Today we’d like to introduce you to Rey Fernandez.
Hi Rey, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My name is Reyrzy (pronounced rey-reezy), and I’m a music producer and DJ from San Diego, specifically Chula Vista. Known for my hip-hop instrumentals and remixes, my music has gained prominence in the global freestyle hip-hop dance scene. Although hip-hop is my main genre, my music is really a blend of all my musical influences, which include genres like house, R&B and jazz.
I wasn’t always in San Diego; both my parents were in the Navy, so we moved around a lot during my childhood. I was born in Spain, and I lived in Maryland and Hawaii before finally settling in San Diego in the fourth grade. Constantly moving made it tough to make real friends growing up, but my family and music were the two constants in my life. My oldest brother, Jeff, I would say was my biggest introduction into music because of his gigantic collection of hip-hop and R&B CDs and cassettes. He doesn’t know this but whenever he wasn’t around I would listen to his music collection without telling him (sorry bro). So with that being said, at a young age, I fell in love with hip-hop and R&B music and was infatuated with the feelings it evoked. Artists like Nas, D’Angelo, Common, and The Roots were my early influences because of him, and I discovered more through YouTube, digging deep into the discography of artists like Slum Village, Outkast, and MF Doom.
My passion for music evolved in high school to the point where I wanted to try and start to make my own creations. I’d like to say one CD of my brother’s that I’d give most of the credit for is The Minstrel Show by Little Brother. I loved that album front to back especially because of the production of 9th Wonder, and I learned that he used a music production program called FL Studio (aka Fruity Loops). This prompted me to get the program myself and try my hand at it, but… I must say I was pretty terrible at it at first. I didn’t really know how to navigate the program and I also didn’t really know any music theory, so I really was just throwing a bunch of stuff together with no real sense of direction. However, in the spirit of hip-hop, I got the idea to start sampling and chopping things up that I loved, specifically another hobby of mine, video games. I was always also fascinated by the music in video games, and there are so many amazing compositions in the video game music realm, so I thought it was a good place to bounce ideas off of. Eventually I started making beats that I actually thought were good, and I started uploading my beats to YouTube.
This beginning phase of my music production career is something I will never forget. Just that feeling of jumping into a new world and turning ideas into reality was something I had never felt before, and just creating during this time was so fun to me. I had gotten into a good groove, and eventually I had a small (to say the least) following on YouTube for my music. Just the idea that strangers online found my music and actually liked it blew my mind. One specific beat I’d like to point out is a beat I made because my friend in high school asked me to remix Darth Vader’s theme randomly out of nowhere, and I just did it. I made a remix that I was happy with and I uploaded it to YouTube and it did a little better than the rest of my beats at the time, but nothing too crazy. But at the time that was the best beat I had made by far, and it will be important for the rest of my story. I had made a few more beats after this while still in high school, and then it was eventually time for me to go to college.
This point of the story is probably the point of my life where I feel the most regret. For whatever reason in my teenage mind, I thought, “Oh now that I’m in college, I have to stop making these beats. It’s not gonna get me anywhere; I have to focus on my studies and try to get a ‘stable’ job.” Honestly these were thoughts that weren’t my own, but I let them dictate my life in college, and in turn, led me to pretty much completely abandoning my music career. My music career: the thing that I loved so much, the thing that brought me feelings that nothing else could ever give me, I gave it up completely cold turkey. And that was it. for about 3 years I didn’t make a single beat, never even thought about it.
Until one day, when one of my friends in college somehow discovered my old YouTube channel and was going through my beats. One video however, stood out: the Darth Vader remix. About 3 years later, this song had about 500,000 views on YouTube and countless comments and likes. They brought it to my attention and I couldn’t believe it. THIS many people liked my music? And I really believed that it would get me nowhere? This was the moment that I realized that I should have never stopped in the first place. And this was the moment that I decided that I was going to pursue music as my life’s purpose from here on out.
Since that day, I’ve been a full time music producer and DJ, and my sound has made a natural progression to beats that specifically are catered to hip-hop freestyle dancers. I’d say my production is a blend of my favorite producers, like the likes of J Dilla, Timbaland, and The Neptunes. Whenever I make music, I’m really creating to celebrate the music that has influenced me my whole life. Music is the number one presence in my life, and it has allowed me to connect with so many people around the world who love the same kind of music as me.
Today, I have accumulated over 4.5 million plays on SoundCloud, getting listens in countries I’ve never been to like France and Korea, and my music has taken me physically to countries I’d never thought I’d go to. Last year I DJed in Singapore, Vietnam, and Japan, in front of people that told me themselves that they dance to my music. Not only that, but my music has led to me meeting people I’d never thought I’d be able to meet, let alone call them friends. Recently, Larry from the Les Twins, arguably the most famous dancers in the world heard my music and made a dance video to one of my songs. Since then, we’ve developed a relationship and have even collaborated on a couple remixes. I’ve even DJ’ed a couple of the Les Twins events and I consider him a friend of mine. Also, recently, Fatman Scoop, a legend of hip hop in his own right, discovered me through a video of someone dancing to my song on TikTok, and we’ve also developed a relationship to the point where I’d consider him a friend as well. We’ve collaborated on a couple remixes together as well, and we even shot a music video together last year.
The same me in high school that was so madly in love with making beats wouldn’t believe everything I just said. But this is where music has taken me so far, and I feel like it’s only the beginning of something much, much bigger.
I stopped making music for a few years in college because I thought “it wouldn’t get me anywhere”. As of today, seeing EVERYWHERE it’s taken me… What a ridiculous thing to think, huh?
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not always been a smooth road, and I’d say the biggest obstacle along the way is frankly, myself. Like I stated in my story, I completely stopped making music for a few years in college for literally no good reason… I stopped because I believed what other people were telling me, things like music is not a stable career, I’m going to end up on the streets if I try and pursue music a career, etc. Yes, I believe these things can be true, but I believe that this is true for EVERY profession. The arts get a bad rap because there are so many different avenues with music careers that a lot of people aren’t too knowledgeable about, and yes: it is a difficult realm to navigate. But here’s my take on it: you are guaranteed to fail in ANY profession if your heart isn’t completely in it. And music is the only thing I could ever imagine myself doing as a living, and I believe I’ve done quite well for myself. It’s not like I’m living the most lavish life; yes the money isn’t always a sure thing at all times in this profession, but I’m blessed to say that I’m living comfortably and I am very content with my life at the present moment doing what I love to do. So that’s what I believe is the biggest obstacle for my career: the mental battle. Battling self-doubt, quieting all the doubters and outside noise… It’s a constant battle that I deal with every single day.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My name is Reyrzy (pronounced rey-reezy), and I’m a music producer and DJ. I have become known for my hip-hop instrumentals and remixes, mainly in the freestyle hip hop dance scene across the world. I’d say my production is a blend of my favorite producers, like the likes of J Dilla, Timbaland, and The Neptunes. Whenever I make music, I’m really creating to celebrate all my influences.
And I believe that’s what sets me apart, my sheer love for music has led me to dig deep and listen to so much music throughout my life, that when I create music, I have so many ideas in my head because I have so much music that I can reference and use in my creations in a unique way. I can grab inspiration from a chord progression that I love from a John Coltrane song, then throw on a drum pattern reminiscent of a Timbaland-produced song from the 2000s, shift the kick and the snare off the grid even more like J Dilla would do, and then to switch up the vibe in the middle of the beat create a section that has a house vibe inspired by someone like Kaytranada.
What I’m most proud of is the fact that the music that I’ve created has allowed me to connect with people around the whole world, in countries I’ve never been to, like France and Korea. And in the countries that I have now been to and DJed in, when people come up to me and tell me that they’ve been dancing to my music, it’s really surreal and blows my mind. Add to the fact that my music has connected me with people that I grew up being a fan of and are now friends with, it makes me really proud of what I’ve created and drives me to keep going.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
In the music industry, I’ve been seeing a real shift in the overall structure of it lately, mainly because it’s been coming to light how unfair the music industry has been to artists for years. What Prince was talking about back in the day in the 90s, the nitty gritty details are coming to light about how all these record labels really don’t have any sympathy for the artists that they try to sign. Add to the fact that it has always been known that streaming services like Spotify pay artists pennies, I’ve been seeing a larger movement of artists pushing for independence and ownership of their work. And I think this is where the industry should go and I hope it does. This is something I’m also trying to pursue with myself, releasing all my music on my own terms on my own platform, and building my own community that way. Artists realizing the power and leverage that they have and taking back ownership of the art: that’s the dream and I’m optimistic that it will come true in the near future.
I do also want to bring up AI. The other thing that’s a hot topic right now is the use of AI in music, and how people are terrified that AI is going to replace real people creating music, but I’m not of that sentiment. I believe that AI is an amazing tool, and I already use it to help breed creativity in my music. And I believe that that’s what AI is to be used for. As a tool, not a replacement for the entire process. I don’t believe that AI will completely take over the music industry, because AI could never replace human emotion and connection: everything that music is.
Pricing:
- You can purchase my entire digital discography on my bandcamp site for $35! https://reyrzy.bandcamp.com/track/burfday
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.reyrzy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reyrzy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reyrzy
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/reyquaza
- soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/reyrzy
- Other: https://reyrzy.bandcamp.com/
Image Credits
For all photos besides the last three in I sent in the additional photos, please credit Jayne Chong.
