7 minute read
Keeping Up With Kelsey Karter
Photography by Emma Sophia Valles
28-year-old New Zealand native Kelsy Karter recently inked a deal with BMG US and is set to release her album in 2020. Her smile and persona lit up the room and made the conversation fly by in a blink. Dressed in black from head-to-toe with a leather jacket to top it off, Sara spoke to Kelsy to talk about her future in music, her roots, and the genius behind her song and tattoo for “Harry”.
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So you recently signed with BMG, and I saw you released your last song "Blast Off" like three days ago. Was that planned to be some type of send-off before signing?
Kelsy: Um, yeah, so it’s weird. Cause like, my song “Liquor Store on Mars” was my baby and we released that month or two ago. And then, you know, we were in the process of negotiating and signing with BMG; and I had this song that was giving my fans a story behind everything because I think that that connects them to the music. So I had this song [Blast Off], and we didn’t want to put it on the album because I didn’t think it fit the album, so it’s just its own little thing. And the reason I wrote that song was that I was going through a pretty horrible experience with another label and I felt like I was taking a step back and it was just a horrible experience, really soul-crushing. And so we wrote “Blast Off” just as a fun song one day to be like f-ck this. I’m going to take control again, you know? My fans have been the only reason for my success this far and like working hard. So I wanted to kind of dedicate something to them that was one last independent song that represents the shit we’ve been through, before we do the album with the label and stuff.
So it was for sure not gonna be on the album?
Kelsy: Yeah we just made it kind of like a self-release. No money behind it, no label, no PR, no anything. I was just like, let’s just choose a day and put it out. We shot the video in New York for like 300 bucks within a couple of nights. And I thought it was a cool close to being an independent artist.
The song was like over quick by the time I was into the song, it was over! Not in a bad way, but I was like wait...what? It's over?
Kelsy: Replay value baby!
Do you have a vision or aesthetic in mind for the album yet?
Kelsy: I want to continue this character and color for me. I really just started embracing [myself] and putting myself out there and I want fans to feel like they can do that as well. I’m an actor first, and I love theater and theatrical stuff. This album, it’s evolved a lot since I first started it. The name of it has changed and the vibe is definitely evolved, but it’s kind of a continuation of what I’ve been doing. Like, I want to make a jazz record one day, but I’m still a baby artist in the sense of like, my profile and how big I am. So, my success isn’t big enough for me yet to like reinvent...I don’t think. And this is definitely 100% me, so I’m just gonna roll with that.
My roommates were asking who like who you were like before I came out here to talk to and I showed a picture and we all literally thought you looked a little bit like Amy Winehouse. So when you said jazz I was like "Oh, okay!" You got the looks and voice to pull it off!
Kelsy: Yeah! Well, I grew up on soul and jazz. That’s how I learned how to sing. I can’t wait to explore or all that in the years to come, but right now it’s rock n’ roll baby!
Photography by Emma Sophia Valles
I'm glad you mentioned rock n' roll because I wanted to say like, cause I recognized you from the song "Harry" and first of all, that was genius. Did you expect it to blow up the way that it did?
Kelsy: Dude, it’s funny, the whole team was in this room, and I’m a Harry [Styles] stan for sure, I’ve got no shame. I’m sorry. Any musician that tells you they’re not a super fan of someone is too cool and they’re lying—I’m just super candid about it. I started to put my love for Harry out there. I’m not big on Instagram—like fans [fan accounts], will look at me and they think, “Oh, who is this person that loves Harry? She looks big or whatever”. It attracted the attention of his fans, which then dominoed into more and more and more.
But when I was writing that song, Harry was my lock screen and my mate was like let’s just write a song about him. So I didn’t plan to make this big PR stunt and stuff! We just wrote this cool song, and then because we saw how fans were reacting to my candidness, we were like, we need to like do something around this song to make it blow up basically. My team called a meeting and they were like, “This idea’s pretty outlandish and if you don’t like it, then we have to think of something equally as outlandish.” And I was like, “Alright, hit me!” They told me about the face tattoo and I was like, pretty sure it wouldn’t work, but I agreed do it. I’m super game to do anything that doesn’t objectify me or anything that’s not tacky or vulgar or against my core values as a person. That was like right up my alley cause I was always a prankster and rebellious person. So it was kind of like a perfect pairing and it was a good, jarring experience.
Dude, that tattoo was so wild because like, in the back of my mind I was like, "This can't be real.... this just can't be real."
Kelsy: I had like, best mates hit me up and be like, are you okay?
So! You just wrapped tours in the UK in the US with The Struts - amazing band by the way. But how was it to go on a world tour?
Kelsy: That was amazing. I mean, I, touring is like, my favorite thing in the whole world. I love it more than... almost as much as I love food or my boyfriend. The
UK was amazing. What’s cool about the UK is that it’s really close together. It’s small, so touring in over there is so easy, you just like, drive two hours and you’re at the next place. Here, it’s a little bit more tiring—but I love it. My band and I are best mates and I love, I love being on the road with the boys. I cannot wait for next year to just continue doing it.
Do you have stuff planned for next year?
Kelsy: Oh yeah, it is every single day. I tell my team, so do we know yet? Do we know yet? What’s the move? So I mean, being on stage was my destiny, even though I didn’t think I was going to be a singer when I was a kid, I wanted to act and direct. I was always on stage. Being on stage is going back to my roots. It’s what I do best.
Going back to music and aesthetics, how do your visuals play into your musical style?
Kelsy: I’m a theater kid, so I grew up as a very visual person, even though I’m a musician now. Even when I’m making a song, as I’m making the song, I’m imagining what visual would go with it. I love that part of it, directing all my own stuff and everything. I like telling stories and there are certain directors that I really admire that I get inspiration from. I’m also super into fashion and stuff. I dress the boys, my band, I do all that.
They’ll [my band] show up to set or show and like, my drummer—he’s got hair like you, he’s amazing. And he’ll just show up to set and be like “Clothe me! What am I wearing?”
Oh my gosh! In "Harry", you all wore color-coordinated outfits, that was you?
Kelsy: I’m a little bit psycho when it comes to the details and stuff, sometimes when I’m on set, I forget that I actually have to be in the video you know. Like my makeup artist will be like, “Kelsy, we need to get you ready.” And I’m like...oh, that’s right, I’m in this video. But I love doing the visuals. I want this album to look like it’s like high fashion with a punk rock twist.
