Kady OBrien
Hi Kady and thanks for taking the time out to speak with us here at Musicology.
Firstly congratulations on the release of your new EP Silver Lines & Paper Cuts. Have some of these tracks been with you for a long time and only now seeing the light of day or is it all relatively new material?
Thank you! I am very new to writing and didn’t have a clue where to start but I have a great team that let me to ask countless questions and pepper them with crazy ideas.
What subject matter and concepts do you address on the EP?
The songs on Silver Lines are a little bit different but strung together by a common theme of love. In Vapor, written and produced by Kody Goens, it’s more of a love for music and wondering what in the world we’re even thinking of getting entangled in this industry but also realizing that we can’t function without at least trying to make a career out of what we enjoy so much. In A Pickle and Under the Influence both came from me not realizing that I still had some “goodbyes” to say to my last relationship whereas Maya’s Song was written as a love letter to my four year old niece who didn’t understand why I wasn’t able to spend all of my time with her.
What were some of the greatest challenges you faced in putting out this EP and conversely what were some of the more fun surprises throughout the process?
Oh gosh my biggest challenge is being seen and sharing my feelings with people. I am so much a private person that having to admit out loud that things affect me stresses me out! On the flip side, that’s been one of the most enjoyable parts of the process. I don’t think I’ve cried as much as I have the last year putting to paper thoughts and feelings that I generally pretend don’t affect me.
Having cut your teeth performing in clubs and bars, did this bottom up approach provide you with some valuable lessons that you have taken into the rest of your musical career?
I think I will definitely appreciate it when people come to a show specifically to see me! Performing for a small handful of sweet humans has taught me a lot more than show choir ever did about letting my emotions take over while singing. It’s got to be harder to fool a small crowd than a large one and I’m enjoying being genuine with what I have to say.
You created a unique challenge for fans with your KadyPop design contest. The artwork was procured in a slightly unorthodox way by enlisting fans to create a piece that featured a pickle in some way. I imagine it would have been a fun process whittling the entries down to just two. Were there a few ‘unusual’ submissions?
Well, we asked for REAL pickles but we definitely received some human pickles during the contest so I would say that’s unusual. Overall the submissions have just been so cute! It’s very neat to see the personalities behind the creations.
What does the rest of 2017 have in store for you?
I haven’t quit my day jobs yet so for the moment I’m teaching five year olds and selling soap. Just trying to roll with the punches and pack in more writing. I imagine 2017 will be busy and wonderful and insane and exhausting. I’m looking forward to every bit of it.
