Theresa Rex (Theresa Schoefer Hansen) has made quite a mark here in Nordic Music Central over the last couple of years or so with four singles reviewed including the latest, ‘Scream’, for which there is a link to the review and song at the end.
In this interview, for which Theresa provided very comprehensive responses, you can discover her broad musical background; how she’s had a Billboard #1 hit (not many can claim that!); how she’s had (surprisingly) very little formal vocal training; how some folk flew in from the USA to watch a comeback gig; how she’d love to tackle a song for Eurovision and how her family name is that of a German dog, which led on to the artist name Rex!
Hi Theresa, thanks for joining us. Can I start by asking you to tell us a little about yourself and your musical background? How did you come into the business? Is musicality ‘in the family’?
Hi, so glad to catch up. Both my parents were big music lovers, so there was always a good and broad range of music playing in our house and cars. None of them were musicians, but they did give me my love for music. I started properly singing when I was nine and joined the church choir in my local church, not because I was religious, I’m not, I just really wanted to sing.
I went on to go to a music boarding school, played every possible genre from girl metal to big band, fell in love with jazz and played in a jazz band for years. One day while playing at a jazz festival, I was spotted by a songwriter producer team, who invited me to their studio, and all the sudden I was making Pop and Dance music. I guess I have always just gone where my music has taken me.
How did you get your artist name? And are you connected in any way with the Glasgow-based musician Alex Rex (Alex Nielsen)? Actually I’m only joking about that; it is just that both you and he have a common, slightly off the wall side to your music although he is more of a ‘rocker’.
No relation to Alex, other than the urge to be called Rex. I didn’t really want it to be my actual name, just to have a little bit of distance from Theresa the person, to Theresa the artist. But Theresa Rex does spring from my actual name, Theresa Schoefer. ‘Schoefer’ in Danish is the dog race ‘German Shepherd’ and I thought – Rex is a good dog name for a good dog, it’s a pretty good dinosaur it also means royal in Latin, and Theresa Rex sounds hella cool. It works in many ways.
What are your ambitions and how do you measure success? By ‘breaking’ America? Or by having a million Facebook followers? (Or Instagram, or TikTok etc). Or something simpler?
I feel like I have reached some big milestones, had a Billboard no.1 in the US, made multiplatinum records, and reached a billion streams a while ago. But that didn’t really make me feel like I made it. I just want to be happy in doing what I am doing; I want to make something that matters to somebody.
Do you set aside a certain amount of time each day for writing or do you do it when you feel like it?
I do it when inspiration strikes, I prefer writing with other people, and I feel like ideas get better when they are bounced around. And I like to write a whole song from start to finish and record a demo in the same sitting, so I don’t just have vague sketches that I will never finish.
When you’re writing, how do most of your songs start life? A piano part? A chord? A melody? A lyric? Does inspiration simply come, or do you have to seek it?
I have a long list of titles, little lines and concept ideas. Stuff that just comes to me. But when starting a song I will usually start with the top line melodies, and then fill in words that fit. To me that is just like finding the right rhyme scheme for your poetry. And sometimes I will already have a lyric part that fits that I will mold the rest of the song around.
What other sorts of ‘writing’ do you do if any? Poetry? Prose? Shopping lists?
I spend too much time and energy on ‘To Do’ lists, but I am an independent artist, so there is a lot TO DO! And emails…too many emails.
Some musicians rise to the challenge of live performances like a duck to water. For others they are often too scared to put their head over the parapet and eschew stage performances. Which side of that fence do you sit on? What is your favourite live performance so far, and why?
I took kind of a long hiatus from performing live because of some health issues. I only recently got back into it and when I did, I had a show in Ideal Bar in Copenhagen, so many people showed up, but what blew my mind was people flying in from France and the US to see me. Made me realise that I’m not alone in this, people are out there listening.
We know you as a solo artist but I am aware that you have collaborated with others, especially before your first single. What if any plans do you have in that direction now and who would you like to collaborate with most of all?
I have worked with some amazing people over the years. Right now I’m working on a collab with a South African artist that blew my mind in so many ways. We made a song that needs to see the light of day.
So many artists seem to have adopted a ‘Do it yourself’ approach these days. I know you do your own promotion because I get your emails or social messages but do you farm out, say, production, mixing and mastering to ‘the experts’ or do you tackle any of that yourself?
I will vocal produce myself a lot so sometimes I will send over a full vocal production and have someone work on the instrumental for me, but I have worked with the best of the best from the very beginning of my career, and even though I do produce, I’m not good enough to live up to my own expectations, so I do ‘farm’ out, my productions and mix mastering to others who are better than I am.
What is your favourite genre? And if you could pigeonhole yours precisely, what is it?
I couldn’t say, I have loved and cherished so many genres, impossible to pick.
Your standout feature, to me is your vocal ability. Have you had formal vocal training or does it just come naturally?
Thank you, I have had very little training. Growing up I tried to mimic what I heard and I guess it just turned into its own thing.
Your lyricism is very smart, as The Donald might say, especially as you are writing in what is not your native language. Do you write all the lyrics yourself or do you call in some help on that?
I’m sure he wouldn’t have an opinion on my lyricism tbh! I’m Veeery into lyrics and I do like to take the lead on my own songs when it comes to lyrics, and my favorite sessions are just me and a producer so I get to sit there and play around with the lyrics until they’re just perfect. But I have had other lyricists and Top liners on board on some of my songs, and I do appreciate another point of view.
Are you writing from personal experience in your songs (that is the impression I have) or are you just a good storyteller of other peoples’ adventures, or is it a mix of both?
I do draw from my own experiences quite a lot, especially on my own songs. But I love to tell a story, I love writing for other artists as well, trying to find the right words for their stories.
On a serious note, the first time we reviewed you, for the single ‘Touch’ in 2022, it was apparent that you had been quite ill and had gone into hibernation while undergoing treatment (which is what the song is about). We’d be happy to learn that you are now fully recovered from that?
I have. I do still have a compromised immune system, and being sick in general flared up my anxiety. Both of which are very impractical in this business, so I try to be kind and patient with myself.
You usually sing about serious subjects but in an upbeat sort of way. How would you describe your personality and how does it reflect in your music?
Lol yeah, that pretty much sums up my personality, I have had some shit go down in life, but I try to laugh it off. I’m sarcastic and gloomy and happy-go- lucky all at the same time.
What is the next step for Theresa Rex now, after the release of this latest single? Are you building up to an EP or album? Any touring planned? (Including the UK – hint)
OMG I would looove to do some touring in the UK, but nothing in the books. I am going into writing season and I have been working on some ballads that might turn into something.
Creatively, are you content with living and working in Denmark or would you contemplate a change of scenery to generate a new challenge?
For the most part I’m good living In Denmark, I live in the countryside with my partner and dog and cats. And that is a perfect way to wind down between the traveling and writing and metropolis of it all. However I have spent a good amount of time in London and love it, so If I ever move, that might be where I land.
I saw that you are designing and selling your own merchandise. Do you have a background in design or is it something you just thought you would have a go at?
I have no design background, but I am an aesthetic thinker. I make all my own visual material, shoot and edit my own press shots, and make my own single covers. I did try to pay my way out of it for a while, but I care too much.
Tell us more about the 1.5 billion streams you’ve managed to rack up on Spotify. That’s a hell of a lot for anyone and must have made you a few pennies (literally). Has any particular song or collaboration contributed disproportionately to that total?
‘Solo Dance’ (with Martin Jensen) and ‘What I like about You’ (with Jonas Blue) amount to one billion of those streams, so you could call that disproportional. I’d love for my own singles to rack up the same numbers, so tell people to listen! I just put a new song out called ‘Scream’; let’s get that bad-boy to a billion! (Ed – you’ll find the review and song at the end).
If someone asked you to write a song for the Eurovision Song Contest – would you take up the challenge?
Definitely would, I know a lot of people in that game, and it seems like a lot of fun!
Which artists and bands do you follow personally and which lesser known Danish artists should we be watching out for, in your opinion?
Agnes Hartwich is amazing, and not as big as she should be, and if you want to hear someone sing in Danish go listen to Kedde, he has got it going on!
Do you/did you ever aspire to being ‘something else’ entirely (model, politician, footballer, train driver…?!)
I have been looking into becoming a Veterinarian , Just to have a plan B for whenever people get sick of my music.
What were you good at, at school?
Surprisingly good at everything, I got high grades across the board. And I was barely ever there. So I don’t know how that happened.
There is a music review website called Good Because Danish (I’m sure you know it). Tell us in 50 words or less what is good about being Danish
Social Security, free medical treatments as someone who really needed that I can tell you it is priceless. It’s a pretty place.
The Monarchy – keep them or get rid of them?
Royal families seem so messy. It’s like we’re all just pretending that those titles mean anything other than entitlement. Rid.
Link to ‘Scream’ review.
