Travis Lee is a soul singer from Brisbane Australia whose mission is to create music that will transcend you back to the days where R&B and Soul music meant something. When Aaliyah and Montell Jordan ruled the industry and created slow jams you could dance to in your living room.
He’s a soul rebel, a musician who not only sings, he writes and he produces as well. This multi-talented musician just released his track “Next 2 Me” which will be featured in his upcoming EP ‘Reflections’ due to drop 7th November.
Flavour Mag chats to Travis Lee about why he wants to bring 90’s R&B back, what his track ‘Next 2 Me’ means and what we can expect from his upcoming EP ‘Reflections’.
How did your musical journey begin?
My musical journey started back in my homeland Papua New Guinea; I started playing classical piano as a hobby at the age of 7 & kept it up until high school. In high school I lost a bit of interested for it, and was getting into a lot of sports, but at the age of 16 I met a friend through my sister who owned his own little home studio & that’s where my passion for singing/song-writing & production all started to come into play.
Your EP ‘Reflections’ is due to drop 7th November, tell us about it.
‘Reflections’ is somewhat of a journey & a new beginning’ for me. The journey of each song has a small story spanning over the past 3 years or motif behind it. The stories are from real life experiences; which is where I draw most of my inspiration from. Certain motif’s I gain from other artist, that really inspire me.
“Next 2 Me” is a track that will feature in your EP, it’s about relationships, how did it end? And what did you take away from that experience?
I think we just stopped talking to each other, but we’re definitely still cool, it was nothing too serious. I think the lesson I took away from it, was everything happens for a reason &, just try to live in the moment & look positive toward the future.
You feature a few Aussie singers, what’s the music scene like for Soul singers in Australia?
I believe the scene for soul music is healthier than ever! This year actually marks the first annual ‘Neo-Soul, Jazz & Hip-hop Music festival in Australia’, which is so supportive to local artist and encourages the public to get behind it & the culture. It’s a much needed festival because there are so much people that support this type of music in Australia & it’s only going to get bigger.
https://soundcloud.com/travis-lee-music/travis-lee-next2me
If you could collaborate with anyone who would it be?
It would probably have to be Stevie Wonder, Prince or Maxwell, hard question, or even D’angelo. Anyway I could go on.
Your music sometimes feels like a time-warp, the days when we used to listen to Aaliyah or Montell Jordan, is that what you were after?
You guys really hit it on the head, was definitely what I was going for. I love these types of artist & any 90’s R&B, I grew up in it and I actually want to bring it back, in a cool & fresh way.
If you had to choose Sade or Lauryn Hill and why?
Wow another tough question! Probably Lauryn Hill, because Fugees ‘The Score’ was the first album I bough, think I was in grade 5 or 6 damn.
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