Making his kind of music: Eli “Paperboy” Reed

by Samuel Hernandez

“I am a record collector. I think though that there are a lot of record collectors who are constantly out there buying new stuff, and that just isn’t me anymore,” Eli Reed on his obsession with music.

When you collect records the best way to store them is standing on their ends like books with their thin spines staring out at you. You put the records in different boxes, milk crates, anything to keep them at attention. After the initial purchase of a new record, there’s the attempt to find its place amongst your library. Where does it fit? Finding a place for it—and a place that adequately sums up the album—is part of the obsession. Where does it fit?

Eli “Paperboy” Reed is a neo-soul, “throwback” performer who cut his chops in the South by singing gospel at church. His nickname comes from a hat he inherited from his grandfather that stylized him as a newsie from decades past. His father was a music critic before he was born, and he learned singing by listening to his favorite records and skipping class to play guitar right outside his school. Obviously a complex person making music for complex reasons.

Where does it fit? According to Reed, the multi-genre influences helped tell the story: “I think you get pigeonholed. Everyone does. I was correctly put in a sound that was genre-specific, and now I’ve made a move to get out of that. For my own sake, I didn’t want to make the same kind of record my whole life.”

Reed’s formal vocal training was at a gospel church in Chicago. It was continued practice and the guidance of Mitty Collier where he learned that music should be about getting your point across. “Mitty gave me philosophical guidance more than formal training.”

His new album Nights Like This is another step of complicating the sound. The process of moving from one form of the band/musician and into another was about “listening and finding out what you like and what you don’t like from the beginning. You see a lot of young singers who have no idea who they want to be as artists. You really have to hone in on and be knowledgeable of things that you like and don’t like and seek out new music.” Though Reed was referring to his growing up and finding out what kind of music he liked, this also applies to the growth of the band. Reed is attempting to change his sound without losing his identity.

Where does it fit and how should it sound? What are you listening to right now and what informs the music you’re making? There is a notion that to be an expert at something, to be truly great, you need to be obsessed, but life complicates that. As Reed puts it, “Unfortunately so much of being in the music business has nothing to do with making music. A lot of the time the most fun I have is playing small clubs. I played in Williamsburg the other day at a small bar and it took me back to playing in the South with friends.”

Reed will be performing at The Studio at Webster Hall on Saturday, March 22 (doors at 7:00 PM), with The High & Mighty Brass Band in anticipation of the release of his new album. This will be a rare opportunity to see new songs being played live for only the second time in New York.