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10 Questions with ... Haley Reinhart
November 14, 2016
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/HaleyReinhart Twitter: @HaleyReinhart Instagram: @haleyreinhart YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/RealHaleyReinhart
Haley Reinhart is best-known for having placed third on the 10th season of American Idol. A year later she released her debut album, "Listen Up!" and she was the first Idol alum to perform at Lollapalooza. She is currently on the road supporting her new EP, "Better".
Reinhart has been garnering widespread recognition for performing and touring with Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox, taking popular songs of today and yesterday and re-imagining them in their own unique style. Their videos on YouTube reach millions and millions of viewers each day. Additionally, she made her voice acting debut as Bill Murphy in the Netflix animated comedy "F Is for Family".
1. Hi Haley, so how has 2016 been treating you so far?
I think that 2015 was the year of manifesting, and 2016 has been a year with a lot of doors opening and I'm happy to say that things have been turning out the way I have planned, and I'm looking forward to keeping things moving ahead.
2. You have such a powerful voice! How did you develop your voice and how too you maintain it?
I just grew up singing in smokey clubs as a kid I guess? I used to be more "froggy" and I was sort of a chatter-box as a kid when I was too young to talk. My mom had me singing scales and my dad had me doing scat. I had it in me since day one and I went to see my parents band and singing with them.
3. Do you have plans to continue recording with Postmodern Jukebox?
Yeah, I definitely plan on keeping my presence in that group. I jumped in and out of the group with several other gigs I do solo. PMJ is really an incredible thing to be a part of, and to go off and do a tour on and off like that and stay busy and be prepared ... it's just a great thing.
4. How did you first get to work with Post Modern Jukebox? How did that come to be?
We met here in LA, it's kind of a small world, Scott had heard of me and Casey [Abrams] and sax player Jacob Scesney. So we went down to meet them and they asked if I wanted to sit it? Maybe do "All About The Bass"? And that was pretty much it! Then we decided we should just do a whole album!
5. What's been a favorite cover that you've done with Postmodern Jukebox?
I would definitely go with "Creep", just because it definitely has had some great reviews and I've always wanted to sing it. I happened really organically. We didn't even talk about recording it. We needed another song and we already had the arrangements. So we did it on tour and it went over so well that we decided to record it while we were on tour in Zurich. It's really interesting to see people's reaction.
6. I have to ask you about American Idol. If you could go back and do it all over again, would you? And is there anything you would change?
That's a good question? I don't like to regret anything. It's lead me to be exactly where I am today. I think Idol can be a blessing and a curse depending on what you want in life and what kind of things you're trying to hurdle over. For me, it was a cool thing and it would take a little longer for people to see that it's not that easy to just get the golden ticket. It's not the free ride that some people think. If I could have just had some scout sitting with a cigar in the audience wanting to pick me out of nowhere that would be great too. But this is just one thing that was my calling and you have to go with your gut. So that being said I wouldn't do anything differently.
7. We're huge fans of Bill Burr. We just watched six episodes "F Is For Family" which is hilarious, and we happened to watch the Christmas episode where "Oh Holy Night" is on. How did you get involved with this show?
This was another really cool thing that happened overnight. At that time, I had only tried out for one animated thing. Someone had asked me to try out for the "Peanuts" movie as the voice of Charlie Brown (weirdly enough I sound a lot like Charlie Brown) but they only ended up taking kids for that.
That audition was floating around and these guys heard it. I guess the fact that they were looking for someone from big cities and I have sort of a Chicago slang a bit, it came off in a good way for them ... and it was supposed to take place in Chicago in the 70s. I walked in and did a cold read before all of them and I was walking in as Mo Collins was walking out. Bill Burr and all of them were so incredibly nice. Then I did my homework and I found that Bill is one of the best comics in the world (if not the best). So I'm really such a big fan of them and everybody who is a part of it.
8. Do you plan on doing more acting in the future?
I've always enjoyed it and it's such a different vibe from singing and performing. I'd really like to do that. I've done some cool auditions and gotten really close to being in some cool movies and things. I realized that I need to reach my goals with my music, but I definitely would like to do both.
9. You call your fans "Hayliens." What is a favorite moment that you've had with your fans.
What's been cool about PMJ is that I've been doing all these one-offs on my own and it's been nice to have people see me performing all over the world. There's a girl named Evelyn and she's really young so she could never come to any of the shows. The first one she came to she drove all the way from San Diego just to meeting me outside and she plays a ukulele and she did a medley of my song.
We sang together and did "Creep" and that was a really sweet moment.
My fans have got a lot of talent and to hear them say that I've helped them tackle their passion, I really couldn't ask for anything else more than to inspire. That's a beautiful thing when someone can reach their bliss state. I hope I can continue to do that. That's really the goal.
10. At the end of the day what do you hope that your fans and new listeners will take away from your music?
If I can help somebody feel the emotion in a given time and in the moment, then I think that's a beautiful thing. I'd like to think my music has a lot of uplifting elements. I gear a lot of my music towards young women and I want to empower them and make them feel confident, sexy and able to be themselves to the core and help them feel limitless.
*Special thanks to Leah Adams for conducting this interview.
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