Lanre: In My Dreams
LANRE goes against the grain of his peers by writing catchy heartfelt melodies set to a masterful blend of RnB, Electronic Dance, and Pop music. Lánre (born Olánrewaju Keyede, December 16, 1992) began his music career at age 10 in his hometown of Plainfield, New Jersey where he attended a school for music and was classically trained in vocal performance. He then went on to discover his songwriting talent and released a 6-track demo at age 15 under the tutelage of his cousin and mentor, Mike Will Made-it.
Gulie Carrington: Lánre! Thanks for taking the time. I’d love to know more about you. Tell me how you became the Lánre of today.
LANRE: Of course! Thanks for reaching out, it’s nice to meet you as well. A: I’ve been singing and performing since I was 8, and was classically trained in vocal performance at a music school during my middle school years. I kept performing in high school through musical theatre, and wrote and recorded my first demo when I was 15. I figured I needed to learn how to market myself one day, so took a little break from music when I went to Georgia State University.
There, I learned about business marketing and focused on social media marketing after college. Now that I’m releasing professionally it’s been a huge help to know how to use the digital marketing tools to promote my music!
Music has always been a part of my life in some form or fashion, and has gotten me through a lot of hard times over the years. Whether it’d be listening to my inspirations like Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Usher or Chris Brown, or writing music to express myself. I’ve always found a ‘home’ in music, and I want to share that same feeling with people around the world. I want my music to help bring joy into people’s lives like it has done for me so many times.
GC: Interesting! Thanks for the thorough response; keep em coming! AGREED!! Music is a safe haven for many people.
Speaking of, how have you been throughout Covid? Musically and personally, can you speak to how you’ve dealt with it, marketed yourself, what you’ve learned and what keeps you feeling good day to day?
LANRE: Yes! And that's an even better way to put it, because it has truly been a safe haven for me throughout this whole pandemic so far. Like a lot of other people I had so much anxiety towards the beginning of COVID. Not knowing how long it was going to last, worried about loved ones I couldn’t see, etc.
I got lucky cause I was staying with my mom since my new place wasn’t furnished yet. I was already in the middle of developing songs to eventually release, and the whole lockdown was a call to action for me to really work on my sound and learn how to release music on my own. I set up a recording booth in her basement, and learned how to track my vocals and sent them off to the producers I was collaborating with.
It was a way for me to get things done, and also take my mind off of all the anxiety-inducing things that were happening at the time. That’s how I would marketing myself during that time of the pandemic as well. My first two releases, Ready 4 Luv and Flyin, talk about my drama in past relationships and I wanted to let people in my world as fun a way to escape the heavy stuff going on.
As far as what I did specifically to market myself, I did (and still do) go on deep dives on YouTube and TikTok for D-I-Y music marketing tips. (That’s how I discovered Finessed Media!) I’m fortunate enough to have some friends in the industry so I’m always picking their brains for tips as well, for the dos and don’ts of indie artists. I think it’s such an interesting time to be an independent right now, because the pandemic sort of forced every one to innovate and make it happen, those who were willing to do the work.
All in all I'm positive person, but I do have those moments of anxiety that I mentioned. I'm a man of faith, so I lean on God in those moments I feel helpless. Getting myself to a happier place in those dark times was actually a running theme throughout the songs of my EP I released in December.
GC: I can definitely see that! You’ve got ‘bright side’ energy lol. Now that we’re coming out of it, what are you most looking forward to doing again? You can make this response non music related if you like :)
And also, what’s your ideal creative space? And what do you do to break yourself out of a creative rut, if anything?
LANRE: Lol I appreciate that! I’ve become more of a realest as I’ve gotten older, but still def a glass half full type of guy (laughs)
The biggest things I’m looking forward to are traveling and live shows! My family has always been really big into traveling and I just hit 30 countries visited right as COVID started so I’ve been itching to get back out into the world lol One of the coolest things has been seeing all the different countries that have been streaming my songs over the past year and marking them as places I’d love to tour one day soon. I love going to music festivals, so the sooner those can come back the better too. I also have some new projects coming out this summer that’s gonna get people excited about getting back to the things they love 😁
I think since it’s been a year of me developing songs from my bedroom, that has to be my favorite place. But really anywhere that I can be alone and yet have my other senses stimulated somehow. I’m a big fan a people watching from my window
GC: Thank you so much! That was pretty much everything I had to ask. Anything else you’d like to add??
LANRE: Ok! Thanks for these questions, I really liked answering them. One thing I forgot to mention is a quote that my grandma used to tell me about hard times. She said ‘Weather the weather, whatever the weather, Whether we like it or not.’ basically saying rain or shine, you can’t give up on yourself. That quote stays with me on those hard days, and always motivates me to get it done. Especially when I was first starting out. 😊
Check Out Lánre:
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