James Reid (right) with Steffi Lucero of the Skatebomb Girls/ARMIN P. ADINA
MANILA, Philippines — James Reid has been busy lately juggling his roles as actor, singer and now as a record producer. But as if his schedule wasn’t busy enough, he is also doing collaborations with various artists, like in a documentary about the world of roller skaters in the country.
Reid has recently been featured alongside a group of women who are passionate about roller skating, and who also joined him for his new song.
“Every day, whenever I’m feeling down, whenever there’s a challenge that I feel, like, is too great, I think it applies to me every day, that mindset, just keep walking. Just keep moving forward, whenever there’s a creative block, just keep moving forward to whatever it is,” Reid told Inquirer.net at the media launch of the documentary “Rhythm and Roll” held at Kondwi in Makati City on June 17.
The documentary explores the sometimes ignored and often misunderstood roller skating enthusiasts in the Philippines, and tapped the group dubbed “Skatebomb Girls” to discuss with Reid their stories and the struggles they encounter as hobbyists.
“As artists, really, one of our responsibilities should be to give our platform to other subcultures, unique aspects of Filipino culture, especially the underrepresented aspects, for example, with roller skating,” Reid said.
“And I think these kinds of collaborations can really help us think outside the box. You know, try something different, experiment, take creative risks. And I think that’s what I hope other creatives, artists, any other subculture, that’s what I hope they can take away, you know, think outside the box,” he added.
Reid also came out with a song to go with the documentary, the upbeat ditty “So Fire” which eventually turned into another collaboration with the Skatebomb Girls. “I wanted to create something that was not different from what the girls usually skate to. So that’s a bit of a disco twist. I think that was perfect,” he shared.
He also said songs like “So Fire” are the ones he loves making, and shared that he had already imagined even before about doing something with roller skates for his next music video. So when the offer to work with the Skatebomb Girls came, he did not hesitate.
The ladies were receptive to his inputs, Reid said, and the producers “gave us the space to just kind of go crazy.” The creative process was somewhat spontaneous, and planning their steps was done on-the-spot. “It wasn’t even in the original plan to have [the Skatebomb Girls] sing, it was added in the last minute, so it was fun and especially not tedious,” he shared.
But in writing songs, Reid subscribes to a little more structured process. “I find the emotion first that I’m looking for. So in this case, it was something that was fun and just kind of free, something where it makes you want to dance, makes you want to move. And once I had the music that has that emotion, it just kind of flows out,” he explained.
“Rhythm and Roll” is already out is now available on the Vice Asia YouTube channel, as Reid teased more projects coming within the year.
“I think for the next few months, definitely this year, I’ll be having some collaborations coming up with artists from Singapore, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian countries. I think I definitely want to explore international collaborations. It’s very exciting,” he said. EDV