Anaïs Reno Talks New Album, Vocals And More

You will be releasing your new album‘Anaïs Reno Live At PizzaExpress Live in London’on
PX Records label. How are you feeling about the release and what are your memories from the performance itself?

This was the first live record I ever took part of, as opposed to a studio record. With that new experience comes some joys and anxieties around it being made and released; joys being the unmatched energy of a live audience with a band of wonderful musicians, anxieties being the vulnerability of it that is quite inescapable, regardless of preparation. All this said, the creative freedom the PXRecords team gave me has made it a release I am very much looking forward to, as I know that every decision made for the record was one I had a say in.

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

I grew up in New York City and I would describe it using the words intense, advantageous,
unpredictable, stimulating, and challenging.

Who performed with you in the band on this album?

I felt very lucky to be alongside a band of open, energetic musicians made up of Pete Malinverni on piano, Dave Green on bass, and Josh Morrison on drums.

One of the tracks on the album is your reimagined version of ‘The Girl From Ipanema’. What was the story behind your version of that song?

An outlook I was trying to adopt when creating the set list for this album was one of trying to keep myself from being jaded when it came to song choice. Songs like “The Girl From Ipanema” that have been performed and recorded so much can often be dismissed due to their popularity, but the reality is that it’s simply a beautiful song. I wanted to interpret it in a way that aligned with how I heard the tone of it, which is actually quite melancholic at times. Thus, singing the bridge rubato and leaning into the desperation of the narrator felt right.

How do you look after your voice?

I am still learning how to do this properly as I am trying to figure out how my vocal chords
behave (as we all are), but as of now, I try to generally not shout or scream too much, I speak very little before singing, and I make sure to drink water and not eat phlegm-inducing foods before a performance.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones?

I love a simple set-up with very few effects unless the gig or song calls for it: a balanced sound system that lets everyone be heard as they sound naturally, only the amount of instruments needed for the set list (that could be duo ranging to an orchestra, depending), and a room that allows for dynamics of all types.

Will you be performing any shows in the UK/Europe to support the release?

Yes! I’m very excited to come back to PizzaExpress in July as well as perform in some other
venues in Europe around the same time.

What kind of music/artists do you enjoy listening to? Do you have any recommendations?

My most listened-to genres would be jazz and psychedelic rock, with exceptions here and there.
The list is long, but to name a few: Carmen McRae, Bill Henderson, Frank Sinatra, Ella
Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Hank Mobley, Ahmad Jamal, Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole,
Thelonious Monk, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Billy Joel, etc. I would strongly recommend
listening to “Bill Henderson With The Oscar Peterson Trio”, “Ahmad Jamal At The Pershing: But Not For Me”, Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon”, and Carmen Mcrae’s “The Great American Songbook”, as a very small section of the list.

How do you pick a setlist and do you have a particular process?

I try my best to think about the arc of a setlist and how each song flows into the next, or doesn’t (sometimes on purpose). I’m still working on having a wide enough variety of tunes so that the audience doesn’t get bored, but there’s still consistency to the sound of the overall body. Lately, I’ve been toying around with ending sets with a ballad as opposed to a swing tune, and I think that if it’s the right ballad, it can be a very satisfying and powerful way to close.

What future plans do you have for 2024?

Of course, the release of this record will be high up on the docket, as well as another studio
record I’ll be releasing at another point later in the year.

What makes Anaïs Reno happy and what makes you unhappy?

I’m unhappy when there is a weight on my chest from feeling unprepared, unworthy, or
misunderstood in a particular situation. I’m happy when I get to share in the absence of that weight with myself or the people I feel closest to (I also like shoes; they make me happy:)).

Photo Credit: Ed Datson

Anaïs Reno Live At PizzaExpress Live in London is out 16^th February 2024 via PX Records and available to pre-order here: shop.pizzaexpresslive.com