Reggie Watts: The Ultimate Modern Renaissance Man
Reggie Watts lives and breathes creativity. The musician/composer, comedian, talk show band leader, and actor wears many hats but, to Watts, they are all ultimately different expressions of the same in some energy. Whatever Watts is doing, whether itās a song or a joke, itās all about the messages being sent and the connections that are forged. Watts recently launched his own app to communicate directly to fans called, appropriately enough, WattsApp.
Tired of the restrictions, advertisements, and eyesores that come with most forms of social media, Watts wanted to make a home for his own imaginative content. An app free of ads and that doesnāt sell data to advertisers or third party organizations. WattsApp is a free space to create and connect for the artist, who High Times named one of the 100 most influential people in cannabis back in 2018.
Recently, Watts told us about his vision for WattsApp, staying in the moment but thinking about the future, and connecting with fans.
What was the guiding principle in making your app more aesthetically pleasing than other social media options?
Itās just the minimalism. I want it to be clean, so it can get out of the way of the experience. Itās the complete opposite of Instagram. Itās all metrics. Itās all crowded around the experience, the picture, or the video. There are metrics everywhere. Itās just a popularity platform, you know? Itās a platform where they can monitor your behavior and target you with advertising. I just wanted something clean, where you can go on there and canāt leave a comment on anything. You just go there and see whatever I got up. Thereās also a store for electronics and my own headphones.
Now you can add an app to your resume. Youāre such a productive, wide-ranging artist. Are you someone that just always has to be creating new things?
Iām a pretty curious person. Iāll get ideas and want those ideas to exist. If itās something I need to research, Iāll be researching something and get an idea about what I could do with future technology. After I do what I need to do, I move on. Iām always searching for ways of making things and really intuitive thought in all manners.
What have you been curious about recently?
Iāve been trying to learn how to do streaming āmo better. Itās so funny, like I stream on Twitch Now. Itās just really sloppy concerts mixed with questions. Itās not anything new, in a way. There are only so many things you can do. If you have a way of transmitting ideas, whether in radio, television, or the internet, theyāre all kind of the same thing to broadcast an idea. Then thereās media, picture, video, words, and maybe graphical things. Everything is just a version of all those options.
To me, when people ask, āWhatās streaming?ā Itās not different from anything youāve ever used. If you use the telephone, thatās streaming [Laughs]. Coming up with all these terms, like, āThey got streaming and this and that.ā Itās all the same shit, guys. You have to give it more complicated terms in order to make it more mysterious, but itās all the same shit.
Are you more interested in the moment and whatās interesting to you now, or do you spend time thinking about five years into the future what you want to do or can do with tech?
Itās mostly the moment, but itās in tandem with a feeling I want to get to in the future. For me, I want to live in the future where technology works for human beings and enhances their creativity and intelligence. I want to live in a future where technology is responsible and makes an environmental difference. Technology is probably the monster running rampant right now. Even on developing platforms, thereās some form of technology there driving a certain amount of society.
For me, Iām looking for stuff now that I know will probably be good for the future, whether thatās researching fusion energy ā where we at with fusion energy? ā or hydrogen, electric, hybrid airplanes or all these things to bring out the maximum potential in every human being possible. Itās for a young utopia. Actually, utopia isnāt the point, but we are in a place where commerce is seeping into everyoneās lives, where you feel like, āIām a consumer.ā āWhat do you do?ā āIām a consumer. I consume stuff.ā āOh thatās great.ā Is it?
You donāt seem like someone who has to do anything for commercial reasons. Have you always had that feeling of creative freedom?
Itās a funny thing. I guess the baseline of my freedom comes from my relationship with my fans, which basically shows them that everything Iām doing, Iām doing because I thought it through. So, thereās reliability and trust there. Thatās why I donāt like advertising on my social media accounts. I donāt like advertising.
I was a part of an ad campaign for a company I believed in, and thatās why I took the gig. Also, it mightāve been a really amazing paycheck as well, and thatās like the holy grail, right? I did a commercial for a new Firefox browser a couple of years ago, and that was super fun. It was a fun shoot, I like Firefox, and I like where theyāre coming from. It was the perfect synergy.
A big paycheck can give me more money to put into things I want to do. The baseline is having my fans trust what Iām doing is not a money grab, that itās important. I like getting paid, but I want to make sure I believe in what Iām doing. At the same time, I love the freedom of doing the stuff I want to do, whether itās a fan asking if Iād do something for them, and theyāre shocked Iāll do it. To me, why wouldnāt I do it? Itās easy, itās fast, itās fun, and unexpected. Itās access to people. I guess it can demystify the whole public figure thing, if you remind people everybody is a person. Weāre all fucking around and stumbling around together. Weāre all improvising together. Some people are more visible than others, but weāre all here.
Courtesy of Reggie Watts
In regards to fucking around and stumbling around, youāve said before that getting out of your way is the biggest challenge. Do you still ever feel that way?
Well, itās weird. Itās always a challenge. Iām definitely always working on it. It comes down to days where I have a piece of chocolate late at night when I knew it wasnāt going to make me feel good. Thereās a certain amount of getting out of your way on a very small, practical level. I can be very hard on myself when I know I should be doing something.
You have to find a way to not be so disappointed when things arenāt working out perfectly on a creative level. Thatās not to say Iāve always been a detail-oriented person, like, āThis needs to be exactly like this.ā Iām definitely an improviser and rolling with whatās happening. My ideal state of activity is working with a group of people all overqualified to do what I ask them to do, so I trust them. I trust them to facilitate the vision. The vision is specific, but thereās a lot of leeway to achieve it. In that case, I feel 100%. Now, I want to expand making videos and short films. I donāt quite have that crew lined up yet.
When youāre performing live on stage, youāre so clearly in the momentābut do some doubts ever creep in?
Yeah. [Pauses] Sorry, my robot just came into the room.
[Laughs] What?
[Laughs] My robot vacuum cleaner is coming into the room. I think itās going to leave soon. Hey, get out of here! Yeah, you, get out of here. [Pauses] It left. But I feel pretty free when Iām on stage. There are moments I might feel a little concerned about remaining connected and not repeating things or doing things trite for myself. I want to keep it fresh for myself and the audience. Doubt rarely happens where it debilitates you, but there are definitely moments where I think, āOh, now what am I going to do? Do I stop this or go with it?ā There are moments like that, but for the most part, itās fluid and in the moment.
What have you been listening to or inspired by recently?
Iāve really been getting into Malaria and their early post-punk from the 80s. Iāve been listening to a lot of a band called Crumb. Theyāre awesome. Iāve been listening to a lot of World Party, actually. Theyāre great songwriters. A band called Destroyer and their album, āKaputt,ā thatās really fantastic. Last one Iāll say is Hatchie, from Australia.
You have a great gig with The Late Late Show. Iāve seen that show live, and itās more technical and meticulous than most late night shows. Do you feel total freedom to experiment in that medium?
My little piece of it is pretty free. The tiny moments I do have I can kind of do whatever I want. Iāll take advantage of that sometimes, you know, by speaking differently or responding in a different way. Thereās a ton of things I mess around with, like the song at the end of the show. Itās different every night.
Iād imagine a cool part of the job is connecting with other musicians visiting the show. Does that happen often?
On occasion. Not as often as youād think. Some bands will chill after in the green room and we can talk for a while. Absolutely the longest hang that Iāve had was Beck. He came and performed a song he wrote for a movie, I donāt remember which it was. I knew some of the players in the band, some of the backup singers, who are artists themselves. So, we all just had a fun time hanging out.
Another band I hang out with the longest in the green room is The Voidz. That was just great. I love all those guys. I had never listened to The Strokes at all, but Julian [Casablancas], I knew he was from The Strokes. When they played I just thought, āHoly shit. This band is just lightyears ahead.ā We all talked and had so much in common. Big weirdos, tech, geeky guys. So much fun. So, it doesnāt happen often, but a couple of times a year, Iāll get to hang with somebody really cool.
I couldnāt help but notice you smoking from a vape at your concert, which I presumed was THC. When do you smoke before or during a show, how does it enhance or heighten the experience?
It definitely can. I always experiment. Iāll do shows sober, and Iāll do shows not sober. The difference is, sometimes Iām just overthinking things a lot. When I have some weed, if it creates anxiety and I get ahead of myself, even in that moment I just have to figure out how to fucking push through it, which is a fun challenge on stage. Iāll feel like, āOh, Iām on an anxiety high. Iām going to figure out how to make it creative, real, and groove with it. Just create music I can get down into.ā For the most part, itās fun. I love messing around in the sober state and the high state of THC. They both have different energies that are useful and challenging.
What about when youāre home or in a studio? Creatively, is it helpful there?
Yeah, sometimes. Iāll always take breaks or try different things, like a couple of days of no THC, then do edibles for a while, and then just using a pen a couple of times throughout the day. Iām always messing with the frequency and amounts. Itās an experiment in itself, especially for tasks. When it comes to tasks, Iāāll ask, āHow do I do a Twitch stream through my Xbox? Oh, thatās cool. Wait, the router isnāt fast enough and my upload speed was down. Now Iām going to buy 100ft of Cat 7 ethernet cable and run it from my house with a proper internet connection through my window to my studio.ā I like the challenge of being high and achieving a technical challenge.
Published at Wed, 15 Apr 2020 14:00:00 +0000