Q&A: Ethereal Vocals Meet Electro-Soul in Reiyo the Giant's New Single ‘Can’t Call Me’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY GIONA CIACCO☆
INTENTIONAL AND ATMOSPHERIC—Reiyo the Giant’s new single “Can’t Call Me,” out September 4, combines alternative R&B, ambient electronica and soul, embodying her journey of experimenting with sound.
The Atlanta-based artist made their music debut in 2020 with synthwave single “November,” followed by their self-produced R&B/soul EP Romeo in 2021. Her music has been featured on Apple Music’s “New Music Daily” and Spotify’s “New Music Friday” (AU & NZ, CZ & SK, Ukraine) and “Fresh Finds.”
Produced by Anwar Sawyer, “Can’t Call Me” arrives alongside the announcement of her forthcoming debut album, due this November. Stepping into house, alternative/indie and dance/electronic, her other recent singles include “Get It Together,” “The Show Must Go On,” “How to Get Nowhere Fast” and “Nu World,” each showcasing Reiyo the Giant’s ability to defy genre.
Releasing alongside a self-produced visualizer, “Can’t Call Me” tells “the story of somebody who might naturally blame themselves for relationships going wrong” and “owning that confidence of getting to decide when you leave instead of being constantly on the other side of it.”
Reiyo the Giant sat down with Luna to chat about “Can’t Call Me,” her debut album and how she got her name.
LUNA: When did your journey with music begin?
REIYO THE GIANT: Since I was singing in church [when] I was nine, so around 2007—but officially 2019/2020.
LUNA: Did you start producing music then?
REIYO THE GIANT: Yeah, I was teaching myself.
LUNA: Where did you learn how to produce music?
REIYO THE GIANT: I took an advanced video production class in high school, and part of that class was sound production. So it wasn't for music; it was more so for films. But I was just applying everything that I learned from there to try to make something sound good.
LUNA: What did you go to college for?
REIYO THE GIANT: I started off in school for computer and electrical engineering, and then I switched over to physics, and then I left.
LUNA: Did you leave to pursue music?
REIYO THE GIANT: I left, and then realized that I wanted to pursue music. I left because I felt very out of body in school—something about the structure of it, about me lying about wanting to do physics. I was like, “Okay, I have to figure out what I really do want,” and then I was like, “Okay, well, music has always been around, so let me tap into that.”
LUNA: Was there a moment when you knew that music was what you wanted to pursue?
REIYO THE GIANT: I think always. I was always obsessed with watching American Idol videos or The Voice auditions, and I was like, “Oh my god, I could see myself up there, I could see myself on the stage.” So forever, but I think in my high school to college years, I was avoiding it hardcore to be the STEM one of my siblings. But I think I've always wanted to be a musician and to be a performer.
LUNA: When did you become Reiyo the Giant?
REIYO THE GIANT: That happened at the beginning of 2020. I was shuffling between a few things that I wanted to call myself, but I knew that I wanted a stage alter, something that I could tap into whenever I'm ready to perform. [A name] that's not attached to Yorie or not attached to somebody that everybody already knows me as. I was like, “Okay, let me just jumble up my name [Yorie] and add the giant, because it makes me feel larger than life.”
LUNA: You have a very signature sound. Are there any specific music artists in your life that helped you build your sound?
REIYO THE GIANT: Yeah, I've been into a synth wave, dark house vibe for a minute, and I've always loved James Blake. I think vocally and tone-wise, I've been a big Erykah Badu fan my whole life; I've been a big Nina Simone fan, a big Billie Holiday fan. Outside of that, funnily enough, a big inspo for me was the band breathe., and we're now making songs together. The way they use space was a big thing for me because it wasn't trying to just add words where they didn't belong.
LUNA: I’ve noticed that your recent singles combine the synthwave of your debut single, “November,” with the moodiness of your debut EP Romeo. Was that a conscious decision while creating your debut album?
REIYO THE GIANT: “November” was definitely the first thing I made by myself that felt like I was honoring my inspiration [of synthwave/dark house]. So yeah, I could definitely see that. Romeo's a lot more voice-centered, around me just saying the truth out loud.
LUNA: You seem to be experimenting with your sound in your recently released singles. Was that an intentional choice?
REIYO THE GIANT: My biggest goal was to make my transition from the house world back to electro-soul more seamless because I know people are hearing songs like “Carmen” and “How to Get Nowhere Fast,” and they are more upbeat. So I wanted “The Show Must Go On” to fit that a little bit more, and to bring in the people who are listening to this with the new listeners, and not feel like I'm just completely abandoning one genre, completely leaving one space and leaving home and leaving everybody there.
LUNA: Would you say this upcoming album is a combination of all of the genres you've done so far in your career?
REIYO THE GIANT: Yeah, I think I was definitely picking and choosing from what felt right and what I felt like could send the message the right way. I think it's definitely a combination of all of it.
LUNA: Are there any signatures to your sound that you aren't willing to experiment with?
REIYO THE GIANT: I think overall, I'm willing to experiment with anything. I do think I need a really synthy, atmospheric kind of bed for it. I think that's something I wouldn't be able to give up.
LUNA: Are there any specific ways that you want to experiment in the future?
REIYO THE GIANT: I have this dream of getting together with The Alchemist or one of those producers to create a sample pack for my voice, using my voice as more of an instrument than the forefront. A lot of my unreleased stuff is me trying to sample my own voice and make it sound like Knxwledge kind of style, using my voice as more of an instrument in a way, more of a background thing.
LUNA: Your debut EP Romeo was self-produced; is your upcoming album self-produced?
REIYO THE GIANT: No, this upcoming album is very collaborative. We got Anwar Sawyer, Jerry Grayson and Kevin from Safari Riot. Then we have George from AlunaGeorge and the breathe. guys, who I'm obsessed with, so most of it, if not all of it, was collaborative.
LUNA: Did that change your approach to making this album?
REIYO THE GIANT: I think it definitely speeds up the process a little bit, and it opens my mind to choices I wouldn't choose normally, and trying stuff out in different ways. Because when I'm creating by myself, I can sit with something and I'm like, “Oh yeah, this is it.” And I think when there's feedback, I'm like, “Okay, so maybe it wasn't it, but that's okay because they know what they're talking about.” It's making me go through the proofreading process through music a little bit more.
LUNA: Was there anything with “Can't Call Me” that you had to stand your ground on production-wise?
REIYO THE GIANT: Honestly, because everything up until the breakdown at the end was pretty much the same, and because I respect the people I work with so much, I'm like, “Listen, if you want to add an outro section that's fine with me. I want this to feel like it's our song.” If we're creating it and we're both in it, I want to feel like there's freedom for them as well as me, and I want that to be felt and to be known.
LUNA: What story is "Can't Call Me” telling?
REIYO THE GIANT: “Can't Call Me” is telling the story of somebody who might naturally blame themselves for relationships going wrong, or people leaving their lives, and flipping that story to realize that sometimes you're not wrong. Sometimes you did all that you could do, and the person that you're dealing with is just not meant for you, or not meant to receive love in the way you receive love, or show love in the way you show love. Just taking that power back, and owning that confidence of getting to decide when you leave instead of being constantly on the other side of it.
LUNA: “Can’t Call Me” releases alongside a visualizer. Who created the visualizer?
REIYO THE GIANT: I created the visualizer.
LUNA: Have you always wanted to produce visual art?
REIYO THE GIANT: Yeah. I have a very vivid imagination, and I daydream often. I'm also a writer through and through. I recently randomly decided I wanted to write a [TV show] pilot. So a lot of my writing is visual on purpose. I love the use of [visual art].
LUNA: Was there artistic intention behind the use of black-and-white filters and film grain in the visualizer?
REIYO THE GIANT: Yeah, when I hear the song, I get a Fugees vibe, so I was like, “Let me tap into this sepia, grainy black-and-white film vibe of that group and the Lauryn Hills of that time—I want that energy to be there.” This song is more concrete and a lot more [about] standing your ground. I feel like something about black-and-white says that to me.
LUNA: Romeo was about an “unreasonable romantic” character. Are you carrying that character into your upcoming album? Have they evolved?
REIYO THE GIANT: I would say they definitely have evolved. Romeo has absolutely evolved. The whole album is a bit of a spiral, and if you view it chronologically, this is the catching yourself moment and seeing what's going on, post a big grief moment. Romeo was going through the big grief moment and going through the “Oh my gosh, I'm being left—let me act stronger than I ever [have] been, let me try to gain some control.”
This upcoming album is the loss of that control and the return back to self. The character Romeo has definitely evolved in a sense that they're still upset, but they're not blaming the world anymore. It's more so like, “Okay, stuff has changed. Yes, I have played a part. Other people have played a part, and now it's my choice to figure out where I'm going to go with it now.”
LUNA: Do the character’s now upbeat vibes contribute to the album's upbeat songs?
REIYO THE GIANT: Yeah, I definitely think so. When I made Romeo, it was around 2020 [when] the world was getting super dark, and I was feeling it. Now, it's been a few years since I released Romeo, and I think I'm in a more confident place; I'm laughing at my wounds. So I feel like that definitely contributes to the upbeat vibe in this [upcoming] album. I love the almost contradictory layer of it as well. Like “Yeah, I'm still sad, but I'm gonna make this song upbeat, even though it's about the fact that I have to perform for everybody.” It's like I'm using the song beds to soften the blow.
LUNA: Was making your upcoming album therapeutic in that way?
REIYO THE GIANT: Yeah, I would say the use of space creates freedom for people. You can sit and be attentive, but you could do anything while listening to it, and it’ll feel right, and it’ll feel like it's catching you. I think a lot of people go to sad music to find this Zen vibe when a lot of us are just looking for stuff that's relatable. I think the relatability and the personability in it can create a therapeutic “I see you” vibe.
LUNA: Your music is transportive. Where do you imagine “Can't Call Me” transporting your listeners?
REIYO THE GIANT: I view [the upcoming album] as this big house where you stop by on your way to wherever you're headed. I think “Can't Call Me” drops you in the middle of this generic bedroom where you're reminiscing on everything that's happened there, a space in the house where you've been with this person that you're leaving and that you're cutting off. It's throwing you back into this distorted bedroom that's a mirror image of whatever you see in your mind when you think of home.
LUNA: You draw inspiration from literature, film, TV and music. If you could choose one book, movie or TV show that represents "Can't Call Me,” what would you choose?
REIYO THE GIANT: Ooh, “Can't Call Me” is giving How Stella Got Her Groove Back almost, or an episode of Insecure in a way. Very much “Oh, I was getting played. I gotta do something about it.”
LUNA: Do any of your recent hyper-fixations on media reflect in "Can't Call Me" or any of your recent singles?
REIYO THE GIANT: Yeah, I think so. I'm obsessed with the show Fleabag; that's been one of my biggest fixations over the last few years, Fleabag and Chewing Gum. But for the most part, I would say Fleabag and the main character's relationship to grief and how it creates this fourth-wall [break] otherworldliness when they're talking to you. I feel like the whole album is coming from this fourth-wall break of what's happening behind the scenes while I'm going through life and going through normal relationships and everybody else [is] grieving around me.
LUNA: So was Romeo the “show” and this upcoming album you breaking that fourth wall and breaking away from the “show?”
REIYO THE GIANT: Yeah, almost. Romeo was very centered around the other person and my response to this other person. Yeah, that's actually a great way to look at it. This new album feels like them in their own world. This is the reboot where the main character gets their own storyline, as opposed to revolving around a romantic interest.
LUNA: You are the self-proclaimed “10-foot lesbian from the Bronx.” How does your sexuality shape your music?
REIYO THE GIANT: My sexuality, I think, funnily enough, when I stopped centering my life around being desired or desiring men or one specific gender, it made it possible for me to not have to center romance or romantic trauma in my songs. When I stopped dating men, I took a break for a minute to focus on myself. I was like, “Okay, there's more to my life than the struggles I'm getting put through by other people.” I took the time to focus on myself, and it just made me less romance-centered and put me at the forefront.
Everything else regarding my sexuality has been more so a personal feat for me as opposed to something that's in my music. It just shifted what I wanted to talk about, as opposed to what I felt I needed to talk about.
LUNA: I didn’t notice any specific use of pronouns in your songs. Is there an intentional effort to keep the other person vague?
REIYO THE GIANT: Yeah, I do have little tidbits on my TikTok and stuff where I'm singing exclusively about women, and I explore that a little bit. But I think keeping it genderless gives room for everybody.
LUNA: Is there anything you would like to say to your fans?
REIYO THE GIANT: I literally love you guys so much, you guys are amazing! I can't wait to show you guys all this new music, and I hope that we can sit with it, listen together and chat about it together.
