NEW YORK — Remy Shand's appearance is simple and boyish: a striped T-shirt, baggy pants and unkempt hair protruding from beneath a knit cap.
His youthful looks don't reflect his musical influences.
"I listen to Teddy Pendergrass, Marvin Gaye, Sly Stone, Shuggie Otis, all the masters," said the 24-year-old R&B artist, a native of Winnipeg, Canada.
Shand, a self-taught musician, studied his instrument lessons and practiced jam sessions in his bedroom when he was growing up.
"I heard 'I Can't Stand the Rain' and that was it! I just wanted to excel. I would take those Miles Davis' sessions and jam along with them, and jam over and over again," he said.
Because he was homeschooled for many years, Shand had lots of time to perfect his sound. "I would wake up at 9 o'clock and work until noon, and then I would put on the headphones and just play."
His father, a former musician, came up with his name. "He called me Remy from the scale do, re, mi," Shand said.
The singer-musician — who dislikes being called a neo-soul artist — released his first album, "The Way I Feel," on the Motown label last year. He wrote, produced and sang the lead and background vocals.
"Neo-soul as a genre has started to become, in a way, almost this formula when you hear the rim shot, and then all of a sudden it's like that's neo-soul, it's new soul. I don't think soul went away," he said.
1: When did you start playing musical instruments?
Shand: When I was 8, I started playing the saxophone. I went for about a year for lessons, and the instructor was like, 'Mary had a little lamb' and I'm like, 'No, no. I want 'A Love Supreme.'
2:Did you socialize much?
Shand: I used to be so misunderstood when it came to socializing. I would have girls calling me up and going, 'You gonna come out and play?' I was like 'No!' And they thought I was a freak, they didn't know what was wrong with me.
3: Did you worry about the image Motown wanted you to portray?
Shand: I just kept saying to them . . . 'Look, I know what perception you have of me, you're looking at me as this white musician in this market.' I said, 'Whatever you guys decide on, it had better not be Jon B. It better not be that face.'
4: Have you sung duets with any other artists?
Shand: Just my wife. She won't let me do any duets with anyone. 'It has to be me first,' she said. And I'm down with that. I'd like to perform with George Benson. I love George Benson.
5: Why did your wife go on tour with you?
Shand: We eloped, but we didn't tell our parents until Christmas. We called touring the world our honeymoon.