REMY SHAND

Biography
Fresh is an overused (and usually exaggerated) description of a lot of new music, but sometimes, once in
a while, it actually applies. Well, fresh is definitely one way to describe Remy Shands Motown debut
album, The Way I Feel.
Remy, 23, recalls the masters of soul with an uncanny authenticity that sometimes sounds as if hed
actually collaborated with the icons of his childhood: in the lush, jazzy Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye-
influenced flow of the title track; in his loving evocation of Memphis R&B in The Colour of the Day and
I Met Your Mercy, and in the literate neo-classic soul vibe of The Minds Eye and Looking Back on
Vanity.
As a songwriter, singer, multi-instrumental and self-producer, his work is at once accomplished and, yes,
fresh; deeply rooted, yet original. Heres an artist who attacks the boundaries of R&B, pop and alternative
with his own timeless fusion as undeniable, as it is unconventional.
Everyone whos fusing that old soul back into songwriting-DAngelo, Erykah Badu, Maxwell, Shelby
Lynne, Macy Gray-thats who I relate to, Remy says. But his musical relations, so to speak, go a good
deal further back, and to call him self-taught is almost the whole truth.
He credits his musical education, in his hometown of Winnipeg, Canada, to a crate of classic albums
salvaged by his dad from a club his construction crew was remodeling. Here, My Dear, Marvin Gayes
searingly honest chronicle of his divorce, became Remys favorite album and a musical Bible.
I look at it as being taught by the masters-the geniuses will take you all the way. Albums like Ann
Peebles I Cant Stand the Rain, the Isley Brothers 3+3, Marvin Gayes I Want You, Stevie
Wonders Songs in the Key of Life and the works of Rufus, Sly Stone and Steely Dan, among others, all
became Remys sources as a musician, songwriter and producer.
Home-schooled through tenth grade, Remy enrolled at the local high school (mainly to play in the jazz
band, whose teacher Remy would later hire for a recording session) but left after just one year. I wanted
to go back to home schooling but rules didnt permit it. I promised my parents Id accomplish something in
music, and they saw me put my head down and really accelerate. So they supported me through it. My
music bills were as much as the mortgage on our house.
Hed started on acoustic guitar and bass around age 12, and his record collection provided his benchmarks.
I listened to Stanley Clarke, and Jaco Pastorious, to learn from the best-not just learn pop cover tunes and
go out and play. Same thing with keyboards: I went to Herbie Hancock, and when my mom brought me
some Billy Preston albums. I was all over them.
Remy started writing the songs that became The Way I Feel at 19. I was playing in experimental rock
bands but no one else in Winnipeg wanted to sing my kind of music. Album tracks like the Isleys-
influenced Everlasting, the irresistible first single Take a Message and the loping, could-been-an-Al
Green-hit Rocksteady were among his first completed songs. I wanted to get some feedback, so I put
some songs on a tape and a friend sent the tape to his brother, a manger in Toronto.
Out of the blue, Steve Warden, now Remys manager, called to assure him that he could be signed to an
artist deal in a year. I said, yeah, right. But in just three months, two labels had offered development
deals, Remy took a deep breath and declined, choosing to press his luck and insist on a contract to make a
full album. Soon there were several labels offering multi-album deals. Universal prevailed, signed Remy as
an album artist, and gave him all the time he needed to complete the work himself. In total, Remy worked
on his album for four years, recording and mixing his album entirely at home in Winnipeg.
Remy only learned that Motown was a part of Universal after he got his deal, and when his album was
circulated at a company meeting in spring of 2001, he was stunned and delighted to learned that Motown
president/CEO Kedar Massenburg was the first on the scene to pick up the album for the U.S. marketnot
only because of his deep identification with the classic Motown, but because of the new era of the company
as well.
Hes done such amazing things, totally against the grain, on behalf of his artist right now. Id been afraid
to come out in the current market, because this isnt a hip hop album, and I was wondering: Whos gonna
help me do this? Then, it just clicked. This is what Kedar does-with Erykah Badu, with India.Arie. Im
feeling confident about that now.
Remys studio self-sufficiency-obsessive to the point of sickness, he laughs, had originally been a way to
bring off the vintage vibe of his tracks. But, he says it now assures that theres no filter between my ideas
and the recorded medium. It took time to ease off (the perfectionism of track-making) and let my own voice
come through. Im taking my feelings and finding some spin, some humor.
This record is purely about relationships. Ive pretty much covered my ups and downs of the past four or
five years, but The Way I Feel really represents where Im at now, which is in a great place. Theres no
fiction. Its all true stuff. One breakup drove a lot of the lyric writing. Looking Back on Vanity in
particular, sports a killer line worthy of the smartest indie screenwriter: She was rich, but I was beautiful.
Remy hopes that album listeners will put it on in the bedroom, put it on in the car, and relate to it. I want
to make them feel the magical feeling that they do when they listen to Marvin and Stevie, and soul music in
general.
Thats the reaction I had listening to them, and thats the reaction I wanted to project. Its still just one
percent of what I can do-I didnt really get to the up-tempo stuff yet, but for this album, the topic love.
Basically, its four years of feelings.
When Remy says his album expresses The Way I Feel, you can take him at his word. Hes ready to
confound the conventional wisdom of the industry, and write his own page from the heart.