An Interview with Kayana
Can you tell us a bit about your journey to becoming a singer/songwriter?
I've been making music since I was 3 years old, having been raised in a musical household. My Mama taught me piano starting at age 3, and I've taken on several instruments since. The church played a big role in my musical journey. I led Sunday morning worship on guitar and vocals since the 7th grade and that gave me the opportunity to make music with others and grow in my musical abilities in a welcoming, forgiving, and judgement-free space. I've been a songwriter since middle school, sang with a jazz trio at local bars and cafes during high school and college, and started recording music in 2017. After releasing several singles, I completed a full album this year, and will be unraveling it slowly.
Who have been some of your biggest artistic influences?
Tori Kelly is an artist I admire. She's well known in the secular world but also openly shares her faith through her Christ-centered lyrics and Christian albums. I've seen more and more artists follow this route including H.E.R., Justin Bieber, etc. I'd like to follow that path of making my music relatable to a wide audience of all backgrounds, but not being shy about sharing my faith. This upcoming album is the start of that.
What does the process look like for you when you're songwriting?
The songwriting process differs with each song. For Love Yourself, I was commissioned to write a song specifically for a short film, Lobe Yourself as part of the National Women's Theater Film Festival. I was given the script and background context on the story of the film. My songwriting process was as follows:
1. I wrote down the overall message I wanted to deliver with the song. Reflecting back on past relationships, it was the idea that I was looking for love in the wrong places and realizing that only I can give myself the love that I need and deserve.
2. I set a vibe for the song. I worked with my incredible producer, LowKeyBeatz to come up with the right beat for the song.
3. Once we got the vibe down, I freestyled to the beats to lock in the melody. The "hook" is the first thing I nailed down - in this case, it's the chorus and the post-chorus (the "oh la la la's"). Once I got that down, I filled in the rest of the lyrics to build my story.
4. I sent a phone voice recording of the song to Danielle Cummings, the filmmaker, my producer, and a few friends to gather feedback.
5. Once I addressed the feedback and everyone was happy with the song, I recorded it in my home studio.
6. My mixing engineer, LowKeyBeatz worked his magic to bring the song to life! Since he’s based in Ghana, we used video conferencing to get the vocal effects and pitch corrections just right. Once I was happy with the track, LowKeyBeatz mastered it, and voila - Love Yourself is ready for distribution!
How has your faith influenced your art?
If it wasn't for the church, I wouldn't be where I am today as an artist. Many of my early songs written in high school and college were faith-based songs. My first fans were members of my home church. Although my music is considered secular, if you listen closely, you'll find hidden spiritual meanings in some of my songs. My goal is to first reach a broad audience with my music, and eventually release Christian music. I would love to one day write worship music for contemporary churches. God’s Not Done, which will be in my upcoming album, is the first of many worships songs I plan to write.
You went to the creative retreat this spring with ReNew York. Could you share a bit about your experience?
The retreat was awesome! The daily focused assignments allowed for structured creativity. During group time, we sang a song called Stained Glass, and the concept of stained glass reappeared multiple times throughout the retreat. I used this concept of stained glass to frame my entire album – my broken family and broken relationships represent shattered glass. Slowly, I have picked up those shattered pieces, learned to forgive, and to love myself. By trusting in God, he has molded those broken pieces together, painted them, and made them into a colorful work of stained glass. This brought to light the idea that the broken pieces from my past are still there and they will always be there. But it’s all of those pieces that make up who I am today.
Within the 3-day retreat, I wrote a full song depicting the entire narrative of the album based on this concept of stained glass. The song is not intended to be recorded as is, rather, verse 1 is the opening concept of the broken pieces of my life. Later, I’ve fleshed out the verse 1 concept into 3 whole songs. Similarly, the chorus, verse 2, and bridge of the songs represent the middle, end, and twist of my story and were used as concepts for individual songs. And that is how my upcoming 12-track album, Unraveled came to be.
What has been the impact of ReNew York? Have your friendships there or events changed things for you in some way?
I don't have a ton of Christian friends so the retreat was an amazing opportunity to make new friends. I look forward to continuing to attend events and grow from the ReNew York community.
What are you most excited about right now in your artistic journey?
I’m excited to get my music out there for everyone to hear it! As much as I’d love to release the full album ASAP, I’m doing a slow and steady rollout with a new single coming out every 6 weeks until the full album is out!
How can we best be praying for you?
Being an independent artist means making a lot of decisions independently, from timing of releases, performance opportunities, social media content, marketing, spending and budgeting, etc. It also means being an entrepreneur with little to no separation between work and life. I would love prayer for making the right decisions, prioritizing my friends and family, and maintaining the Sabbath.
You can listen to Kayana’s music here! https://linktr.ee/kayanamusic
