EP. 45 THE GREAT KOBI REESE!....(He's 13 years old)

Step into the vibrant world of live music as we sit down with the phenomenal Kobi Reese, exploring his acoustic debut at the David Z Foundation Benefit Show, and the exhilarating contrast to full-band performances. Kobi opens up about the personal touch of acoustic sets and the genesis of his original music, including the poignant "I Want to Be Happy." We also share a treasure trove of experiences that shaped us—from our first music purchases to cherished encounters with rock legends like Kiss and Journey.

Take a walk down memory lane with us as we reminisce about the vinyl era and discuss the impact of streaming on music consumption. The conversation sparks with tales of Kobi's onstage battles in drum wars and the influence of greats like the Ace Frehley Band. Discover how moments like these fuel our passion for music, and how even the youngest fans are drawn into the legacies of iconic bands, proving the timeless power of rock.

Rounding out our journey, we recall the unforgettable energy of Kiss concerts and the theatrical spectacle of Iron Maiden shows. The magic of live music transcends generations, and Kobi's insights into the rock scene—garnered from personal interactions and his continued education—highlight the tenacity of this ever-evolving art form. Join us as we celebrate the achievements of this rising star and his mother, Lori, who graced our episode with their stories and inspirations, offering a glimpse into the heart of today's rock music landscape. His socials are:
Facebook: Kobi Reese
YouTube: Kobi Reese
Instagram: Kobi_Reese
Website: KobiReese.com                                                                                                             #tellyourstory #familymatters #thebenmaynardprogram #classicrock #kobireese #kobireeserocks #thekobereesesband

Thanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram: benmaynardprogram
and subscribe to my YouTube channel: THE BEN MAYNARD PROGRAM
I also welcome your comments. email: pl8blocker@aol.com

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:08

Hey everyone, welcome into the Ben Maynard program. Thanks for being here. Before we get started, let's take care of a little bit of housekeeping. As you know, this program is available on multiple podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, amazon Music and Spotify, among others. Just simply search the Ben Maynard program. Choose your option. As you know, I want to steer everyone towards Buzzsprout, because that's where my website is. That's where all the episodes are. But if you can't resist this right here I know it's difficult and you're watching on YouTube then I ask you, please subscribe to the channel, hit that notification bell, give me a thumbs up and leave a comment.

Speaker 1 0:51

Comments are great. You know I read all your comments. You know I reply to all your comments, so just keep them coming. There's not many, so I don't have a lot of reading and replying to do. Last but not least, follow me on Instagram. Reading and replying to do. Last but not least, follow me on Instagram. All one word Ben Maynard Program. So with that, lots of ways to take in this show for your dancing and listening pleasure. And with that, let's get started. You'll see, right next to me, I have this young man here named Kobe Reese, and let me hit this right there, and so Kobe Kobe, thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it.

Speaker 2 1:30

Thanks for having me, Ben.

Speaker 1 1:32

You are. No, this is great. It's going to be fun. And so, to give the audience a little bit of background, you and I we met just a short while ago at the David Z Foundation Benefit Show in Hollywood, right?

Speaker 2 1:51

Yeah, we did.

Speaker 1 1:52

That was a really cool night.

Speaker 2 1:54

Yeah, it was super fun that night. It was actually my first time doing an acoustic set so I was pretty nervous, but it was still really fun.

Speaker 1 2:03

Okay. So then let's get into that real quick. What's the difference between performing acoustically and then plugging in?

Speaker 2 2:13

Well, it was actually very, very cool for me to do an acoustic set because you really see everybody in the audience For acoustic, with a live band and everything, you really don't really see anybody and I'm more focused on my stage moves or my uh, my my stage moves mostly, but with acoustic it was super cool to see everybody, how they reacted okay, so now let's back up, all right.

Speaker 1 2:43

So Kobe and I, we got acquainted at the David Z Foundation Benefit Show. As I said, that was just a little over a month ago, right yeah, I was aware that there was going to be a young man from New Jersey opening the show and performing, because Pauly had been on my podcast before and we had talked about this. I see this young man and I see his parents standing there at soundcheck as well. I go over to introduce myself and, lo and behold, it's kobe. He's the opener for the show yeah yeah, that was.

Speaker 1 3:31

That was a lot of fun. Your parents are very, very sweet. They're very sweet people and, yeah, they're great. Um and then and then. Uh, you opened this show with an acoustic set. I think you did about six songs, am I right?

Speaker 2 3:45

Yeah, I think I did six or seven. Yeah, maybe a little more than that, but yeah, I opened with Pauly playing guitar.

Speaker 1 3:52

Pauly's great Pauly is the best he really really is.

Speaker 2 3:56

It's so great what he does with the David Z Foundation. It's really amazing.

Speaker 1 4:00

Tell me how you got involved with the David Z Foundation, or tell me well, tell me how you got involved with Pauly Z.

Speaker 2 4:07

So my old drum instructor, joey, knows Pauly. So there's also a few other people that I know that also know Pauly. So we became friends, yeah, and during COVID he reached out to me and he said that he wanted to give me a scholarship for the music mentor program at the david z foundation. And it was a super great experience for me because paulie helped me write all of my or he taught me how to write my own songs right then together we wrote my first song.

Speaker 1 4:41

I want to be happy and then you, and that was written actually during the pandemic and stuff right, yes, it was. Yeah, that's right. And then you performed that. Now, you performed two originals, did you not? I did, yes, I think one was Hold On, and I'm trying to remember what the other one was.

Speaker 2 5:01

The other one was I Want to Be Happy. Yes, that's right.

Speaker 1 5:03

That's right, because you did talk about that. That's correct. Yeah, yeah, and that was some good stuff and, like you said, yeah, pauly's, just Pauly's, the best.

Speaker 2 5:11

Yeah, Pauly's amazing.

Speaker 1 5:13

He's the best and I love that band, zo2. I've been on board with ZO2 since the beginning. I'll give you a little bit of background. I saw ZO2 on their very first national tour when they opened for KISS, wow, the merch stand and and um. I had taken my son to the show. Him and I and um just standing outside the merch stand I saw they had a cd, uh sound. It was selling that. They were selling their debut uh cd. So I went, I bought it, so I got to help out the band and turn around and lo and behold, they're standing right next to me and they were just signing cds for people and just chit chatting and just you know being great guys and just you know being great guys. And I think when you see your favorite band or your favorite musician and you have that opportunity to meet them, you just hope that they're as cool as you think they are. You want them to be right.

Speaker 2 6:27

I've met. One of my favorite drummers is Peter Criss. Yeah, even when I was super little, I loved him and I actually got to meet him. I think it was a year ago and it was amazing. I couldn't believe that I was sitting right next to Peter Criss yeah, yeah, peter's a legend, that's for sure he's one.

Speaker 1 6:43

He's one of my favorites too. This kind of leads me into this one. Look, kobe, you're 13 years old. How is it that you can just love this genre of music that I grew up listening to, that I love so much? I think it's great. How is that?

Speaker 2 7:07

Ever since I was super little, my dad and my mom were playing it on the radio in the car. They're playing it everywhere outside when we were swimming, and I just got used to it and I started to really like it. So then I begged them to take drum lessons. I was like, come on. And they said no at first because I have four siblings that also lived in the same house as me, so they said it would be way too noisy so I.

Speaker 2 7:34

I took chopsticks from the chinese restaurant that we always go to and I started banging on everything with them and then they uh, they finally gave in and got me a drum set, and I just kept loving rock music ever since.

Speaker 1 7:48

Yeah, I told them when I met your parents that night. I told them, when I could see the music that you were performing and that kind of stuff. I said that's great parenting, right there, and I believe in that. Listen, don't say, oh, when I was little, because, kobe, you're 13 years old. Okay, in my estimation you're still little. I'm sorry. Okay, I have grandkids older than you. So, no, I just, I think that's so, so great and for me it's just that music that I grew up on, that classic rock, that hard rock. Yeah, it's timeless and it doesn't so I guess you know, music just transcends everything. It doesn't matter what the genre is and it doesn't matter what age we are, you know, it just transcends all of that.

Speaker 2 8:47

Yeah, I feel like it connects everybody. Yes, how different everybody is.

Speaker 1 8:52

Yeah, Definitely Most, most definitely Um.

Speaker 2 8:57

I, uh, I actually just released the song puppy love and everybody was telling me that I had an old soul, that I like old music. So I went back and I took a song from the 60s, I think it is, and I did a cover of it and I changed it and now it's more rock.

Speaker 1 9:15

Yes, I actually I watched that video. I saw that video and I listened to it and it is. It's a rocked up version and, for my audience who is more my age, kobe took Donny Osmond's Puppy Love and he rocked it up a bit and it's a good version. So check it out. It's on YouTube and it's on probably on all the streaming platforms, as well All streaming and downloading platforms.

Speaker 2 9:59

I wanted to try something new and my drum instructor was like come on, you got to try singing. So I went out to the front of the stage and I started singing and I loved it. So now I am a front man in my own band, which is pretty cool, and I still drum. It's not like I don't drum anymore. I drum with a bunch of adult bands and I also play the keyboards too. Well, and you play the harmonica? Yes, I do.

Speaker 1 10:30

I've seen some of your stuff. Look, I think that is, I think that's so. Uh, I just think it's. I have so much admiration for people who play an instrument, whether it's one instrument or multiple instruments. I just admire that so much. And the reason being, kobe, is I don't play any instruments. I own guitars and I've owned several guitars in the past and I don't play any of them. And I, I have an acoustic guitar and a bass guitar hanging in my attic. Okay, that's what they do they hang in the attic and they collect dust, and you know, so I, I do. I. I find it so admirable, um, and, and I get so much, um joy out of watching other people, other people perform and play their musical instruments, and I love it so much. And the closest I came to playing music was I think I was in the fifth grade and I started to play. I started playing viola.

Speaker 2 11:41

All right, yeah, okay viola.

Speaker 1 11:50

Oh, all right, yeah, okay. And when I started the instructor he's trying to teach me to read music and I wasn't really grasping it. So he took yellow tape and he put it on the neck of the viola three strips of tape and those are going to signify my finger positions on the neck there and I took it for about two months. I didn't do great, I did okay, but when he really tried to push me to reading, he just completely lost me. I couldn't figure out reading music and I got frustrated, and he got frustrated, and so I sensed his frustration and I just gave it up and that was when I started drumming, I did not read any music.

Speaker 2 12:29

Yeah, so I would just listen to a song and learn it that way. Right, I know, for like the string instruments that's a little harder. But and then when I started taking school band, I had to learn to read music. So now I'm in the jazz band in my school and I read music that's I, I just I think that is just so, so, so admirable um, you should try to learn the guitar again you're never.

Speaker 1 13:00

you're never too old to do it. Um, yeah, it's just a matter of squeezing in the time to be able to do something like that. I even bought I don't know there was something that was sold on television years ago Gosh, I can't even remember the guy's name. It'll come to me because he's a classic guitarist and he had this package, you know, learn how to play guitar, and it had DVDs and all this kind of stuff.

Speaker 2 13:28

And I did.

Speaker 1 13:29

Yeah, couldn't even do it. I couldn't even get it. Maybe it's lack of patience on my part, I don't know. But so, Tell me about. Tell me about the time, If you can, if you can remember back to to a time or a place when music really just it connected with you, it stuck with you, it just like hit you right in the chest and it just you. You realize that it resonated with you and and that was it. You were done, you, just you, fell in love with music.

Speaker 2 14:05

When I was little. One of the first times I can remember is I was in the car with my dad and my mom and my dad put on the Peace of Mind Iron Maiden album. I loved it so much, I was listening to it for so long and I learned all the drum songs and it's hard. Nico McGrane he's amazing.

Speaker 1 14:28

He's a great drummer. He's a great drummer.

Speaker 2 14:35

Even my first drum concert ever, I knew that this was what I wanted to do.

Speaker 1 14:42

That's just great. That's great, Okay. So I've told this story multiple times on the show, but I haven't shared it with you. So I want to share this with you because I this is how I, you know I hearken back to this, this particular time and this in this, this moment, when and music just woke up my soul, Okay, and then I was hooked. That was it. And it was about 1972, 1973. And back when I was little, we had a stereo, was a big piece of furniture in your house. I mean, it was when we had this big console stereo made of real wood, big 12 inch speakers, and it was those. Things would weigh gosh 250 to 300 pounds. Like I said, these were big, giant pieces of furniture.

Speaker 2 15:43

I'm lucky I didn't have to carry my phone around.

Music Memories and Creative Process

Speaker 1 15:46

That's right, that's right, and that's right, that's right, but um, my mother had the 45 single for the Beatles, let it be.

Speaker 1 15:56

And. And somebody just told me the other day the flip side of that single cause I remembered it was a John Lennon song and I hated it. And someone looked it up and I think it's I think it's a know your name or Know my Name, I don't recall, but she had the Let it Be single and she put it on the turntable and she sat in front of the stereo on the floor and had this typewriter on the floor in front of her and as the song played she typed the lyrics to the song and I was amazed at that. As it's going along, she's typing along with it. And when she was done we had this golden rod sheet of paper with the lyrics to the Beatles' Let it Be on there. And I took that sheet of paper and I held on to it and I would constantly play Let let it be over and over and over again. And that's just kind of when it just right there, hit me, right there. Yeah, what's the first go ahead? I'm sorry you were going to say something.

Speaker 2 17:00

No, no, I wasn't going to say.

Speaker 1 17:01

Oh, okay. So what's the first? What's the first album or CD or whatever? However you buy your music these days, what's the first one you got with your own money?

Speaker 2 17:16

Well, when I was little, I didn't really have like a lot of money or like it was really online, so I didn't have like a credit card or debit card or anything. So my mom and my dad would buy me the songs I needed to learn for my music school at the time. So I think that was it Because I don't really buy music, because we actually have Spotify Premium now.

Speaker 1 17:40

I know you have to forgive me, kobe, I'm an old guy. Okay, what's that?

Speaker 2 17:45

You're lucky now, yeah.

Speaker 1 17:48

Well, you have so much available to you now, and that's the great thing, I guess, about technology and what we have now. But for people like my age, you know, who love music so much, I love it in its physical form.

Speaker 2 18:05

Yeah, I actually have some vinyls. I love it in its physical form. Yeah, I actually have some vinyls, and my mom and dad gave me a big box of 45s and they got me a record player, so I listen to them.

Speaker 1 18:16

That's awesome. I think that's great. I have a stack of 45s here in the studio and I broke them out on a couple of my episodes just to go over them with the audience, cause there was a lot of picture sleeves in there, so I was like yeah, just kind of reminiscing about them and showing them on camera and that kind of thing.

Speaker 1 18:35

Let me see right here. Uh, let me get my glasses on. I don't have a lot of my vinyl any longer, but I but I have spent some time over, uh, over the last few years. I'll pick up something here and there, and my favorite bands they're like 1A and 1A are Kiss and Journey. Okay, and before I try to grab any vinyl, that takes me back, you performed see, this is what was great. This is why you and I connect kobe. You performed a journey song and you performed a kiss song the night of the night of the, the benefit show anyway, you want it and rock and roll on it yeah yeah, they're one of my favorites yeah, good stuff good

Speaker 1 19:22

stuff so tell, tell me um, tell me some of your favorite bands.

Speaker 2 19:30

Probably to drum too. I love Iron Maiden, but one of my biggest role models is actually Bon Jovi. I love his stage presence. He has great songs, and I also like Triumph too. I liked Triumph when I was little and I still like them now. Okay, okay, okay.

Speaker 1 19:46

I liked Chime when I was little and I still like him now, okay, okay. Have you seen the new Bon Jovi documentary yet?

Speaker 2 19:55

I did. I'm actually in the middle of watching it. Okay, I got a Hulu free subscription. I'm in the middle of watching it. I watched two already.

Speaker 1 20:04

And what do you think?

Speaker 2 20:06

It's actually really amazing.

Speaker 1 20:07

I I mean what he went through right, I haven't had a chance to to to check it out yet. I talked about it, um, I talked about it on the on the show last week, uh, just to bring it to to light with the audience and let them know that you know there's some music doc, uh documentaries out there and everything I'm hearing is that it is amazing. It's very, um, um, it's just very honest. Let's put it that way. John kind of kind of just holds no, he, there's no holds barred when he talks about the things that he's gone through over the last few years.

Speaker 2 20:51

Yeah, it's not easy to get where he is. He went through a lot.

Speaker 1 20:56

Well, you know, I'll tell you just from watching, just from seeing. Let me get something here. I'm sure you got to have that one right. Wait, where is it? There's the camera. Hey, come on. If you like Kiss, you have to have that. Okay, that's like a no-brainer right there. So let me ask you this then Are you 70s Kiss, 80s Kiss, 90s Kiss, All Eras Kiss? What is it?

Speaker 2 21:26

I don't know, I'm not like a huge, I don't study. When their albums came out, I kind of just listen to it, because I wasn't alive then. Yeah.

Speaker 1 21:42

Let me see. The last Kiss album was released in 2012,. I think that was Monster. You were born in like 11 right 10, okay, 2010, okay. Yeah, you're right.

Speaker 2 21:59

So you know, basically, they hadn't haven't released anything in your lifetime yeah, I just got the new East really up and then I actually got it signed, which is and I've listened to it a lot it's really good.

Speaker 1 22:11

Oh, really. So what do you okay? So what do you think of that one?

Speaker 2 22:14

It was very good. Yeah, there's some songs I really like on there. And Steve Brown I know you had him, I know you know him very well he produced the album.

Speaker 1 22:25

Yeah.

Speaker 2 22:25

And he also produced some of my songs, which is really cool.

Speaker 1 22:31

I saw that.

Speaker 2 22:32

I saw that.

Speaker 1 22:32

Yeah, yeah, so you've worked with him, and PJ Farley too, right?

Speaker 2 22:38

Yes, I did. He played a big part in my songs.

Speaker 1 22:40

Yeah, yeah, yeah, and just so the audience, just to bring them in Steve Brown and PJ Farley they're from a New Jersey band, trickster, and I think, let me see, well, I think I know, I know PJ Farley, I know he's doing, I know he's doing some work with Chris Jericho. I think he's in, I think he's in Jericho's band now. But yeah, and I, but I did notice that that, steve Brown, he did some production work for you on your stuff.

Speaker 2 23:11

Yeah, yeah, that's great. He did my most recent ones, or he did Hold On, and then he also did another one that's coming out soon this Tuesday, actually.

Speaker 1 23:22

You got another one dropping this Tuesday.

Speaker 2 23:24

Yes, exciting.

Speaker 1 23:25

Plug it, plug it, tell us about it, so we're ready for it. When Tuesday, yes, exciting, plug it, plug it, tell us about it, so we're, so we're ready for it when Tuesday rolls around.

Speaker 2 23:31

I recorded it with Steve Brown and it's called best to me and it's kind of about how we're trying, but we want people to really notice us and help us get somewhere, and I wrote it with my guitar player, dallas, and I think it's a super great song and I'm so excited for it to come out on Tuesday.

Speaker 1 23:52

So then tell us about your band a little bit. Okay, we know you're a multi-instrumentalist, we know you're a singer, we know you're a performer. But now tell us about your band.

Speaker 2 24:05

So the kids in my band are. They're like a little older than me. I'm the youngest at 13 and the highest is 24 years old. Okay, they're a little older than me, but we bond so well together and we're so energetic on the stage and I feel like if the audience wanted to listen to you, they would just pull up a video or something. But I feel like you need to have a lot of stage presence on the stage, so we try to give the audience a real show.

Speaker 1 24:46

The bands that you like are known for big production shows, lead singers who are not afraid to move around, they don't stand in one place, they don't turn their back to the audience, they engage the audience and that's all good stuff. And those are good people to learn from, to learn your craft from, and you have to take a little bit from here and a little bit from there and you kind of make it.

Speaker 2 25:13

You kind of put it together and make it your own yeah, and also, uh, we talked about best to me that's coming out soon, and hold on, I actually wrote those with my guitar player, dallas. We bond really well together. We work great as a team, and I'm a drummer and vocalist and he's a guitar player and he also plays bass and we both play little keys, so we're perfect for each other.

Speaker 1 25:41

Alright, so now tell us the name of the band.

Speaker 2 25:45

It's actually just Kobe Reese.

Speaker 1 25:47

Well, I know that, but my listeners don't know that, so I want to fill them in, let them in on it and let them check your stuff out. Yeah, it's some really good stuff. Kobe's got some really good. He's got you got a lot of videos on your on your YouTube channel.

Speaker 2 26:05

Yeah, I started when I was like eight, so there's a lot. I see almost all of my past performances, so it's a lot.

Speaker 1 26:15

And speaking of performances, I mean you've got tour dates coming up. I do Tell us about those dates.

Speaker 2 26:28

So this is our first time going on tour and we're super excited to live on the tour bus. We do it for about 10 days, I think it is. We go from Boston all the way down to Florida. I think there's six shows and we are super excited. So if any of you people listening live near one of our shows, make sure to come see us. You could follow my website at kobe reesecom to see all the shows, and my social media has them, and you should. You guys should definitely come.

Speaker 1 27:04

Yeah, I actually. You're like up and down the whole eastern seaboard. Yeah, yeah, I think you you start in. You start in massachusetts and I think you do. I don't I remember where you end up, but I know you go into florida too yeah, we do two shows in florida yeah, yeah, I.

Speaker 1 27:21

I think that's amazing, I think it's great. Um, of course, your tour is not coming until after the school year. Right, you got to finish school first. I noticed that. I'm sorry, kobe, I'm a 58-year-old guy, so I'm going to rib a 13-year-old there and say you got to finish school first. Yeah, so how do you balance family and school and a band and all your performing? Because, even though you're going on tour, you still do shows, you do the weekend type stuff. Whether it's every weekend or not, you still have a lot of stuff going on. How do you balance all that?

Speaker 2 28:05

Yeah, it's tough, with my homework mixed in, it's not easy. Yeah, I, my band practice is two times a week, so it's not like a lot, but, um, I have to practice a lot because I do play other shows, like you said, and I'm actually doing some recording stuff now. So it's I'm. I have a busy schedule and I love to hang out with my friends too Me and my family and I play board games.

Speaker 1 28:33

So do you, how do I, do you get any any? Um ribbing at school from anybody? Oh, Kobe's big time Now. He's too cool for school and all that kind of stuff. Does anybody know what happened? What's that?

Speaker 2 28:50

They just joke around with me. It's not like. They're like well, good. Yeah.

Speaker 1 28:56

Good, that's, that's a good thing. That's the one less thing you have to worry about dealing with. You know.

Speaker 2 29:01

I like listening to my music. It's fun oh that's great.

Speaker 1 29:06

Tell us about some of the other artists that you've had the opportunity to perform with.

Speaker 2 29:15

So it was super amazing. I performed with the Brett Michaels Band and the Ace Frehley Band.

Speaker 1 29:20

Wait, okay, stop right there, Stop right there, okay, okay, look, now I'm the one that's actually going to get really jealous here. Okay, no, okay, I love Brett Michaels. Okay, I do, I love, I love Brett Michaels. I, I. I met him, oh gosh, years ago. Um, we were actually on vacation and I met him in Cancun, mexico. We were in the same hotel and I met him in the gym. Just, you know, every time I'd see him, he was just very, very personable, very sociable, great, great guy. Just from that little bit of that little interaction, you know, great guy. So for you to say, oh yeah, I performed with the Brett Michaels band and it's like, ah, no big deal, You're grateful, like it was an amazing experience.

Speaker 2 30:09

Yeah, yeah.

Musical Accomplishments and Influences

Speaker 1 30:10

And I've seen, I've seen. Before you go on with some more, I, I, you know, I've, I've been on your, your website, uh, previous to to this and and um, oh, by the way, and I'm going to boast Kobe sent me a friend request on Facebook this morning, so of course I accepted it, so now we're friends on Facebook, right?

Speaker 2 30:32

Yep, we are yeah.

Speaker 1 30:34

So yeah. So I mean, I've seen a lot of photos that you've taken. It's like, wait a minute, I really like that guy. I want to take a of photos that you've taken. It's like, wait a minute, I really like that guy. I want to take a picture with that guy. I want to take a picture with this guy. I'm looking at all these pictures here Kobe's, with all of the music artists that I love so much, and he's getting photos with them, he's performing with them, he's doing all this stuff.

Speaker 2 30:56

I've been super fortunate.

Speaker 1 30:58

I think it's awesome, so keep going. Tell me some more that you've performed with.

Speaker 2 31:02

I performed with the Ace Freer League Band, which was also very cool, just like the Bret Michaels Band, and I just went to see Carmine Apice and Vinny Apice do a drum wars and their stage manager, I think it was, came over to my table, picked me up, threw me over his shoulder, walked on stage and put me down, and he saw that I had drumsticks in my hand, so I got up and I did a drum war of each of them, which is super cool.

Speaker 1 31:35

That's great and I love how you said Minneapolis Carmine, a piece. I love it. I love it. And it's funny because it seems like neither one of those guys knows the proper pronunciation for their last name. They say this is it? No, this is it, that's a story.

Speaker 2 31:54

People called Carmine Appasi. I think so, carmine Appesee. I think so. That's how I got it.

Speaker 1 32:03

Yeah, it's a story that goes back 50 years or even longer, so it's just funny to hear about that, but it's great that you got it right. So who else have you performed with?

Speaker 2 32:23

I performed with Almost Queen, the Queen tribute band. They perform at the Stone the stone pony a lot. That's when I love to go see them okay and it's packed in there whenever they do wall-to-wall people now wait a second are are any of these clubs?

Speaker 1 32:34

aren't they like 18 and over, or 21 and over? How are you?

Speaker 2 32:37

getting into these clubs I'm usually allowed in if it's ever like that, oh, okay. Because I have my parents with me too, so they don't really care most of the time.

Speaker 1 32:46

They just see who it is they're like. Oh no, this is Kobe, it's cool.

Speaker 2 32:52

Come on in Kobe, and a lot of the time I'm also invited by the band.

Speaker 1 32:55

I think that's great. You know, I saw your video doing the sound check with Ace Frehley's band and you did Love Gun and you were behind the kit. And tell me about playing that song on drums. Tell me about the drumming in that song.

Speaker 2 33:18

I've actually played that song for years yeah, I know I'm talking about it like it's a long time For like three years probably.

Speaker 1 33:26

For you that's a long time.

Speaker 2 33:27

Yeah, that is a long time, yeah, so it was super cool to like play it with Bass Freely Band. It was awesome.

Speaker 1 33:37

You know, that's like Paul Stanley's favorite song. It's like Paul Stanley's favorite song and that song it's like his favorite song that he's ever written and that song has been in the set forever and ever. You know, 50 years.

Speaker 2 33:52

Yes.

Speaker 1 33:53

And what's really cool about that song? When you listen to it it's not the same, but when you see it performed live it's different. Yeah, and you have that machine gunning going on the snare drum. Yes, yes, and it's just man. Like I said, seeing it live it's like completely different, completely different and I was watching you do that.

Speaker 1 34:18

I'm watching you just machine gun there on the snare and I'm going, wow, that's yeah. See, this really is a cool song. You know I might be tired of hearing it 50 years later, but it's still a cool song.

Speaker 2 34:30

Yeah, it is yeah yeah, great song.

Speaker 1 34:39

Tell me about some of the other artists. Well, wait a second. No, you performed with um. You performed with z02, have you not?

Speaker 2 34:52

I, I opened for them. I don't think I ever played on stage, okay, okay so you opened for them yeah, I did. It was actually with my music school at the time.

Speaker 1 35:03

Okay, all right, and what is your music school?

Speaker 2 35:10

Well, I've gone to a few music schools. I went to Rocket Academy and the School of Rock. Okay, all right, and now I just take private drum lessons and private vocal lessons. Private lessons from Joey Ques casada, another great drummer well, um, I used to take drum lessons from joey casada, but the school of rock um corporate didn't want him doing any more drum lessons. I was super bummed. Yeah, because he's a great teacher. So now I do lessons withkeys with Chris Russo.

Speaker 1 35:41

Okay there was somebody else. I saw you. I saw you take a photo with, or I saw a photo of you with, and that was a guy that I have a great admiration for and listen to his show on a daily basis, and that's Eddie Trunk. Yes, where did you meet Eddie and listen to his show on a daily basis? And that's Eddie trunk.

Speaker 2 36:05

Yeah, where did you? Where did you meet Eddie? I met him at a. I met him at dingbats a few times.

Speaker 1 36:09

Okay.

Speaker 2 36:10

It was actually a Christmas like a Christmas show, and he usually pops in there.

Speaker 1 36:15

Was okay. I know he. I know he does a speaking show at dingbats usually once a year with Don Jameson and Jim.

Speaker 2 36:22

Thornton, that's what I'm talking about. Okay, okay.

Speaker 1 36:26

Yeah, yeah, I had the opportunity. I ran into Eddie a couple of times while he was doing his show and then I just, I just saw him I think it was in February and it was at a music school, a music school called um rock stars of tomorrow, I believe it was, and he did a speaking engagement there with uh phil x from okay, yeah, yeah it was great. It was a really good time.

Speaker 2 36:52

Eddie's a great storyteller and um I actually know don jameson pretty well. I debuted uh my song on the Don Jameson show.

Speaker 1 37:02

The one on Sirius XM.

Speaker 2 37:05

Yep. When he's on the Boneyard or whatever. No, I think it was actually his private show. I went to his studio. It was cool.

Speaker 1 37:15

That's great. That is great. Look. All I want now is for.

Speaker 2 37:28

I want to see my picture on your website the one that you and I took at the benefit show.

Speaker 1 37:31

I'm messing with you, kobe, I'm just messing with you, but well, it was funny when Catherine and I came up. Look, this was really touching. This was honestly honest, honest engine. Okay, this was very touching.

Speaker 1 37:45

Look, what I do here is just small potatoes. I do this goofy podcast, the Ben Maynard Program. I do love to talk a lot about music and I like to have people on talking about music, but you know, from time to time I'll do other things and have other subjects. I Sometimes, on Friday nights, I live stream and do goofy things, and so it's nothing. It's nothing special. You know, I have my niche audience and it grows. Maybe one listener or viewer here or there, but okay, but it's all right, I love doing what I'm doing. My point is as tiny as this show is. Catherine and I come home from the benefit concert and we're lying in bed and of course she gets on her phone and she's going through, you know, instagram and photos and all that, whatever, and she goes through your stuff and already there's a picture of you and I posted on I think it was on your Instagram from from that, from that show, and yeah, it was an honor to me.

Speaker 1 38:49

No, it was just no, it was. It was an honor for me. It was an honor for me really truly and. And so I looked at her and I said, oh my gosh, that's me right there. I said, come on, that is so cool. I, you know, I just I felt big. You made me feel big time. Okay, so whoops, I just lost my glasses here, so I'll have to go the rest of the way, without glasses, and try to figure this out.

Speaker 1 39:20

The rest of the way, tell me about some of your other favorite bands or artists that you're really into, because, look, I told you this is crazy how you're 13 years old and you and I love the same genre of music and I would think that somebody your age is going to be listening to music of the time, and I do like some of the newer stuff, but not a lot, right, I don't oh, yeah, me too, I uh because I go to like a lot of um parties so I um, I like listen to the music and stuff.

Speaker 2 39:57

She's not my thing really. Yeah, I listen to Great White. I love Great White.

Speaker 1 40:06

Yes, absolutely, and I'll be honest with you, and I do. I love Great White. I'm trying to get my glasses here with my foot but I do love Great White. But I love Jack Russell's version of the band a lot better because there's the original voice and and I'm all about. I love singers. You know I love front men. I gravitate towards front men in bands. They're usually, that's, my favorite member of the band and probably because and I think in order to be a good front man, you've got to be well.

Speaker 1 40:47

You can't be afraid of the crowd Doesn't mean you can never get nervous, but you can't be afraid of yeah, you can't be afraid of the crowd, but in my circles I'm like the big ham, okay, and I think that's what a good front man needs to possess.

Speaker 2 41:01

well, yeah, I uh I don't get nervous. I'm super like I uh I don't get. I don't get nervous because I like being on stage. So, um, I'm lucky. I know some people that get really nervous, but I'm glad I don't some people that get really nervous but I'm glad I don't.

Speaker 1 41:15

Some people they have their little pre-show thing where they get nervous. They've got to go throw up in a trash can right off stage before they walk on stuff like that. I'm sorry I was interrupting because you're telling me more about the bands that you like you're telling me more about the bands that you like.

Speaker 2 41:36

Oh yeah, um, I like, I love a few bands, but I've really gotten through like phases. Um, I know, last year I loved like pop rock, blink 182, red jumpsuit apparatus and a while ago I used to like christopher cross. Like, I go through a lot of things I, I, I love christopher.

Speaker 1 41:51

I really really do. I just it's just, there's a cool vibe to it.

Speaker 2 41:58

I love Ride Like the Wind Best song ever.

Speaker 1 42:00

What's that?

Speaker 2 42:01

Ride Like the Wind.

Speaker 1 42:02

Oh my gosh, I got him. I got him Ride Like the Wind. What a great song. And have you had an opportunity to actually hear the breakdown, track by track, on that song?

Speaker 2 42:15

No, I haven't.

Speaker 1 42:16

I heard it. I heard it one time. There's a, there's there's a musician in the in the LA area here and he he would do segments. I think he's actually on Instagram too. He does segments where he breaks down songs track by track. So you've got oh yeah, so you get to hear everything and just all of the tracks and the instruments in that particular song.

Speaker 2 42:41

So good yeah, I know, for a while I, uh, I must have watched my shirona the Neck a thousand times on YouTube. It was the only thing, I listened to for like a half a year. It was crazy.

Speaker 1 43:00

That's a great song. It really is. It's just it's got such a great structure to it.

Speaker 2 43:06

I used to love the drum beat in the beginning. I used to play when I was little.

Speaker 1 43:09

Yes, yes, but it's just a great structure. It's got some real, maybe lyrics you might not really, you know, should be listening to at your age, but a great beat, great structure and a great delivery. Yeah, and it's a shame that a band like the Knack and it's so gosh, gosh, Kobe, you're driving me crazy bringing up a band like the Knack but it's a shame that the Knack they're really just known for like one song.

Speaker 2 43:44

Yeah, I know it's tough, but it's a great song.

Speaker 1 43:48

Hey, better to be known for one great song than no song at all, right.

Speaker 2 43:52

Yeah, there's a lot of bands that are just number one, especially if your song is in a movie or something.

Speaker 1 43:58

Right.

Speaker 2 43:59

Yeah.

Speaker 1 44:02

So okay, you're 13, Kobe, and you're the lead singer in the Kobe Reese band. You're not going to have this same voice forever. Have you thought about that, Like when your voice starts to change.

Speaker 2 44:21

Yeah, my vocal coach will help me change. Yeah, because it's tough to work through it, because it'll be hard to switch, like we'll have to switch keys for my song, some of them at least but um yeah, um, his name is Max Lawrence and his dad is Don Lawrence, who actually coached, like a lot of famous people Lady Gaga, bon Jovi and more people. It's crazy. So I'm so happy to be taking lessons from Max that is great.

Speaker 1 44:54

I think that's actually really really neat that that has already that subject matter of your voice changing has already come up and you're already working at approaching that when it happens. I think that's really cool.

Speaker 2 45:11

Yes, yeah, I don't want to like stop performing.

Speaker 1 45:16

So I think I asked you excuse me. I think I asked you the night of the, the night of the benefit show, but I want to bring the audience in on it anyway. Tell me about the first concert that you saw.

Speaker 2 45:31

I saw a kiss at the Madison Square Garden in 2017. And it was the greatest, probably the greatest moment of my life, because I went all kiss-dyed the Peter Criss makeup on, even though I found out later it wasn't Peter Criss.

Speaker 1 45:51

Yeah, of course.

Speaker 2 45:54

Yeah, it was amazing and I was just sitting there in awe. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep because it was like late at night and yeah on the train on the way home, I was sleepy.

Speaker 1 46:08

And, of course, you went with your parents.

Speaker 2 46:11

And I was little too, I was seven.

Memories of Favorite Bands and Concerts

Speaker 1 46:13

Yeah, yeah was little too I was seven. Yeah, that's great, that's awesome. My first concert was Kiss. I saw them at the Fabulous Forum in Inglewood. It was 1979. They were on tour for the Dynasty album. Yeah and yeah.

Speaker 2 46:36

Gene Simmons came up on a bucket truck and he was right above me and he kept pointing at me and throwing picks at me, but then it kept landing all around me and everybody was trying to get the picks and then it actually landed to the guy right next to me and he said, oh, here's the pic, but I was so excited and then it turns out it wasn't Gene's pic.

Speaker 1 47:02

Was it Tommy Bear's?

Speaker 2 47:04

Yeah, but I still keep it just to remember, oh yeah.

Speaker 1 47:07

Come on, it's still a memento from that show, it's still a memory.

Speaker 1 47:12

I know he was pointing right at me I think that's, that's great, that's great, I've got, I've got my my, like I said, kiss and journey, huge fan of both of those bands. Yeah, and so, but at that time when I had seen kiss, my first show there was there was almost no other band. It was like if I liked other bands I had to kind of do it in secret so Kiss wouldn't find out, you know. Yeah, that kind of thing. And so I used to have everything Kiss and all the posters on my walls.

Speaker 2 47:47

Yeah, I've actually got a poster of Kiss right here.

Speaker 1 47:50

Nice.

Speaker 2 47:51

It's a little over there.

Speaker 1 47:52

but yeah, that's okay, let me see if I can do this. Like I said, I have a bring a new camera. I just hooked it up this morning. I'm trying to. I was like testing it out, so let me see if. I can do this a little bit here. Let me see if I can. Wrong way, let me see if I can move it. There's a bookshelf. It's got some, it's got a lot of kids books on it.

Speaker 1 48:14

right here, all the books that all the guys have written and then right up here I've got my bobble heads from when kiss had their when kiss had their their arena arena football league team. So yeah. I got some stuff, you know I I got some stuff, you know I got rid of a lot of.

Speaker 2 48:31

I actually have this. It's really cool. I have a Kiss Funko Pop set.

Speaker 1 48:36

Yeah, yeah, I'm trying to get myself back here. That's awesome, yeah, I actually won.

Speaker 2 48:40

This had a Kiss. They were raffling it off. It was the Kiss Cancer. Goodbye event.

Speaker 1 48:46

Oh, okay, that's, cool, yeah, that's cool. Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, so you know it's. You know it's cool that we can, you know, celebrate our favorite bands. Let me see.

Speaker 2 48:58

What else do I got here?

Speaker 1 49:02

Of course, if you have Kiss Alive, then you have to have this one too, right?

Speaker 2 49:06

Yeah, yeah, I love that.

Speaker 1 49:09

Yeah, that's there's one there, though. Yeah, that's like you know awesome. So then, what was? What was the second concert you went to?

Speaker 2 49:18

oh, my second one was iron maiden and I was super excited for that one and I, uh, I got the tour book. I have a big. I have another big poster on my wall of iron maiden. Yeah, I have another. I have like two posters of Iron Maiden. So I, I was, it was super cool and they had the plane come out. Uh, I think it was, um, ace is High. They had the plane come out.

Speaker 1 49:43

Okay.

Speaker 2 49:44

Okay.

Speaker 1 49:46

So I so would. Would you consider, uh, I mean, would you consider Iron Maiden one of your favorite bands?

Speaker 2 49:53

Yeah, definitely Okay.

Speaker 1 49:54

All right, I mean kind of would have to be. I suppose, if Kiss is your first show, the first music you remember really grabbing a hold of you is Iron Maiden. You know, peace of Mind. So yeah, that's cool, that's great. Yeah, every weekend I go see bands where I perform. So that's awesome, that's awesome.

Speaker 1 50:20

Look, I think that when it comes to, when it comes to music, I think seeing it live there's just something about it yeah, it's captivating when, when, when, a band, and when you know that they're into it, that they're not just going through the motions and they're into it and they're giving it everything they have for the people they have. It doesn't matter if it's five people or 5,000 people. They're giving it up for the people that are there. I appreciate that so much.

Speaker 2 50:48

I always try to do the same thing, because the people watching even if there's less people are just as important as the people watching if there's more people.

Speaker 1 50:58

That's exactly right. They're just as important as anybody else that's there because you know what? At least they showed up.

Speaker 2 51:05

Yeah.

Speaker 1 51:06

And they're there to see whether it's you or somebody else. So you got to give them what they came for. Yeah, that's some good stuff. Oh, I kind of lost my train of thought a little bit. Oh, I know, tell us about now. You talked about the tour dates coming up. When does that start?

Speaker 2 51:30

It starts in June, so it's a little bit away, but we're preparing and we're pretty excited.

Speaker 1 51:37

Okay, now are you playing on some festival type shows, or what?

Speaker 2 51:45

There's some shows at some clubs or big clubs, but there's some pretty big bands in this or like big clubs, but there's some pretty big bands in this. Menudo is also in this.

Speaker 1 51:54

Okay.

Speaker 2 51:54

Yeah, there's some pretty cool bands.

Speaker 1 51:56

Great Great.

Speaker 2 51:58

I think most of them are actually just like single people, but I'm pretty sure we're the only real band in it.

Speaker 1 52:08

Oh awesome, that's great. So then tell, tell everybody, tell everybody, tell everybody where they can find you. Give us all your socials. Let's do this.

Speaker 2 52:18

Instagram, Facebook. I'm on Tik TOK YouTube and I have a website, Kobe Reesecom, and I also have a band website to Kobe Reesebe-reese-thebandcom and, yeah, you can check all my shows on there.

Speaker 1 52:37

I've got a lot of upcoming shows yeah. I got to write that down.

Speaker 2 52:42

You said kobe-reese-theband right com yeah, and my personal one is just kobe-reesecom.

Speaker 1 52:48

Yeah, dash.

Speaker 2 52:52

Because I have to do like a lot of shows without the band.

Kobe Interview on Ben Maynard

Speaker 1 52:56

Yeah, I would check that one out too. I hear I hear mom in the background on the camera here. Get her on the camera. Come on, mom, get in here, Hi Lori, how are you?

Speaker 2 53:08

I'm great, I'm great.

Speaker 1 53:11

Well, kobe and I, we're just having a little bit of fun here and he is such a he's such a great young man and I'm so happy for what he's got going. I have so much admiration for what he is doing and what he has done and it's just, it's great. I I really hope for the best and I really want to see so, so many bigger and better things for you in the future, kobe.

Speaker 2 53:41

Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 53:42

Oh, it's my pleasure, absolutely my pleasure. I thank you for doing this and cause look like I told you this is just a small time thing here, but you're doing me a huge favor and I greatly appreciate it.

Speaker 2 53:58

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 53:59

Oh yeah, and I like talking to, like talking to music with people, and you are musicians, so let we're going to do this.

Speaker 1 54:06

Um all right. So, look, let me. I'm gonna wrap this up, but I want you to stick around, okay, Cause when I stop everything, I want you to stay right here, okay? So, all right, everyone. That's a wrap. As you know, the show is always available on multiple podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, amazon Music and Spotify, or just search the Ben Maynard program and choose your option Buzzsprout, of course, right. And then again, we're here on YouTube all the time. So if you're watching on YouTube, please subscribe to the channel, hit the notification bell, give me a thumbs up and leave a comment, especially on this episode. I mean, come on, kobe's great.

Speaker 1 54:48

You gotta do that right, yeah, and and if you if you didn't jot down all those, um, all the social information, I'll put it in. I'll put it in the show description, so it'll all be there for you to check it out. Everyone, um, last but not least, follow me on Instagram. All one word. Ben made her program with that. We're calling it Kobe. Thank you so much for being here.

Speaker 2 55:13

Thanks, Ben no-transcript.