Kyle LuxSinger
Los Angeles, US. November 12th, 2020
People often ask why I chose music, and I find that the “why” changes for me as I navigate through different stages of being an artist. Right now, I’d say I’m a musician because it’s the most genuine way for me to contribute something to the world. I grew up in my church’s choir and found my voice there, so I think that played a big role in my decision to pursue music.
Growing up in the church really shaped who I am. But then in the middle of high school, I went to a boarding school that focused on the arts, and from that I gained a feeling of independence. I made the first music I released in my dorm room on SoundCloud. And then I got kicked out of that school during senior year [laughs]. I moved to Los Angeles to attend college, and now we’ve just passed Summer 2020, with me putting out my first single and my first EP.
Lately the pandemic has made me a tad more pessimistic, to be honest. I feel like there’s just as much evil in the world as good. I might have been blind to just how bad things could really get. Now there are more cards on the table, and I find myself questioning people’s intentions more often. I’m much more reserved in my trust now.
When the quarantine started, all of my roommates in Los Angeles went home, so for the first time in my life, really, I was living by myself. Home for me is in South Carolina, so there wasn’t any family around. I very much felt alone. It wasn’t intimidating or scary, but I definitely had to look at myself and see me for who I was in a way that I hadn’t before. And not just who I was when I was constantly around friends or in an educational environment. It wasn’t completely different, but still, just being able to listen to myself without any distractions was empowering.
Lately it’s been my friends who have inspired me the most. I feel like there are always fruitful takeaways from our conversations. The quarantine has broken a lot of our routines, but it’s also helped us to create new ones. It’s been a period of transformation, so to be able to share that with friends has been pretty inspiring.
I also recently started to drive for Postmates, and honestly, I love it. It’s a great way to get out of the house, plus I get to see different parts of L.A. Surprisingly, I’ve found moments of inspiration doing this, just listening to new music and having these small planned interactions. It’s pretty neat.
But what I love most is performing. When the energy is there between the audience and an artist, it really feels like anything can happen. As cheesy as that sounds, I tasted it once. I literally had the taste of copper in my mouth as I walked onstage one time, and everything felt like it was happening in slow motion, as though I was moving through water. It was crazy.
Most of my work is collaboration-based, so the majority of my songs happen when I’m in sessions with producers. I rarely write a song in parts. The sparseness of that tends to feel like I’m trying to recall a memory that’s fading. We usually start an idea from scratch. Once the instrumental is in a comfortable place, I’ll start writing to it. Then we track vocals and continue finalizing the production and mixing to make a rough demo. But my demos often end up sounding like the final product.
My creativity comes in currents, which can be tricky when working in studio sessions. Sometimes it feels like songs will just write themselves. I can usually tell when I’m in a current before I get to a session. If things don’t work out, then I can always go back to an idea later, but that happens less often. I also get really creative when I’m trying to go to sleep [laughs], so that leads to a lot of voice memos that I forget about later. One day I’ll go through them and have a good laugh.
I guess I’m happiest when I’m spending time with my friends. I talk with my mom a lot on Facetime, and to know she’s doing well always makes me happy. I also love that feel when you leave a session and you’re on the car ride back, and you listen to the bounce, and it just SLAPS. That is my favorite feeling.
Though these days, I can barely remember what I thought life might be like before the pandemic. I thought I would start working on my album, but I ended up focusing on this EP, mainly because the album required many in-person elements. But there’s a time and place for everything, so I know it will happen when it happens.
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