The LowSwing Sessions – a beautiful collaboration between her and producer, composer and arranger Guy Sternberg – Reema combines a unique neo-folk sound with avant-garde, jazz-inspired sounds and her captivating, emotion-strewn vocals.
Taken from the album, which was recorded in a completely analogue way, Reema’s new single ‘What The Whisper Said’ is now set for release, so we caught up with her to find out more…
Hi Reema, welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about the band?
Hi! I’m a song construction worker, illustrator, fabric designer and dress maker, making bitter sweet home made folk music.
How did you initially start creating music?
I started writing songs when I was seven. I didn’t have a lot of friends and was really shy – music was my way of communicating. I wanted to make people happy all the time, but when I wrote songs I could be honest and say the stuff I wasn’t comfortable with saying out loud.
Your new single ‘What The Whisper Said’ is out very soon – can you tell us what it’s all about?
It’s a ghost story about an old man who has kept a dark secret that has died with his former lover. I based it on a man who lived near me when I was little. I always wondered what his story was.
You’ve been compared to the likes of Beth Orton and Lisa Hannigan, but who would you say are your main musical influences?
I love both those ladies and I’m super flattered to be compared to them! My great loves in music were the bands Love and Fleetwood Mac, but I love listening and I’m always inspired by the people making music around me.
How is your local music scene? Do you go to see lots of live music?
Berlin is amazing for music! There are plenty of places to both watch and perform. My favorite venue is Prachtwerk. It has an incredible high ceiling and an other-worldly atmosphere.
And what can fans expect from your live shows?
The live show is dark, intense and intimate. I play with my friend Stefan on bass clarinet and I’m on electric guitar and vocals. I’m interested in stripping everything back to let the song and the emotion out as much as possible. I love to play live! It’s my favourite thing about what I do. By the end of the show, I feel the audience and I know each other pretty well
As we’re a new music focused site, are there any new/upcoming bands or artists you’d recommend we check out?
Ethan Johns’ solo stuff is brilliant! I also love Bruno Major.
And how do you feel the music industry is for new artists at the moment – would you say it’s difficult to get noticed?
It’s definitely difficult because of the high volume of stuff out there but we have so many tools to self-publish and make a corner for ourselves. It’s hard not to feel overwhelmed by the task of ‘getting yourself out there’ but I think steadily playing shows, making new music and carrying on doing what you do will always make a stronger and healthier base for doing what you do. I think it doesn’t work unless you love all the steps along the way.
Finally, what does the rest of 2017 have in store for Reema?
My next thing will be playing a folk festival show in Budapest at Kis Hall on 16th December, then more shows at the start of next year, more new music too! I will, of course, put some more live videos up on my Facebook for anyone not able to get to a show.
Huge thanks to Reema for answering our questions!
‘What The Whisper Said’, taken from Reema’s album The LowSwing Sessions, is out on 8th December via LowSwing Records.
