Interview With Kylie V
Just ahead of their new second album Crash Test Plane, I talked to Kylie V about their musical influences, what they hope to see in the future of the industry and so much more.
What is the Kylie V approach to writing a song?
I get struck somewhat randomly and in varying frequency with couplets of lyrics or little tidbits that I have to immediately write down or I will probably forget. If it’s really good sometimes it comes back. It can get almost compulsive except for when I get lazy and forget to write them down for a bit. I then reflect on my intended context/meaning of the lyric, if there is any, and either build upon that or whatever I am feeling in the moment. When I get enough material to start thinking about structure, usually I write with rhythm intentionally and I don’t edit structure much but that’s when I pick up the guitar. Rest is history (idk this is the most I’ve ever explained it)
What was the music that you grew up with that shaped your sound?
My mom had a CD of “Fly” by The Chicks when I was a small child that I think was really formative for my taste as I remember being, and still am, obsessed with that record. When I started getting into indie music in my young teens, which was when I started getting inspired in a way that felt really genuine, I got extremely into (now fellow) Vancouver indie rockers Peach Pit, and the early Saddle Creek era of indie folk/rock (Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley), as well as Adrianne Lenker and her band Big Thief.
You started at 14 playing local shows and writing songs, who were you listening to at 14 that encouraged your dreams of music?
Tim The Mute! Tim is a local legend in Vancouver and runs an indie label called Kingfisher Bluez, to which Peach Pit were signed in their early days. I met Tim when I was 14 and he helped me play my first show. A lot of my local favourites at that age are my friends now: Future Star, Club Sofa, Sleepy Gonzales, Peach Pit, Sam Lynch… there was a band called Jock Tears (go listen to their album) and their singer Lauren did my first photoshoot as Kylie V on my 15th birthday. This city is so full of lovely talented people, I could go on for a really long time.
Why has writing music been an important part in your healing journey?
I have always been someone who both talks a lot and needs a lot of alone time. I think it was a somewhat natural coping mechanism to develop in a musical household. That’s not really a joke, but I wrote it like one because I think it’s funny too.
How has songwriting and music in general been therapeutic for you?
It gives me an outlet to both reflect and speak. A lot of the time I write as a journal entry, or a way to get something out of my head, or a way to speak something into existence. There is so much that can be said with music, both lyrically and just with sound. It’s infinite, and a lot of the time I feel like my emotions are too, and so using the language of sound to create upon that can be fun and healing, deeply cathartic, really anything one needs it to be at the time.
Who are some of your biggest songwriting inspirations?
Samia is probably my number one. Conor Oberst, Elliott Smith, Joni Mitchell, Andy Shauf, Fiona Apple, Wednesday (Karly Hartzman), Christian Lee Hutson, Waxahatchee. That’s probably enough.
Since you are the future of music, What’s one thing you hope to see changed in the music industry in the future?
Thank you! I would like us to be paid a survivable wage eventually. And see my peers and frankly some of my idols get paid fairly for both their work as touring/performing musicians, and streaming royalties. I wish my answer was more interesting for you, but the issues in the industry are glaring right now. And I am resentfully glaring at the Spotify CEO’s fat wallet.
What do you hope you have accomplished with ‘Year Of The Rabbit’?
Good question! I guess I just hope people like it and resonate with it now that it’s out in the world. When I wrote it, it became a sort of collage of a love song to my friends/support system and almost a now-open letter to my ex-boyfriend—something I do in songs a lot is switch what I’m talking about at any random point so it’s even harder to guess what I’m talking about/who I’m talking to. Truly I just hope I have accomplished putting out a beautiful song (one of my favourites) that expresses some of my deepest, most genuine feelings, that people enjoy and listen to a lot. I think I have!