Q&A: Feeling Everything And Nothing With Kylie Spence
“I THINK MUSIC WAS JUST THE OUTLET THAT TOOK SHAPE FOR ME” — In a world where vulnerability in music is rare, emerging indie pop artist Kylie Spence has managed to capture rawness and honesty in her brand new album Everything and Nothing, out on October 4th. Exploring themes of love, loss, self-discovery, and womanhood, her voice is a relatable beacon for young women who want to discover themselves as they enter adulthood's complexities.
The Luna Collective had a chance to talk with Kylie as she opened up about her debut album and all the experiences she had while creating it, how the song “Locker Room Talk” serves as an empowering anthem for females, and more.
LUNA: You have been writing since the young age of 12, what inspired you to start songwriting at such a young age? Was there a particular experience or inspiration that sparked this passion?
SPENCE: From a young age, I had a desire to create and pour out my thoughts and feelings. Songwriting became that safe space for me to express myself. I think among so many other people, I started watching Taylor Swift, kind of in her prime so much back then. I grew up listening to her and watching her, and I remember The Hunger Games came out, and the soundtrack had Taylor Swift's, “Eyes Wide Open”. I love that song. I think I played it for a talent show. And so it was just a combination of seeing so many artists among her, start playing, and that was an inspiration for me to start experimenting with guitar and writing and all of that.
SPENCE: Getting a little bit more into your album, which I already mentioned, it's so good. There was this one song that already got released “Locker Room Talk”. And it caught my attention because it embarks on themes like lack of safety in the feminine experience. It has this lyric that talks about your little sister, and that lyric as an older sister meant so much to me. But my question is, how does your role as an older sister influence your music, especially in music that embarks on themes like this?
SPENCE: That's a great question. And I'm also the older sister, I'm sure we can relate to a lot of things, and I think I always have. I've just been looking out because I feel like I'm very maternal, especially with family. And you know, with that song in particular, it was easy for me to tap into those emotions more, you know, around anger and frustration and danger in general, because I was thinking about, gosh, like my little sister's gonna have to, you know, she's not so little anymore, but she's at that age now where, unfortunately, there's just circumstances that happen way too often with people. She, amongst so many other people, go through tough situations. And I was just writing from that place of being scared. I don't want her to have to go through the hard things. I'd rather her learn from my mistakes than have her own experiences. But at the end of the day, I think every experience is unique, you know, and we all take something away from each experience. I tapped into it, wanting to protect her, women and girls that go through experiences like that, because it's not fair.
LUNA: So still talking about this song my next question is, what kind of impact are you hoping this song will have on listeners, specifically young women who can relate to this situation?
SPENCE: I think my intention with writing the song, writing it was completely different than putting it out. Putting it out is having that voice out there and having anyone that listens to it have an opinion on it. But when I wrote it, I wrote it with the intention of, I just want to empower people to, you know, whether or not they're able to stand up and use their voice, to do so in a way that feels empowering and coherent, if that makes sense. And I feel like this song, I mean, it gives me that, that backing of power and standing on what I believe in, and not putting up with, you know, things that go against my belief system or go against my boundaries, and just standing up for myself and I hope that when this resonates with someone, especially in young females, they're able to just feel empowered and know that they have that voice inside them, and if something isn't okay with them, to speak up and empower themselves. I think that was my goal with that one overall. And even though I wrote it from a place of anger, it doesn't feel like an angry song to me. It feels like inspiring.
LUNA: I noticed that you were very vulnerable in this record, which is something I truly do appreciate from artists and the music I listen to. I love it when artists are super vulnerable. So my next question is, as a young artist, how do you see your music reflecting your growth and the experiences you've had over the past few years?
SPENCE: I think it's so funny. I was reflecting on this the other day when I started writing songs when I was 12, and I didn’t have much life experience that I guess was relatable to people, because I was 12 just going to school, like mundane life, and I think even then, I was tapping into emotions and those thoughts and feelings that weren't exactly like they weren't mine. I hadn't gone through a heartbreak romantically, or a romantic love, I hadn't gone through any of these things, but I was still able to write about them. I think the differences back then, definitely seemed more general. I seem more general.
With this record, I was able to tap into experiences that I had specifically and where so before, I didn't have that life experience yet. And, with this one, it was straight from my brain, very literal, very specific. And I loved that about this record. So I would just say as time goes on and as I have more experiences and meet new people, and, you know, go through life, especially in your 20s, you're just constantly evolving, changing, and growing. And I hope that the music reflects that over time. And I think with this record, it did.
LUNA: But do you feel like this album is a reflection of where you are now, or does it explore where you want to go in the future, personally or musically?
SPENCE: I wrote some of these songs two years ago. I think the beautiful thing about this project for me is when I listen now, I'm able to tap into the same emotions that I was feeling when I wrote the project. And it still feels so current to me. It doesn't feel like an old part of myself, you know when I was younger. It resonates with how I feel now, and I haven't gotten tired of anything yet. Listening back after so long of having these mixes done, I think that is a good sign for me, at least normally, sometimes we'll get tired of mixes, and I won’t know if I want to put it out. I don't know if it resonates with me anymore, but it does 100%.
LUNA: The album touches on themes of love, friendship, loss, and self-discovery, which, again, I think it's great for someone who's about to go into their 20s. My question is, were there any unexpected themes that kind of emerged while creating this album, or did you have a clear direction from the start of what was going to be this album?
SPENCE: Such a great question. Honestly, when I started writing this album, I wasn't writing for an album in mind. I was just writing songs. And as I got together with my producers, and we started mapping out how the record would sound sonically, then the songs came into the picture, and we would say, “Okay, well, I have this song that I like, and I have this song.” As we started producing the record, I also was writing with other people, and there wasn't like, again, I didn’t go into it saying that this is the theme, and the songs have to be about X, Y, or Z. It was just like, okay, I have this song I feel passionate about. Let's produce it. And we only cut one song. There were 13 songs that we did, and one of them just wasn't reflecting the way that we wanted it to or needed it to, and we just thought 12 was great.
And I will say over time too, I think the last song I wrote for the record was “For Zeta”, which is a super vulnerable song. I had a friend pass away last year, and I wrote it to honor her and honor mental health when people are struggling. And I wanted that song to just be stripped like it is one mic in a hallway, and one take of it, and it's just raw and vulnerable exactly the way that I wrote it. And I wanted that to reflect all the feelings that I was feeling at that moment. It’s just, I mean, that's one thing, you know, having a loss, and then having heartbreak and love, and, you know, having resilience. There were so many themes, but I didn't go into it thinking about that intentionally.
LUNA: So we talked a little bit more about the creative process just now, and the production is so good. I love how the vocals perfectly intertwine with the album's instruments. And so you have done EPs in the past, and my question is, did you approach songwriting differently for this album compared to any of your earlier work? Did you try any new techniques or processes for this album?
SPENCE: It's so funny, because when I think about the process that I did for The Score EP, pretty much all of the songs were written in the studio, with the producers and the other collaborators that we had on board, and with Everything and Nothing, the process was very different. The first time I met Tim Gabe and Elliot, who are the producers who worked on it with me, we wrote and produced “Dead Flowers” on that same day. And after that session, I remember going back home and just thinking about how fun it was. I connected with these guys, and we made a great song.
And after that, I called Tim, and I was like, “Let’s just keep working on stuff.” And I wouldn't say my songwriting process necessarily changed for this when I was writing this album, I was going through everything and nothing. The most happened, like I just had a crazy year and a lot of, honestly, really hard moments that forced growth. It wasn't a situation of like, do I want to take this step? It was literally like, you're taking this step. So I was going through a lot, and I think that reflected in my writing.
LUNA: Kylie, it was so great to talk to you and I have one last question, how do you want it to represent you as an artist, to new listeners who might be listening to your music?
SPENCE: I just want this to be something that no matter where I'm at in my life or my career, and then no matter where people are in their lives, they can listen and, you know, feel inspired. I want them to feel that raw, human emotion, you know. And I think too, if this can help one person, in whatever way you know, whichever song helps people, I know each song is going to be different, but it'd be great to have people resonate with things and also not be afraid to be so vulnerable.
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