Get To Know: Rêve

Growing up in a musical household, Rêve started writing songs and playing piano at a young age. Combining her musical skills and love for electronic music, she now makes songs influenced by 90’s dance and noughties pop music. Her single 'CTRL + ALT + DEL' showcases this, the fun dance song has over 9M streams on Spotify and has been played on Radio 1. Preparing to tour later this year, we can’t see what’s next for Rêve!

1. For those who don’t know about you and your music, tell us a little bit about who you are and where you’re from… 

Hi! I'm Rêve, an electronic artist and multi-instrumentalist from Montréal, Canada. My music has a nostalgic feel, heavily influenced by classic 90's dance music and early 2000's pop and R&B.

2. Who/what inspired you to start a career in music? 

It was actually a combination of a few things! I grew up in an extremely musical household where there was no shortage of instruments to play, and a record always on in the background.  Growing up, while other kids threw themselves into team sports or their studies, I retreated to the old upright piano in my basement and wrote songs. In my late teens, I felt a lot of pressure from my peers to pursue a more traditional path, but I felt like a fish out of water. Music was the way I felt most connected to the world, and I felt it was the most valuable thing I could contribute to it in return! 

3. Who are your biggest musical influences? 

They are ever-changing, but my "staple" musical influences are Kaytranada, Robyn, Rufus du Sol, Madonna and SG Lewis. 

4. Tell us about the writing and recording process of your new release…

'CTRL + ALT + DEL' was written during the first wave of the pandemic. I wrote the song at the tail end of a writing camp with producers Banx & Ranx, where we had been writing really heavy and emotional songs at the beginning of the week. I remember walking into the studio the day we wrote CTRL and telling the guys, "we need a little break in the sadness and seriousness - let's write something fun and lighthearted. If nothing comes of it, then so be it, but let's try to lighten the mood by doing something borderline nonsensical and cheeky". That's exactly what we did - we had a blast writing/recording it... we even had a bunch of our friends jump into the session to do gang vocals on parts of the song. 

“Layover” recalls a story about a 12 hour layover between LA and Australia I had a few years ago. I was deliriously tired having already been up for 24 hours, but rallied and had one of the most epic nights of my life with a group of old friends, resulting in me almost missing my flight!

5. What has been your biggest career highlight so far? 

There have been so many beautiful moments, but having 'CTRL + ALT + DEL' go gold in Canada has been the highlight so far! 

6. Who would you be your dream collaboration and why? 

On the DJ side, there are SO many names I could point to, but the shortlist includes Kaytranada, Burns, Duke Dumont, Jax Jones and Kungs. On the artist side, I'd really love to work with Channel Tres, Lady Gaga, Tove Lo and Jacob Collier.

7. Have you met anyone and been totally starstruck? 

Not yet!

8. If you could only listen to one song on repeat for the rest of time what would it be and why?  

'In your eyes' by Peter Gabriel or 'Sweetest Thing' by U2 only because they remind me of dancing with my family in my living room.

9. What’s on your playlists that people wouldn’t expect?

There is no rhyme or reason to my playlists - it's a combination of house music, classic rock from my childhood, and REALLY alternative tracks in many different languages. 

10. What can we expect from your live shows? 

Expect a really dynamic show that will make you dance, but at points potentially cry. It'll be a very transportive, ethereal show incorporating a lot of live musical instruments while still maintaining a classic electronic show feel.

11. When can we see you live this year? 

Hopefully in the fall of 2022!