Photo by Ray Lego
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]here’s a line in “Grown Up,” the second track off Eli “Paperboy” Reed’s upcoming new record Nights Like This, that is likely to define the year ahead: “Shit is getting real now.”
The acclaimed Brookline musician has been in the game for a decade, but Nights Like This — out April 29 on Warner Bros. — marks a noticeable leap in widespread accessibility and appeal. Standout tracks like frenzied opener “Well, Alright Now” and first single “WooHoo” are electric shocks to Reed’s soul and r&b pedigree; retaining his penchant for retro-soaked hooks but with a modern flair that should make him a household name by Christmas.
Vanyaland caught up with Reed this week to chat about a bunch of things, like his incredible new record, soul music’s migration to the mainstream, and Friday’s show at the Sinclair in Cambridge — a Valentine’s Day bash featuring Ruby Rose Fox and the SoulLeLuJah DJs. The Vanya crew will also be on-hand raising a glass to the launch of VanyaRadio — so get there early for a free pair of “Vanyaland: The New Alternative” sunglasses, available to the first 100 or so through the door.
But wait! There’s more! Want to get on the list +1? Email michael@vanyaland.com with PAPERBOY in the subject line and we’ll select two winners at random, each given a +1 to take out their dates somewhere special.
Broken hearts can apply, too, no doubt.
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Michael Marotta: Last time we touched base was right after 2010’s Come And Get It. What have you been up to since then? We heard rumors of major label deals and gigs with all-time greats…
Eli “Paperboy” Reed: It’s been a little while! After Come And Get It we pretty much toured about as hard as you can, but most of it was international — Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand etc. After the touring cycle ended I set out to writing this new album and wanted to really try some new methods and work with some different people. My writing and production partner — who I produced the new album with, Ryan Spraker — and I did a bunch of trips out to LA to work with a whole bunch of different writers from all different backgrounds. On the first trip we did, actually the first session, we wrote “Shock to the System” with Michael Fitzpatrick (Fitz, of Fitz & The Tantrums) and Rock producer Dave Bassett and that song is going to be the first single!
While all that was happening, Capitol/EMI (my label for Come And Get It) was bought by Universal Music and in the tumult that followed, my contract for another album didn’t get picked up. Almost simultaneously, Mike Elizondo (my producer on Come And Get It) signed his deal as a staff producer with Warner Bros. which basically allowed him to sign artists as if he were an A&R person. He called me almost immediately and asked if I wanted to come with him to Warner and I jumped at the chance. He essentially was sort of the executive producer of this album while Ryan and I did the actual grunt work along with our partner in crime and engineer-extraordinare, Pat DiCenso.
We basically spent all of 2012 and some of 2013 going back and forth between LA, New York, and Boston. We would do writing sessions in LA and then do our own demoing and writing in Boston or New York. After we had gotten all the songs together we ended up actually recording the album in December of 2012 and January of 2013. Half of it was done at Q Division in Somerville and half was done at Applehead Studios in Woodstock, NY.
And now here it is February of 2014 and it’s finally done and ready to come out! It’s definitely been a long road between records but I’m very excited to get back on stage and show the new music to the world.
It’s cliche to say new record Nights Like This sounds like a “breakout record,” but it feels like it has massive crossover potential. With the increased popularity in retro music, especially soul and r&b, is there pressure to create something for mainstream appeal? Especially on a major label?
Honestly, the only pressure I felt was from myself. I felt that it was time to breakout of the niche that I had sort of created for myself and to try to do something that could potentially expose my music to a much wider audience. If I didn’t do that, I’d end up making the same kind of record for the rest of my life and that’s something I didn’t want to do. I have soul music running through my veins so that’s always going to be a part of what I do. That fact allows me to make some different choices with production, writing and approach but my voice and style will still bring it all back home. My hope is that I can reach a mass audience and use that platform to expose people to some of the music that I love.