In light of the highly-anticipated album that drops November 27th entitled Play With Fire, we at Your EDM sit down with RAM Records artist Rene LaVice to capture an insider’s view into what goes into creating a full album from every angle in the drum and bass world. Play With Fire capitalizes on the unique style of Rene’s specific production characteristics, and thrives on the individuality of such a forward-thinking artist. Let’s have a look.
Hey Rene! Stoked to be able to chat with you in line of your “nu-est” album entitled Play With Fire. Could you begin by telling us over at Your EDM about its content?
Thanks for having me, I’m really excited about this album. Its contents are raw, they’re stories from the heart that a lot of people can relate to. Most of it is classifiable as Drum & Bass but I consider it to be a genre-less album. It’s René LaVice music, there’s a mix of tempos and grooves but all of it has an attitude and a style synonymous with me. I’ve had an eclectic life experience and the influence from other cultures & genres shows through on this album. This was an incredibly challenging album to make, and I can’t believe how happy I am with it now. It’s a fantastic feeling to finally complete it.
How long have you been compiling these productions into such an incredibly cohesive album?
Close to two years. It was quite a journey.
Where is the album’s name derived from?
I can’t pinpoint the moment I thought of it. But it essentially comes from the idea that love & passion can be volatile, and if you play with fire, you might get burned. I’m sure even people who aren’t living on the edge can relate to what I mean by that. It’s also the ethos I live by in terms of performing my music at shows, more so as an instruction. When I play music I never half ass it, I always give 110%. If I play, I play with fire.
If you had to pinpoint one track from the album that you personally love, what would it be and why?
‘The Calling’ featuring Ivy Mairi. Because every time I listen to it I’m transported right back to the moment that Ivy and I wrote the lyrics about. It’s a bittersweet love song. It’s about passion, and the strange ways in which the universe brings people together only to pull them apart. It also makes people go bonkers on the dancefloor and I absolutely love that.
So we all see your comedic antics and funny promo videos for your musical endeavors, is this a reflection of your personality in general as well?
In some ways. I take myself seriously but I also have a sense of humour. I’m not really into people who are so serious their giving themselves hemorrhoids. I just like people, I like interacting with people and making people smile. I have a really active imagination so sometimes when I’m speaking things come out in a way people don’t expect and it makes them laugh. There’s so much hypocrisy and absurdity in the world that we accept as the norm; when you speak your mind it’s easy to see why people can’t help but laugh. Appreciate the serious things, but don’t forget to laugh. I’ve learned way more in life from laughing than I ever did from getting depressed. I think laughter can change the world.
And sometimes I just drink way too much coffee and do dumb shit.
Will you be planning a “nu tour” for December/early 2016?
I have some key shows in December but I am also going home to see the family. We are looking at nu tour opportunities into 2016 – more will be revealed soon via my Facebook fanpage.
What are your top 3 favorite tour stops?
Ah man… so many people are going to hate me after this question. there are way too many great tour destinations to name! Anywhere that the music is pumping and the fans are packed in going crazy is the place to be.
Some definite favourites are Prague, Czech Republic, Amsterdam, Netherlands, and London, England.
Tell us a bit about the process that an artist such as yourself goes through when preparing an album release.
Lots of stress and panic attacks. It can be fun, but it can also take its toll, so I usually try to start eating right and take care of myself a bit more. The hardest part about being self-employed is taking care of yourself. I have to constantly remind myself that I’m not a robot and to account for all the work I’m doing even if it dosen’t involve making music.
We all have seen your hilariously notorious tweets during award ceremonies, so we were all incredibly happy to see you get the “people’s choice award”. Do you consider that a milestone for you?
Haha, yeah I love Twitter. I’m on snapchat now too so there’s always madness going down on there as well. That award was definitely a milestone for me. What matters most to me is that the fans love the music and believe in me. I wasn’t expecting to win anything, and when I won that award it hit me really hard. It doesn’t matter what the music illuminati thinks, this one’s for the people. I feel like all my fans are right there beside me, ready to take on the world. It’s an amazing feeling. Listen to the kids, bruh! haha
Lastly, what’s up next? After this album hype begins to slow, do you have any other ideas for releases planned for 2016 that you can share with us?
Yeah I’ve been working on this art installation that involved a lot of jello but it’s been tough to pull it together because it’s really hard to freeze solidify that much jello in one go. It might be because I’m adding too much vodka though; my friend Harriet did that last weekend so that might be what the problem is. Aside from that there’s going to be some really exciting stuff that I kind of have to stay tight lipped about. The one ting I can mention though is that my nu ‘podcast’ René LaVice Radio, which recently had its first episode, will continue on iTunes so be sure to check it out and subscribe to it and say really lovely things about it online and show it to your mum and your sister and your auntie and your cousins and your cousins dogs or cats or whatever pets they have.
We over at Your EDM are extremely excited for the second album from Rene LaVice. This sort of album comes once in a blue moon, and the unparalleled merging of so many characteristic styles into one beautifully – constructed album is nothing less of pure bliss.
You can purchase the album here: po.st/PWFiT
