KALI

Falling pretty far outside the mold of the activities of a “normal” high school student, KALI is dropping her debut EP ‘Circles’ to a supportive internet community she’s garnered on her musical journey, which started a couple of years ago after posting half-finished song ideas on SoundCloud. After three colorful singles — “Back to the Start,” “Lucy,” and “I Just Wanna” — that toed the line between psychedelic and surfer rock, the full six-track EP is due out tomorrow. The whole project is simultaneously one grand, cohesive snapshot in time, as well as a collection of small, unique moments best appreciated on their respective pedestals. However, one thing is constant and unshakably so: KALI captures motion and movement in a truly meaningful way and reminds us, as the title ‘Circles’ evokes, that there is one thing that we know is unchanging: change. Check out the full interview and her guest DJ playlist below!

INTERVIEW

Interview by Bridgette

May 6, 2021

Hey everyone my name is Bridgette and today I have the distinct pleasure of sitting down with KALI. I’m super happy to have you here - thanks so much!

You’re welcome! I guess “here” is my bedroom, but yeah, I’m glad to be here! [Laughs]

I’ve been loving your music so I’m really excited to talk about it and the debut EP you have coming out on MAy 7! Huge congrats to you!

Yeah, thank you!

You’re 16, but you’ve been playing music for a while, both by yourself and with your band. What inspired you to officially start releasing music last year?

Well basically, I’d been making demos for a while, and when I was I think about 14, I really started diving deep and just becoming really passionate about making music. I would post these one-minute snippets of my demos on Instagram; all of the singles actually that I released, those were debuted on Instagram. You can tell that they’re the same songs, but they’ve come so far since then. But I had this routine of just making something ⁠— maybe I wouldn't finish it [laughs] ⁠— but I’d post it just because that was my way of connecting with the people that came to my shows, and I was super into what I was doing at that time. But a lot of people ⁠— relative to the time ⁠— were asking me when I was gonna release music. I was like, “Hell no, these aren’t ready, these are half finished! I have like 500 second verses to write!” [Laughs] After a while, I started to finish the songs, and I finished the demos for the EP about a year ago because my A&R rep was like “I can’t pitch you if you don’t finish your music,” which I’m so grateful for. You need that extra push; I feel like at a certain point I get really indecisive with a lot of things, and just having someone else be like, “Okay, come on, let’s go,” then I’m just basing it off of instinct and not letting my brain go in circles. I finished the demos, and that was March or April of last year, and then I met this producer named Miro and we started working on the songs. I signed my record deal around that time, and I knew that I felt super secure with the songs and the writing. We started creating this universe that took the original energy of the demos and sort of exploded it. I’m still learning shit all the time with production and stuff, so it was a really great experience because Miro is an incredible engineer and producer. We worked together, and he had all this cool gear, and we took it to what I always imagined. 

I love that backstory. I think it’s cool because you’re describing that it’s because you posted those demos and got a reaction that you were inspired to keep going. 

Yeah, I needed that extra motivation. It really made me more assured in my work and it’s interesting because now with releasing stuff, for some reason, I’ve had this weird thing where it’s tipped me off my balance a little bit because it’s just been so new and the reaction’s been insane. I’ve been learning, and now I’m coming back to this point where I’m feeling more assured and just realizing, “Oh, it’s not a bad thing that people like my music!” [Laughs] I was so confused before, I was like, “What does this mean?!” But now I’m in this place where I understand that this just means that I don’t have to worry so much when I’m writing!

Right! I was going to ask ⁠— and you’ve kind of touched on it ⁠— now obviously you’ve got a lot of people really excited about your music which must feel amazing for someone putting out their debut EP, knowing that people are listening and excited. 

It’s been a bit strange because I used to play shows at least once or twice a month, so I had that physical “Oh my God, people are coming to see me? What?” So it’s been weird without that. I’m sitting in my bedroom, my mom’s drying her hair in the room next door. [Laughs] So much has changed, but it hasn’t shifted me at all, and I think that’s probably a good thing. But I can’t wait to start meeting people and playing shows, because that energy transfer, that’s when it’s going to flip a switch in my brain that I’m actually doing this. I’m getting there, because if I’m being honest, I barely do school and stuff. [Laughs] I’m on an independent study program, so I just get to make music whenever I want to, which is great. So that has become regular for me, and I guess that’s the first thing that signals “oh, I’m actually doing this,” but I still feel like a regular kid. [Laughs]

So we’ve already had three singles from your debut EP “Circles” that is out on May 7. I would love to dive into each of those, starting with your debut single “Back to the Start” that came out last November. I love this one, I think it really captures that surfer rock element of your sound. What made you want to put this one out first?

It’s something that I’ve just always known. It was the first song that I wrote on the project; that song sort of created a domino effect. I remember just writing that song and there being a change for me, you know? But it was just a song that I kept coming back to in that whenever I played it live, people were always like, “What’s that song? Like [intro notes] bum bum bum bum?” I could resonate with that song at so many different points in time. As I wrote the song, then produced it, then mixed it and mastered it, there was so much growth. I felt like when it was done, it really represented me as a person and my sound in a very interesting way. I feel like it’s a very big-picture song. 

That’s a really cool way to introduce yourself: to put out a song that represents so much growth.

Yeah, when I think of it I think of multiple time periods. Sometimes I’ll write songs that encapsulate that day for me, but that song ⁠— at least the finished product ⁠— really represented like a year and a half for me.

Wow, and I think we all know how much can change in a year and a half [laughs] a year and a half ago we weren’t in a pandemic! “Lucy” is the one that really pulled me in when I first heard it. I would love to hear about the process behind this one!

The reaction to this song has been so funny, I’m not gonna lie. [Laughs] I was reading the YouTube comments one day and multiple people were like, “I just looked up my name and I found this song.” [Laughs] But when I was writing it, I was super skeptical of it. It was a very direct song for me at the time, and I knew that the person I was sort of drawing inspiration from in that circumstance would know it was about them. The funny thing about the EP is that I went a year without fully realizing how forward I was being [laughs] with my music. I literally thought that this girl did not have a clue, [laughs] it was so funny. But with “Lucy”, I was so scared because it was really vulnerable and I was letting go of what was building up inside my brain. I was really inspired by this band called Whitney. They have this woody, knocky sort of guitar sound, and I was trying to emulate that with this off-putting drum groove. There was also this song called “You’ve Got A Woman” by Lion. Those are my two references for that song that I was trying to pull from and emulate. Also The Beatles with the harmonies. I remember I wrote the lyrics in one night because I was trying to make plans with people. [Laughs] It was a Friday night, and I’d been in the studio and had to come up with this guitar riff. I was working on it, and I was like, “Okay, it’s Friday, I wanna go out with my friends.” But you know those days where you can’t make plans? Like everything just falls through? I was upset and went home, and I sat in the corner of my bed. This girl was texting and calling me while she was a little… under the influence. Then I just created this character from that experience, and I was having all these realizations of the situation I was in.

I really appreciate the candidness, that takes a lot of courage for sure. Your latest track “I Just Wanna” came out about a month ago. I think it definitely has a different sound, almost like a Tame Impala-esque vibe. Was there something different about making this one than the last two singles?

Yeah, basically I just came up with the song very instantly. My process changes all the time, sometimes I’ll have an idea for a song and I won’t do anything with it and I’ll just plan it out in my head. But with “I Just Wanna,” I was rehearsing with my band and then we finished, so I was packing up and got distracted and started playing some chords on my guitar. It was really slow, like a slow and strummy song. And then I just switched to playing it on a keyboard, and then I just had a flash of the whole song [laughs] I swear. I saw what I envisioned for it: the breakdown, the chorus, everything sort of just came to me. It was one of those things where you let the music control you and you just follow where the melody and rhythms take you. When I was making it, I was like, “I’m going to grind, I’m going to push myself on this one.” And it was the best thing I had made at the time, you know? I remember one of my best friends was like, “Oh my God! You really did it this time!” And I was like, “I know!” [Laughs] I had the time, too. I got grounded for a week [Laughs] and it was in summer, too! So I was just like, “I’m going to do this. This is all I can do. This is the time to go to that next level!”

You could really channel all of your frustration into it! [Laughs]

Yeah, it was a very cathartic song.

What kind of stuff usually inspires you when you write?

Random experiences and things that my friends say really inspire me. Sometimes I just see writing songs as a joke [laughs] and then it becomes something. Even with the EP title, that was a running joke with one of my friends. I used to have a song called “Running Circles” and it became a joke to me because I no longer resonated with the song. And then I was like “wait, I should just call my EP Circles!” because the entire thing is very circular, and that was the only word I felt represented it properly. But honestly, I try not to take myself too seriously and that’s when I make my best work: when I let the music sort of guide me and I let myself let go of whatever I’ve been internalizing. A lot of the time I’ll realize that a certain melody or rhythm or phrase is on repeat in my head and then I’m like, “Oh, let me actually do something with that!” It’s like I forget. [Laughs] But yeah, I mean it really depends. I love working with other people because it’s really interesting to hear how they work and what their instincts are because everybody’s are different. I don’t know if that was proper grammar. [Laughs] Everybody has different has different instincts and stuff, so sometimes when I’m making something and I’m stuck or I won’t know what’s next, I’ll be like, “Oh, I’m going to be like this person… I’m going to try and embody this artist that I like.” And then it never sounds like that [laughs] but that’s the beauty of it I think. That’s the beauty of music: you’re constantly regurgitating someone else’s sound and everybody has a different lens so the way you interpret it is completely different.

For sure, and that's what makes your voice and perspective unique. Something I’m also really interested in is this theme of motion that we keep seeing, from the visuals to the sound to even the way you describe your process. What was the inspiration behind that?

That’s just something that inspires me on a daily basis. I’m so glad you noticed because that was a very key element. For everything, down to the visuals that I was working with my friends on and stuff, we were like “we’re highlighting this!” It was very intentional because it’s just something that inspires me. Life is up and down all of the time and I think that there’s a misconception that that’s a stuck thing, but really the up and down and the changes that we go through consistently, that’s just movement and it never ends. Everything is always changing and moving in some way. I work out of a lockout studio and I have this window that has a view of the 405 freeway, so whenever I’m making music I’m just looking at these cars passing by. So it’s just sort of ingrained in me and it’s something that I always want to feel in my music. There’s always some element that makes me feel like I’m moving in some way.

Sure. I like how you touched on that fact that the one thing that’s constant is change.

Yeah.
Well, I’m really looking forward to hearing all of that on your EP! I’m curious, what can you say to fans that are excited to hear Circles? What can they look forward to?

There’s a little sad moment [laughs]. I don’t know if it’s exactly sad though. That’s the thing about the EP: I feel like all of the songs can be interpreted in different ways and everything ties together and creates this big circle— that’s what I’m going to call it. [Laughs] That’s what really excites me; all of the songs have their own stories, but they also all fit together to form something that represented where I was at that point in time. I think a lot of people go through the same things I was going through and continue to go through, so I hope that a lot of people realize that it’s all okay.

That’s such a great message! Thank you so much again for sitting down with me. I’m so excited for your EP Circles that’s out on May 7 and I appreciate you taking the time to sit down and talk with me.

Yeah, of course! Thank you!

This interview originally aired on WNYU Radio with Bridgette Kontner on March 5, 2021 on The New Afternoon Show at https://wnyu.org/archives/2021-05-05-the-new-afternoon-show