Introducing #101 - Kayls
Let us introduce you to LA indie-pop artist Kayls, who offers a piece of dark simmering pop with debut single ‘Drive Away’. She took a moment to talk to us about the song and working with producer Bambor Leany.
Your debut track ‘Drive Away’ is out now, can you tell us what the track is about?
“Drive Away” is a soft lush dreamland of heartbreak and just my life at the time. I was in a sort of relationship that was never going to work so when I was at a party of his, it was this surreal world where anything could happen, almost like the 60s merged with the 90s where people were trapped in this beautiful but horrible sci-fi version of reality. There was a guy doing cocaine, a guy talking about pancakes, a woman in heels chasing a dog around, and this line of people vaping, almost like this choir, and all this cherry smoke everywhere. I just wanted to capture that in a song because it was so powerful and strange and it had all of these feelings attached to it that matched my emotions at that precise moment.
Based in the wonderful city of Los Angeles, what do you like to do for kicks?
Watch the pink cotton candy sunsets, drink rosé, and write songs basically.
It seems you're working with producer Bambor Leany, how did that partnership come about?How was the experience of working with her?
We met on a foggy afternoon, which is odd for LA. I’d never met a female music producer before. The experience has been kind of a dream. I didn’t know working with a female producer would be so liberating. Well, I didn’t know it was even possible–– until it was. We're like best friends now and it’s so fun in the studio. She's really detail orientated. We work extremely hard on each part of the song. She's completely focused on songs, which is what I've always wanted in a producer. It feels like we're conjuring up new worlds when we're working. It’s definitely like a pinch me scenario!
What or who are your key musical influences?
That’s a really difficult one to pinpoint because I grew up listening to pretty much everything. I like great songs. I used to sing those massive pop ballads from Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and Whitney Houston. But if I had to say who my musical influences are, I would say Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac, Kate Bush, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and throw my high school emo punk rock and Katy Perry days in there. Also, Post Malone, YG, Juice WRLD, and Billie are some modern influences.
You also have a degree from FIDM, which has led to do you become a fashion designer. You design all your own wardrobe as an artist, do you enjoy having that amount of control? And how does it feel to blend two creative areas of yourself?
I wouldn’t have it any other way. My visual vision is just as important as my melodic and lyrical one –– I absolutely love it, it’s so exciting to dream up an idea and then make it into a flat pattern that becomes an article of clothing on my body, which then no one else has.
Now your track is out there, what next? What are your plans for the next few months?
I have the Drive Away music video releasing soon. I throw up glow in the dark barf in it, haha. It's mega dope! And more exciting singles ready to go! Stay tuned xx