It feels practically empty. Sitting beside a small assortment of students under the buzzing red sign of Cafe Vivian, I can hear sparse footsteps pacing across the floor. Every few moments, the silence is broken by an outburst of joyous laughter from students enjoying the final hours of their weekend.
Here, at Frist Campus Center, I sat down with Roya Reese, a junior in the English Department. Since her first year, Reese has performed at Coffee Club, delivering an incredible range of styles and genres. I spoke with her to discuss her experience with music at Princeton, musical influences, and advice for future student musicians.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and concision.
Daily Princetonian: We’re doing a student series on student musicians on campus. You were one of the first names that were brought up.
Roya Reese: Oh, my god, that’s so cool.
DP: So, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? How did you start out with music? And, what style or genre do you usually perform?
RR: Well, I’m a junior, I’m in the English department, and I’ve been playing piano and guitar since I was in third grade. My parents put us in lessons, and I sang a lot in high school, and then I saw someone playing at Coffee Club freshman year. And I was like, that’s really cool. So I sent them a video, and they said, ‘We’ll just slot you in once a week.’ So I just play for an hour, and I do half guitar and half piano. I don’t write my own music, so I just play covers.
DP: What type of genres do you usually perform?
RR: I mean, honestly, anything that sounds good acoustically. So, more like Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers, boygenius. I play some older stuff like Indigo Girls, James Taylor. Kind of the same music that I listen to.
DP: Cool. The second question I have is, where is your dream venue to play?
RR: On campus?
DP: On campus.
RR: I’m in Terrace, so I would love to do a Tap night on Thursday night, but I don’t play with a band or play super ‘hype’ stuff, so it’s maybe not the right vibe, but I would totally do something like that.
DP: That’d be sick. Have you ever played with a band before?
RR: I haven’t really. I’ve played with an orchestra. I did musical theater in high school. So I’ve definitely, like, sang while people play, but not really with a band.
DP: That kind of leads me into my next question: If you could have any guest performer, who would it be, and why?
RR: Oh, that’s a good question.
RR: Probably someone who plays their instrument really well. I’m trying to think, maybe Prince?
DP: That’s a great choice.
RR: He would play guitar. He’d be back up.
DP: Have you ever seen his solo at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
RR: Totally, yes. I wouldn’t even do anything. I would just stand there and let him just take over.
DP: What would you say some of your greatest influences have been?
RR: I’m classically trained, so I studied opera and classical voice in high school. I’ve seen a couple things at the Met, and I feel like the way that they are able to project into the space is cool. But also, just anybody who I’ve seen play at Coffee Club. It’s more about creating a vibe than about if you sound good, or what you’re playing. You want to play chill stuff so that people can enjoy their coffee and do their work. So a mix of that, and just my family. We do music events where we all just sit together and play.
DP: You said that you were involved in theater before coming to Princeton. Did that change your perspective on music and the type of music that you performed and liked?
RR: I make a set list every week before I play. So normally if I don’t feel super happy, then it’ll be a sadder setlist. It’s more just that if I don’t feel connected to the song or the vibe of it, then I probably won’t play it.
DP: Okay, so you change the set list week to week based on how you’re feeling?
RR: Yeah. And this season they [Coffee Club] did their fall drink launch on Friday, and so I played a lot of Noah Kahan and some Taylor Swift “Red” stuff. That’s very fall.
DP: How do you plan on continuing to incorporate music into your life once you graduate?
RR: Well, my brother wants to be a musician. My family’s moving to Nashville in two years, and so I think he wants to kind of pursue it a bit there. He’s bigger than me, so I’ve helped him. I’ve sung on some of his stuff, but I’d love to do open mics. Honestly, wherever I end up, it’s not something I would ever do professionally, just because I feel like that would kind of take the fun out of it. But it is nice. I also feel it connects me to my family more because my grandparents and my parents really like to hear me play. I know I’m not the most amazing singer or guitar player or piano player, but if it makes them happy, then that’s a nice way to connect.
DP: As a final question, what would you tell student musicians at Princeton who want to perform, but don’t quite have the courage to do so yet. Do you have any advice for them?
RR: It’s kind of counterintuitive, but nobody’s really paying attention to you, even at a tap night at Terrace. Yeah, they’re watching you, but what they really want to do is dance and have fun. So you’re just kind of creating the vibe in the atmosphere, as opposed to people staring at you and wanting you to fuck up. It’s just not that deep. Do your thing.
DP: Perfect. Thank you so much.
Gavin McLoughlin is a member of the class of 2028 and is a contributing writer for The Prospect. He can be reached at gm9041@princeton.edu.
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