Drea - new single "Reincarnation" & interview

One of my favorite dance tracks so far this year would be "Reincarnation" by Drea. Drea is a singer-songwriter who lives in Bloomfield, New Jersey and has released the song as her debut single on the indie MisWax label. "Reincarnation" is a sturdy house song with some guitar-ish rock blasts mixed in as well, courtesy of the remix team the Klubjumpers, who recently had done a great remix of Pretty Poison's "Take Me I'm Yours." The song also has some reflective lyrics as well. All and all a good combination where dance and rock intersect. The single was released last month featuring several remixes, and it has been getting airplay from dance radio outlets like Wilmington's Super 91.7FM and BPM (America's Dance Hits) Channel on XM Satellite Radio.

Ealier this month I had the chance to interview Drea, who was busy with making a video for "Reincarnation. "

How did the song "Reincarnation" come about? Was it easy to write?

I wrote the song in 2001. I can clearly remember; I was sitting upstairs in my room on a hot sunny day in the sorority house LOL. I had my late Godfather on my mind and the words started to flow. My Godfather was such an inspiration to me. I took the song to my vocal coach at the time, Danny Madden. From there the song came to life. I have been writing since I was 7 years old. It is such a gift that I am truly grateful for.

How did you get the Klubjumpers to remix the track? They've recently been doing some good remixes.

I am a true believer in fate! So I was speaking to one of my friends and he had recommended the Klubjumpers to do a remix for me. I got home that same day and there was a message on myspace from the Klubjumpers asking me if they could do a remix for me because they liked the song. And from there it is history!!!! They did such a slammin' job!

Are there any remixers, that you haven't worked with before, you would like to do a remix with in the future?

Oh Yeah! I would like to work with everyone if possible because I feel that the more people I have around me, the more I learn and the more I know. I would love to work with Davidson Ospina, John Kano, Carl Cox, and Tiesto!

I've noticed in your bio that while in college you interned for Billboard Magazine in the Special Events Department. What was the biggest thing you've learned from the experience?

The biggest thing I learned from working at Billboard is how important it is to network. I got to know a lot of producers, remixes, and record labels from the internship. Even if I had never met them in person, having their names in my face was a learning experience in itself.

On your MySpace page you describe your music as a combination of house and rock. Two years ago there was some hype going on about acts that mixed dance and rock, such as Franz Ferdinand and the Scissor Sisters, as well as the first single from Gwen Stefani's solo album, "What You Waiting For?". Do you take any inspiration from them?

Not really, although I think that the rock/dance collaboration is excellent. My inspiration comes from artist like Phil Collins, Fleetwood Mac, Sarah Mclaughlin, John Mayer, Billy Joel, Neil Diamond, and Madonna. If I could write with any of these artists, it would definitely be Phil!

You mention that you're working on a video for "Reincarnation." When will it be coming out?

The video should be ready for the end of July 2006! I am really excited about it!

What do you think is the biggest challenge for dance music in America in 2006? Should it concern itself crossing over into the pop market or just be content as a "niche market"?

I hope you have a big bag of popcorn for this answer. LOL! The biggest challenge that dance music in America faces is the simple fact that it is not exploited to the public as much as other genres. Dance music to me is an excellent source of energy. I notice that when I am at the gym and I hear dance music it makes me want to run faster on the treadmill and work harder. When I am shopping it makes me want to spend money. Lyrics are pretty important to me because I am a writer, but even if the lyrics are sad, it doesnt matter because the beat, the bass, the energy is so uplifting. It is great when I go out and I see everyone having a great time to dance music. Yet the American society lets this great energy go unnoticed. The music scene in America is primarily hip hop which is probably the biggest challenge that America faces. Now I am not in any way disrespecting hip hop music because music is a form of art expression but there is a fine line between expression and sending out a message that is ok to be gang involved, shoot at your friends, bring guns to school. It is constantly on the radio, internet, on MTV. I think it is excellent that the internet is exposing America to music videos since MTV is all about reality shows. One great thing that I love about dance music is the underground feel to it. I would never want to call it a niche genre and I would never want to call it a pop genre. Dance is dance and it is a great to know that stations like Z100 in NYC are giving dance music some love.

What are your future musical plans? Any last words?

I have a lot of collaborations lined up as far as writing goes! As I said before there are so many people that I want to work with! I have been trying for so long and I am like a kid in a candy store right now with all of the possibilities of music! Last words? This past year has been amazing! Thanks to all the DJs, record pools, mixshow DJs, radio stations, family, friends, fans, and MisWax Records for believing in this project!

You can hear "Reincarnation" on Drea's MySpace page. You can also purchase the song either through various download outlets like Beatport or as a physical CD maxi-single from the MisWax label.