Okay you guys, it’s official we’ve found your next favorite artist! Kyle Richardson! For any of our readers who are fans of pop singer-songwriters, Kyle Richardson is right up your alley! We were lucky enough to get to chat with Kyle Richardson and pick his brain about all things Louder Than Words, his newest album!
The record is brilliant, and is chalked full of such honest songwriting, incredible backing tracks, and some killer vocal moments. This chat with Kyle Richardson is one you’re not going to want to miss, so let’s jump right in in!
Stream Louder Than Words here!
Hi Kyle! Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us! We would love to start off by asking how you would describe your sound to someone who has never listened to your music before?
I would describe my music as pop.
It’s pop music that pulls from many different influences. Some songs are a little more singer-songwriter vibes, some lean a bit more pop rock, some are pure pop, and then there are some songs that have a bit of a retro flair to them as well. Regardless of the style though, there’s always a heavy focus on strong and clear vocals with big sweeping melodies.
Diving into all things Louder Than Words is a must! Releasing your debut album is a huge deal! What emotions go through your head just before dropping your first full-length project?
Releasing the album has come with a huge mix of emotions – excitement to finally get these songs out there, a bit of nervous anticipation to see how the songs will land with audiences, and just an overall curiousity to see which songs end up as people’s favorites or least favorites.
As you’re approaching the album release you have to pick singles to put out, how do you go about that process of picking which songs get to have their solo moment?
I really wanted to lead up to the album with some of the more upbeat, positive, and uplifting tracks that feature on the album, as well as really showing off different facets of my voice. ‘Can You Hear Me’ was a big moment for me, making a statement of ‘here I am’, after a bit of a hiatus, and it’s all about being true to yourself and living in the moment. With ‘Anything,’ I really wanted to focus on kindness and showing love to others, and with ‘Fight the Good Fight’ it’s all about surviving tough times together and being stronger on the other side.
Creating an album, we can imagine, is a long and sometimes tedious process, can you take us through both one really positive memory you have of crafting this record, and on the other side of the sword, a memory that was more stressful, where completing the project felt daunting?
I absolutely love the recording process, it’s probably my favorite part of the whole artistic process.
One positive memory I have was just the whole start of the recording process. We had written ‘Perfect Crime’ as the first song specifically crafted for this project, and the vocal day was actually on my birthday, and it was the day I got keys to my current apartment. It was just an amazing day, the studio session went so well, and that song really set the tone for the writing sessions going forward and vocally I feel like I set a high bar for the rest of the album to live up to.
One more daunting memory was just the fact that this album was actually pretty much complete prior to the pandemic lockdowns, and I was getting really close to setting up video shoots and setting a release schedule, but then the world kind of shut down. I had to take a pause and really focus and do what I could to survive, as we all did during that time, but unfortunately it meant putting off the release a bit until I was in a place to comfortably release it with no further setbacks. The upside to this was that in the meantime I got to get all four music videos done, as well as completing all the artwork and even recording an entire acoustic version of the album that’s going to be coming out soon.
When you look at the track list for the record is there a specific song that once it was written you automatically were able to see visuals for?
I feel like with the single ‘Anything,’ I knew I wanted it to be a fairly simple video that really played with the contrast of lighting and featured big bright beams of sunlight during the chorus, to really drive home the inspirational and touching elements of the lyrics. I’ll admit I’m not the most visually creative person, but I knew I wanted that chorus to light up in a dramatic way.
We know that Jeff Dawson was a huge part of this record, what was that partnership like? How did it come about?
I’ve worked with Jeff for a number of years. We connected through a mutual friend of my mentor Nancy Nash, and we have worked together ever since. This was the first time I committed to working on a full album with him and the collaborative process was great. Jeff is so open to ideas and really takes the time to fine-tune every aspect of the recordings. We really took our time writing and recording each song one at a time to allow us a bit of a fresh perspective on each tune, and it was awesome to see, as we finished more songs, how everything was fitting together as a cohesive project.
Songwriting is a huge part of your artist identity. When you look at the 11 tracks on your album, is there a specific line you’re especially proud of writing?
I love the lyric ‘you’re fire, and I’m glass, melting down my walls at last’ from ‘Perfect Crime.’ I think it’s such a visually interesting line and it sings so well, on top of really capturing the sentiment of the song.
Diversity in the music space is something you’re a huge advocate for (as are we). What steps do you feel fans, and people who work in the industry as journalists/in media, can take to ensure that diversity is something that continues to be highlighted?
I think as long as people are open minded, both on the creative side as well as the media side, that diversity will continue to flourish. I love seeing diverse talent grow and rise in prominence, and it is so important to give voices to groups who aren’t as well represented as they should be. The more people who get to tell their stories and share their experiences, the easier it will be for the younger generations to fully embrace who they are and be able to live their truth.
If you had to recommend one song on Louder Than Words to a first-time listener what track would that be?
I’m going to cheat and give two songs… I think ‘Anything’ is a really great example of my vocal and what kind of message I want to put out into the world, one of love and kindness, and I think the song is so smooth and the melody really soars. And I want to name one ballad, which would be ‘Perfect Crime,’ again, it was the first song completed for the album and it really set the tone for what came after, very vocally driven pop music with heartfelt lyrics.
As we wrap up, just one last question, what’s next? What can fans look forward to as this year comes to a close and the next one starts?
The next thing for me is going to be a release of the acoustic version of this album! I’m so excited to be able to do this as it really strips the songs down to a one instrument and vocal performance, and I’ve always been a huge fan of artists stripping back their songs. Going into next year I’m really excited to start working on more new music, I want to get some more live shows going, and I just really want to keep the momentum going and keep doing bigger and better things!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT KYLE RICHARDSON:
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