Emerging from Orlando, Florida, KRISTOPHER channels his wonderful singer-songwriting qualities into material that’s emotional and vivid, offering the listener a friendly pick-up for intimate moments. Describing his recent single, a cover version of Ariana Grande’s ‘Into You’, we wrote: “heartfelt lyricism is a permanent fixture of KRISTOPHER’s artistic output, empowering the listeners in dealing with inner struggles and challenges, always finding the hopeful side in it. Navigating human love, he manages to grab a moment in time and enlarge it, sculpting it into a sensible musical number”.
We stand by it. Blending heavenly vocals with a knack for ballads and piano-rich arrangements, KRISTOPHER manifests to build an honest and authentic dialogue with his audience, proudly projecting him into a brighter future.
Intrigued by the project, we caught up with the Florida talent to find out more about his artistry and future goals… Interview below!
Hey Kristopher, how is it going? some of our readers might not be familiar with your project, how would you describe yourself, in a few words?
Hey! It’s going great! Tough question but to describe myself in a few words I would say emotional, creative, perfectionist, and I like to think I’m compassionate. Also, definitely an overthinker.
Your current work is the result of a long journey; What first drew you to making music?
Music has always been an escape for me but I never thought it was a realistic option for me to pursue until I met a couple of other independent artists. Sian Cross, a phenomenal English artist encouraged me to think about writing and releasing some music. We both knew I had a lot to say and now here I am saying it!
If you had the opportunity to pick any artists in the world for a collaboration, who would be your first choice? (except Ariana Grande 🙂 )
Smart of you to exempt Ariana. I really admire Billie Eilish and FINNEAS and would love to work with either of them. If I had to choose someone a little more comparable to my own music I would probably choose Madeline the Person. Her music is incredible.
Your latest release is a tribute to legendary pop superstar Ariana Grande. Did you find the track (‘Into You’) fits into your catalogue?
Honestly, I don’t think it does. I did originally want to make the cover a more intimate, acoustic version that portrays the softer side of love as opposed to the exciting side of it that Ariana so perfectly captured. The production of the cover evolved however, and now it’s meant to be more of a “for fun” casual tribute-I don’t consider it part of my image or serious discography.
Coming from the original version, one wouldn’t imagine the nostalgic/sad/heartfelt potential the song carries; When did you ‘discover’ this alternative mood in the lyrics?
Someone managed to get their hands on Ariana’s raw vocals and they isolated the melody line and placed it over a beautiful piano ostinato. You could just hear the power and emotion in her voice and although I believe the original is a pop masterpiece, it just gave the song a whole new meaning and dimension. I don’t know of many covers that take it slower so I wanted to bring a different perspective.
A lot of music fans are not always keen on covers. Do you think there is value in releasing a cover? We personally think so, it is interesting listening to the same song from a totally different perspective.
I agree, I think a fresh perspective (especially in music) is something that helps to stoke creativity. I also believe that because many people can relate to the same song in different ways, it’s nice to hear how lyrics and music can impact people differently and the meaning can change from person to person. Sometimes, as in this particular case, it’s nice to pay homage to an artist or song you love. I don’t take my covers too seriously though. I put effort and work into them but at the end of the day it’s not about me, it’s about the perspective.
Artistically speaking, what challenges have the last two years presented you with?
Songwriting is such a hit-or-miss for me. There are days when I can write a fantastic song I am proud of in like half an hour (I have and I’m super excited to be sharing them with you for the next several months), and other times I can spend weeks on a single melodic line or lyrical phrase only to hate it so much that I scrap it. I would also say that filming my first two music videos lately taught me a lot about my own comfort levels with certain things and how careful you need to be when pushing your own boundaries. I have definitely stepped outside my comfort zone with both the filming and the music.
What are the next steps for your project? Anything exciting on the horizon?
It’s taken years but my debut album is almost at completion and I’ll be releasing many of the tracks individually as we approach the official release early next year. This will include 8 original songs some of which will also have alternate versions such as club remixes or acoustic/piano. I have already started planning my next two projects as well. First, a subject EP. And then later my second album where I plan to lean more into the pop sound. I’m super excited to continue sharing my music with people and I thank you so much for giving it a listen. Thanks for having me!
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