MusicsWeek: What inspired you to pursue a career in music and who were your biggest influences growing up?
The Reckless: I pursued a career in music because after I got laid off during Covid, I found myself doing a whole lot of nothing and I started to get back into guitar just as a way to keep myself entertained. I then realized that I wasn't too bad and wanted to see how far I could take it. Along the way I took up teaching music and found it much more rewarding as well. Now my ultimate goal is to make my music career fully sustainable and get to the point where I can live off what I make as a full time musician and travel the US and, maybe one day, the world, playing music to all our fans! Some of my biggest influences growing up were The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, Rise Against, Rage Against The Machine, and many more. It's hard to name them all.
MusicsWeek: Can you tell us about your songwriting process? Do you have any particular rituals or routines?
The Reckless: The songwriting process usually begins with a riff that I, or one of my band members, writes. We then bring it to the band and tried to see what we can do with that riff. Usually that starts with us just jamming on it seeing if it is an intro, a verse, or a chorus. Overall finding the best use for it. We then start to form the song around that riff and any other cool ideas that pop up during the jam. We record this jam and then find the parts we like. Then we start to form the direction, melody, and overall feel of the song. When writing lyrics it depends on my mood, how the song feels, if I saw something I wanted to talk about or have some sort of political or moral belief that I can turn into a song, almost as a form of therapy.
MusicsWeek: How do you feel your music has evolved over the years since you first started performing?
The Reckless: When I first started making music, it was just me. I wrote all the parts and then got some friends to help record them for me. I knew very little about the importance of the bass matching the kick drum in order to hit harder, or to allow for dynamic shifts in the song. I didn't understand mixing and mastering as well and what I should be looking for when I receive a demo back and I would try to hide my vocals a bit as I wasn't as confident in my voice. The band has helped me get so much better by letting me learn through them and their knowledge. Because of them I'm better at forming a song, at making melodies, feeling more creative and trusting my bandmates would be able to keep up and assist on what I'm looking to accomplish.
MusicsWeek: What themes or messages do you hope to convey through your music?
The Reckless: Depends on the songs. I aim to portray a big F U to any haters or powerful people and interests in songs like Who Are You and Get Loud. I aim to portray a satire and anger towards our current administration and the incels culture of horrible internet personalities, that I don't want to name in order to avoid giving them any sort of platform, with songs like Away, GO ON and Fall. At the same time I want to write songs that are fun and talk about badass women who keep you wanting more with Darling Please, and songs about my story of finding rock music with Home. At the end of the day when you finish listening to a Reckless album or EP you should experience a range of emotions and feelings but at a live show you should come out of it feeling like it was one of the best experiences ever!
MusicsWeek: Collaboration can be crucial in the music industry. Can you share an experience of a memorable collaboration and what you learned from it?
The Reckless: Well when it comes to collaboration it can vary on what you are trying to accomplish. Creating relationships at venues is very important and helps us get great shows while cultivating a space of trust amongst bookers and bands. We also have always believed in mutual trading of shows. If you are traveling out of your home turf it is very important to build relationships with local acts and understand that everyone wants the same thing. The beautiful thing about the music industry is that even though there is a lot of competition, another band's success does not mean you wouldn't succeed either. Each band can grow their fan bases together.
MusicsWeek: How do you handle creative blocks or moments when you feel uninspired?
The Reckless: You got to take breaks. I play basketball, hang out with my friends, work on other things, or play video games amongst other activities. Writing block almost seems like a form of exhaustion to me. Sometimes all it takes is a step back and you'll be able to see something that wasn't there before.
MusicsWeek: What has been the most rewarding experience in your music career so far?
The Reckless: There are a couple. One was playing a show at a big venue in San Diego called SOMA where we sold a large amount of tickets, and so did all the other bands so it was a packed show. The crowd was amazing and the band was super tight! Everyone was dancing and it was an experience that you want to create every single time. We also played a big show after a street fair and we played for 3 hours and were able to keep the crowd engaged almost the entire time. It showed our band's ability to engage with people and jam out that we feel is special and not always seen. It's also always great when we get new streams or people who we have never met comment on how much they enjoy our music and what we bring at live shows!
MusicsWeek: With the rise of digital streaming platforms, how do you think the music industry has changed and how has it affected your approach to releasing music?
The Reckless: It makes it both difficult and less difficult. Releasing music has never been easier but that also over saturates the market and can make it difficult to stand out. It also means that, as a band, you have to do a lot more work in some aspects. You are now expected to completely build a brand by yourself using social media in ways that were not typical just 30 or so years ago. Record companies and labels have become, in a sense, lazier. They want you to do everything for them before they pick you up. Now I understand this and why they do it, again with the over saturated market this is what is needed as there are too many people releasing music for these companies to go through every single demo or song that is sent their way but it creates new issues for the artist as your music becomes less important and your "brand" or overall image are equally, if not more, important than your actual music.
MusicsWeek: Can you share a memorable moment from one of your live performances? What made it special?
The Reckless: I think one of my most memorable moments was when we did my fake death for Sexy Back for the first time. The crowd wasn't expecting it and we performed it at another big show at SOMA. People weren't expecting it and their reactions when we started playing were priceless. They went nuts during that song.
MusicsWeek: What advice would you give to aspiring musicians looking to make their mark in the industry?
The Reckless: Be prepared to do so much more than make music. In today's age you have to be a social media manager, a band manager, a CEO, a business partner, a negotiator, and so much more. Don't get me wrong, music and being in a band is amazing, I love it, but in order to grow and be successful, you can't just make music. Just like any business you are going to make bad investments or decisions, or you will have to go through turnover in band members but just like many businesses you can also recover from this if you learn and improve upon your mistakes.
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