Careless Music’s James Reid and LESHA On Music Production And Songwriting

The all-around musicians open up about their creative processes.

FreebieMNL snagged an exclusive interview with CARELESS Music Manila‘s James Reid and LESHA. Check out what they have to say about producing and writing music.

“Sometimes I’ll be in my room producing while my family’s asleep, with the music turned up high,” jokes LESHA. “That’s how I used to do it when I was 15.”

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She usually starts by coming up with a simple chord progression. Then she hums a melody and starts writing lyrics. Sometimes she lays down random words in an attempt to tell a story. But other times she feels the need to finish the whole track first.

James and LESHA believe that good songs have catchy melodies. The founder of CARELESS Music Manila does melodies first, lyrics second.

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Photo by Aram Lascano

James Reid on Software 

For digital audio workstations, they use Logic Pro X. “Protools is for old people,” quips James.

LESHA says Logic Pro X’s easy-to-use interface resembles GarageBand. But when she needs to produce vocals, Lesha uses Ableton, which James finds confusing.

LESHA’s sound promotes atmospheric reverberations. When asked what she thinks is the perfect sound for a song, LESHA said that she goes with what she thinks fits what she’s working on.

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Photo by Aram Lascano

“Sometimes I finish the song first since I already have the chord progression and lyrics. When I build the production and see how things blend and flow, that’s when I decide on the sound,” she says.

Sound and lyrics are both important for LESHA. “One can’t be weaker than the other,” she stresses. She strives to be good at both coming up with both.

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Photo by Aram Lascano

Apart from music production, LESHA also films and edits her own music videos. She also does her own marketing and promotions sometimes. According to her, that’s what makes LESHA unique as an artist.

“I’ve been doing this on my own for a long time. Because of that, I learned to make my own music,” she says.

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