Reuben Hester released his debut single 'Sold My Soul' back in March.
The highly powerful pop debut fuses influences from breakbeat, garage and R&B alongside a hugely dynamic chart breaker chorus. The track was written in memory of Reuebens' father Kevin, who passed away last year following a drug overdose.
Rueben moved to Manchester from a small village in Ireland just after leaving school at 16, with the intention of only making music. At the age of 19, he travelled to Europe with a friend to pay music on the streets of all European captials. Berlin, where he stayed for a year, is where he became most popular and gained over 19,000 social media followers only from street performing.
A year later, back in the UK, Reuben became the singer and songwriter of successful band China Lane, but after a quick rise, at the age of 25, he decided to go his own way. Last year, he showcased his talents on Little Mix 'The Search' on BBC 1, where he presented them with the original track. He released 'Sold my Soul' in December 2020 as a self-release without any label support. Nevertheless, the single immediately caught the attention of Spotify UK and was picked for the New Pop UK editorial playlist and was also presented by Little Mix on their social media channels.
After signing a record and publishing deal in January, he did a new crisp edit, mix and master and is now finally ready to take 'Sold my Soul' to the big audience in 2021.
We had the opportunity to speak with Reuben on the release and more...
Introduce yourself and tell us a bit about you!
"So a little about me! I’m a 26 year old Musician Who grew up in the south of Ireland! I went to a small school and occupied most of my time playing the Cello and singing in the town Coir."
Where are you from and what’s your favourite thing about the place?
"The town in grew up in is called Enniscorthy. It is a small but humble town in the south east of Ireland. My favourite thing about the place is its beautiful Irish Scenery! We also have incredible picturesque beaches there and a lot of Hollywood movies are also shot in the area due to its rustic Irish nature."
Who are your biggest inspirations, musically?
"I’d say my biggest musical influences are Nile Rodgers, Mark Ronson and also some of Hip Hops biggest legends including The Fujess and Wu Tang Clan."
How would you describe your sound in the form of a hashtag?
"I would describe my music in the sign of a hashtag as #Oldisnew , I believe we need to look back into our musics history to be able to achieve greatness again moving forward!"
Who would be your dream collaboration?
"My dream collaboration would definitely be Mark Ronson."
What’s been your stand out moment so far?
"My biggest stand out moment so far would definitely be hearing my song play on the radio whilst driving to my destination! Or walking into a store and hearing my voice!"
You recently released your debut single ‘Sold My Soul’. How has the reaction been so far?
"I have had an overwhelming reaction! Not only have I been added to the Playlist for germanys hit music station SWR3 but I have also Gaines regular play on some of Irelands biggest radio stations also! We have already amassed over 40 Thousand YouTube views in 3 weeks and we are climbing for that chart position as we speak!"
Was there a specific concept behind the accompanying visuals?
"The music video for the song was very emotional for me, As the song was about losing my father. I wanted to portray energy in the visuals. I did this by including a lot of closeup shots of me singing to show my emotional state whilst performing the song. Although the song is very upbeat I still wanted people to take away some emotion from it!"
You’ve just signed a record and publishing deal which is super exciting! What can we expect from you in 2021?
"In 2021 you can definitely expect lots more music! And hopefully you will be able to catch me performing on a stage somewhere towards the end of the year! We have lots of plans and lots to prepare for!"
'Sold My Soul' is out now.
Listen HERE
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