Jaz caught up with Los Angeles-based writer and producer Kvt James for the second RepostExchange podcast. Having picked their track ‘Kvtrolla’, they chatted about performing live, favorite music and life as an indie musician.
You’ve been making music and recording for a couple of years, how did you find out about RepostExchange?
Well, I’m an indie musician. I also went to business school, so I am curious how do indie musicians promote their music? When I got out and played in Hollywood and did live shows, people really liked my stuff. But how do you get people to initially find you and then listen to you? And then find the people who really like your music and then interact with them. So I have done different promos online and some of them are so fake, I’m not looking to have any fake promotional marketing. I just want to interact with real people and get a chance to play my music.
So I was doing research online and I came across RepostExchange and I really liked the idea that it was based on other people on Soundcloud who will listen to your music if they like it and repost it, leave a comment and follow. I immediately started getting really good responses, so I found that I really liked RepostExchange for Soundcloud because the people are real. They’re actually engaging with you. So honestly out of all the platforms I’ve used to promote my music, I am really, really happy with the RepostExchange.
Can you describe your sound for us?
My sound is mostly hip-hop with electronic and pop! I was inspired to write my first song when my dog passed away and I had just gone through a divorce. And then my second song was a break-up song about the divorce. My third song was a break-up song and then I started writing about my experiences when I first moved to Los Angeles, being in Hollywood and some of the great experiences I had, some of the crazy experiences I had, some of the bad experiences I had… And then I met somebody and he’s wonderful. And I started writing a lot of love songs about him and so those are the main things that I’m inspired by, are loss, love, and Los Angeles.
As a writer and producer, what’s your favorite bit of equipment?
Well, I started writing a lot of my own music on GarageBand on an iPad. I still use GarageBand for a lot of my instrumentals and I use Pro Tools in the studio and I use Antares auto-tune for my voice. And I’ve taken Pro Tools classes and just learned a lot about the software and I love going in and using all the different plugins. There are just so many things to play with and so I wouldn’t say I’m one of these artists that goes into the studio and brings my piano or a guitar, that’s not my process. At times, I will even write the beat in the studio. I will play it through seven or eight times and just turn the mic on and I have the auto-tune on when I’m working and I find that really helps me write. So yeah, I basically use GarageBand and Pro Tools as my main programs, which is pretty basic, but it really works for me. That’s what I’m doing.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I grew up playing piano Suzuki method. I went to Japan and it’s a method that’s very much by ear. So I pride myself on having a pretty good ear. And it’s not trained in music theory, but it’s something that when I hear something, I can retain it and then play it back very easily. Then when I came to Los Angeles and I was in the studio when I saw people bringing in beats and then going into the booth and recording over that. That process, I broke it down just to make my first instrumental. The first one I did was me on the keyboard recording it, but everything else since that, I’ve used loops and I just found sounds that I liked and I started bringing them into the studio and my friends were like, “This is amazing! What is this? Where did you find this beat?” And I would tell them it was mine and they wouldn’t believe me.
I found it totally intuitive, it came very naturally to me, so I just started putting together sounds that I really liked and then going to the studio, using auto-tune to record my vocals and then I’d go in and I’d write all my own lyrics and record my music, and then mix it and then that’s the final product. I think a lot of writing music is just listening. I did that with one of my beats, I re-wrote a verse and it was better than the original one. So I think experimenting is so fun.
When you’re in your car, what kind of music do you listen to?
I have this SiriusXM subscription, it gives you like 100 channels and I love every channel! I love all music, I really do. More than ever, I am listening to other independent artists through Soundcloud. I hear some really amazing, fresh stuff coming from up-and-coming artists and I’m here in Los Angeles where, at some of the live shows, I’m just blown away by the local talent. So, I love reggae music, I listen to reggae music a lot. There’s something about reggae music that it makes me feel really good. I love Frank Sinatra, I love James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion. I love orchestra music, I love classical music. I love all music, I really do. I love country, I love it all. So I’m really not one who listens to one thing mostly, but I do have to say hip-hop music if I look at my life, one thing I’ve listened to the most of is probably hip-hop.
Do you get a chance to play live with your music?
I do. I had recorded music and wanted to play it live and I found a pedal where you attach your microphone to it and it gives me all the auto-tune. It’s so fun and it gives me that same tone that I get with auto-tuning and the crowd really likes it, it’s something different, it’s very smooth-sounding live. So I’ve found that to be a huge part of my live performance. I’m here in Los Angeles and on Instagram, I found these underground hip-hop clubs or places that allowed underground hip-hop artists to come in and perform their music.
So I started going to those and that’s where I performed out live is in different bars around Hollywood or downtown Los Angeles. And I just bring my beats with me and I grab the mic with my pedal and I perform live and I get really good responses from my music when I play live and I’ve gotten a lot of people interested in my music from that and I feel so lucky to be in Los Angeles where I just think we have an amazing night scene and music scene and it’s very creative here.
When I do my performances, I go really all out with my hair and my make-up. I like it, that’s who I feel comfortable being on stage. That’s where Kvt James came from. I was using that name for acting and I transitioned that into my artist name for my music and it’s not really who I am in my day-to-day life. It’s this alter-ego, you could say that I’ve created and I feel like when I am her, I am stronger, braver, cooler, more fun, more badass.
Like Ziggy Stardust?
Yes, that’s a good explanation, I’m on another planet and I’m going, I’m cruising. So I love that my music gives me the opportunity to do that. I’m having a lot of fun with it.
What are your plans for the future?
I have a day-job here in Los Angeles and I’m so thankful to have the place that I live and the friends that I have and my music is my passion. I would do it even if I had to pay to do it, I love it so much. It has been such a good confidence builder and therapeutic for me. So my plans for the future are just to keep doing what I’m doing. It’s a blast, I feel like I’m living a dream.
Follow Kvt James on SoundCloud @kvtjames and Instagram @kvtjames.
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This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
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