TFN Talks with Deniz Reno
Photo by Lutz Soedibjo
This week in celebration of the August 4th release of her new EP ‘ LOVERS’ , Singer Songwriter and our Editor in Chief Deniz Reno was interviewed by poet and writer Roel Cruys and 11 year old artist and model Sonia about her new album, inspiration and life on the road.
What was the inspiration behind your new album Lovers? What is the symbolism behind the cover art for the EP?
LOVERS was inspired by love stories, mostly my own. When I started writing the record I wasn’t sure what it would be about. I never really set out to create a specific theme. It developed organically. The first song Mike Schlosser (my producer) and I recorded was ‘Siren’s Song’. I feel that it sort of set the tone for the rest of the album without me even realising it at the time. Siren’s Song is largely fictional. It created a mythological entry into a record which explores the themes of love, relationship and loss, but on a more personal level. I had taken a long break from songwriting prior to writing this mini album. At the time I was working as a scenic artist on the Amazon Prime television series The Expanse. We were doing 13 hour days on set and I was promoting my last EP Narcissus. I really wanted to start writing new material. So when I finally sat down at my piano over the Christmas holidays these songs just poured out of me out of their own volition. I think the emotions I had experienced for two years up until that point had finally found a way to translate themselves into song and it was like “Ok, I guess this record will be about love in all its incarnations, personal, fictional, etc”. After the songs were done I decided that I was going to illustrate all the single covers and the album cover myself to merge my two worlds - art and music, into one. Every single cover tells a story about the essence of what the song is about. The cover art for the album is representative of my idea of what love is: it’s universal, regardless of your color, creed, orientation. Love is love. The stories in this album may be personal to some extent but they are also universal and relatable. I dedicated this record to all the lovers.
What Is Siren’s Song about and how did you record it?
Siren’s Song was inspired by an Australian Netflix TV series called Tidelands, starring Elsa Pataky, Charlotte Best, Marco Pigossi and Aaron Jakubenko. The show is set in a fictional Australian fishing town of Orphelin Bay where fishermen and sailors have been going missing out at sea for decades. The township is situated near a commune of a group who call themselves the “Tidelanders”. Long story short, the fishermen and sailors who have gone missing had fallen victim to sirens. A siren is a Greek mythological female creature who lives in the sea and lures sailors into the sea and to their death with her enchanting voice. These sirens would make love to the sailors, the sailors would drown and the children the sirens conceived would wash up on the shore, orphaned. These children were the Tidelanders, stunning half human half siren hybrids with mystical powers. I fell in love with the show and the music curated for the series by music supervisor Lynn Fainchtein. I was inspired to write ‘Siren’s Song’ a sort of imagined theme for the series. As I wrote the verses I would watch the series trailer without sound to draw inspiration from the scenes. Although the legend of sirens is the driving force behind Tidelands, during the series you never actually see or hear from the sirens themselves. You only catch a glimpse of them in the very last scene of the very last episode of the show. Siren’s Song was my way of giving a voice to this mystical creature. If the sirens could speak, what stories would they tell? The lyrics are infused with hidden references to the script. For example “Children of men, living by the sea, they hear my song, they come to me, oh mother, calling”, refers to the plight of the Tidelanders, who are half human half siren, who have spent a lifetime looking to the sea in hopes of meeting their mothers. While writing the song I also drew inspiration from my own life in Bali, Burleigh Heads and Byron Bay, Australia, the mystical qualities of these places which are married to the ocean and have brought me so much joy. The Tidelanders reminded me a lot of my friends and I and the life we have grown accustomed to on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Siren’s Song is probably one of my favourite songs on the album and recording it was truly a magical experience. Mike and I went into the studio hours before New Years eve and played around with sounds. I basically flew in with this acoustic guitar version of Siren’s I wrote two days prior and was like “Mike, I have this song, we have to make it sounds like the ocean. Can you create the feeling of what being underwater sounds like in a song?” And so he did … Mike is incredible. He had me go into the booth and clank pieces of palo santo wood together, play the singing bowl and do vocal improvs, all of which made up the samples you hear in the haunting instrumental for the song. We created layers and layers of multi-octave vocal harmonies to simulate what it would be like, to be at sea surrounded by the singing of these mythical creatures. When I finally went in to track the vocals it was a surreal experience. I just had goosebumps all the way through, it almost felt like I was possessed when I sang those vocals I hardly even remember doing it. This energy just washed over me, it felt powerful and soft and seductive … It’s like I channeled the spirit of the siren and tapped into the essence of the song I wanted to create. Mike took all the raw bits and pieces and create something extraordinary with it. I still get excited remembering back to the days we worked on he single. It was one of my all time favourite studio experiences.
What are the emotions you hope to get across to the listener with this record?
I wrote these songs for myself, maybe with the exception of Siren’s Song. A number of these songs materialised from a bubbling well of emotions I had inside, stories that needed to be shared, emotions that needed to be released. Working on this record was an intimate therapeutic experience of sorts for me so I didn’t set out to influence my audience in any way when I was writing or recording this record BUT as any artist who creates and eventually lets their art go on its own journey into the world, my only wish if I had one would be for people to enjoy it and to somehow be able to relate to it. I found that the first three singles I had released ‘Brightest’, ‘Forbidden Fruit’ and ‘Lovers (Crash & Burn) seemed to accomplish that. ‘Brightest’ is the most intimate song on the record. It’s a conversation with my late fiance Graham who lost his life in a tragic accident doing what he loved. My heart was bursting out of my chest in the moments before I released that song to the world because it was the most vulnerable thing I’d ever written about an event that had a profound effect on my life in the past three and a half years. In the following weeks letters poured in from all over the world, people I didn’t know, telling me about how they came across the song while presently grieving the loss of a loved one. It took on a life of its own and found the right ears. That’s all an artist can hope for. I had a similar experience with Lovers (Crash & Burn), which I also wrote about Graham and I, it got an overwhelming response. I think many people were able to relate to the message of the song, the idea of beautiful adrenalin filled reckless love. At the end of the day I hope people will get what they get from the album, but I’m in this headspace where if I was the only person who ever heard these songs and liked them, that’s already enough for me. They completed a part of my own journey with love and my own experiences. When I sat down to write LOVERS I didn’t have a plan, the songs just appeared from under my fingertips on the piano and words poured out of me in verses. The themes on this record are universal, it’s therapy for me, and a gift to every lover out there.
What songs came from high energy moments, and can you share a bit about a particular moment?
I would say that every song on this record had a high energy moment of its own. The most memorable one for me was the experience of writing ‘Brightest’. I cried a lot during the process of creating that song. Every emotion I had in relation to the man I loved and the events surrounding his passing came to the surface. The scope of my unconditional love for this young man, the grief, how misunderstood we both were at times, how much
I missed him, just everything. I think as a testament to overestimating my emotional strength I thought I’d show up at the studio and track the vocals one day and that would be it, and then I went into the vocal booth and started choking on my words because I couldn’t be in a vulnerable authentic space within that song and that experience and also bypass the pain that came along with it. It was a “How do i sing this without bleeding”, moment, and then I just thought to hell with it, let it happen. Mike smiled, gave me a giant box of Kleenex and was like “take your time … today, tomorrow, we got this”. It felt like digging through a deep wound, but a dig that was necessary. I needed that song to exist for my own sanity. Mike, bless his heart, held that space for me so beautifully. I don’t like falling apart in front of people, I think I inherited that from my mother who is literally the strongest person I know. So with the family mantra of “I’ve got this… keep calm and carry on”, that was a difficult experience to go through, but we recorded that song and I was happy with what it became. When ‘Brightest’ was almost complete I started having flashes of a memory I had with Graham and his voice from that memory saying “trust me”. It kept on happening for three days straight until I came into the studio and proposed that Mike and I pull a vocal from a home video to add to the song. We ended up sampling Graham’s voice into a slot in the instrumental, which you can only spot if you know what his voice sounds like because it blended in so beautifully with the haunting melody. The first time I heard the entire song back with that sample I had a massive emotional release. When we met we had often talked about writing a song together, he had a really beautiful voice. So then it kind of hit me, maybe that was the divine inspiration behind all of it, call it a spiritual collaboration of sorts. It was a really intense set of sessions from conception to the end.
What is it like working with you producer Mike Schlosser?
Mike and I met in 2014 and started cowriting songs together. A few of those ended up on my debut EP Narcissus which he produced and I released in 2018. He is just pure joy to work with. Our studio days are crazy long sometimes but it really just always feels like you are hanging out with your good friend and making cool music. He has a gift for sound and a sense for aesthetic and simplicity which I love. He has worked with some phenomenal talent and crafted a signature sound for each of us individually which is totally unique but has Mike written all over it. I love that I can bring a song into the studio which as been written on a loose arrangement of piano chords or strum something on a guitar and he can build this exquisite world around it which takes it to a completely new level. I don’t know if this is still true, but he used to say that I was the only singer who would come in and hang out at the studio during the entire production of a song as opposed to just coming in to track vocals. I think a lot of that has to do with the atmosphere Mike creates in the studio for his artists. I just love watching, hearing and learning about what he comes up with creatively and technically. The journey of making a song is just as gratifying as the result and he is one of the few people I know whose direction I pretty much never challenge because I trust his taste and professionalism. He’s a great producer.
What qualities inspire you about others, especially your friends?
I would say that I really value authenticity in people. Under that umbrella you can house things like (honesty, kindness, loyalty, empathy) If you look at my friends circle, it’s comprised of wonderful souls (like yourself) who really just relax into who they are and are comfortable with being in their skin, whatever their purpose is on this planet. Broader than this, I am inspired by creativity and intelligence. I respect courage. I respect when people I trust can stand up to me and challenge me or guide me if I ever veer off course in my personal or professional pursuits or ideals. I can equally appreciate someone with an incredible musical talent as I can someone who is really gifted in business. I’m inspired by people who are faced with profoundly challenging circumstances and choose to use them as catalysts for growth and personal development.
What inspired the idea for TheFearlessNomad.com and what is next for this platform?
In May of this year I had just finished quite a large body of work which I haven’t really spoken about yet. It’s currently looking for a home and once all the contracts are settled I can finally talk about it. The blog was actually born out of this body of work. I sat there having completed this massive project with knowledge that it would be several months before I could sit down and work on it again and I had this idea just drop on me, what if I created an online community of sorts where I could expand and elaborate on the project I had created. TheFearlessNomad.com was born that day. It’s part blog part interview hub, with great visual content and curated playlists. So far my favourite part has been interviewing extraordinary people for TFN Talks and having the honour of sharing bits and pieces of their stories with The Fearless Nomad audience. The heart and soul of TFN is to provide positive inspirational content. I would like for this place to be something people can dial up on their phone or laptop and read and go “Hey, that’s cool, let me try this., or let me go to this place” or “I’m not alone, look at all these people from different walks of life, they’ve persevered over their challenges too, look what they’ve accomplished”. I want to be a patron for creativity, courage and intelligence. I’m really thrilled with what TFN is becoming and I’m entertaining the idea of expanding the team so I can delegate some of the work for the various sections of the blog to others who share similar ideologies. Running a blog platform is a lot of work and I’m very new to this, but I love it. If you are reading this and you would like to get involved with TFN, don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
What is next for you musically? What do you think your next album will be about and when will be able to listen to it?
Following LOVERS I have three new single collaborations coming out with my friend and colleague Matt Lange. Two of those songs especially I am really excited for because they will be appearing on his new album.
This isn’t a given, but I think that for my next album I will temporarily depart from personal themes and touch more upon the state of human condition. I have spent the past two months diving into the world of poetry and exploring a lot of themes I haven’t really explored before in my music. I think that the new album will draw heavily on the inspiration from those poems. I may also record an acoustic album comprised of older unreleased material before then, we shall see. There will definitely be at least one new album to look forward to in 2021.
If you settled in one place, what would you life look like?
My heart has always been split between two frontiers, the mountains and the ocean. If I live in the mountains I would have a cabin style home with really high ceilings and a massive living room with a baby grand piano and a fireplace. I’m a big lover of equestrian sport and animals in general, so I would keep horses and two great danes (my favourite breed), I grew up with them so if I ever lived in one place again at least semi-permanently I would definitely get a couple of danes. The closest I have come to visualising what that kind of life would look like was when I was visiting New South Wales, Australia. I friend of mine pretty much has my dream place set up, minus the horses and the piano, so every time I think of what I’d want my life in the mountains to look like I visualise a cross between her place and similar concepts I’ve seen in Norway or Kazakhstan. If I lived on the ocean directly, I would have a more contemporary looking home somewhere off the side of a cliff, also high ceilings, glass walls and a baby grand in the living room overlooking the sea. I’ve seen two places so far that have come close to the vision I have, The Istana - Biohacking & Meditation Centre in Uluwatu, Bali and another friend’s place in Malibu, California. Both are situated right on the ocean, the views are unbelievable. I grew up in a family of artists so the aesthetics of a place for me have always been of the outmost importance. I don’t think I’d ever settle in a place that didn’t have a breathtaking view. I’ve had the pleasure of living in some remarkable locations and hopefully one day when I decide on a more permanent location I can design and build my own, when I feel that I’ve found the perfect view to wake up to every morning. As for how my career will look like - I don’t like predicting things, I’m in love with where I’m at right now and I have a feeling that it’s only going to get better.
What would you say is people’s biggest misconception about you?
I can’t really speak on that because I don’t know what exactly people think of me or what I do. Over the past few years as my creative visibility increased I’ve had people come up to me like “Hey you're Deniz Reno”, and share their experiences having listened to a song or read something I’ve written or worked on in terms of film or visual arts and it’s always an interesting experience understanding how someone receives your work or sees you as a person but I always feel detached from people’s idea of me and who I am in real life. Everyone views everyone from their own set of lens and that’s why opinions and perceptions don’t really have deep foundations. I think most people will identify with the fact that to some people you may be ‘the greatest’ and to some, maybe ‘the worst’, based on the experiences you’ve shared or personal preferences. As a high energy individual who strives to communicate with people from a place of love but also has really strong convictions and a ‘take no bullshit’ personality, I know that the way people experience who I am as an artist or a musician or an individual may fall on all sides of the spectrum. So that was a long way of saying I don’t think there are misconceptions, everyone has their own experience which is valid to them and positive or negative can have no basis in actual reality. Australian stunt legend Grant Page, once put a matchbox in front of me on the table and asked me to describe the sides, of which any person in any given moment can only see a maximum of three (a matchbox has 6 sides, obviously). So I told him what I was able to see and he told me what he could see, and even though we both agreed that we were looking at a matchbox, our descriptions of its sides didn’t actually match, so there it is. You can only see from your perspective and so opinions should be taken as such.
What were your favourite superheroes when you were growing up and why?
I have only recently reflected on this when my friend and I were talking about childhood role models. I grew up obsessed with a Japanese anime series called Sailor Moon. It’s basically a group of girls with special powers, each one associated with a specific planet, protecting humanity while trying to live ‘normal’ lives as humans on earth. I loved Pippi Longstocking. My favourite Disney heroes were Belle from Beauty and the Beast, she embodied everything I loved and aspired to, intelligence, courage and compassion. I also loved Mulan for the same reasons. I watched all seasons of Xena the warrior princess starring Lucy Lawless and loved Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft (Tomb Raider). The parallel between all these fictional characters is that they are all powerful women that essentially set out to save the world or their immediate family / community. I grew up in a society which was largely dominated by men, and the stories of these women instilled a belief in me that women could be just as strong if not stronger then their male counterparts when they had a cause to fight for. I also grew up with a phenomenally talented, intelligent, strong mother, and I think the combination of my fictional heroes and having her by my side played an integral role in shaping me as a woman.
Name three artists you would love to collaborate with and why?
This one’s easy. I absolutely adore Sting, I think he is a phenomenal songwriter. I would love to write and play live with him. I am also completely in love with Seal. I grew up listening to his records, his voice just cuts straight to my soul like honey. His instagram account recently popped up in my stories when I posted a duet I did the other week at a speakeasy with an Indonesian singer/songwriter Rico Mahesi and we both had an “Aaaaaah! It’s Seal” moment. I love social media sometimes. There is an artist I recently discovered through his song “Always”, which I’ve probably played 1000 times in the past few months. His name is Gavin James, I’d love to duet with him.
What advice would you have for someone following in your footsteps?
Don’t follow in my footsteps, forge your own. We all have our own journeys. Find inspiration? Sure. Find people who inspire you, but recognise that what is truly inspiring is how someone discovers who they are and what’s important to them and stays true to that. Find what matters to you, if it’s music or art, connect to that. Be courageous in your pursuits and stay anchored in your truth, even if that means that sometimes you will isolate yourself from the masses. Trailblazers come up against lots of adversity, otherwise they wouldn’t be trailblazers. Forging new ways of doing things can be a messy, uncomfortable process but if you stick it out the rewards are truly great. Have a strong moral compass and don’t bend your morals for anyone or anything.
Artwork by Deniz Reno