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Riz La Vie now feels comfortable in his skin as a musician. When he began working in January on his latest project, “Feed.,” the 25-year-old experienced a revolution within himself.

La Vie, who released “Feed.” on June 4, spoke to The Daily Orange on June 29 about his creative process, experience playing virtual shows and career thus far.

The musician has been performing for fans and riffing guitar chords on Instagram Live during quarantine. He’s donating all of the proceeds from “Feed.” that he received in June to the Brooklyn Community Bail Fund, The Loveland Foundation and Food Bank for NYC.

Here’s the transcript of The D.O.’s interview with La Vie, edited for brevity and clarity:

The D.O.: Between the two inspirations you often refer to – music and the women who raised you – how did they play a role in the creative process for “Feed.”?

La Vie: It is all about the voice. What you’re intaking and what you’re outputting through your voice and through your whole system. My mom taught me — just even passively, even just from long drives home from Paterson (New Jersey) and all that stuff — to play music very loud, listen to music very loud and sing to your heart’s content. That’s a lot of “Feed.”

Music, it’s like everybody’s language, so you just, you get to learn so much about people by the way they listen to music, you know. It’s nice to know that my mom listened to music the same way I do, which is very loud.

The D.O.: On your Instagram, recently, you posted a video out on the Brooklyn Bridge and you said about “Feed.,” “It’s about engaging the mind, body, spirit; about freeing, fulfilling and healing while finding one’s place in the world.” So, how is the album really falling in place with what’s going on today?

RLV: When I was just thinking about the project, I felt like I was living through a bit of a revolution within myself. I felt like I was making music for people going through a revolution within themselves. When I set the date, I had no idea that a revolution would be taking place all around us. It was very curious to see where my thoughts were in January and how they led to my thoughts here in June. And, yeah, I am in a portal and life hasn’t been normal.

The D.O.: Can you talk to me about how dropping out of Drexel University played a role in your music career?

RLV: I went to Drexel for the first two trimesters and I found that I was just in Philly to play TLA (Theater of Living Arts). I played it two or three times and then I was like, “OK.” So, I was just doing everything that I could, and after my friend left, I really felt like pursuing music full-time. I didn’t feel like sitting in class and learning. I had been booking shows since I was 14, 15 (years old). I’m just a hands-on kind of person, so I rather just do it myself. I really enjoyed my time there and all the people that I met. Philly, in general, is just a vibe.

The D.O.: What advice would you give to a student considering a similar path?

RLV: I would say, despite (myself) not being very competitive, just try to be there. So, if you’re in a program and it’s telling you you’re going to learn this in four years, go on YouTube and try to learn it in a year. And if you can learn it in a year, and if your heart is yelling for you to leave (the program), then leave. If you feel that you need to stay, then you should absolutely stay and leave with a degree. Take whatever path you need to to fully feel like you’ve quenched that thirst for exploration.

The D.O.: You performed for the Minecraft Festival and you’ve done some live shows on Instagram since quarantine started, what’s the difference in the energy that you get back from the fans in person versus online?

RLV: I mean, I’m definitely an energy person. The reason I play shows is because I feel like I have a lot to put out, and I like a lot of response back. So, when I play a show, the amount of energy that you get out of me is the amount of energy that you’re showing me and giving me back. So, it’s been really hard to play online, just not as satisfying. It doesn’t really quench the thirst. It’s like you want to see the people, and especially coming off of the year that we had last year and prepping for the year that we were about to have this year. I just believe in divine timing, so it’s going to be straight.

Published on July 2, 2020 at 2:35 pm

Contact Louis: louis@dailyorange.com | @JBL__98