in myself, Faith in God, the God within me and within my community. Faith that I’m being divinely led and that things are going to work out on my behalf. I wear it like armor to protect me from the doubt that creeps in. BLACK MOSS is the most successful project that I’ve released and without me having the audacity to move from D.C. to Jersey along with the faith that the move would eventually reap fruit, I’m probably not speaking to you about the project right now.

I’ve always been a student. So I think that approach has allowed me to progress the way I have. Around the time when youtube first started to become popular I would spend hours on the family computer looking up beat making videos and videos of producers in the studio. I used to go on Ares (a file sharing program similar to LimeWire) and search for all the songs in my favorite producers’ discographies. I guess you could say this was my independent study curriculum for production. My research. Putting those songs on my iPod, studying them thoroughly then going back home recreating what I heard. Soaking up all the music my parents played and my young musical experiences in choir and jazz band have all influenced me and my sound or “aura” as I like to call it. Learning from my collaborators as well. Whether it be from my close peers I create with or my students. You’re never too old to learn something new. Einstein said, “once you stop learning you start dying” and I truly believe that. It’s one of the main reasons why I don’t like to repeat anything I’ve done musically. I’m always going to go into the void and come back with something different because I’ve allowed myself to be open to new information and a new experience.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

I reflect on this often. Last year I was reading a book called “The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path To Creativity”. One of the exercises prompted me to write about champions of my creative self-worth. I immediately thought about how two of them were my parents. Ever since I was young they have gone above and beyond to support me in my creative pursuits and my interests. My excitement towards a hobby was always met with shared excitement and a surplus of resources that followed.

They had the foresight to send me to Hardy Middle School which undoubtedly changed my perspective of the world and my perspective of my city drastically. Hardy holds my most fondest memories of being in school. I was exposed to a new world outside of the hood where we lived in Southeast DC. I was going to school across from a bagel shop lol. Do you know how wild that is?! My mind was opened to so many new experiences within the arts. To be in that environment everyday was so pivotal for my creative self-worth. I was playing instruments for the first time. In jazz band under Mr. Chisholm I learned how to play clarinet and saxophone. I got the opportunity to play all these sick jazz and funk numbers that my dad loved from Earth, Wind, and Fire, Herbie Hancock, Duke Ellington and more. Kids from Southeast D.C. didn’t have opportunities like this unless they had parents like mine with that high level of foresight and vision.

In high school when I expressed interest in creating my own music and wanting to produce music I was met with nothing but support. After my first Summer job and birthday following the summer I saved up about $900 to go towards a Yamaha Motif XS7. It was my hope that me showing my parents that I had some initiative would allow them to see how serious I was about my future. They took me to a music store and both of them matched the amount I put up. That kind of love is what I want to give to my future kids. I don’t have enough words to express how much that means to me. I’m forever grateful for their love and support that covers me daily. My path forward is not only about staying true to my inner child but it’s also to honor them.

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Image Credits

Cydnii Jones

Adrián Gutiérrez-Monge

Aaron Laserna

Sanmi

Hantz Jean-Francois

Aaron Laserna

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