Rhye is bringing a little love into our lives. The Canadian R&B singer born Mike Milosh just released a new single called "Beautiful," and it's directly based on his own love life.
"The new song 'Beautiful' is from a record I'm working on. It was inspired by the life I've created with my partner Geneviève," he tells Exclaim! "The song is about building a whole life with a person and an entire world with that person, not just a relationship."
With Rhye opening up this beautiful new chapter, we caught up with the former Exclaim! cover star about his isolation lifestyle in California, finishing up his new LP, and his wellness-focused ambient initiative Secular Sabbath. And yes — just like you, Rhye has been baking bread.
Scroll past the Q&A below to hear "Beautiful."
What's your self-isolation setup?
For my home setup, I'm very lucky in that my partner Geneviève and I live on a mountain top with a lot of space around us. There are a lot of spaces at the house, and I've been able to turn one of them into my studio, so I don't have to travel very far to make music. We have a fairly good stockpile of supplies — but we go once a week to a local farm in Malibu to purchase our eggs and produce from them directly. There's never more than two people there, and we feel like it's very important to support local businesses and farms during this time and to stay away from large-format grocery stores, especially so we can protect other people in our lives, like our parents, who are immunocompromised.
Are you working on any music while on lockdown?
Yeah, so I'm working on a lot. I'm working to finish up my album and have definitely written more music than I'll actually put out. I've been doing a lot of ambient live streams for Secular Sabbath, which is my and Geneviève's baby, really — it's our little project. I shot a music video on our property as well — a real quarantine video, but always looking to do more.
What are you watching and listening to?
Generally, we watch a lot of the livestream content coming out of Secular Sabbath — it's a large community, and the members have been putting out videos on everything from cooking to breathwork and yoga classes via the Secular Sabbath online platform. That's what we've been doing — but I've also digested not only Tiger King but also Westworld, which I love. I don't watch much television to be honest. Also, various movies that are not new releases — I'm re-watching a lot of films that I've found inspiring over the last 20 years, like Adrift, Eyes Wide Shut, The Shining. I've been trying to read more; it's the perfect time really. I'm reading Reductionism in Art and Brain Science by Eric Kandel.
How do you feel about the response to coronavirus?
It's actually very confusing right now with so much cross-information and so many different ways of looking at the virus. I feel that, in general, the world has not been the most responsible with how we're approaching the economic situation for families, not only in the U.S., but also around the world. I'm personally taking this all very seriously. I haven't been that inspired by our leaders per say, and I think that individuals have to be extremely responsible for themselves as a result.
Have you picked up any new hobbies or routines in isolation?
Well, I've started baking bread like many people across the U.S., and I actually find it quite enjoyable! I've started painting again, but only delving into the abstract world. I've enjoyed working in abstract more recently because I like what it does in the way that it changes and informs the viewer. The viewer can have their own experience with the art, and it can result in a catharsis of some sort that many other mediums of fine art generally do not allow for. I'm always involved with photography, film and music as well, so those take up the majority of my creative brain space.
Find out what other Canadian musicians have been up to under self-quarantine with our Isolation Nation feature.
"The new song 'Beautiful' is from a record I'm working on. It was inspired by the life I've created with my partner Geneviève," he tells Exclaim! "The song is about building a whole life with a person and an entire world with that person, not just a relationship."
With Rhye opening up this beautiful new chapter, we caught up with the former Exclaim! cover star about his isolation lifestyle in California, finishing up his new LP, and his wellness-focused ambient initiative Secular Sabbath. And yes — just like you, Rhye has been baking bread.
Scroll past the Q&A below to hear "Beautiful."
What's your self-isolation setup?
For my home setup, I'm very lucky in that my partner Geneviève and I live on a mountain top with a lot of space around us. There are a lot of spaces at the house, and I've been able to turn one of them into my studio, so I don't have to travel very far to make music. We have a fairly good stockpile of supplies — but we go once a week to a local farm in Malibu to purchase our eggs and produce from them directly. There's never more than two people there, and we feel like it's very important to support local businesses and farms during this time and to stay away from large-format grocery stores, especially so we can protect other people in our lives, like our parents, who are immunocompromised.
Are you working on any music while on lockdown?
Yeah, so I'm working on a lot. I'm working to finish up my album and have definitely written more music than I'll actually put out. I've been doing a lot of ambient live streams for Secular Sabbath, which is my and Geneviève's baby, really — it's our little project. I shot a music video on our property as well — a real quarantine video, but always looking to do more.
What are you watching and listening to?
Generally, we watch a lot of the livestream content coming out of Secular Sabbath — it's a large community, and the members have been putting out videos on everything from cooking to breathwork and yoga classes via the Secular Sabbath online platform. That's what we've been doing — but I've also digested not only Tiger King but also Westworld, which I love. I don't watch much television to be honest. Also, various movies that are not new releases — I'm re-watching a lot of films that I've found inspiring over the last 20 years, like Adrift, Eyes Wide Shut, The Shining. I've been trying to read more; it's the perfect time really. I'm reading Reductionism in Art and Brain Science by Eric Kandel.
How do you feel about the response to coronavirus?
It's actually very confusing right now with so much cross-information and so many different ways of looking at the virus. I feel that, in general, the world has not been the most responsible with how we're approaching the economic situation for families, not only in the U.S., but also around the world. I'm personally taking this all very seriously. I haven't been that inspired by our leaders per say, and I think that individuals have to be extremely responsible for themselves as a result.
Have you picked up any new hobbies or routines in isolation?
Well, I've started baking bread like many people across the U.S., and I actually find it quite enjoyable! I've started painting again, but only delving into the abstract world. I've enjoyed working in abstract more recently because I like what it does in the way that it changes and informs the viewer. The viewer can have their own experience with the art, and it can result in a catharsis of some sort that many other mediums of fine art generally do not allow for. I'm always involved with photography, film and music as well, so those take up the majority of my creative brain space.
Find out what other Canadian musicians have been up to under self-quarantine with our Isolation Nation feature.
