INTERVIEW | CRÈME and Independent Electronic Music Scene
Know one of best electronic indie, and its underground scene by CRÈME
If you are the kind of person who usually looks for new music to listen on web, you probably know how difficult it is for us to find something good according our personal music taste. Specially if you are not an eclectic soul.
Anyway, despite the huge demand of songs on web, we can still find a lot of good stuff going on, even on unusual places! I was navigating on Instagram when I found CRÈME, a pseudonym of Trixie Reiss, the soul behind electronic beats with soft voices over dancing, sensitive and powerful melodies.
In her experiences as “one woman band”, she told us how is to be a part of the underground electronic music scene in New York, and what she thinks about music industry stuffs.
No longer ago, we finally found a date to make possible this interview you’ll read by now, made with so much love.
Enjoy!
MUI Content: How does CRÈME began?
CRÈME: A few years ago, I realized that I had to do something to lift myself out of a period of silence and feelings of powerlessness. Making music has always done that for me, and thanks to encouragement from some people who are very close to me, I got up the courage to do it, but this time I did it differently. I did it all alone. 100% solo, 100% me, 100% CRÈME.
MUI: Why the name “CRÈME”?
CRÈME: CRÈME is the richest purest part, the CRÈME de la CRÈME of the CRÈME.
MUI: How came the idea of being musician/producer?
CRÈME: I’ve been making music all my life. While I was growing up my father and I used to play improvised duets on the piano. It was how we “played” together.
We always wrote and played our own songs. It was always fun, like playing a game for me. I remember singing and making up songs on the piano when I was as young as 3 years old and that’s never stopped. Probably because of that, music has always been a healing and comforting thing for me to do. Throughout my life I’ve collaborating with bands and producers until recently, when because of technology, anyone can be a producer. Now I can do exactly what I want, when I want, by myself.
MUI: How do you define your music style inside the electronic music?
CRÈME: Personally, it’s hard for me to put a label on it. What genre is Chet Faker, Grimes, FKA Twigs or Sophie? It’s digital so inherently that means genre blending because it’s literally constructed from tiny bits and pieces of collaged and manipulated audio which come from many different sources. I think of it as Alternative but then Alt radio here doesn’t always play that stuff, because maybe it’s too experimental. But I think that’s pretty much where I fit and even when I hear Charli XCX, who’s considered pop, I think she’s also experimental in some ways.
I’m definitely more on the experimental side of things because that’s just how it comes out. I try to make things that sound like this or that but somehow I always end up sounding different and I’ve grown to accept that. Now, I think it might actually be working for me!
MUI: Tell us about your music influences.
CRÈME: There are soooo many amazing artists out there right now! I could make a really long list of what I listen to but I’m not sure how much you’d hear their influence in what I do, you’ll have to tell me. I love Odessa, Above and Beyond, Dooqu, Sylvin Esso, Borns, Patrick Reza, Phantogram, Superorganism, Dirty Projectors, Rufus Du Sol, ANIMA!, Cashmere Cat and Grimes to name only a few.
MUI: I read you joined Blössom Records. Which are the biggest differences and benefits to work with a label instead of being completely independent, with so many technologies to improve the reach of your songs nowadays (streaming websites, independent media for example).
CRÈME: Blössom Records is run by Elliot James and Justin Goodarz. Elliot’s an artist and I love his latest project “Extremely Bad Man”! To me Blössom feels like a collective based on a certain taste level more than a label. I think taste or in other words an “influencers perspective” is one of the most important ways to define yourself within the sea of music that we swim in today. It’s about being connected to something that I believe in and vise versa.
MUI: We all know music industry is still largely male. Anyway, we find in electronic music some space to women working as producers, DJs etc. Do you think it’s a different niche from the rest of music industry, offering more opportunities, for example? Or it’s so male as the whole music market?
CRÈME: Now days because of the internet, I kind feel like we’re all in the same boat to some degree. Yes, in the very top positions where there are millions of dollars involved, it’s still largely male dominated, but there are so many other levels that music lives on and because of the new world order anyone can influence the course of music and history right now. Look what’s happening in the US in politics, I think the same thing is happening in music, starting from the ground up.
MUI: Not so long ago, we’ve been noticing some female movements inside the wordwide music industry, fighting for more space to women. Last month, the Recording Academy (Grammy) announced a project to include women as Producers and Engineerings in music. This project already has great artist, record labels and producer names as supporters. How do you see this to independent musicians?
CRÈME: It’s a start, I thought the Grammy’s was actually a somewhat good show this year because of that! But I come from the world of DIY. I think that’s how the greatest things in modern history have taken place, so it’s nice that NARAS* is finally making a point to notice, but it’s only because of the groundswell that’s been bubbling up from the “underground” for years. Also, don’t forget, computers have been a true democratizer, getting music technology into the hands of everyone and anyone and that’s having a big effect on this as well.
*The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.
MUI: Do you have some music producer or musician you’d like to work with? Who?
CRÈME: Many! Some times I cry about how much I love what other people make, but then I just go back to my computer and start something new.
MUI: Your profile on Spotify is amazing! A good number of listeners by month may show a good grow of audience. I’ve heard your singles and your EP BRÜLÉE, released last year (2018). Talk about this work please! (Creativity proccess, lyrics inspiration, producing by yourself).
CRÈME: For me making music is all about the zone of improvisation. Like playing a game or solving a puzzle. I’ll sit down at my keyboard and find some chords that make my heart open or I could see something on the street that causes words to flow through my head and I dictate them into my phone. Those lyrics or even hearing a sentence or two from someone else become a seed of a song. Or sometimes I have a chord progression and beat set up and I start singing over it, just improvising and the entire song will come out in one take. That’s how “Helium” and “YRGM” came to me, pretty much in one vocal pass. Then I get to work on the production and I have to tweak the tracks for months sometimes to get them right.
But during the time that I was writing the songs for BRÜLÉE, my father passed away suddenly. He and I were very close. He was probably my biggest supporter, especially in the past few years when I was writing this new stuff. He died about six months before I released “Helium”, my first CRÈME release. But he heard many of the songs in their demo stages and in many ways I pushed myself to release CRÈME for him, as a testament to life. I wrote “Above Ground” as a way to confront the existential struggle that loosing my dad put before me. Ironically, the song became a celebration of optimism and I think it’s more about beginnings than endings.
MUI: What about your future plans? Are you already working on a debut album? Some partnership or featuring you can tell us? Will you participate of some events, concerts or festivals this year?
CRÉME: All of the above are in the planning stages right now, so please stay tuned for more!
MUI: The last one, but still important question! Do you know or listen to any brazilian musician? Any plan to visit us?
CRÈME: I love Caetano Veloso, Joao Gilberto, Gilberto Gil and Tom Jobim. I know those are the giants of your scene. But I’d love to hear more about what’s coming up from there now days and I’d love to visit one day. It seems like such a musically rich and very passionate place!
** BONUS: GROWING UP THE SCENE! **
MUI: Tell us bands, musicians or DJs to include on our Spotify playlist!
CRÈME: Just a few…some old some new :))
Extremely Bad Man | Patrick Reza | Anima!
Odessa | NOVA | K.Flay | Courtney Barnett
Droeloe | Jinka | More Giraffs | Joji
Dirty Projectors | Rufus Du Sol | Boards of Canada
Thankyou so much CRÈME! Success!
Listen CRÈME on Spotify and Soundcloud. Find her on socials: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
Thanks for reading! ❤
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