Entrenched in the electronic music world with his dynamic, ethereal dance music, Reed Kackley is a Brooklyn-based producer behind the artistic persona, BAILE. Although it’s been a tumultuous, unpredictable year for the entertainment industry and the world, the pragmatic artist remains hopeful for what’s yet to come as he continues to curate memorable, dreamy tracks.

After attending university, Reed moved to NYC with the intention of being a musician-producer and first started BAILE as a side project to his band, which he eventually left to pursue his solo production project. The moniker is actually Reed’s middle name, but one could depict his music and feel that it’s perfectly derived off the word bailar in Spanish, which means “to dance.” The experimental producer has since released on renowned labels like Last Night on Earth, Anjunadeep, This Never Happened, ELEMENTS, and more. It may be difficult to discern his transcendent sound, for every artist is defined by a conglomerate of genres, but one can certainly interpret BAILE’s music as a fusion of downtempo and house with a sprinkle of moodiness and melancholy. When it comes to his writing style, he notes that it’s not in a way that’s conducive for just a single but better for something more progressive like an album. “I don’t start with drums or percussion, which is what I think most producers probably start with. I focus on tones, textures, synth lines or some interesting sample and then I write a skeleton drum arrangement. Sometimes I feel like at the end of my production, I’m scrambling to add in more percussion.” 

Despite all that’s occurred this past year, Reed has remained productive by consistently writing, producing, and putting out music, even though there’s no real gauge on what the music industry is going to be like in the upcoming months or years. He reflects on how “it feels weird to write and not know what the end goal is, especially being in a career that doesn’t lend itself to being stable at all. It feels disheartening to not know if these songs you’re releasing will ever be played live again.” As some would say, this industry is defined by luck, chance, and connections. “The only thing you have control of is putting out music. At least if you’re releasing music, you’re doing something productive and there’s that much more of a chance someone will hear your work. The most lasting connections I have are unexpected and by chance like those that I’ve made with people like Kauf and Sasha.” The motivated musician anticipates on releasing an album next year with a diversified label full of colorful video content like that of Montreal label, House of Youth.

One of his most revered albums he’s ever created was Patient History in 2017 that was constructed for a friend’s video performance. “It’s similar to my other productions but there’s no beats or percussion. It felt like a stream of consciousness since I was able to write freely. It’s ambient, light, and airy and is purely just textures and synths.” In his minimal free time, Reed oscillates between listening to electronic music like Bonobo, Rival Consoles, and Caribou, and singer-songwriter stuff like Local Natives and Sufjan Stevens. “I find it easier to listen to music that’s not electronic since it shifts me out of that headspace where you start comparing your work to someone else’s. Like why doesn’t my music sound like this? I write the way I write but when you listen to someone else, it’s hard to mentally ‘check out’ and simply listen especially if it feels too close to what you write.”

Since moving to NYC, Reed has found that its sparkle, opportunities, and everything else it has to offer is diminished or gone. Several of his friends have moved to other large cities across the country like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Austin, and he expects to start a new chapter away from NYC in the next few years. In the meantime, check out his latest track here with an EP release on Sept 18 and be on the lookout for a full-length, blissful album next year. Support the easygoing, bright artist now on Beatport and Facebook.