James Reid built his company Careless with an intention to explore his creative freedom — from wearing the clothes that resonate with him to creating music that defines his style.
In an interview via Zoom, Reid said: “I’ve always been very experimental with my music; that’s why I started the label in the first place. I really wanted the space to be able to take risk. With my own company, I had the creative freedom to take risk and make music that someone like me, like an artista and very mainstream in TV and film, would never do. I had a lot of fun doing it, being able to explore.”
“I like seeing where the limitations are. With the music, I always wanted to take it outside of the Philippines, connect Philippines with Southeast Asia, Korea, and LA. So that’s why I’ve been traveling a lot doing collaborations,” he added, while also sharing details of his new collaboration.
The actor and producer collaborated with Grammy-nominated producer B.I for his latest song “Jacuzzi.” They also did the music video in the Philippines with local stars Maris Racal, AC Bonifacio, and Michelle Dee.
“I was very lucky to be able to work with B.I. He’s part of the Korean group IKON. He’s very big. I met him when I was backstage at a concert in Seoul. We were backstage and he said he’s doing a Philippine tour. He asked me to open for him in the Philippines, so I did and performed with him on stage. I sent him the track ‘Jacuzzi’ and he loved it so he wanted to be on the song. He came to the Philippines to shoot the music video in the middle of his European tour. He’s very cool, soft spoken, and mysterious.”
Also promoting the music video of the song, which is available now on YouTube, Reid added these details: “The song is not very deep. It’s just a really fun track. I made it when I was in LA. It’s very romantic, it’s kinda sensual, and it’s creating this very sexy but luxe kind of image, which is what we wanna create in the music video, which is very fashion-forward. We wanted to showcase a luxe larger than life lifestyle.”
The music video for “Jacuzzi” highlighted Reid’s fashion taste, combining fashion and music together.
When asked about his fashion, he told ANCX, “John Lozano is my fashion director. I work very closely with him. I would say a lot of it is my own personal taste and he just helps me to really communicate that. I [also] get a lot of help for my content and looks from my girlfriend Issa (Pressman). She really helps put together. She’s really the fashion person.”
On building his company
Reid recalled how he started his company and revealed the future of Careless and upcoming projects.
“I think at that time when I created it, no one was doing what I was doing. I started it on my own. I thought maybe I can be the one to start it. It’s definitely been worth it. I’ve learned so many things. In the beginning I was making my music only for my fans and then I started making music for myself. I’m working on an album right now. It will be my most vulnerable, most personal, and introspective album to date where I get to really talk about the things that I didn’t want to talk about before like relationships and breakups," he said.
“Careless is transitioning into an entertainment company now. It’s not just music. It’s also film, events, and that kind of things. I never imagined that it would grow this big. As I’m going along my dream is keep getting bigger and bigger. I get surprise every year at what we able to accomplish. A lot of things happened this year,” he added.
On maintaining positive mental health
Despite busy schedule, Reid always makes sure his mental health is okay.
“It’s the people around me," he stressed. "If I wasn’t working with the people I’m working with, my mental health would have exploded a long time ago. I work with a very talented group of people and very grounded. Some of them have been with me since the beginning of Careless. They see the vision of trying to push the boundaries and take music in the Philippines a little bit further and experience and take risk.”
Reid emphasized the power of conversation and meditation: “Just talking to people, people that you trust. Meditation is something that I do almost everyday since like 2017.”
Reid ended the interview, sharing how happy he is and revealing the special person behind that happiness.
“I’m very happy. Every challenge that’s come up so far has also opened up new opportunities. I’m very happy with how everything is unfolding.
“Issa Pressman. She’s the majority of that happiness.”