As a proud American-Ukranian, Kelsie Kimberlin’s primary focus right now is using her art and her voice to bring awareness to the horrors of the ongoing war. We’ve been following her musical career for a while now, and what we’ve discovered is an authentic and experienced artist who likes to experiment with her sound and style.
Desperate to get to know more about her, I was over the moon when she agreed to an interview! Talking with us about her profound and endless love for Ukraine, the diversity of her influences, and what the best things about being a musician are, please give a big welcome to our friend Kelsie Kimberlin!
Welcome, Kelsie! After discovering and loving your music since the beginning of this year, I’m so glad that we get to chat a little! ‘Rooting For My Baby‘ began my love affair with your music and the Miley Cyrus cover now has over 53,000 plays on Spotify! How proud are you of the tune’s reception?
Miley is one of my favorite artists so I was really proud to be able to cover one of her more obscure songs. This is the very first song I have ever covered because I have written so many of my own songs but I am American-Ukrainian and the words “rooting for my baby” felt so apropos to the way I feel about Ukraine. I am always rooting for the country and the people. I am proud of the reception, it got a lot of radio play, great reviews, and 200,000 views on YouTube – a video I filmed in front of my home fireplace. I think it only took a few weeks from the time we started working on that song to the release of the video.
I then discovered ‘Spoof I Wonder‘ and was completely invested in what you had to offer the world musically! Putting aside that it’s nearing 100,000 plays on Spotify, I know that the war in Ukraine has affected you and your music deeply. Do you believe it’s an artist’s duty to use their voice for change?
I am passionate about my support for Ukraine and ‘Spoof I Wonder’ means a lot to me. I wanted people to feel the same pain I feel every day and see some of the suffering of the Ukrainian people. I was shocked at the incredible reception it got. I gave more than a dozen radio interviews from around the globe about the song and video, and it has almost 400,000 views on YouTube. I just got back from Ukraine where I filmed three music videos about the war, and I just released the first song ‘Armageddon’ on all music platforms. The video will be released on September 8th. I am the first international artist to be given permission to film in a place under military control where the worst atrocities occurred in Bucha, Irpin, and Kyiv. Every day, there were air raid sirens and missiles and drones being shot down overhead but I felt like the risk was worth it because now I can use my music to tell more people about the terrible situation on the ground.
With every artist being different and unique, we’re always intrigued with their creative processes, and how they take an idea and transform it into a song. Could you tell us a bit about your creative process?
Well, it all depends on the song and the subject. My father is an incredible musician and so I usually work with him on songs. Sometimes I will write ideas or lyrics in a journal first but other times we will come up with a melody. But I can tell you that I have been a “studio rat” for at least 15 years because my dad was always in the studio and so I would go with him. I started recording when I was eight and I worked with Yoko Ono’s Peace Project and won first prize and got a large amount of money which I used on music lessons. For the past decade, I have spent at least two days a week in the studio recording new original material. I have recorded hundreds of songs. Now, on every song, I work with Grammy winners and nominees in the production process. ‘Armageddon’, which I released on August 31st, was mixed by Liam Nolan (Adele) and mastered by Stuart Hawkes (Amy Winehouse), so the production of every song is at a world-class level. I can also tell you that writing songs is a gift and not a struggle. Most songs write themselves in a matter of minutes, and I am just a conduit. It is the recording and production that takes time because my whole team are perfectionists. Sometimes I will sing ten or more takes of a song before I like it. And then two weeks later, I will sing it again because I know I can do better. With ‘Armageddon’ I sang it on four different days because I wasn’t satisfied, so probably forty takes or more. I have an incredible vocal coach with me at all times in the studio who pushes me hard to do better and better.
If I stole your cell phone and opened Spotify (or your streaming service of choice), who would I see under your recently played section?
Oh wow, I listen to so many different artists from pop like Tate McCrae and Taylor Swift, to country such as Morgan Wallen, to Japanese pop metal such as BabyMetal, to rock such as The Beatles and John Mayer. In fact, I am going to see BabyMetal in concert on September 8th, and I am going to see Peter Gabriel on the 23rd. My dad has been taking me to concerts since I was a toddler so I love all kinds of music and that’s why you will be hearing a more diverse repertoire over the next year. And I love listening to new music and new artists even if they don’t have many views or plays. For example, I like Carlie Hanson and just saw her in concert at a tiny club in Baltimore. I also like Ashley Kucher even though she is not well known.
I just discovered that you were part of the Yoko One Peace Project. What was that experience like?
Yes, as I mentioned above, when I was eight I was in a children’s choir called the “Harmonic Angels” and my dad, who runs a nonprofit related to music, found out that Yoko Ono had a Peace Project that opposed the war in Iraq. She put up a massive banner that covered the entire wall of the Verizon Center in Washington, DC and asked people to write wishes for peace on white ribbons and tie them to all these trees in a park in DC. Anyway, I asked my choir to sing a song about peace for the Project and we recorded it on video. I then submitted it to the Creative Nation Awards which gave an award for the most creative kid in the country. I won first prize and they gave me a lot of money with the caveat that I spend it on my creative dreams. So I spent it all over several years on music lessons – vocal, piano, guitar and drums.
Who are some of your biggest musical influences? Who did you grow up listening to? And would you say that your tastes have changed over the years?
My biggest influence is my father and he is like a music encyclopedia. And my biggest musical influence is The Beatles. I know every song! They taught me melody, harmony, and hooks. I am also influenced a lot by classical composers like Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Handel. If you listen closely to many of my songs and soon-to-be-released songs, I use a lot of orchestration and choral sounds. I like to combine different genres and styles in my music. For example, ‘Spoof’ is a cantata that has a motif that sounds a bit like ‘Moonlight Sonata’. ‘Armageddon’ has orchestration from Ukraine. I just got back from two weeks in Colombia where I filmed two music videos in a Latin style in a duet with a famous Latin producer and we filmed the videos in the rain forest and at an indigenous village. So influences are many and I continue to grow.
What do you love most about being a musician? And on the flip side, what are some of the biggest challenges that you’ve faced so far?
I love being creative and having new challenges every week. I have to record a new song or perfect a song every few weeks or I feel like I am lazy. I love meeting amazing professionals and other creative people. I love international travel. I love using my music to change the world for the better. As far as challenges, I always like to mix real instruments with digital instruments to keep the music grounded which goes against the grain of a lot of modern music. The music industry itself is a challenge and it seems to reward too many people who don’t put in the work and can’t follow up.
OK, Kelsie – desert island time! You’re allowed to grab 3 albums before being stranded on an island. Which do you go with?
Sorry, I would have to make three compilation albums!
Beatles, Bach, and yes, Taylor! I would never get sick of listening to them.
What’s next for you musically?
Well, my focus right now is victory for Ukraine. I just filmed three groundbreaking videos there – ‘Armageddon’, which is about how Ukraine is protecting the world from Armageddon. ‘Another Chance’ is about how tens of thousands of people in Ukraine feel due to the loss of a loved one and how they wish they had another chance to live again. And ‘Turn Back’, which is about how Ukraine needs the millions of refugees who left after the war to come home to rebuild the country. I also have a fourth video that I filmed before the war called ‘We Are The Promise’ about a dystopian society where music is banned and musicians are executed and I am the protagonist who challenges the dictator. The lyrics in the chorus will become an anthem for Ukraine – “We are the promise, we are the glory, we are the story.” I am going to release one video per month for the next four months to keep the focus on victory for Ukraine
Thank you for your interesting questions!
