Singleton Series - Kayla Rae

Lucky Charms, angel numbers, and tattoos!

Join Brianna Guntz as she sits down with singer/songwriter Kayla Rae. They talk about the inspiration behind Kayla's latest single, "My Angel" and what the future holds for her music career! Only on Music Wave!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5TEVQsHqvbFxltXXq9etNn?si=5af926251117428e

Brianna:

Hi, I'm Brianna Gantz and this is Music Wave. With me today I have the pop and R&B musician from Reno, Nevada, Kayla Ray. Tell me a little bit about yourself. How did you get into making music?

Kayla:

I have pretty much been singing my entire life, but I just got into songwriting when I was like 19 or 20 and I connected with a lot of people Since then. I've gone to a lot of workshops and been in a lot of groups. Even though I'm from Reno, I work with a lot of people from all over the place and I love it when they last. But then I always say goodbye.

Brianna:

So your first published work was back in 2018, and then you took a little bit of a break and you then released another single in 2022. So what were you doing at that time when you weren't making music?

Kayla:

In 2018, I released my first song called Midnight. That was actually the first song I ever wrote, and it was actually a YouTube beat that I found. And I leased the beat from a YouTube link. I don't know the producer personally, but I loved the beat, so I wrote over it. Anyway, in between the time releasing that and somebody knew I was actually in workshops, I had moved to LA. I was basically working on my craft. Midnight was the first song I had ever written, and I didn't have any coaching or training. I'd been singing for all my life, but I'd never written a song. So I was kind of just learning the craft and networking and making connections with people.

Brianna:

You had some of that time networking and building those connections. Do you find yourself writing mostly with other people or primarily independently?

Kayla:

I actually co-write a lot. I kind of prefer it. I come up with a lot of ideas on my own and I bring them to a co-writing session. I don't really like to come with nothing, but I do think that two brains work better than one. I also don't produce and I don't play any instruments, so it is very helpful for me to collaborate with people.

Brianna:

I want to talk about your new song, My Angel. It came out on February 5th. What's that song about? What's the story behind it?

Kayla:

It came out February 5th, but that came out on that day because that's my mom's birthday. And the cover art is actually a picture of me and her from when I was a kid. I just love the picture of us so much. I think she looks so pretty in it and she's part of the reason why the song exists. So that's why I dedicated it to her in that way. We have this 444 tattoo that we got together and it's the only tattoo she has, the only tattoo she's ever going to get. So I feel really special because my stepdad is tatted up and she will not get a tattoo with anyone but me, so I feel very special and honored.

But the song I actually had co-written a few days after getting this tattoo, which is a little sunshine on my wrist with my friend. I got a matching tattoo with my friend, so he has the same one in the same spot. We had written the song on two 222, so an angel number day. I have the angel number tattoo with my mom. I had just gotten this other tattoo, so we were talking about tattoos. We were talking about angel numbers. That's kind of where the title came from.

And then some of the lyrics are odes to the tattoos. I say in the first verse, You're the sunshine I need where I go, you come with me. That's obviously about the sunshine tattoo I just gotten. In the chorus. I say lucky charm on my lucky arm. Every time I look down, I think of you. That's kind of about both of them because they're very visible. I can look down and see them, but I really like that lyric because it can kind of be about anything.

Brianna:

So that song has been out for about a month. How has that song been received? What are some of the responses you've gotten been like?

Kayla:

Definitely, a lot of sweet things have been said to me, and people tell me that they cried listening to it.

Brianna:

I know you were saying that all of your releases are an experiment with different sounds and different kinds of sounds and finding your sound. Do you know what you tend to lean towards or what you want your music to sound like going forward and in the future?

Kayla:

I definitely tend to lean towards a sound like somebody new, more pop, more R&B, kind of in my deeper tone. So that's what I see in the future.

Brianna:

I want to do kind of a lyric breakdown with you. You beat me to it with Lucky Charm on my Lucky arm. But the other one I wanted to talk to you about is I put it on to smell like you when you're talking about a perfume. Is that a general thing or are you referencing a specific person? What's the thought process behind that lyric?

Kayla:

Actually, so that's the opening line to the second verse. No, there's no specific perfume. And that's not about a specific person to me, but we kind of have all of the senses that’s what we were going for. Is the lucky charm on your lucky arm. Boom. That's something you can look at. That's visual. The perfume that fills up the room. That's a smell. When I can't get to the phone, play this song and sing along like this is your reminder of me now. So you get the visual, the scent.

Brianna:

What are you working on right now? Any upcoming singles or upcoming shows?

Kayla:

I am working with actually my friend Tayla coming up, who I'm really excited to work with. She is a female writer and producer, so she's working on some tracks that we're going to write over. And I've been really wanting to work with other female artists, so I am super stoked to work with her. She's out of Boston, so I've never met her in person, but we'll have to do it all over Zoom. I've done all of my songs that way. Truthfully, I've actually the only person I've ever met that I've worked with in person is Lexi. All the other people I've never met in real life anyway. What am I doing next? Well, I'm moving back to LA. So no, I don't have any live shows planned, but I am going to continue to work on music from home and then when I get to L.A., I'll continue.

Brianna:

We will go ahead and wrap up just a little bit then where can we follow you and listen to your music?

Kayla:

You can follow me on Instagram. My Instagram handle is at Kayla Rae R - A- E and then it has four underscores. Where else? Oh on Spotify and Apple Music. I'm just Kayla Rae