“But I believe we are living in a critical time, one where we can finally begin choosing love over fear.”
Finding your voice and what you stand for as an artist is the most critical process that determines the rest of your career. So to hear that even LA-based singer-songwriter, KAERHART, so beautiful and seemingly always confident, also has personally faced the up and down rollercoaster the music industry throws you, is a testament to how normal yet difficult this creative development is. Now overcome and being able to find her own voice, the electro-pop, indie artist has plans for a strong year ahead. She might only have two songs to her name now, but that doesn’t stop her 26K social fan base from being strong supporters of her music and of, well… simply just being her.
The blonde bombshell’s debut single released last year “Drain My Love”, receiving over 800k streams that officially put her on the map as a solo artist. You may recognize the song from that dance Spotify playlist or have seen a KAERHART photo post pop up on your Instagram feed with her interesting descriptions about astrology. But what has helped the artist take more of a stand for representing what she believes in, was her recent timely release of a cover of “For What It’s Worth”, a project in collaboration with LA-based producer Dead Robot. It’s no secret that we are living in a time that mirrors the 1960s with protests across the country still fighting for civil and women’s rights, which is exactly what empowered the two to channel that energy into this musical collab release.
As an artist that has now self-assuredly found her voice, every project KAERHART is a part of stands for positivity – her new music to co-founding the apparel brand Mystic Tribe where she curates pieces that support conscious lifestyles, and even to being a member of the Moon Club, ‘which pulls together astrology and activism to foster a spiritually engaged and inspired community’.
With a clear vision on her artistry and purpose, this year, KAERHART is focusing on releasing more music, working on video content, and joining forces for exciting collaborations.
Get to know the singer on a personal level, and follow her to maybe just find out more about your astrology sign –
What’s your music process? Do you write and produce your music, specifically “Drain My Love”?
Yes, I do write my own music and I can produce. I like to collaborate with other producers who are more capable than I am, though oftentimes I will start an idea on my own and bring it to a producer to finish with me. As was the case with “Drain My Love” actually… I created a vocal chop that I showed my friend, Samuel PK Smith, during a session and he loved it. He reworked it into what is now the main vocal chop that you hear in the song.
I have found that every song requires a different process. I try to be free flowing and flexible with how I approach what I am creating. “Drain My Love” went through many different stages before it blossomed into what was the final version. It started with the vocal chop as previously mentioned and we created a track around that. I took the track home and wrote the lyrics and brought it back to Sam who helped finish it. Once I tracked the vocals, we ended up reworking the track entirely, haha so much finessing was involved.
I trusted that “Drain My Love” would find its way to whoever was meant to hear it and whomever it was meant to help.
When you released your first track in Oct 2017, you mentioned there was a lot of ups and downs to get there. Can you explain some of the hardships you faced in the music industry?|
I have faced many hardships in the industry similar to any artist’s struggle. I struggled to be heard, to be seen, to be respected as a musician. I struggled to keep bands together that I was in or to believe enough in myself to know that my voice had a place in every room I was in. It can be intimidating when you first start out and are in sessions with writers/producers who have more credits to their name. I didn’t always fully trust my vision back then like I do now. It takes a lot of trial and error to get to this point.
I also faced a lot of hardships as a woman, similar to the ones that are finally being talked about and shared in the mainstream. I am overwhelmed to see so many strong, empowered females coming forward with their stories and starting a dialogue that I feel has been long overdue.
What would you tell other emerging artists? Advice?
I would say the biggest thing is to know your intention behind wanting to pursue a career in music. What is the “why” in what you are doing? Be absolutely clear with your vision!
My other piece of advice would be to not allow doubt or fear to hold you back from pursuing your dreams. Believe in what you are doing, stay authentic to who you truly are and just go for it! Put your whole self into your art. I believe that’s what resonates most with people.
What is the biggest challenge you faced in your career?
My biggest challenge has been not allowing the actions or opinions of others to influence the way I feel about myself and the music I am creating. What someone else does or says, says a lot more about them than it does about you.
No one can impact the way I feel about myself as an artist anymore. It is a very empowering feeling when you finally start to believe in yourself and know that you are deserving of all the wonderful things you are pursuing. It took many years for me to get to that point. I am now embracing my full self and it is liberating.
Mystic Tribe news?
We have some exciting new designers we are working with now. We are about to launch our video podcast series, which I am unbelievably excited about. We just shot our first episode this past week with fashion witch Gaby Herstik. We also have some exciting new collaborations (writers, healers, badass babes) that I couldn’t be happier about! When we launched, it was bare bones and now it has really begun to develop into the Tribe I had always envisioned it could be. I am very grateful.
How do you spend your spare time?
Gathering with my coven or other empowered groups of people in ritual is very important to me. I believe in the power of people gathering and coming together with intention in person. It’s in our DNA as humans and we don’t do enough of it in our society. I also like to spend as much time in nature as possible to help myself ground. Nature is where I feel most in my creative flow. Rituals and events where I am continuously pushing myself to learn and grow are also important to me. I feel very lucky to be surrounded by, and to call so many incredible healers in LA my friends.
Getting to know you outside of music – what other hobbies or passions do you have?
I am very passionate about numerology. Discovering and studying numerology completely changed my view of the world and I love giving readings to people. I also love working with the tarot, sound healing, reiki and reading books! Reading is one of my favorite pastimes when I have the time. Shooting photos and video content over the past few months has also become really enjoyable. I genuinely just love creating art of any kind. I especially love when I get to create art with friends! Whether that’s working on a piece of music, shooting photos, interviewing people, or designing pieces for Mystic Tribe with my partner. Creating is the ultimate high.
As an emerging artist, what jobs do/did you have to balance out your newer artistic career?
I have had so many jobs over the years! I took a lot of extra/acting work, modeling gigs, I used to assist a stylist when I lived in NYC, I have worked various retail jobs, I interned at a record label, I worked for a TV show… honestly the list goes on. I had to work really hard to allow myself the freedom to continue making music. There were days I would work 9-5 and then go straight to the studio and be there until 4am the next day. You have to be willing to put those kind of hours in, especially at the beginning.
If you could have dinner with anyone in the world, who would it be and why?
This is so hard to answer! I would have to say Hans Zimmer or Oprah. I am such a huge fan of Hans music. I saw his music performed by a live orchestra in Berlin and bawled my eyes out. “Time” from the Inception soundtrack is one of my favorite songs of all time. His music is so special to me and I dream of one day collaborating with him. And Oprah because she is so wise and so accomplished. I feel there is so much I could talk to her about and learn from, especially from the standpoint of being a deeply spiritual female entrepreneur.
Shout out to…
There have been so many influential people in my life who have helped (and continue to help) in so many ways… My partner first and foremost who always pushes me to grow (even when it’s uncomfortable), Lindsay Herr, Alexandra Roxo, Gaby Herstik, my beautiful cousin, Samuel PK Smith, Christopher Garrett (aka Dead Robot), Nikki Lani, Bay and Jane Chen.
