Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: I’m a Franco-British artist, currently based in Paris. I started writing music as a child, mesmerized by the power of a good melody. I don’t come from a particularly musical family, but I remember my dad would play a lot of 80s music like Elton John, Madonna & Joe Cocker in the car on the way to school (it was our reward after making my brother and I practice our multiplication tables out loud). In my tween years I listened to a ton of pop music, and then as an early adult I found my musical taste migrated heavily towards psych-rock. I’d say my own music is very much a combination of those three influences.
Q: Can you describe the musical style of Reine Orelia in three words?
A: Groovy. Ethereal. Honest.
Q: How do you stay connected with your fans, and what role do they play in shaping your musical journey?
A: I’m not sure I can answer this quite yet. This EP is my first real effort to create community around my work. Prior to this, I spent a good ten years releasing tracks here and there, more focused on trying to find my sound than my audience. With this EP, I finally feel I have a perspective worth sharing, so I’m doing what I can to make sure it finds its way to the right people. So far so good. I’ve received a lot of support, mostly on Instagram and YouTube.
Q: You have just released your new EP, ‘Please Be Impressed’. Is there a story behind it?
A: Absolutely! This EP is an introspective look back at my twenties. I’m 29 now, so it seemed like a fitting time to reflect. I always say my twenties were my “cave years”, because of how much time I spent on my own. There were many reasons for this isolation: my innate introverted nature, a period of chronic illness and a global pandemic taking place while I was living abroad, alone in a studio apartment. This EP is the fruit of all the self-reflection I did in those years, everything I learned about my ego, my shadow, and how ugly yet endearing the human experience can be.
Q: What is your favorite track from the EP and why?
A: I think “Empty Cup” might be my favourite track from the EP at the moment. I’ve always wanted to write a really big, symphonic piece with heart-swelling melodies and I think I really pulled it off with this song. It’s the final track of the EP, meant to symbolize the release of a cycle, and I feel like the song perfectly captures the combination of euphoric freedom and nostalgia you feel when closing any chapter in life.
Q: Can you walk us through the creative process of producing the EP, “Please Be Impressed”?
A: This is the first project I self-produced, which I’m really proud of. I went into this project with the desire to challenge a belief I long held that I didn’t know enough about music production to do it alone. I really wanted to see what would happen if I trusted my own taste and let myself figure out how to bring my vision to life even without having all the practical knowledge. I wanted to give myself evidence that you don’t need to know everything about music production to make good music, and I feel I totally succeeded in that endeavour because I ended up making 5 songs I love. I’m so proud of this EP. Producing this project has given me so much confidence in myself as an artist and producer.
Pragmatically speaking, I wrote most of these songs by March of 2025, which is when I started recording vocals and arranging the tracks. Much of the recording was done in my bedroom / closet over the span of a couple months. Then I got a talented drummer called Jeff Hooker to play on all 5 tracks, and my friend Michael Go to lay down some electric guitar on a few songs. I worked with Will Owen Bennett on the mix over the summer, while my brother and I filmed the visuals for the short film that accompanies the EP, and in the Fall of 2025, Conor Dalton put the final touches on the Master. From there I dove straight into the release prep.
I’ve made some deep dives on the music production for each single on my Youtube channel, for those who are interested.
Q: What has been the most memorable concert or performance for Reine Orelia so far?
A: I haven’t had much of an opportunity to play live yet, to be honest. My primary focus so far has been trying to find my sound, hone my production skills and refine my point of view. Now that the EP is out, I’m going to have a lot more time to get a live set together and hopefully do a few shows.
Q: Reflecting on your body of work, each song holding its unique significance, could you share a particular track that stands out to you personally? What makes that specific tune special, and why does it hold a place of pride in your musical journey?
A: I’m particularly proud of my song “The Very Best”. It’s a song about acknowledging my big, messy, human ego and all of its self-centered desires. I wanted to write a song about forgiving yourself for having an ego, because I’ve long made the observation that the more you reject your ego out of shame, the more you end up performing virtue rather than actually practicing it. The most genuinely virtuous people I know are the ones who have faced themselves earnestly. I notice it’s only those who have been through this cycle of self-awareness to self-forgiveness who are able to look past their egoic impulses and become deeply considerate and genuinely empathetic. I wanted to write a song that traces this journey from radical honesty to self-forgiveness. It’s my best-performing song to date, so I hope that means it struck the intended chord!
Q: Exploring the diverse creative processes within the music industry is always fascinating. Could you provide insight into Reine Orelia’s unique approach to crafting music? From the initial spark of an idea to the finished song, how do you navigate the creative journey and bring its musical concepts to life?
A: I’ve always been very melody-centered, meaning I used to write music with melody in mind before considering anything else. With this EP, my approach was different, I wanted to write groove-centered music. So where I used to start writing music acoustically on my piano, finalizing a chord progression and vocal melody before starting on the rest, I now tend to start immediately in my DAW, I find a drum groove that I like and mess around with chord progressions & vocal melodies until I find ones that suit the groove. It’s my preferred way to write new music at the moment, but of course that is always subject to change.
Q: As we wrap up our conversation, looking ahead, what aspirations or dreams do you have for Reine Orelia, and what message would you like to share with your fans as they continue to accompany you on this musical journey?
A: My greatest hope would be to keep progressing enough in the industry that I’m able to produce music with greater means. Right now I’m on a very limited budget, so I have to rely on a lot of MIDI instruments and synthetic sounds to pull off the music I want to make. I’d love to step out of my bedroom and record in a real studio, collaborate with more real musicians. In the age of AI, I’d like to lean as far into the tangible, analog, human side of music-making as possible. But this is hard to do without financial backing and industry support, unfortunately. That would be my biggest aspiration right now, along with setting up a live set I’m proud of and connecting with people in real life, rather than exclusively via the digital world.
I feel I’ve been standing on my soap box a little too long already, so I’m not sure I have a particular message to send out right now other than a big thank you to everyone who has been listening. Hopefully we can keep this introspection-train going and find new passengers along the way!
