CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS 123: KAIYAH MERCEDES ON CREATING A CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE IN HER NEW ALBUM

Interview by Brooke Gibbs.

Naarm/Melbourne-based 17-year-old singer-songwriter, Kaiyah Mercedes, has released her intimate album, Trying To Hate You – produced by Seetali Mack and mixed by Garrett Kato (Julia Stone, Ziggy Alberts).

Trying To Hate You shares nine heartfelt tracks that showcase Kaiyah Mercedes' visual lyricism and vulnerable songwriting. With each song, Kaiyah offers a unique perspective on unrequited love, intertwining field recordings with emotive delivery, casting a soul-stirring spell. Futuremag Music sat down with Kaiyah Mercedes to talk about the inspiration behind Trying To Hate You.

FMM: Thanks for joining me today. It's an exciting time for you because we're coming up to the release of your new album, so how are you feeling?

Kaiyah: I'm feeling great. I am so incredibly excited for this album to be out.

FMM: Do you have any big celebrations planned for release?

Kaiyah: My producer who made the album with me, is going to be coming over and spending the night. We're just going to have a little celebration, have dinner together, but nothing big planned.

FMM: Sounds lovely. I'm excited for other people to hear the album. You’ve mentioned that one of the big themes explored is unrequited love. Can you tell me more about that and why you decided to explore that theme?

Kaiyah: So I started writing it when I was 15, before I'd even released my first album. I had a crush on this person who I was really good friends with. This crush lasted over a year, so all of my songs were inspired by this person, and it ended up turning into this album. All of this unrequited love just naturally became what these songs were about.

FMM: I'm interested that you mentioned you started writing them before your last album. Is there a reason why you held off for this particular album instead of putting them onto the previous album?

Kaiyah: When I write songs, I write them in albums. I'm very theme-oriented. I come up with an album, it's got a story, it's got a meaning, it has a look to it. It's very visual. So the first album, the songs on it just felt completely separate to the songs that I was writing for this album, and I've started writing songs for a third album. I always knew that they were part of another project. It was never even a question of if they'd be on this album. I categorise my songs in my brain without even meaning to.

FMM: In a way, that's really good to do, because then when people listen to your albums, your music comes across not only as music, but also as the storytelling process as well.

Kaiyah: Yeah, which is super important to me. I try. And, you know, there's a lot of thought that goes behind an album for me with music videos, with photo shoots. Everything has a look, it all has a story, it all has a meaning. It all ties together. I want my listeners to hear this album and really feel like they're living in this story that I was living when I was writing the album.

FMM: Definitely, and that makes sense as well, because I saw that you put on Instagram that How To Get Over You was probably one of the saddest songs from this album. What sort of emotions came up for you while you were writing and recording the album?

Kaiyah: I found that recording the album, it's very different to how you are when you're writing the songs. When you're writing the songs, you're actively experiencing these emotions, but by the time you get around to recording them, I personally was well over this whole situation. It was very freeing to be able to sing these songs that have so much emotion and so much feeling without being incredibly sad about the situation. The songs pull you into this place of sadness, but being able to record this album, and make it something really, really nice for other people to listen to was a way of letting go of the situation, and it was just really, really fun.

FMM: It sounds like it's been a really big healing journey for you as well. Obviously, you've gone through a lot to write these songs, but through expressing yourself, it sounds like it's been kind of healing.

Kaiyah: Yeah, 100%. I think when you're able to turn your pain into a tangible piece of art, it really transforms feelings from something that only you experience to something that can be shared and something that you can look on and be proud of, rather than just holding these feelings within yourself. It's just such a beautiful way to go through life, I think, personally, being able to make art from your pain.

FMM: We talked a bit about, How To Get Over You, but what can fans expect from the upcoming album?

Kaiyah: Well, the singles that have been released have shown this almost, like, cinematic quality to the songs, which you can definitely expect from the unreleased songs. They really pull you into the songs with sounds from real life. We used a lot of foley sounds, like in Digging Graves, there is the sounds of, like, shovels hitting dirt and stuff. In How To Get Over You, there's the sound of the leaves. So when you listen to the whole album from start to finish, I think you'll really hear like a chronological story. It all ties in together. And personally listening to it, it's a very fun experience being able to enter into this new world because of the music.

FMM: I think the key message from that is you’re saying you want people to listen to the album in order? So don't put it in shuffle, just listen to it from start to finish?

Kaiyah: Yes, if you can. The track list was done very specifically, and it's in a specific order to follow a story, and it makes the most sense. So, if you are able to listen to it from start to finish, I would definitely recommend that.

FMM: So, given that order, what do you hope listeners take away after hearing it?

Kaiyah: I think that the album gives a sense of hope. A lot of the songs like How To Get Over You, they're very sad. You're in a lot of emotion, and there isn't a lot of hope in those songs. But with the songs that are unreleased, I think you'll get a sense that there is healing from these things that are difficult. Time really does heal, and when you're in the moment, you don't believe it because you think that you're in the worst and it won't get better. But time does heal, and there is positivity to every experience. I'm hoping that other people can listen and really feel like someone else gets it. That crushes and relationships and romance is hard, but it's also not the be all and end all.

FMM: That’s really good advice. Obviously, people are connecting to that because you've done a lot for not only young artists, but also the LGBTI community, and it's been recognised on some great playlists.

Kaiyah: Yeah, it’s really beautiful seeing people really connecting with my music. I mean, when I was 13 years old and writing my first songs, all I wanted was for other people to be sharing these emotions with me. I just want to connect with other people who feel the same as I do. And so seeing that starting to happen, it's a feeling that's unexplainable. It's a dream come true.

FMM: Especially at such a young age as well, because you've achieved a lot already, and it sounds like you're not stopping anytime soon. How do you balance your music, as well as trying to navigate transitioning into late teens and early adulthood?

Kaiyah: It's definitely challenging. I'm doing my final year of school now, and so trying to balance year twelve and a music career is no easy task. But, I'm lucky that I have some friends at school who really support me. If I've had a busy weekend and been playing shows nonstop, they help me catch up with my schoolwork. Then I have friends who just emotionally support me when I get stressed or overwhelmed, which does happen. I have Autism and ADHD as well, so it can be very overwhelming. I think I balance it all because I have great people in my life, and I really wouldn't be able to do this without the people who support me every single day.

FMM: Incredible. It's really good to hear that you've got that support network behind you as well, especially when it does feel overwhelming.

Kaiyah: Yeah, it's amazing.

FMM: Looking at your actual vocals, I love the sound of your voice. When I listen to it, especially this upcoming album, it kind of gives me a mix of, Lorde, Florence and the Machine, Lana Del Rey. Who do you find inspiration from?

Kaiyah: All of those artists, as well as Taylor Swift, Suki Waterhouse, boygenius, even L.i.E, who is featured on Digging Graves. She was a huge inspiration to this album. In fact, she was the reason that I wrote Digging Graves. I was really inspired by her song, Ghost, to write that. There are just so many incredible female vocalists who I take inspiration from, especially like Lorde and Lana Del Rey and even Florence and the Machine for their vocal layering and their harmonisation. All of that was big inspiration for this album.

FMM: I think that definitely comes through because, as I said, some of the ones that you seem to get inspiration from are the ones I think of when I listen to your music.

Kaiyah: That is such a big compliment. Thank you.

FMM: You mentioned earlier on when you talked about balancing music and school that you've been doing some live music. Tell me more about that and how people can come out and support you.

Kaiyah: Yeah, so I play quite a few shows around my area and the Mornington Peninsula, as well as going into the city. If you want to find what shows I'm playing, I have a gig guide on my website which is at kaiyahmercedes.com which has all of my shows and different festivals that I play. Also on my social medias, I always talk about them as well. Coming down to shows is one of the best ways to support an artist, and I love getting to meet people who know my music. It's seriously the most amazing thing.

FMM: Yeah, because you mentioned earlier that you like connecting with fans. What are some ways you like to do that? Do you want people to reach out to you on social media, come say hi if they see you at a show?

Kaiyah: Anything that makes someone comfortable. If they would like to send me a message, I will reply. If they would like to come and see me at a show? Yes. Any way that people can support me. It's so nice to get to know other people who are music fans and connect with music lovers.

FMM: Obviously you've got the release coming up soon, but do you have any other aspirations or goals that you’d like to work on towards this year?

Kaiyah: A lot of my focus after this album drops is going to be on school. I'd like to just get through year twelve, but after my exams are done, I'm looking to just make more music. I have been writing so much lately and I want to keep making albums for the rest of my life. I want to keep making music videos for the rest of my life and playing shows and meeting music lovers. I think I'm definitely just going to keep continuing on making music.

FMM: I'm interested to know, how do you find it at school? Do people recognise you and come up and talk about your music? Or do you tend to keep it seperate?

Kaiyah: I tend to keep it separate, but I definitely do have people who, you know, like, I'll be walking down the hallway and I'll hear someone go, oh my God. I follow her music and it's really sweet. But, honestly I don't talk about it a lot at school. Everyone kind of just knows, like, oh, that's like the musician girl who's, you know, releasing stuff. Everyone's just kind of normal about it. It's really weird, but I love it.

FMM: It's like secret Hannah Montana kind of vibe going on.

Kaiyah: Yeah, kind of. It's like when I got my year twelve school jumper. Mercedes isn't actually my last name, and everyone was so confused when they saw my real last name on my jumper. It was so funny. They were like, I thought your last name was Mercedes. Everyone just knows me as Kaiyah Mercedes at school

FMM: So in saying that, why did you choose to go with Mercedes as an artist name?

Kaiyah: I really love my middle name, Kaiyah Mercedes. I don't know, it feels like it has a ring to it. My real last name is Ridgway and it doesn't feel as flashy. Plus, I really love cars as well, so it's fitting.

FMM: So that's all my questions, did you have any other comments you want to add about this upcoming album or things that you want fans to know?

Kaiyah: If you listen to the album on May 3 when it comes out, let me know what you think. I'm really excited to hear what everyone has to say about the album because I've worked so hard on it for so many years. I'm very excited to be able to finally talk about it with people who listen to the album.