James Reckseidler, frontman of the Canadian band reijo, is stepping into a new chapter of his musical career. Broadcast Day is his first full-length solo album, marking a departure from his usual rock sound and diving into the world of alt-country with subtle folk influences. These songs have been years in the making, and now they sound exactly as they were meant to—warmly nostalgic, reminiscent of old AM radio stations in Canada, but with a modern twist.

If you’ve listened to reijo before, get ready for a completely different energy. The classic rock riffs have given way to delicate guitar picking and a distinctive melodic approach, but the experimentation didn’t stop at the music—his lyrics have undergone a true evolution as well. James wasn’t afraid to take risks, breaking away from familiar structures. He shares some of his most personal memories, or maybe it’s easier to call it nostalgia for an old Canada? Maybe. Today, we’re diving into the tough decisions, the process of shaping this new sound, and what’s next on the horizon. Get ready for an exclusive look—this interview is packed with details about Broadcast Day that you won’t find anywhere else.

Hi James, thanks for taking the time to chat with me. Your musical world is always so multifaceted—whether it’s the powerful rock of reijo or the more intimate and nostalgic Broadcast Day. How do you transition between these genres? Do you feel like a different kind of artist when working in a solo format?

Hey, thank you for having me for the chat. I really appreciate it. I think the blend I’m working through is largely a result of a writing process informed by the various music influences I’m exposed to, and have been exposed to my whole life. I am very much a rock person at heart, at least I like to think, but as I and we have looked to find a style and sound, most certainly with reijo filled with 80s and 90s rock sounds, I am still the product of a childhood filled with classic country – like the greats Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, the classic rock n roll of Elvis, and the folk- balladeer style of someone like Gordon Lightfoot.

Because of this, in the songwriting, for me, there are always these melodies that just naturally emerge. It is hard to remove those subconscious instincts always present, I guess. And the songs of ‘Broadcast Day’ were these “other” songs outside of reijo that I had written and had a lot of potential, maybe I didn’t see them that way all the time. I needed to work through my own sense of self to say, being a solo artist with a broader spectrum of influences outside our reijo project is ok. And I can celebrate these songs and this music, too.

It is different to be a solo artist, yes. It can be a little more nervy to step out alone more exposed than I’m used to with the band. But I’m enjoying it for just that, me and the songs as I wrote them, and putting those in front of an audience. Pure and Raw. And I think in the solo format, I’ve been able to explore my own self a little better as an artist too and then when I need to, bring in a band to support as needed.

Broadcast Day feels like a journey through vintage AM radio stations, but with a touch of modernity. What role does that retro atmosphere play in your vision for the album?

I currently do a lot of driving it seems, and on the road I started to go back to listening to AM radio of all things. It is a nostalgic thing for me. To go back to that format, it has a softer quality and more soothing, less perfect tone. It started to remind me of trips in the station wagon or motorhome as kids. And just thinking about how the sound we grew up with came to us over the airwaves, imperfectly but with a richness of warmth. That was the sonic space I thought these songs occupied well. Not clean, perfect pop or rock songs, nor are they easily defined as country or folk either. Just songs in the manner that I wanted to hear them. Hence the title ‘Broadcast Day.’ What would a music experience of these songs with their heartfelt lyrics in them, as if it was a day experience listening to them on the radio? That was the driving impulse when starting to mix and master the tracks. I hope somewhere, someone would say,  “hey that reminds me of my own life experience, too. I get that.” or you know, “that sounds a bit like a Gram Parsons or Gordon Lightfoot tune of my youth. I’m really digging this.” Those would be great wins to know I can have that kind of impact.

The album features a noticeable variation in track lengths, from brief two-minute sketches to expansive six-minute pieces. How do you decide how much “life” to give to each song? Is it an intuitive process or the result of experimentation?

Yeah, I like to think of music creation as formed by emotional connectivity formed through motion and movement that is an experience for the listener, and hopefully they connect to. Song-length choices are partly, sure, to meet this modern, digital streaming-age and shorter attention spans, but more importantly the choices are more intuitive. The story is as long as it needs to be in order to tell it. I like to think of the entire album as an full experience, offering what I was speaking earlier about – the movement through highs and lows, strong and soft, fast and slow, much like any story where there is an invitation in to the experience at the beginning, a rise and fall in the middle, then reaching climax and a resolve, finishing off with a moment for the listener to reflect on. I set up my live shows like this in this way as well, start off strong, move to a more intimate few songs for the audience to catch their breath and connect, then finish with a strong set of songs leaving the audience with a message, mine being generally of hope. I want to capture the audience and then leave them feeling positive and hopeful about life and reflective about themselves and their own lives. That’s what I still believe music can do. 

One of the standout tracks is the mystical ambient piece Mystic Lights. How did it come to life? Was it a spontaneous moment or something you deliberately set out to create as a unique addition to the album?

Thanks. Yeah I kinda like it too. Glad you like it. A very spontaneous moment, actually. I was trying at the beginning while forming the base of the track, to really play with a space and a sense of motion with the piano, so I was just repeating a piano line over and over in this like obnoxiously hollow space-like reverb space and maybe a little delay, trying to create an odd rhythmic occurrence and a type of movement. That is what the base of the song started as – this piano thing. It’s heard in the higher notes. When I was working through the other piano layers it all evened out a bit, and I started to hear something a bit different and what sounded like the information within waves travelling through the air, like perhaps those very broadcasting waves being transmitted out into deep space. The percussion and drum approach then needed to be a rhythmic compliment, as if the motion of the waves is creating a pulsing beat. So, I pursued that as a thought to keep working with, thinking that, after you listen to Stargazers and my call to “look up,” this could be a good closing out of the album; this look up moment and then just “hearing” the waves as they travel away from you as the listener. I’m really proud of the more loose, experimental feel to the rhythm of the track as that closing reflective moment. 

When you’re writing, do you imagine how your work will be received by listeners, or do you focus more on your own internal experience?

For the most part I really am responding as a songwriter to my own experiences. I’m forever trying to make sense of the things that happen to me and for me, both the bad and the good, and then forming a response. I’ve often said that, and something I’ve learned is that I can only write what comes to me and through that, what feels most authentic; just as I can only respond to life based on my experiences, from what I know or have learned. I think that is true for all of us. So, every song, whether it connects or not, and hopefully they do, tells a little part of me. And when I sing the songs or when you are listening to them, you are invited in to enter a little part of my life. A remembrance, an indulgence, a memory, a story perhaps, and you get that little piece of me and I’m happy to share it. I get to experience it again as well.

When it comes to thinking about the listener, I do think there is a part of songwriting that I do try to employ, and we do in reijo as well, by ensuring that the words create some form of universality in them along with the arrangements so that there is a potential in each song to connect for anyone at any given time. I do think that it is important to think about the listener and how they may come to experience the songs, but again, I think I’m only able to express myself as I know how to, and hopefully there is something for the listener in that as well, no matter how they interpret the song.

An artist’s career often feels like a journey with many unexpected stops. If you could go back and give advice to your younger, aspiring musician self, what would you say?

Yes, my life journey has had a lot of unexpected bumps, I’m only realizing now that maybe most of the bumps were lessons that I needed to go through, as hard as it is in the moment to realize. It is hard to pinpoint one piece of advice. I think I might say that, the advice that I’d give is to be ok if the big risks don’t pay off the way you hoped, to love yourself better, the writing will always get better as you gain experience, and to learn to enjoy the individual moments more. This career path is hard, even with talent. Talent doesn’t seem to matter as much, we’re all talented in our own unique way.  Early on, I thought that there would be a pathway and if I just followed the steps and worked hard, it would get to where I wanted to end up, that isn’t quite always how the world works, certainly not any longer. The road can be long and more winding than I even anticipated. I think now that I’m more established within myself and less unsure, I’m more able to enjoy the simpler things and moments life offers by staying open and being more present, and being grateful for the things life offers. What do they say, it’s the journey, not the destination?…maybe that.

And for others trying to understand their own journey and career in music, I’d say, love what your experiences are, build relationships with people when you can, and love what you offer the world with your music, your art, whatever it is that makes you feel a part of it and wholly fulfilled in your soul.

How challenging is it to open yourself up to the public in this way? Is there a particular track that feels especially close to you, almost like a piece of your soul?

The challenge is in the capturing of magic in a bottle…to get it right, or feel like I’m getting it right, all the time. As humans, we experience so much day in and day out, it can be hard to find the space to just slow down, reflect on moments passed, and create. I don’t feel the challenge to meet the public and expose myself physically in person, no, but I will admit that, even as I just said, I’m trying to create universality within the songs, a lot of time is spent reworking words and phrasings so that my personal life isn’t completely exposed out in the open. So that one couldn’t take a lyric or stanza and say, look this specific thing happened to James. So, I suppose even within being open, I still try to keep some form of mask still on so I’m not completely exposed.

That said, every song has personal moments for me and I can capture these moments again through performing the songs. I often transport myself back to a moment in time and place through them. I think the two songs that standout for me are ‘Maybe, You Can Be Still’ and ‘Stargazers.’ ‘Maybe, You Can Be Still‘ was written at a very intimate time in my life, after I was exposed to a wonderful poem of similar title. I wrote the song actually quite quickly. The poem spoke about someone who carried too much of other people’s weight and how maybe there would soon be a time where all that weight would be lifted and the person could finally find peace. Something that really resonated at the time. So, the song became a letter of sorts, not only for myself, but also for a special intimate partner at the time, and I can vividly remember sharing the song for the first time, where we were and what we were doing.

‘Stargazers‘ is similar. It speaks to my soul in just a special way. When I sing it, I feel the power it draws out of me unexpectedly. It is about a time looking up at the stars one night, and now, staying hopeful for the potential return of moments so special like that – moments when all is possible, and when friendship and relationship creates the kind of magic that you never want to end. Interestingly, ‘Stargazers’ had more of an experimental rock tone with a mellotron-style organ to it when it was first written, and you can still hear that version, but after a while, while performing it, it started to feel a lot like a classic Roy Orbinson song. So, I’ve moved into performing it more like that and now have this version I like a lot.

You’ve always been someone who takes listeners by the hand and guides them into your musical worlds. But what inspires you? What helps you stay creative?

Yes, thanks, I like to think that’s true. I’m trying to always remain open to inspiration where and however it may come to me. It could come from anywhere, but often it comes from immersing myself in the work of others who also offer themselves in a deep and profound way. I’m always drawn to work that captures me, and then I try to understand what it was about it that I was so drawn to, why did that piece of work captivate me, what did the author or creator do that creates a curiosity in me to learn more, to think more? Life is getting a little more full for me recently, so it has been more difficult lately to dig into some great art work by others, but that has generally been a great way for me to create by finding little bits of inspiration here and there from the work of others, be it a movie, a book, a photograph, a painting, something that really pulls me in because of what the artist really has to say and how they express it. I love feeling taken emotionally and intellectually by things, and I want to do the same in my work.

If you had a free morning with no commitments, how would you spend it? Do you have hobbies or activities that help you recharge?

Ah, maybe just a nice quiet morning, with a nice cup of coffee or tea in hand, without a lot of responsibilities. That is a great morning when I can get it. I’ve been looking for some balance the past years between creating and being in the public realm, and also finding a sense of peace. So, I bought an acreage property in my hometown, where I can find that balance. I like walking around the property, evening fires, watching the sunsets and stars come out,  or walks in nature to soothe and ground myself. I have a canoe I can take out onto lakes close by as well for a little nature and stillness on the water. I find that a healthy way for me to be active and reflect on life. And spending time with my child, too. Always a good recharge to just be inspired by life in the simplest ways helps a lot. I’m learning this more.

I have always found playing the guitar (or piano or any instrument) as good therapy. It’s why I always keep something on hand and nearby. So that if I feel the need to reset, or to feel through anything, I can always pick it up and just hear the notes and let things sit for a while. Music is great therapy for the soul.

Considering your diverse creative journey, have you already started thinking about what’s next? Do you plan to dive deeper into a specific style, experiment with new sounds, or perhaps even explore something outside of music altogether?

I am, yes. There is a new reijo album in the works right now, the 4th studio album. We’re at a good moment to come back together and work through the next material for that.  Trying to find something really great there as a group the next little while, and what we can do sonically that is new. It is a good time to reinvent us. So, I am spending time working through writing with reijo in mind and some good songs have emerged recently. We’re also in the planning for a documentary film about reijo to accompany the album, so that listeners and audience can find us in a different way and we can get ourselves out in the world to different audiences as well. I’m really excited about that as it puts us together with friends and collaborators too in the film world, all at the same time as we look to create collectively.

As a solo artist, yes, there are already some new songs, and I’m always constantly experimenting with new sounds and ideas, always chasing that next melody and great song. I’m preferring to keep it fresh and exploratory for myself right now. These early stages of creating have the most uncertainty and doubt, but the most possibility in them. With ‘Broadcast Day’ now out in the world, I think I can focus on being in an exploratory and discovery mode for the next while in my writing, as I also look to summer and fall performances.

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