We interview Californian-based singer Kylie Trout about her new single ‘Extra’ and her journey so far.
How are you? It’s an exciting time with your single coming out, how are you feeling about it?
I’m feeling so excited, I’ve been waiting on this for a while now. It’s always so cool whenever you drop a song, because it’s finally here.
How has it been navigating this weird year that we’re all going through, not having so many opportunities to get out and play live music?Â
It’s so weird, I still have not really left my house, I’ve just been sitting in my room. It hasn’t been the best, but it also hasn’t been the worst, I really can’t complain. Since quarantine hit, I’ve really learned how to play guitar – I’ve taught myself – which has come in really handy. I’ve been writing more and doing more live-streams so I’ve been getting through it, everyone has been in the same boat right now, so we understand and want to help each other out.
Have you been able to get out there and write much? I know some people have found it really weird doing the Zoom write thing, but some people have enjoyed it.Â
Yeah I love co-writing, especially this week has been super packed with co-writes. Everybody wants to help each other out right now, so I’ve been able to reach out to new people that I wouldn’t have been able to talk to before, if COVID hadn’t hit, so it’s been really cool.
Can you talk a bit about the inspiration behind ‘Extra’? You’ve talked a bit about your RnB influences…
So I grew up with my grandparents for the first eight years of my life, they listened to country and that’s what got me into country. I personally can appreciate all kinds of music, I’ll be listening to country and then some old rock come on, I’m not too big on pop – I mean some things – or rap, but there’s an exception to everything. I think everything is going toward that cross-genre right now anyway, breaking those barriers and building bridges, I think it’s really cool. The inspiration behind ‘Extra’… one song that really inspired the groove of it was ‘Good As You’ by Kane Brown, which is super vibe-y and has that RnB influence in there. I had a different sound in my mind when I originally went into the studio, but then the musicians in Nashville are just absolutely amazing, so they took it and ran with it. It worked out very well.
That first time you went to Nashville, do you feel like that really shaped your music?Â
I live in California so I’m not in Nashville all the time, but I almost feel like that makes my time in Nashville even more special. Every time I go there, you’re surrounded by what you love and that’s so inspiring, so it most definitely has inspired the way that I write now, my love for music has grown even more and meeting people out there who love the same things that I do and working with those people, it’s been beautiful.
I heard you’re working toward a longer project, do you have an idea yet of what you want that to look like or what you want to say with it?Â
My whole thing with songwriting is that I just want to convey my stories to other people, so that they can relate and remember that they’re not alone, because that’s what drew me to music. With this EP, I really want to show different stories that have happened in my life and get those completely different songs that tell a completely different story, so that it’s very versatile. I’m really looking forward to that.
Your singles like ‘You and I’ have done really well so far. Did you expect that level of success, in terms of streaming numbers?
I hope to grow with each song that I put out, with ‘Can’t Remember Growing Up’ that song holds a very special place in my heart, it’s a very personal song to me, I was very vulnerable in it. If you know me personally, I don’t really like being vulnerable and putting myself out there like that but I think it’s a beautiful thing in music, it allows me to do that and help other people. With ‘Can’t Remember Growing Up’ I didn’t even care about how many streams I got on there, I just wanted to help other people and the response that I got on that song – people from all over the world reached out to me and told me that my song had saved them or helped them through. That feeling is so special.
‘You and I’ was the complete opposite side of the spectrum, it was very fun-loving and it talked about that young love and just going out and being carefree, that’s also really important to have. You can relate to that emotional side and things that have happened to you, but it can also lift you up. That was really cool because it was my first time being added to Radio Disney and a big push to radio.Â
So you’re currently working on the EP, but do you have an idea of what’s going to come next?
I would like to release an EP early next year, that’s my goal. I’m still playing everything by ear, especially with the times right now, but that’s what I hope to do.
Congratulations on the single release Kylie!
