Diandra Interviews Rence: Feeling The Self-Love To Create

I really like Rence. He is thoughtful and places self-love at the epicenter of creating a career and a life you can truly be happy living. Jumping from NYU halls to the ones at Epic, I got the opportunity to interview him on how learning music business molded him as an artist, but how leaving school and, learning post-grad life is never as it seems,  grew him as a person, which, as a songwriter, feels vital. 

Diandra: What are the lessons you learned in NYU that you have truly been able to apply in your performance and building career?

Rence: I was able to take really specified classes in music business at NYU, honestly all of which were immensely helpful with my career. Entertainment Law (with the incredible Rich Hendler) taught me how to read contracts, Live performance with Ableton showed me how to perform my set seamlessly, Business of Music Publishing educated me about what exactly publishing is and how to get paid – many more.

Outside the classroom, being surrounded by artists of all kinds, who took themselves seriously, showed me that I could do that too; that being an artist was real. Now that’s what I’m doing.
Rence – hate u btw (Official Music Video)

Diandra: Being an NYU’er, what are your favorite spots to hang out that most inspire music to you?

Rence: NYU brought me right to Washington Square park which quickly became one of New York’s most inspiring places to me. Catching a breeze from the fountain while listening to musicians play a whole world of different styles is pure inspiration. Freshman year, I spent a lot of time exploring New York in the middle of the night hahaha. Walking to the piers on the West side or the middle of Central Park. These silent moments in one of the world’s busiest cities showed me the calm of the storm, which I could occupy.

Diandra: Which of your music teachers gave you the best advice as an artist, and why do you think their words struck such a chord?

Rence: Certainly my high school music teacher, Jill Wangsgard, gave me the best advice; so much of it that it’s hard to pick out one or two things. She was a world-touring musician, for many years, before designing our music curriculum. So a lot of her lessons revolved around sustaining music as a career for the long run. She also hammered into me to be myself, to be my own person, because that’d be the only way I could stand out.

Diandra: Authenticity is a word you often use when describing your music and your relationships. What do you feel makes a song, like a person, real to you in connection?

Rence: For me it’s about transparency. I try my hardest to be honest with myself when I’m creating because I know people can sense that in an almost indescribable way. People can smell bullshit a mile away so I stay a mile away from it. 

Diandra: Do you feel that finding who you are as a person is integral to finding out who you are as an artist? With that in mind, what qualities do you know you have?

Rence: Yes yes yes. I know I value love over all else, believe in the good in the world and in people, and want to see this place better than the day before. Sometimes, that means smiling but sometimes crying or screaming too.Rence – Expensive ft. Noah Cyrus

Diandra: Your music is about confronting the highs and lows of life as if they are bridged together. What is one low point of your life that you now see as a high?

Rence: These are all great questions by the way. I’ve consistently found that the highs in my life are directly paired with lows. When my song “Ways to Go” was suddenly placed at like #6 on Spotify’s New Music Friday out of nowhere, I simultaneously got a negative balance notice from Bank of America. 

One low that really hurt, but turned into the biggest blessing in disguise, was being rejected from the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU. Man, I was so sad, but it kicked my ass in gear. It made me hustle in New York City and make everything happen for myself.

Diandra: What has music and being a creative taught you about the importance of happiness and defining it for yourself?

Rence: For me, happiness is synonymous with love and self-love; if I want those to be at the center of the art that I create (and I do), I have to protect it at all costs. Sometimes, this means not creating so that what I do create in the future can shine brighter.
Rence – I know (Official Music Video)

Diandra: What is your favorite childhood memory with your family and music?

Rence: (laughs) definitely singing I’m N Luv (Wit A Stripper) at the dinner table when I was 7 and my mom screaming.

Diandra: You talk about how powerful it is to have a great support system, like your family, when entering this business. What has their love taught you to love about yourself, especially in the face of the struggles of building your own path?

Rence: I truly owe my ability to move forward with a career, such as this one, to my family. I have believed for my entire life that I could do anything – because they told and showed me I could – so I became an artist.

Diandra: Your creative process really seems to be about clearing feelings. What are some emotions your EP helped you confront, and what are some feelings that you feel looking back on its creative process?

Rence: You’re totally right that it is. Fall 2019 was a really dark time for me. I was off balance and kind of loveless. It was the first time that I confronted feelings like those that had been festering for some time and it shows in the songs. I had to do that to get past those emotions and now I have.

For More Information On Rence Click Here. 
Rence – Darkside