Code Orange shows were pure chaos — a violent symphony of hardcore dancing, stage diving and crowd killing. At the center of the storm was Reba Meyers, whose crunchy, distorted guitar riffs helped propel every glitched-out breakdown and tempo shift.
But now, with the long-running Pittsburgh crew on hiatus, their founding guitarist, co-vocalist and songwriter has struck out on a solo path that trades all-out aggression for sweeping hooks, moody textures and genre-bending alt-rock. It’s a bold move for someone who’s spent more than half her life inside one of heavy music’s most explosive acts — and one that just might redefine her place in the scene.
“I’m going to be vulnerable with my audience,” Meyers explains of the creative risk of going solo. “Because if I’m not, what’s the point of doing any of this?”
Phoning in from Houston while on tour as the guitarist for shock-rock provocateur Marilyn Manson, she’s currently balancing main-stage festival slots with assembling her debut solo record, Clouded World. It’s a pivotal time for Meyers — touring with Manson, who she calls “a curator” with “such a creative lifestyle and vision,” while preparing her most personal music yet.
Fans got their first taste back in December with the anthemic, alt-rock leaning single “Certain Uncertainty,” followed by the dark synth-pop cut “Got Your Hold on Me” and the punky title-track — the latter recorded with Steve Albini, six months before the iconic engineer’s death in May 2024. On August 12th, in Philadelphia, she’ll launch her first-ever solo tour.
As she puts the final touches on Clouded World, Meyers reflects on a sprawling career that began in Pittsburgh during her early teens and led to globe-trotting with a band that redefined the possibilities of metal, rock and hardcore. Long before Code Orange’s 2017 breakout album Forever (whose title track earned them their first Grammy nomination), she was already pushing the boundaries of her sound — a drive that’s only intensified over time.
From the warped, industrial assault of their 2020 follow-up Underneath (its title track also earned a Grammy nod), to collaborations with the Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan and Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, to creating theme songs for WWE wrestler Bray Wyatt, fronting the dreamy side project Adventures, and directing music videos for her partner Greg Puciato (Better Lovers, ex-Dillinger Escape Plan) — Meyers has never stopped evolving.
It all started years ago with a Hanukkah gift meant for her sister — a guitar that Meyers quickly claimed for herself. “Solace” is how she describes the connection she found with the instrument as an adolescent. As she grew, so did her musical interests. “I played classical flute as well,” she says. “So my time as a kid was devoted between guitar, bass, flute and sports.”
The Steel City’s rich underground music scene — which zigged and zagged across genres — became her proving ground. “Pittsburgh has a really strong underground jazz scene and punk scene that has changed over the years,” she says. “There’s not really a guidebook, but in terms of musical talent, there’s so much of it in Pittsburgh, and I’m really grateful to have grown up there and met the people that I did.”
Meyers firmly planted herself in the city’s hardcore scene, forming Code Orange (then Code Orange Kids) with a ragtag crew of like-minded teens. By the time they walked the stage to get their high school diplomas, they were already leveling up in the hardcore scene. “I went super hard as soon as I graduated,” she recalls of her early drive. “[Music] was all I wanted to do. It was like a gravitational pull. Sometimes you just feel like you have to do something because your instincts are telling you to do it… It’s like a giant adventure.”
And what an adventure it’s been. From sweaty basement gigs to red-carpet appearances, the trajectory — not to mention the relentless touring schedule — has shaped her as both an artist and a person. Ironically, she says, it wasn’t until the pandemic stopped that momentum cold that she realized just how much.
“Having a little time off of touring when COVID hit, that helped me look inward and realize having more life balance helps you be a better artist,” she reflects. “Writing solo music has really helped me learn that more, and just be in touch with myself.”
That clarity comes through in her solo work, especially on “Certain Uncertainty” — a grungy belter with a soaring chorus and self-assured, reflective lyrics: “So be patient now, you silly girl/It’s gonna hit you real fast.”
The accompanying video, directed by Puciato, blends footage from Meyers’ childhood with neon cityscapes. “Anyone with their partner is going to be a much more vulnerable version of themselves,” she says. “Having him shoot, direct and edit that video, it was the perfect way to be like, ‘I’m going to do this. I’m proud of all the sides of myself. I want people to see all the sides of myself that maybe they didn’t see prior.’”
That willingness to reveal herself is at the heart of Clouded World, a record steeped in honesty, identity and creative freedom. “Being vulnerable is obviously one of the hardest things in life,” she says, “because you don’t know what to expect in return. I’ve learned to not worry about that and to try to be myself as much as I can.”
The album is an exercise in Meyers being herself — and, at times, subverting expectations. The title track is snarling and intensely catchy, while “Got Your Hold On Me” is a dark pop song with moody atmospherics. The contrast reflects Meyers’ fearless range and the liberation that comes with total creative control.
“Having the freedom to not have to worry about anything, it’s the most amazing feeling,” she says. “Being in a band is awesome, it’s just a different thing. To be a good bandmate, you really should consider the people around you and make sure that everyone is able to have their slice of the pie.
“But doing the solo project, I’m able to just sit down [and] if I feel like writing, I’ll write. If I don’t, I won’t. If I write one thing and it comes out like some weird synth-pop thing, it can go on the record. I don’t have to think about it twice. And at the end of the day, anything that I write is me — and it’s probably a culmination of what I’ve pulled in throughout my entire life. So, I try to make sure that everything I put out is a pure thing.”
From a wide-angle view, Meyers says Clouded World is about “finding balance and space and digging through my emotions and learning to control them, while also relinquishing control over what’s happening around me.” She likens the process to journaling: “Letting out all my feelings, thoughts and fears — and the beautiful things and all the joy — and celebrating that.”
With music steeped in sincerity and shaped by her lifetime of pushing limits, Meyers is ready to leap into the unknown. “My goal is to have Clouded World feel like me, and to get my voice across, and to try to show people where my humanity is at. It’s a discovery process for me, too… It’s been a long time coming.”
Reba Meyers 2025 tour dates:
8/12 Philadelphia, PA Kung Fu Necktie
8/13 Baltimore, MD Metro Gallery
8/14 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
8/15 Pittsburgh, PA Preserving Underground
8/16 Chicago, IL Cobra Lounge
8/19 Austin, TX Mohawk
8/20 Dallas, TX Club Dada
8/22 Phoenix, AZ Valley Bar
8/24 Los Angeles, CA The Echo
8/25 San Jose, CA The Ritz