The “Bow and Arrow” Effect of CECE FREY.

CeCe has always viewed her life as what she likes to call, “The Bow and Arrow Effect”. Everything that has been leading her to this point; all the work, all the struggle, all the disappointments and the success alike has been the archer of her life with two fingers on the string, seemingly pulling her arrow backward. The preparation, the drive, the undying determination, and the fire of true passion has all been leading her to this moment. It has all been drawing the string, aiming for the top, piercing through the obstacles in the way, launching her to greatness.

Archer at the ready….

CeCe Frey is best known for being the most polarizing character on Season Two of the X Factor USA. The judges couldn’t decide whether they loved, or hated her widely controversial personality and performance style. For most artists, disapproval on national television would be a soul crushing experience. For Frey, it meant she was doing something right.

Pull…

With over 445,000 followers on Twitter, 277,000 followers on Instagram, 215,000 likes on Facebook, and over 23 million amassed cumulative views on her YouTube performances (and growing daily), Frey has undeniably built a cult following of “Warriors”.

Aim….

Welcome to the mythical world of CeCe. As her newest reinvention, CeCe has dropped her last name, symbolizing that her Tribe is her family, and she is at the helm of that army. Her loud, defiant personality and signature left eye design makeup is all part of her performance art, with a sound that is sure to lead her revolution of other “Indigo Children” like her, into a new age of fashion, strength, and self assure-ness as the guardian of the Warrior spirit. With her timeless, yet fresh, real, yet magical, heartfelt, yet sassy anthems to unite her tribe spread across the world, CeCe is primed and ready for the next step.

The only thing left now is….Release!

Join All Access Music writer, Nicole DeRosa below as she catches up with CeCe who is currently pointing her musical arrow all around the country with her hot new single, “Dead 2 Me.”

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Hi CeCe! How are you? What’s on the agenda today besides our interview?

Hey Hey! I am fan-freakin-tastic! Today, I hit the gym and got my butt kicked by Crossfit, packed up for my trip to Atlanta this weekend to record, and now I’m talking to you!

CeCe performing on Season 2 of The X-Factor

Many people know you from Season 2 of The X-Factor in the Young Adult category. What did you take away from that whole experience?

What I took away from that experience is that reality TV producers can’t be trusted 😉 . Even though a few of them are my close friends now, if you’re a contestant on a show, you are a character, or rather, a caricature of yourself. But beyond that, I made a lot of great friends and my skin turned into metal about halfway through the season so that was pretty cool to wake up to one morning.

Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas mentored you during your time on The X-Factor. Can you share with our readers some words of advice they bestowed upon you?

The day that Nick and Demi mentored me was just one day at our judge’s house performance and honestly, it is a complete blur to me now. I remember singing an acoustic rendition of “I’m Sexy and I Know It” and because I had such a crush on the Jonas Brothers growing up, I was super giddy meeting Nick the first time. And I remember it being SO HOT in that house that we were all just melting.

“So I’m just sitting there, trying to get ready to perform, trying not to go jump on Nick Jonas in the next room, and trying to keep looking fresh to death while sweating in a 90 degree room. It was a very conflicted day.”

Your video for your latest song, “Dead 2 Me” is getting A LOT of buzz! I hear you did everything in the video except hold the camera! What was it like shooting the video? How did you come up with the treatment for it?

Well that’s not ENTIRELY true. That would really be selling my director, Patrick Lawrence, way short. It was a great collaborative process coming up with the idea for the video and then shooting it. But when it came to picking my extras, dressing everyone, and styling myself; that was all me.

Almost every outfit I wore in the video was customized by me in some way, and other pieces like the studded “CeCe” jacket, I actually made. It took me probably ten hours to finish that jacket and the studs really tore my hands up but it was worth it! And styling the girls was really fun, too. I loved putting them in outfits that they wouldn’t normally wear and helping them embrace their grungy, “junkyard chick” alter-egos. It was also really cold that day and I was NOT dressed for the weather. So a twelve hour day outside led to really sore muscles that evening from being so tense all day. Can you tell I’m effected by the temperature? (laughs)

I understand you grew up in Decatur, Illinois. How did growing up there influence you?

“I grew up on a farm. On a farm, the only way anything gets done is if you do it yourself. The only way the farm thrives is if you get up early and work hard all day. It was that kind of home grown work ethic that is really coming to light at this point in my career. I don’t believe in luck. I just think that some people give up sooner than others. That won’t ever be me. You’ll see, I’m just getting started building my empire.”

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

Well, I am the ultimate “DIY-er” I love making things and using my creativity to the fullest. So I’m always teaching myself to do new things. I do my own hair all the way down to the color. I do my own nails, my own makeup, and obviously my own styling. In fact, 90% of the time that you see me, my entire look is of my own doing.

I love to design new clothes and bring them to life with my sewing machine or by hand. I also just got into hand tooling leather which is really fun but my hands are really torn up from it. I also LOVE thrifting. When Macklemore came out with “Thrift Shop” I said, “FINALLY, someone else gets it!”. So many thrift stores know me by name because I am always in there digging for treasure.

If you could meet any musician or artist living or dead, who would that be and why?

That is such a tough question and I always get asked that but never have a good answer for it. I think I would’ve loved to meet Whitney Houston when she was my age.

“When I was growing up, my mom would sit me in front of the cassette player with her 1987 album “Whitney” and say, “You wanna sing? Learn to do it like her.” And I would. I would sit there singing over Whitney until I could hit the notes that she was hitting and I still warm up to her. I would love to just sit with 20 year old Whitney and sing together and have a girls’ day.”

What was the first song you fell in love with growing up?

Definitely, “Just Around the River Bend” from the Disney Pocahontas soundtrack. We had this bench that was painted like a cow in my childhood bedroom (don’t ask, I don’t know why) and I would sit on it and pretend it was my canoe and I was going down the river singing that song, trying to find John Smith.

Which musicians or bands are you listening to and inspired by?

Right now, I am loving the new Andy Grammer record, “Magazines or Novels”.  I’ve probably listened to it about 6 times all the way through. I don’t know why but its a feel-good record. I’m also loving Tove Lo and Ryn Weaver. They’re pretty badass and I wanna write with them in the future.

What was one of your most memorable shows to date so far?

I opened for Joan Jett in my hometown this summer and that was AMAZING. She is such a rock star!

What’s on tap next for you? What are you most excited about for this year?

I honestly can’t wait to record more music! I love being in the studio. I can’t wait to see what is in store for me for 2015. I want my first hit in 2015. Let’s see if that happens. You never know!

To learn more about CeCe, visit her here .