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Music

Dre Green: Just Let Your Voice Burn

The Chicago singer talks about her new EP, 'Only One,' and becoming part of the local music scene.

Photos by Scott Kaplan

"I'm a sad girl," Dre Green says over an extra-large piece of pie at Chicago's Bang Bang Pie Shop. It’s a strange statement to make mere days before the release of her debut EP, but during the first few moments of our interview, Dre shows little fear of revealing her vulnerabilities. Instead, she's open, giving me a chance to dive deep into her tics and get a sense of what makes her so instantly compelling for new listeners as a vocalist.

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Yesterday marked the 23-year-old San Antonio native's official arrival on the scene through the release of her debut EP, Only One, on the recently born Lo Motion record label. But it's clear that she is already on the brink of a breakthrough. Situated somewhere between a Hope Sandoval for the 21st century and the uber-cool stylistic charms of Kelela, Green has a versatile voice that allows her to both drift over tracks and push them to eerie climaxes.

Only One features dreamy yet strong production work from fellow Chicagoans like The-Drum's Jeremiah Meece (a co-founder of Lo Motion), The GTW and Supreme Cuts, yet Green's distinct vocal style is what truly sets the EP apart. Not content just playing the part of vocal accoutrement to these tracks, she taps into her own deep recesses to offer a fully-rounded personal and lyrical identity.

Standout tracks include “Walk Right Through,” a dreamy whisper of a dance bop produced by up-and-coming production duo Hawaiian Gardens and “Neymar Night,” her first collaboration with The GTW—which came about through its own, albeit slightly intoxicated, moment of vulnerability.

“I was like, “You know what? We need to make music and everyone always says this shit. Let’s collaborate,” she says of the evening. Thank God for that bravery. The track is bright and slinky, the sort of song that lends itself perfectly to sing-a-longs.

Before our interview ends, Dre is interrupted a couple of times. A shop employee who is, if not a friend of the singer, then certainly an acquaintance, stops by to say hello. It's an ironic little moment, one that captures the difference between who Dre was (or still says she is)—a sad, reserved outsider looking for that elusive musical family—and who Dre is right now, a warm and welcomed member of the local scene. Chicago is a difficult city to gain footing in, especially as an artist of any medium. And yet, Dre settled in nicely with the Lo Motion crew quicker than most ever could and after a bumpy couple of years spent living across the country and in Seoul.

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“Chicago is just a lot more diverse,” she says. “People are passionate here and do their own thing and have a scene and find people who are like-minded. It’s such a big city that you can have a little bit of everything and I like that.”

Noisey: What was wrong with San Antonio?
Dre Green: It was just a very stagnant place. There was some cool cultural stuff, and culturally I love it. It’s a predominantly Mexican community. I’m half Mexican too. It’s really great, but it’s kind of stagnant because of the military town. There’s three Air Force bases there. It’s never really gonna pop. The people still do cool things, but it’s like, everything cultural and fun is limited to a one-mile radius. So that just gets kind of old going there night after night after night after night.

When you first moved here, you were 19. Why did you decide to move north?
Just change. I needed something different. I hadn’t even visited here before I moved here. I had a friend who had lived here before and she was just traveling around a lot. She said, “I’m going back to Chicago and if you want to come, if you need a change of pace…” and so I was like, “I’m down.”

Were you always interested in making music?
Definitely. I’m a pretty reserved person these days, but when I was a kid, I was a total ham. I’d be like, “I like to sing!” I was super funny that way. So always talent shows, performances, dancing… all of my own accord made me really happy. In high school, I had little projects and pieces. I play guitar and piano also. But they were always kind of half-assed and never really came of anything.

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I moved to Chicago and started taking it a little more seriously and tried to find people to work with, but it was mostly just mediocre rappers. I kind of got tired of doing shitty features. I just just stepped back and took a big breath and kind of waited to find the right people. It definitely took a while, but once it did, it all came together.

When did you find the right kind of people you wanted to work with?
About a year ago, I met James [King, a.k.a. The GTW]. I was getting really frustrated with Chicago because I didn’t have a musical family, and I really wanted that. I wanted a team. I mean, you can’t build a home overnight. I was only here for a few years.

I met James, and he would come to house parties we would have and stuff. I was super intoxicated one night, and I just sang for him. And I essentially karaoked for him off of my iPhone and in the morning I was super embarrassed. I was just like, “I’m never going to drink again.” And then he hit me up like a week later and said, “Let’s make music together.” So… drunk and networking worked! We made “Neymar Night,” a track off the EP, and then he introduced me to Brandon and Jeremy of The-Drum. And we just started making music and became friends.

What was it like when you first started working with James and then with The-Drum?
I love them as musicians and I respect them a lot. One thing I love about them is that they give me music that is complete on its own, and it’s challenging to write to. Instrumentally, it could be released as an instrumental. They’re just so talented at what they do. So when I have the beat, I feel challenged to really go in and work with with it because I think it’s already great on its own. I like that versus other producers who are just like, “Here’s a demo beat that sounds like shit.” I don’t know what that’s going to be or what they’re going to do with it. So I like that they know what I like.

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We have very similar taste and chaotic taste, even. We have influences all over the place and I love them because they let me do my own thing creatively. I think that’s kind of great as a woman to go into the studio and think, “I’m going to say what’s on my mind and in my heart.” They’re completely down for that and I feel very free with them.

I like something you had mentioned before about having a musical family and saying that it was important. Why is that?
My grandfather played guitar and piano, and it was always really great to hear that in the house. During holidays and stuff and it was communal and nice. My mom is a huge music lover, and when I was growing up, she would always play Sade and Toni Braxton, Aretha Franklin and Etta James. Just super soulful women. I think I’ve always had that background, so I’ve always liked deeper, contralto middle-tones for that reason.

What were some of your influences when it comes to creating?
Just people who manipulate their voices to make it sound really painful, but it also makes it sound really beautiful. I took a lot of notes on that. Sometimes when you manipulate your voice to sound more painful, it sounds more beautiful.

How exactly are you manipulating your voice?
Sometimes I’ll sing in a way that’s not necessarily pretty. Or I’ll growl in a way. I trained vocally, so if I wanted to go the route of cleaner vocals and poppy [I could], but it’s always attracted me to sing quieter and more soulful. Just let your voice burn in a way.

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What do you think that says about the music you’re creating?
I think the main thing for me is to always be emotive. And if you listen to the EP, it’s pretty honest and emotional. It’s just conveys soul and pain and that’s important for me to say to an audience. You’re not alone in feeling that way sometimes. It’s just a tool you can use to give off a very different feel.

You said earlier you want to stray away from love songs. Why is that?
It’s more fun. Whenever I play the track Newport and I do live, I’m doing more rapping on it. I like that I have slow, emotive songs. I think that’s great. It’s more natural for me to write that way. It’s more challenging for me to write happy songs, but they’re also more fun to perform. I would like to make people dance and to get them moving.

Why is it more challenging to write happy songs?
I’m a sad girl. It’s just so much easier. It’s just always been that way, since forever. I listen to a lot of sad music in high school and then I kind of broke away and tried to write other things.

Why do you consider yourself to be a sad girl?
Well, clinically, I have depression, so it’s just a thing. It’s just kind of sort of part of my identity. It doesn’t totally define who I am or anything, but it’s something I like to stand up for because it kind of sucks. It doesn’t limit you from doing things. It’s kind of like a state of mind or a place you’re in. It doesn’t mean you can’t dream or put yourself in a different mind set. It doesn’t mean I don’t have happy moments, but it’s just a point of view I’ve had for a long time from a young age.

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Britt Julious is a writer living in Chicago. She's on Twitter - @britticisms

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