Victoria Reed

Who is Victoria Reed?

Someone a 16 year old me would be surprised but psyched to know that I turned out to be. Also pretty dang lucky in a sort of peculiar way that most people wouldn’t think of when they think ‘lucky’.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

A Spice Girl

How did you get to be where you are?

A whole lot of love, support and encouragement (sometimes in the form of divine intervention) but also, some very difficult experiences, break-ups etc. followed by a number of fateful and wise decisions like finally teaching myself to play guitar, dropping out of school to move to New York and make a record.

If you could go back in time and give your 16-year-old self some advice what would it be?

Other than “Stop bleaching your hair and tanning!!!”? Ugh.

Slow it down and hang in there cause things get way way way way better and before you know it you’re going to become the person that you really need right now but cannot for the life of you find. Also, learn to play an instrument!!

*Victoria’s fiancé is a D.C. Native and has been a lifelong supporter of The Washington Football team, but they both totally oppose the team name and think they should absolutely change it!

If the cupboard in your bedroom would lead you to another world what would your Narnia look like?

It would be Spain, Switzerland, Miami, New York City and Southeast Asia all in one with all you can eat salami, wine and chocolate chip cookies everywhere you turn. It is perpetually golden hour bleeding into twilight, one hour of night and then back again and even wild animals let you hug them and ride them and it doesn’t hurt their backs. There, you never have to wear a coat unless you have a great one and really want to. Also my fiancé, friends and family are always around and laughter comes easily and often.

By day you are ………by night you are………?

By day I am a singer-songwriter… by night I am an amateur astrologer (using this term loosely here) and manic internet researcher– I’m currently planning my wedding and I swear I can clock like 12 hours straight on Pinterest, building elaborate excel spreadsheets, etc. in what feels like a blink of an eye.

What was one of your favorite past projects?

I used to write a humorous blog called ‘I Feel Like I’m Taking Crazy Pills’ where I would comment on things like Boa’s, Nature Valley Granola Bars (before they were a meme!) and why the perks of being a ‘regular’ at a restaurant aren’t worth the pressure involved, i.e. feeling like you always have to order the same thing once they learn your usual order so as not to let them down when they recite it back to you before you even get a chance to see the menu. I would write these little mini essays just to crack my friends and myself up and got such a kick out of doing it.

What are you working on now. and what do you dream of happening in the future?

I’m currently on tour in support of the release of my debut album, but I also have just recently gotten back into the studio to start working on my next one. I’m the kind of songwriter that writes directly from personal experience, which means as things keep happening (which as things they have a way of doing) I keep writing. I’ve been writing a whole lot and started to get really eager to put it all down on tape while it’s still relatively raw for me, so we said hell, let’s get back to it! I think there’s something to capturing a song earlier on in its life.

And as for the future… wow… a lot… to be able to keep making records and playing music. That’s a big one. But, I also went on a really big kick the other night about somehow getting it together enough to buy a house somewhere in the next 10 years. I love NYC and my fiancé and I will never let go of our loft so long as we can help it, but I think it would be just wonderful to be able to at least split our time between here and oh I don’t know, Miami? I feel so good in Miami.

I’m also pretty desperate to visit Japan and have been for some time now, so that definitely needs to happen!

What song do you love that you keep secret cause its too embarrassing to say publicly you like it?

I kind of take pride in being able to enjoy and appreciate music that some people would look down upon or write off as complete top 40 garbage, so I don’t know if there’s a song that I would be embarrassed to admit to liking. I kind of feel like all music has its place, even the most sugary pop junk. If a lot of people can enjoy it, it’s gotta have some merit, right? If people can connect to it in joyful or meaningful ways, it has value as far as I’m concerned, even if it does seem vapid on the surface. The most embarrassing thing I do is listen to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ ‘Empire State of Mind’ on my occasional runs along the East River to get myself really, embarrassingly pumped up. But, that’s only embarrassing because of the way I like it.

Which version of “ Chandelier” do you prefer “Sia’s” or ‘Angus and Julia Stone’s” ?

Probably Sia’s, but I love Angus and Julia Stone!

Are you a morning person or night person?

Defintiely a night person. Definitely. Though I often wake up at the crack of dawn and feel absolutely brilliant, creative and productive for like an hour, I almost always end up going back to sleep until about noon and then staying up very late each night.

Any advice for people just starting out?

The same advice that a Numerologist once gave me: You came here to do it all, and you will, but one thing at a time! In other words, pick one pursuit to give majority of your energy to and see it through.

But at the same time, don’t force it. I think the universe has a way of guiding us towards our truest purpose in life sometimes by making things so uncomfortable, that we have no choice but to quit our current path and go in another direction.

Is there a quote or mantra you live by?

Way too hard to pick just one for all time! But at the moment mine is “Be a friend to yourself.”