Q&A: From NYU to the Recording Studio, Kayla Oh is Taylor Swift’s Latest Heir
“YOU WERE POISON, YOU WERE GOD” — Kayla Oh sings in the first lines of her latest track, ”See Through.” The NYC-based artist began her solo project while trapped in her room during the pandemic — mostly out of boredom, although she shares, “I can’t really remember a time when I wasn’t singing or making music.”
A former theater kid, she draws inspiration from Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift to write her nostalgic bedroom pop songs. Currently a contemporary voice student at New York University, her unmatched energy and enthusiasm for songwriting will take her far in the music industry.
Learn how far it might take Oh in the interview below.
LUNA: Introduce yourself. How and when was your musical project born?
OH: Hi, my name’s Kayla Oh and I’m a singer-songwriter based in NYC. I’m 19 years old and currently studying contemporary voice at NYU. I don’t know that I would call what my career looks like now a project or even a persona — all of my work is closely tied to who I am and where I’m at as I write my songs. As far as the how and when, I can’t really remember a time when I wasn’t singing or making music. I kind of went through that classic theater kid to songwriter pipeline and started writing my own music about four or five years ago. I really hit my stride during quarantine, writing songs at the piano every day mostly out of boredom. But boredom became a passion during those months, and that’s when I started to seriously consider a career in music.
LUNA: How has your music changed within the past few years?
OH: I think my music has changed as I’ve gotten older. My writing is definitely a lot more grounded and mature now. With some of my older songs, I can hear that I didn’t quite know what message I wanted to put out there, and they ended up sounding a bit copy and paste from Taylor Swift’s or Billie Eilish’s music.
I also think I have a much broader palette of chords to choose from now, mostly because I’m a better pianist than I was back then, and I don’t feel as limited to just the chords that are easier for me to play while I sing. Moving to NYC has also exposed me to so many new artists, and I’ve been learning so much just by going to concerts and smaller gigs, all of which have definitely influenced and molded my sound.
LUNA: Who inspired your music? Who are your biggest influences?
OH: Growing up, I listened to a lot of Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and later Taylor Swift — basically all the very influential female singer-songwriters were my favorite to listen to. I think in terms of writing lyrics, these three women are probably my biggest influences to date. I always admired how stark they are with their words, even to the point of controversy at times. They are unapologetic with their art and say things with their chest in a way that I hope I can mirror in my work. In terms of melodies and sonic landscapes, I find myself drawing a lot from Bon Iver, and I credit the aspects of my style that lean towards that wistful, folk sound to them.
LUNA: Could you introduce your new single?
OH: “See Through” is actually my debut single, which I released just a month ago in October. I have a few more singles I plan to release in the near future, as well as an EP towards the end of next year, so keep an eye out for those!
LUNA: What inspired the song? How did it come to life?
OH: I wrote “See Through” about a year ago during my freshman year of college. I had gone through a painful breakup before school started and was sort of running from that grief as fast as I could and making myself as busy as possible so as to not deal with it. I think I also felt this pressure to prove myself and have — or at least look like I was having — the time of my life at school, and processing heartbreak just didn’t fit into that plan. I had so much writer's block because of this, because how was I supposed to write honestly if I wouldn’t even let myself harvest those feelings in my own life? So, naturally, a few months in I hit a breaking point and had to admit to myself that I wasn’t as moved on as I wanted to be, and started writing my way through it. I wrote “See Through” in such an unfiltered way because I don’t think I intended for it to be a song that I would release initially. But the type of stark, vulnerable lyricism that came out of it was work that I was really proud of, and so I decided to have “See Through” be my first single.
LUNA: How did you develop your style? Will you experiment with other genres in the future?
OH: My style was very much developed by what I came up with sitting and writing at the piano, very lyrics-centered with melodic lines that add to that through line. I’ve always wanted to experiment with more indie rock, as well as leaning into more of that Americana sound that I’ve played around with already.
LUNA: Who produces your tracks? How do you choose which producers to work with? Do you have some dream producers you'd like to work with?
OH: My producer’s name is Arthur Pingrey, who I love to work with because it doesn’t take much for him to understand what my vision is for a song… I find it really easy to be on the same wavelength as him when it comes time to record. He’s great at breathing life into the ideas I can’t execute on my own and creates such a safe space for me to work on some of my most vulnerable songs — that’s probably the most important thing to me when it comes to choosing who to work with. It’s all about the energy they give and how safe I feel sharing ideas and songs that are so close to my heart.
Probably my all-time dream producer to work with would be Aaron Dessner from The National. Aside from his work with The National, his influence on some of Taylor Swift’s newer work as well as on Gracie Abram’s latest album is super palpable and has, in my opinion, added so much to their sound. I also think his work aligns a lot with the kinds of songs I write, so it would be such a dream to be able to work with a producer like him.
LUNA: Is music your main occupation at the moment? If not, how are you conciliating your day job with your music career?
OH: While music is my main occupation at the moment, I’m also currently a full-time student at NYU Steinhardt. It definitely gets challenging at times to manage school work, extracurriculars, and writing and promoting my music, but luckily there’s a lot of overlap there. So much of what I learn as a voice major benefits my music career, both in the content of my classes as well as the connections I’m able to make.
LUNA: Have you ever been on tour?
OH: I have not been on tour, but I would love to one day when more of my music is out. However, I [made my] NYC debut … on Nov. 16 at Kobrick Coffee. [I was] super excited to finally perform acoustic versions of some of my originals and unreleased music. As much as I love the studio versions of my songs, I think because of the nature of how they were written, just me sitting at my piano, there’s something so special about the way these songs sound acoustic and live. Singing my songs live and more stripped back feels like a tribute to how they first sounded when I wrote them.
LUNA: Who's your dream feature?
OH: I think my dream feature is for sure Joni Mitchell. I just think she’s one of the greatest songwriters of all time and I admire everything she’s done. “A Case of You” is, in my opinion, one of the best love songs ever written. She’s just so great at what she does.
LUNA: Where do you see yourself in one year as a musician?
OH: I see myself with more music released and gigging around NYC wherever I can. I hope that I’m still writing all the time and pushing myself past what I know, whether that’s just improving my piano and guitar skills or experimenting with styles that are out of my wheelhouse. Who knows, maybe I’ll be writing really happy songs by then. A lot can change in a year!
