For Rhett Repko, music is about delivering “unfiltered” emotions. Along with his band, Repko is trying to bring back the timeless quality of music into the modern world. Comprising of Andy Reed, Repko, and Stefan Heuer, the band works to write and conceptualize their songs and this collaborative effort has led to the songs being recognised on the radio charts.
What makes his band different is that they never leave the studio. With a certain sound in his head, Rhett works endlessly and is determined in getting his vision to blast out of speakers by producing his own recordings. A mix of retro and modern techniques drives Rhett to deliver the best of both worlds. The aim is not to be popular but rather to be understood by the listener.
Rhett has been an award winning artist and has signed multiple TV licensing agreements with networks including MTV, Netflix, Discovery, NASCAR, E!TV, Oxygen, A&E, TLC & Fox Sports.
In an interview with CelebMix, we got a chance to learn about his journey, his band, and his new single. Check out the interview below:
Can you please tell our readers a bit yourself?
Hey I’m Rhett Repko! I’m a musician and I pretty much can’t get music out of my head. I’m constantly thinking about melodies, humming new songs, dreaming up new concepts for music videos. I want to make a world full of music that people can live in and escape to.
In your bio, it’s been mentioned that your music do not aim for perfection. Can you please tell us about your musical vision?
I just want every song to be real. I want different kinds of songs that will hold specific and unique emotions inside each of them. Every song has a purpose, and that’s to express an emotion and share it with my audience. It’s OK if the mix isn’t quite perfect, or the video isn’t exactly how I imagined it. The only thing that matters is that you feel something when you listen to the song.
In one of your videos (“The Process”) you offer a glimpse into the creative aspects you’re involved in. Which part of the creative process do you enjoy the most?
That’s definitely a cool video I enjoyed making. Honestly every part of the creative process is very intense but important. I think some of the more fun aspects are when I’m writing the song itself as well as recording a rough demo arrangement of it. Cause I’m not worried about recording the perfect vocal take, or making sure the guitar has just the right amount of distortion. I’m just worried about making sure the song flows well, hits hard, and feels right.
We have listened to your tracks and our favourite part of the songs are the lyrics. The hard work is quite evident. So, where do you draw the inspiration to work on the songs?
Thank you! The lyrics are a very important aspect to me that I can’t fake. Every song stems from a certain emotion I’m feeling in that moment. Those lyrics all hold real pain, real frustration, and real happiness.
Do you have any musical influences who you look up to?
Ah for sure. I think bands like The 1975 and twenty one pilots are doing great things. I like that their music is more than just the songs itself. They have a whole living world in terms of a certain style, aesthetic, and mood. So that’s definitely a goal I want to keep working on with my music. I think my next EP “Songs of the Night” coming out Feb 5th is another huge step in that direction. So I’m very excited to see where that will take me.
Continuing with the previous question, how do you perceive the music being created and popularized in the industry?
There’s definitely a lot of trends that are always happening in the music industry. I try to listen to a lot of modern pop and alternative artists so that I’m aware of the trends when I’m writing my songs, but it doesn’t affect me too much. I just want to write good songs and I think that’s what people connect with the most honestly.
Congratulations for “A Broken Song”. Can you please tell our readers a bit about the track?
This song is my baby. Haha. It really was written just for me as a way to heal on a cold January night a year ago when I learned that half of my old band wasn’t prepared to begin touring. So having to find new members quickly for SXSW in Texas and feeling a bit broken I wrote this track. I was broken and I needed a broken song.
Lyrically, “A Broken Song” is an emotional single. Would you like to tell us a bit about the creative process that went behind creating the song?
After writing the song on my piano at 2 AM that night. I never considered it an actual song, it was always just “a broken song” to me. But I decided to record a demo of it just to have. I recorded one take with old unchanged guitar strings and one take of the vocals. Eventually, it got picked 6 months later by my producer Chris Grainger to be on my new EP “Songs of the Night”. It was one of the songs that I defended and wouldn’t compromise on in terms of arrangement. I wanted to keep it stripped down, simple, and a bit of an eerie feeling. When it came to record the vocals, I was like you know what, I think we should just keep the original demo vocals. Chris agreed and I feel like we made the right decision. I’ve never done that before but I didn’t want to take away the emotion from that night. We thought the track was so unique when it was done that it ended up becoming the lead single. Crazy how that all worked out.
Compared to the first song you released till “A Broken Song”, how do you see your evolution as an artist and as a band? What kinds of things would you like to experiment with in the near future?
The first 6 songs I released were on my “Rhett Repko” self-titled debut EP. I think that EP was really just a collection of songs I had at the time that I wanted to release so I could get the fire started. They are really cool songs, and I see that first release as a variety pack of what I can do. I feel like with each release afterwards my EP’s began to have a theme which I find important. I’ve always had a vision with my music, but with each release I feel like I’m closer to achieving that vision. Seeing the growth in such a short amount of time is really quite an incredible feeling when I do look back on it.
Would you like to share with us your future projects or endeavours?
Thanks so much for having me!! And yes. My 3rd EP “Songs of the Night” is coming out Feb 5th and will have 5 new songs on it. These songs are made for the nighttime. That could be a lonely night spent inside at home or driving fast down a long starry road with your windows down and the music up. Follow me on the socials @rhettrepko for more updates. I can’t wait for the music to be released!
What do you think about the song? Share your thoughts via tweet @CelebMix.
ncG1vNJzZmiblaGyo7nIsWWcp51ksrmvy66qoq6VYravwMSrraKdp2LEqsDHZqmhnaSperOxz6SmaA%3D%3D