Ten Questions with “Reasons Be”!!

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Welcome to Kick Acts. Tell us a little about yourself and your band and were you can be found at on the web.

Scotty: I’m Scotty from Reasons Be. I’m a native of Milwaukee, WI, and I started writing music when I was around 14 years old. I started noticing that people were digging my style of writing from a very young age and it developed into its own unique thing. Soon after, I started dabbling in bands until it got more serious and I began writing for other bands and focusing a lot of my time on creativity in music. It became my passion and to this day music is the love of my life; even more than Keira Knightley or Bo Derrick. It’s pretty incredible what the power of music can do!

Aside from music I am also an actor. I’ve been in several national commercials, TV shows, and a few films out in Los Angeles. I’m a busy boy and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Life is good when you know you’re workin’ hard and seeing results… and I know I wouldn’t be seeing those results without the awesome people around me and having the fans interested in my work as an actor and musician. I also really love crab legs. Oh and fro-yo. And puppies. And beer. And the Green Bay Packers. And beer. I’m afraid of ghosts and sharks. But I respect them. I ramble.

R.E.L.: This is R.E.L from Reasons Be. Born and raised in Israel I moved to LA 6 years ago. I actually only met Scotty just over a year ago. My music path started way back when I was a kid with some classical recorder (yes that thing!) studies for about 6 years (yes that long!). I only picked up a guitar when I was a senior in high school and I only really kicked into high gear a year before moving to the city of angels. I started studying privately in Israel and then enrolled in Musician’s Institute. Culture shock for sure but I got through it… I had my own band, was in some other bands, did some freelance work and finally met Scotty – and Reason Be started. And that’s my musical story in a paragraph-sized nutshell.

On a more personal note, life was really tough in Israel. I lost my mom at a young age and it was pretty much just my dad and me most the time. Music was the only thing that kept my spirits up.

When I am not busy writing or rehearsing with Scotty I enjoy nature, traveling and FOOTBALL! (Thank god the season is here).

Scotty and R.E.L: Reasons Be can be found online simply at ReasonsBe.com.

2. Who are your musical heroes, influences & why?

Scotty: To name a few, I am greatly influenced by Dave Matthews, Bob Marley, Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson, The Big Wu, Yonder Mountain String Band, Jimmy Buffett, Dispatch, Marc Cohn, and Simon & Garfunkel. They all “think outside the box,” creating sweet melodies and delivering powerful lyrics in their own way and style. Their music is unique and they really write from the heart. You can tell they’re not trying to please every single person on earth… by satisfying their own musical cravings, the overall product comes out sincere and plain old fashioned jaw-droppin’ cool.

Dave Matthews and Bob Marley are my musical heroes because they do all of the above and beyond. Dave’s voice is so unique and his career, as well as the entire band’s career, has such longevity and relevance. That’s extremely impressive. And after getting to meet the guy… Boooooom! What a good dude! Bob’s message has lasted and will continue to last far beyond his death. I wish I could meet this legend… maybe in a hologram form.

R.E.L.: #1 is Dave Matthews Band. My guitar playing is so influenced by him. I loved his rhythmical patterns and innovative ideas creating pop while still sounding very different and unique.

I have since had two more “heroes” join my list in John Mayer and Jason Mraz. John feels to me like a much more refined and mainstream version of DMB while Jason has his incredible vocal abilities! I would kill to sing like him, plus the guy is a lyrical genius.

All three have had an integral part in molding me into the musician, writer and singer than I am today.

3. Do you have any advice for someone just getting started in playing music? Any pitfalls they should avoid?

Scotty: It all starts with the music. It has to be something you absolutely couldn’t live without… the audience can tell if you need it! Work hard and do it for that reason; not because you want to be famous or you think you’re gonna get rich from it. Do it because you love it and you want to make a career out of doing something you love. Once you get further along on your musical journey, the tunes have to be good. It needs to move people and they need to feel like they’re a part of it. When all these stars align, set your goals, make the decision that you will not give up, and build a team around you (Band Members, Writers, Manager, PR, Booking Agent, etc) that believes in you and can let you do what you’re good at – “Be Creative” – and they can take care of the stuff you’re not well-versed in. They’ll be much more sufficient and make you much more successful.

R.E.L.: Advice? Hmm… practice! Then practice and when you’re done with that practice a bit more. Seriously you should never stop trying to grow as an artist. If you have no critics you have no success, so let that most times painful yet very essential feedback be heard because it is the only way to make significant strides!

From a biz standpoint I would say try not to get jaded and always be nice – I have gotten a lot of gigs just because I was the nicest guy auditioning while not necessarily the best.

4. Do you have a greatest gig story you’d like to share?

Scotty: As the good ol’ musical career grew, I started opening for some bigger acts. I was playing at a venue in the Midwest opening for… I’m pretty positive… yes, positive, it was Ryan Cabrera. We had a blast playing for an awesome audience, and we’ll just say that was the night we learned what groupies are. This is how dictionary.com describes them: group·ie [groo-pee] Show IPA

noun Informal .

a young person, especially a teenage girl, who is an ardent admirer of rock musicians and may follow them on tour.

an ardent fan of a celebrity or of a particular activity: a tennis groupie.

I’d say that’s pretty accurate… and I did play college tennis.

R.E.L.: Actually this is a funny and fun story. I was a on a cruise ship and, at my families beckoning, joined the onboard Karaoke competition. Well as in turned out I made it to the finals which meant that I (and the other 5 finalists) got to perform in this big time production show at the grand auditorium in front of the whole ship… and I won!

So for the next 24 hours until we got back to port I was a celebrity. I could not go anywhere without people coming up to me and congratulating me and shaking my hand etc. My actual prize was a bottle of champagne and a cheap gold plastic statue that read “Star of the show”… I even think I still have it somewhere – is that sad?

5. On the same token as the above question. How about a “worse gig” ever story.

Scotty and R.E.L: Easy, Reasons Be just booked our first gig here in Los Angeles – it wound up being some hick bar with only three people in it – all drunk (one of them even stole the bartenders tips)… Yes nobody listened, nobody cared and it felt lousy. And maybe God saw we were suffering because I broke a string half way through the set and Scotty’s mic cable wouldn’t stay plugged in… so we had an excuse to wrap up early.

6. Do you have any other hobbies other than playing music? Collect stamps? Collect hats from off the side of the road? Draw pictures of boobs?

Scotty: Yes. R.E.L and myself are always drawing pictures of boobs. We’ve actually created a language called “booblish,” which we write all of our songs in. This way only a select group of people can read the lyrics or even understand the deeper meaning behind all the boobs. We pay particular attention to size and numbers… if there is one boob singled out all by titself on a section of the sheet of paper, you know it’s a sad song. If there are two boobs, you might say, “Oh this song is pretty standard.” But when you feast your eyes on three boobs… well, I’ll just say this song is going to be extremely interesting and you’ll have to wait to hear what we come up with.

I also love the ocean, visiting home, work out a lot because our publicist makes me, play tennis, golf, love chillaxin’ with my family and friends, and meeting new cats… and when I say cats, I mean people. I don’t know why people are referred to as cats, but they are. So I like hanging out with new cats.

R.E.L.: Well I did mention this in the top question but I love the NFL. Yes I play fantasy football too; I got into that only in the last couple of years though. And In general I like games, nothing to serious, I wouldn’t call myself a gamer but I have your Angry Birds, GTA, Zombieville and a few others on my iPad and have always gotten great joy out of playing those time killers.

Oh and I just saw what Scotty wrote so yeah, that too.

7. What do you think about the present music scene or lack of?

Scotty: I think that the music industry has changed drastically over the years and in many ways I wish I could knock on a door like Johnny Cash did and be on the radio in a week. But on the flip side, the internet has provided a lot of new incredible ways to promote and get your music out. Pluses and minuses… and though I’d like to go back in time like Marty McFly, I cannot, because Kip’s time machine didn’t flipping work. So R.E.L and I have resorted to becoming as technologically savvy as possible and learning the ropes of our generation.

R.E.L.: Here is a funnysad story about the local music scene here in LA: There seems to be some confusion when one deals with promoters for the purpose of booking gigs. You see if you look up the definition of the word “promoters” you would be prompt to believe they actually “promote” due to the direct correlation between the two words, but this false. The correct definition of the word “promoters” is: People who do nothing other than stand at a door and take your friends’ money, and in the event no friends show up they will proceed to take your money instead. Animosity? Me? No way…

8. Tell us something about each of your band members that we wouldn’t expect to hear… (Like their hobbies or something like that)

Scotty: R.E.L has a lot of deep, dark secrets. Many of them I know of, and many of them I can only suspect. If you want to know the real dirt, e-mail me at R.E.Ldeepdirtysecrets@gmail.com. I’ll tell you now that he loves dragons and has two of every Magic the Gathering “Dragon” cards ever made – one shiny and one flat finish. He shows them to me far too often.

R.E.L.: Scotty doesn’t like to admit it but the fact is he loves my Dragon collection and asks to see it every time we rehearse. I don’t know why. He is so enamored by them he even knows about the different versions each card has and I even suspect he thinks of the cards when he is… errr…by himself.

9. Hypothetical situation. You’re stranded on Gilligan’s island and you get to hook up with only one of the girls. Is it Ginger, Mary Ann or Mrs. Howell and why?

Scotty: Well, Mrs. Howell’s probably the best looking, but she’s too fancy. And I’m pretty sure she’s married. Yes, Google has confirmed this. And there’s not enough beer on the island to sway me into a three-some with her and Thurston. So she’s out.

Ginger is cute but she just can’t compete with my sweet, sweet Mary Ann. That gal, as they would say back then, is my cup o’ tea. I would like to attach a photo of her for you all to see, but I simply can’t choose one. Mary Ann is the winner and I will spend my days traveling the seas in search of her so that we can live out our lives stranded on an island as I tell her my boat just doesn’t float well. It’s not lying, it’s flirting. I hope R.E.L doesn’t choose Mrs. Howell…

R.E.L.: Who are these people? I am from Israel and have never seen the show. Scarlett Johansson please.

10. # 10 is called “Shout It Out Loud”. It’s where you get to talk about whatever you want to talk about. So go ahead and “SHOUT IT OUT LOUD”!

Scotty: This is a cool one! I have no idea what I’m gonna “Shout out Loud” about, so I’m just gonna start typing… or continue, rather. We like music. It feeds the soul. It’s infectious, contagious, freeing. Music is the theme song to life. There’s a song that fits any situation and any mood. It lets you feel like a rock star when you’re driving in your car. It lets you feel like you’re in an Oscar-winning movie when really you’re having an unforgettable moment in your own life. It also allows you to create a product that people can believe in and get inspired by. And in the long run, it helps bands and musicians as well as others to make a positive impact on the world via millions of different avenues whether it be helping in the efforts of going green to helping raise awareness for hunger, people with disabilities, and countless other issues that need attention. Bottom line- it’s goooood.

A “Shout Out” to music lovers all over the globe and to the fans, family, and friends who continue to help Reasons Be become a stronger band and family in itself. You cats (I don’t know why they refer to people as cats, but they do) are the bees knees, the cats meow, and the meaning behind the boobs we draw when writing our songs. And don’t forget it.

R.E.L.: I started writing mine but Scotty’s is so much better! I will re-shout out his because he got me to jump on his band wagon!