RENEÉ DOMINIQUE
July 5, 2021
By Dan Locke
Singer/ songwriter Reneé Dominique is a 22-year-old, International young creative artist who is known for her music and beautifully created videos on YouTube, that features her unique singing voice, her ukulele and style in covering the classic music of the Beatles, Carpenters, other hits and her Original Songs. Her talent in music gives her more than 100 Million views on songs that inspired and touched the hearts of people of all ages. She has over 1 million subscribers and counting throughout Asia, America, Europe and many parts of the world.
You are from Manila. What is your upbringing?
– I was born and raised in Manila and I come from a family of musical people. My parents are both professional voice talents- my mom being a voice teacher, and my dad a singer/performer.
How did you discover music?
I was exposed to music as early when I was conceived in my Mom’s womb and being born in an environment where music is a major part of everyday living. I would be in the studio with my parents as they worked long hours for TV & Radio commercials. And because I spent so many of my days in the studio, I unconsciously developed a quick ear in learning melodies quickly; and at the age of 4, I landed my first recording job. I’ve always loved singing and performing, but as I grew up, I forgot about it for a while. I developed a passion for sports since I was the only girl in my dad’s side of the family. I trained in basketball and wall climbing, but eventually gravitated back to my first love.
I went back to Homeschooling, and at 13, with a ukulele and just an iPad in my bedroom, I braved myself into creating a YouTube Channel.
How did you start to write music?
– I’ve always hummed melodies I made up, and at 2 years old I ‘composed’ my first ever gibberish song called ‘Ti Ti La La’ which translated to ‘I love you, Grampa’, and dedicated it to him for Grandparents’ Day. But I started properly writing real songs when I was around 12-13 years old. I had a little crush on a guy at the time, and I had so many emotions I didn’t know how to express that I find myself writing my first song ‘The Early Morning Song’ on my notebook. It all started there.
How did you get your first guitar and first ukulele, and do you still have them?
–My parents bought both my guitar and ukulele for me. And yes, I do still have them with me. My first guitar is named Savannah, and my first ukulele is named Eli.
What is your guitar of choice now? Year, make and model? Does she have a name?
-My go to and favorite is definitely my Taylor Grand Concert 12 Fret. A gift from Taylor Guitars in San Diego. Her name is Amelia which means ‘work’. It was perfect for her because this guitar is a fruit of my work.
Describe your music.
-Easy listening, relaxing, nostalgic alternative is I think the best way I can describe it. I’ve gotten so much feedback from my subscribers throughout the years about how my music either brings them back to a memory, helps them sleep, allows them to re center and relax, and even saves them. I never understood the impact of my singing, and I think I still continue to try to wrap my head around it.
What was your first performance at like?
Aside from singing in school and church programs, It was a singing contest for a Brand that took place in a mall, when I was 11years old. I honestly don’t remember much of it, but I got in; made it to the Finals and was one of the winners.
Royalties never appear like magic. Royalties are only sent to you through work undertaken by a PRO to ensure that their members are getting paid. If you’re not yet signed up to a Performing Right Organization like ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, you may not be receiving all the royalties you deserve.
Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI or ASCAP ?
–Yes, I am with ASCAP.
What makes a good songwriter?
-Besides relatability, I think vulnerability, authenticity, good story telling skills, and a wide imagination.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
-It’s called ‘The Early Morning Song’, yes I do have a file of it somewhere but it isn’t released anywhere yet.
What is the process of writing your music?
-I used to think of a catchy title at first and base my story from there. But now I don’t have any specific process. It’s different every time, and I never wanna force something to happen when the feeling isn’t there. But I always make sure I have an instrument with me when I start writing lyrics, so that I not only have words, but chords to my composition already.
You have done and also known for your covers. How do you pick the songs that you record?
-My parents are a big influence on my repertoire. I grew up listening to classic standard songs and I came to the point where in I wanted to create my own renditions of these songs to bridge the gap between my and the older generation.
2 year ago, you did a song (Could I Love You Any More ft. Jason Mraz) How was it working with Jason?
-Definitely one for the books. He is such a humble and nice guy, and not once did I feel intimidated by him. He was very generous in giving me advice on songwriting and music, and you can definitely tell that his music is just an extension of who he is. A real guy that one. It was an amazing experience.
Also in 2019 you released, Say So by Doja Cat. How did you find out it hit Billboard Hot 100?
-It was trending on TikTok, which was why I decided to make own version.
Tell me about how it was doing Live Session in Singapore?
-It was fun! Very nice and professional people. It was easy and quick and quality was great.
I love Singapore, I love my followers there, especially those ones who came to my performances to meet me and even brought me presents-they’re beautiful and thoughtful people. it always will be a big part of my musical journey.
Have you even got any feedback from any artist of any of your song?
Yes, I do. Most of them are very encouraging.
Tell me about your latest video you just release and how you went about making it?
-My recent video is a cover of The Bee Gees’ ‘More Than A Woman’, it was the perfect song because it was making rounds on Tiktok, and it is a classic song that I loved. I really don’t do much besides, recording, shooting, and producing the video myself.
What are you’re feeling about streaming music?
There are a lot of advantages for streaming music. For an artist, it is a new realm of putting out your song to many available platforms to reach greater audience. To the audience, it’s a wide world choice of music to listen to and the convenience of enjoying it wherever they are.
The symbol # is known as the number sign, hash, pound sign and a sharp sign in music. The symbol has historically been used for a wide range of purposes Since 2007, widespread usage of the symbol to introduce metadata tags on social media platforms has led to such tags being known as “hashtags”, and from that, the symbol itself is sometimes called a hashtag.
Are people forgetting that the # is a part of music?
-For sure. The generation today do a lot of things and miss what It was referenced from.
Digital vs. vinyl?
-Both. They both have different advantages.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
My song, “Figure It Out”. It was a song I wrote in Brooklyn, New York with a small Team of producers. We were in the studio and finished writing and recording it in 4 hours. So much meaning as it talks about my own journey outside my comfort zone, figuring out to achieve my dreams and purpose in life. This song also represents others that might be on crossroads in life.
What equipment do you use to record your videos?
–Condenser AKG microphone, DSLR camera. It’s really just that.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
-Just taking my time to rediscover a new version of myself, grow where I’m planted, and take my time with writing new stuff.
How do you stay healthy during the lockdown?
-I try working out and staying active when I can. But one thing I learned during this lockdown is that, people have different ways of staying sane and healthy. And sometimes staying healthy just means taking your time to rest.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
-I’ve noticed that I’ve grown to be more extroverted. Haha
How can bands keep their fans if they cannot play live in front of the fans and sell merchandise to them at the show?
-live digital performances and keeping their fans engaged thru social media.
What is your happy place?
-The beach, or my car and driving around coz it takes my places.
Do you think you would be willing to sale your back catalog if someone like Universal is will to buy everything, such as all the rights to all your songs?
Maybe not.
You have over 100 millions on YouTube with over 1.4 million subscribers.
Spotify’s ‘Stream On’ event on (February 22), the company confirmed that more than 60,000 new tracks are now being ingested by its platform every single day. This means people are added new tracks uploaded to its platform every 1.4 seconds.
The figure, announced by Spotify’s co-Head of Music, Jeremy Erlich, means that across the course of this year, approximately 22 million tracks will be added to Spotify’s catalog. Spotify confirmed in November last year that its platform now played host to around 70 million tracks.
Therefore it’s reasonable to assume that, by the end of 2021, SPOT will be home to over 90 million tracks. And that in the early part of next year, it will surpass a catalog of 100 million for the first time.
But still back at the beginning of the year Spotify deleted 750,00 songs, mostly from independent artists. What do you think what that could mean to independent artist?
-It’s unfortunate, but I believe so much has already progressed in the industry for independent artists. At the same time, people’s taste has grown more broad, so there will always be a place for independent music regardless.
Sony Music in November and Warner Music Group in December, The ByteDance-owned video app revealed on (February 8) that it has struck an “expanded” global licensing agreement with Universal Music Group. Now that TikTok is now fully licensed by all three major record companies, will you start using TikTok more?
-Sure that sounds promising.
Breaking news: TikTok is launching TikTok Radio, a full-time SiriusXM music channel going live this summer.The station will be available in vehicles and as a streaming channel on the SiriusXM App, desktop, and all connected devices.
The station will be part of a new TikTok collaboration with SiriusXM and its subsidiary,Pandora, to jointly promote emerging talent. Do you think this platform could became a force in the future of streaming music?
-It could be, only if people can give up having control of the music that they play which has been a result from personal curated playlists.
Are you ready to start doing live gigs again.
-For sure. Looking forward to that.
Anything you would like to say in closing.
Just want to say thank you for reaching out to me to be featured here on Unrated Magazine.
Thank you for the opportunity of sharing a bit of myself and my music. As music is a powerful language
may we use it to bring more positivity and inspire others through the given talents our Creator has given us.
I hope that you can visit and follow me on Youtube.com/reneedominique and at Twitter and Instagram 2heyimrenee.
Keep safe everyone!
