We recently connected with Kody Reeder and have shared our conversation below.
Kody, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I was pretty young at the time. I remember listening to an album (Transatlanticism by Death Cab for Cutie) for the first time start to finish. As I was in my room, listening to this borrowed CD that I had stuck into an outdated boom box. After the final song played, I said to myself “I think I want to learn how to play guitar”. Shortly after that I learned how to play a few instruments including guitar, bass and piano.
A few years down the road, I met a few like minded individuals and we decided to start a band. I was probably 18 at the time. I just started to take music seriously and it felt like the first thing I was ever good at. We were preparing for our first studio album together. At the time, that was a huge deal for me as I never had even stepped into a recording studio before. Once we started tracking for the record, I knew playing music and creating music was always going to be a part of my identity moving forward.
Kody, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I played music professionally for a few years. Lots of long nights, trips and time away from my family. Once that settled down, I stopped playing music for a period of time. After a couple years, I decided that it was time to start using my creative abilities again to make new music.
Now I focus on strictly writing, recording and releasing my own music.
One thing that is unique about my music is the fact that I write, record and release everything from my own studio. It’s something I’m extremely proud of. My fans and followers get to hear the purest version of everything I release. I have no influences pulling me in different directions or paid musicians to record on the records. From every vocal melody to guitar solo, it’s all from my heart and vision I have for my music.
I feel as if my writing style has stayed consistent to allow myself to be venerable with my fans, I’ve often heard that my music is painfully relatable. I’ve never taken offense to that as I write about the most difficult parts of my life. Not always easy to talk about but it’s out there to help people feel like they’re not alone, even in the worst situations.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
I think it always starts with local support in your community. Whether that’s showing up to an open mic event or going to a concert of an artist you’ve never heard of, it helps either way. There are many artist like myself that want nothing more than to share what we’ve created with the world.
I can’t express how much a simple share on social media means to an up and coming artist. It can have a huge impact an artist career. My music was played in over 50 countries last year which blows my mind. That wouldn’t have been possible without a little bit a love from my followers.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I think it’s the impact that your artistic abilities can have on someone. It’s an incredible feeling when you receive a message from a fan saying “I love this song”, “I relate to this one so much” or “this song is exactly how I’m feeling right now”. Those are the types of things that make me want to keep writing.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @KodyReeder
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KodyReederMusic
- Twitter: @KodyReeder
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6NH5KPQhau56WTLeG0spLQ