The Texas electronic musician and YouTube star makes a stop on his ‘Places I’ve Never Played And Will Never Play Again’ tour Sunday at GLC Live at 20 Monroe. The Local Spins interview.
Hopping Around and Going With the Flow: Marc Rebillet (Courtesy Photo)
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What would you call a show where the performer runs around onstage clad in boxers and (if you’re lucky) a bathrobe, while playing a variety of keyboards and stopping and starting songs – none of which anyone has heard before, including the artist?
Marc Rebillet calls it performance art. Others call it simply Marc Rebillet.
“It’s an attempt to entertain a crowd of people and keep their attention,” says Rebillet, who will perform Sunday (Oct. 5) at GLC Live at 20 Monroe in Grand Rapids. It is part of his “Places I’ve Never Played And Will Never Play Again” tour. Tickets, $52.50-$86.50, available online here.
He’s been drawing crowds since first attracting a following on YouTube. In 2016, he began posting live streams of himself improvising songs in his bedroom, apartment and hotel rooms, often while dancing in his boxer briefs, sometimes wearing a terrycloth bathrobe.
The Texas native went from performing in his living room to doing shows at various Dallas bars, some of which he’d previously worked at as a waiter. When he decided he could do better elsewhere, he moved to New York City, eventually attracting enough attention that he was actually able to book concert tours. Not bad for someone whose “show” consists of occasionally zany, occasionally vulgar improvs, where he records his voice, electronic and hand percussion and keyboards, looping and manipulating them into instant songs.
When his scheduled tours of New Zealand and Australia were scuttled due to the pandemic, he turned again to the Internet. His first “Quarantine Livestream Tour” show attracted over 1.57 million viewers and raised over $34,000 for coronavirus-related charity. Rebillet streamed live during and after hitting 1 million YouTube subscribers, again donating to multiple charities.
Rebillet says his 90-minute show is different every single night. “It’s a long time to improvise and keep people’s attention and entertained,” he admits. He says one way he does so is to find what he calls “a narrative arc,” which he can use as a springboard for various excursions into his stream of consciousness songwriting and playing.
Different Show Every Night: Rebillet plays GLC Live at 20 Monroe on Sunday. (Courtesy Photo)
It could come from something in the news, a suggestion from or interaction with the audience or just something that occurs to him. “Something specific to play on in a number of ways. A narrative arc you can start with and transform, play on through different musical or philosophical lenses. I hop around and go with the flow, find something that feels really good
“I wonder how I do it myself,” he says.
Rebillet started playing piano at age four and studied classical music until he was 15. Though his music today is primarily based in hip hop, funk and electronica, he credits that classical background with providing him the skills necessary to write and perform his songs – all from scratch.
“My musical training and background is classical. I still have an affinity for classical music.” He admits to having some private lessons in jazz vocals as well. But he’s largely self-taught, including the use of the musical gadgetry he uses nightly. That includes tambourines and hand percussion, along with keyboards and a looping station. The setup allows him to accompany himself in real time. “I’ve spent years and years toying with things,” Rebillet says.
The tools allow him to do what he does, but how and why does he do it? Is he fearless? Or is it fear that drives the show, forcing him to do something – anything – to maintain that connection with his audience? “It’s a little of both,” he says. “I’m very comfortable onstage and in what I bring. It (performing) allows me to use my nerves and anxiety and adrenaline to make interesting choices. Nervous fear and worry are good, but it helps to feel confident.”
Confident enough to go through a show with virtually nothing planned beforehand. “While I’m waiting (to go on) I might think of the kernel of an idea. I go in, play, then there will never be another show like that. It just happens. Like most things in my career, it was an accident. It’s the way I make music at home.”
But there’s a big difference: the thousands of people waiting to be entertained. “The whole show hinges on my relationship wo the audience,” he says. So much so that he may be going along with a certain riff and envisioning where he’ll go next when someone in the audience yells something, and he’ll immediately react to that. “I’ll stop a song, erase it, go to the audience, bring them onstage,” he says.
It all relates to the fact he does have a musical bag of tricks he can dip into at any time, and the confidence to veer from one direction to another on a whim, or a scream from the audience. That’s something he could only do as a solo performer. Asked if he ever wanted to be in a band, he hesitates. “Sort of,” he says. “I do enjoy jamming with people, having a conversation with other musicians and playing your part.”
But it’s clear that he relishes being in charge and having the freedom to do as he wants. “It’s the only child in me. I like having the final say in what’s happening.”
In addition to his classical background, he says influential performers come from all styles of music. “I look at somebody like Iggy Pop,” he says, noting how Iggy gives his all at every performance, whatever the circumstances. “If you’re phoning it in, I have zero interest in it.”
Another is Reggie Watts, who like Rebillet utilizes a looper and keyboard with his voice.
“Reggie Watts is one of the originals for solo improvised performance. He was the inspiration for buying a looper,” Rebillet says. In fact, he says he would love to do a duo performance with him. “It would be great to do a project on tour. We have complementary instincts. It would push me to do more interesting things.”
VIDEOS: Marc Rebillet
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