Speaker 1: I'm always always said be careful.
Speaker 2: Love those umboo.
Speaker 3: Let it well, use your head.
Speaker 1: They will tear you lack a purple talk.
Speaker 4: Oh no no, no, yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah yeah yeah, oh no no no.
Speaker 4: Hi.
Speaker 3: I'm Amanda and I'm Romby.
Speaker 5: Welcome to It's Laying.
Speaker 4: We're in a long distance friendship that started over twenty
Speaker 4: years ago when we were in high school.
Speaker 5: We'll be talking about all things life, love, family, anything
Speaker 5: and everything else under the sun.
Speaker 4: Delve deeper with us because in life, you know, Jine Layers.
Speaker 6: No no, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah no no.
Speaker 4: Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of its Laired
Speaker 4: Special Edition. And today we're so so excited.
Speaker 3: We have a special guest in the building. We have
Speaker 3: Kai here with us.
Speaker 1: Welcome Kai, thanks for having me.
Speaker 4: Yes, okay, we're so excited. But before we get into
Speaker 4: all things dell all the way deeper with you, we
Speaker 4: just wanted to let the people know a little bit
Speaker 4: about Kai. Who is Kai and what's she all about.
Speaker 4: In the short time since Kai formally introduced herself to
Speaker 4: the world, she's already one over audiences with her celebratory,
Speaker 4: absolutely celebratory, sun soaked sound that effortlessly bridges pop and
Speaker 4: R and B, keeping joy and freedom at the forefront
Speaker 4: with shining rhythmic deliveries championing her undeniable songwriter and vocal talent.
Speaker 4: Zimbabweent born what Up London Raised now noms Slash, Melbourne
Speaker 4: based Kai's relationship with music blossomed as a young child
Speaker 4: growing up in the UK.
Speaker 5: In between vivid memories spent singing through sickness and health,
Speaker 5: gospel songs which all Zimbabwians can relate to, talent shows,
Speaker 5: girl bands and more, have voice flourished with each deep
Speaker 5: embrace of her identity. Deeply informed by her experience as
Speaker 5: a young black woman experiencing life through a predominantly white
Speaker 5: societal lens, which this podcast completely gets. Kai finds herself today, confident,
Speaker 5: strong and humble, ready to share her mantra of embracing
Speaker 5: openness and finding joy in it with the world. Welcome
Speaker 5: to his lad podcast, Kai, I'm so excitedly here and
Speaker 5: to talk to you guys. A bio that sounds so cool, cool.
Speaker 4: Cool, honestly, like we'll get into all that, but yeah,
Speaker 4: I would be so grateful that you could be here
Speaker 4: and after such an amazing bio. How would you describe
Speaker 4: yourself Kai, Like, like, in a few words and a
Speaker 4: sentence and a paragraph, how would you know someone said,
Speaker 4: who's kind?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I would probably say Kai is like a multi genre.
Speaker 1: Artist based in Nam Zimbabwe born. Yeah. I don't know.
Speaker 1: It's so hard to you know when someone says, you know,
Speaker 1: tell me about yourself and you go.
Speaker 3: Exactly window.
Speaker 6: Yeah, but yeah, definitely a multi genre artist. Yeah, sort
Speaker 6: of making pop, R and B dance music with just
Speaker 6: a focus on fun and joy and enjoyment.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I love that.
Speaker 5: We've spoken a lot about being a third culture kid,
Speaker 5: you know, balancing all the cultures we come from. How
Speaker 5: do you think being born in Zimbabwe, raised in the UK,
Speaker 5: and now based in malvin has shaped your musical journey.
Speaker 6: I think all of the different cultures and you know,
Speaker 6: different versions of my upbringing is kind of the reason
Speaker 6: why I'm such a multi genre artist. I think, you know,
Speaker 6: when you've lived in all these different places and you've
Speaker 6: had to adapt a whole bunch of times, and you know,
Speaker 6: meet new people and be in different environments, you know,
Speaker 6: it makes you such I guess, like a hybrid person,
Speaker 6: and I think that makes my music sound like that
Speaker 6: because that's what my personality is like I'm just you know,
Speaker 6: a combination of all the places I've been and all
Speaker 6: the things that I've learned and the people I've met.
Speaker 6: So yeah, I think it heavily informs my music because
Speaker 6: I don't really make one sound that can be put into.
Speaker 1: You know, one box. Yes, and that's just how I
Speaker 1: am as a personality.
Speaker 4: So yeah, absolutely, and I love that multifacetedness. I think
Speaker 4: so often we are denied of that. You're allowed to
Speaker 4: be all these things, right, It's like, oh, if you're
Speaker 4: gonna identify as this, you're only this, or if you're
Speaker 4: can to identify as that, you're only that. And you know,
Speaker 4: it's beautiful when we can embrace all of that.
Speaker 6: So yeah, when it took me, even like a while
Speaker 6: in my musical journey to you know, even identify as
Speaker 6: Zimbabwean born, I think that was such a big turning
Speaker 6: point for me because I was like, actually, that does
Speaker 6: inform my music. And maybe it means that I don't
Speaker 6: make afrobeats and I don't make zimbabwe music, but I
Speaker 6: can still identify with saying, oh, this is my culture,
Speaker 6: this is where I was born, and these are the
Speaker 6: ways that it influences my music. Without having to make
Speaker 6: a specific type of music. I think, especially in Western media,
Speaker 6: there is such a you know, a preconception about the
Speaker 6: music that Africans make and the art that Africans make,
Speaker 6: so immediately when you say, oh, I'm from Zimbabwe, they're like, okay,
Speaker 6: give us the Zimbabwe music. Yeah. I think there was
Speaker 6: even a push and pull there of being like, actually, no,
Speaker 6: let me introduce my culture into this. Yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah, speaking of culture, how did your close family and
Speaker 4: friends support you in becoming a musician.
Speaker 3: What was that journey like for you when you decided.
Speaker 1: I think there was a lot of fear at the beginning.
Speaker 6: I think you know, you probably would understand, you know,
Speaker 6: coming from Zim and like my parents having moved us
Speaker 6: from Zim and we've moved to different places around the world.
Speaker 6: For them, you know, everything was very much about how
Speaker 6: do we, you know, keep our family sustained, how do
Speaker 6: we go and find a job that's going to keep
Speaker 6: us pushing through? And for them it was all about
Speaker 6: like how do we survive and take care of these kids?
Speaker 6: And then I think for us kids, we've gone okay, well,
Speaker 6: now I've got this whole world full of opportunities, and
Speaker 6: I want to do something a bit weird and your parents.
Speaker 1: Wait, what, you're a doctor or a lawyer about it?
Speaker 6: So yeah, I think, you know, they get you through school,
Speaker 6: they get you educated, and I went off to UNI
Speaker 6: and I was pre met for a couple of years,
Speaker 6: and then I decided I didn't want to do it.
Speaker 5: So now.
Speaker 3: Exactly that was.
Speaker 6: An uphill battle for a while, and you know, mom
Speaker 6: and dad didn't really get it, you know, until the
Speaker 6: music started coming out and you know, things started happening.
Speaker 1: But they've always been supportive.
Speaker 6: They've always you know, they've always known that I loved
Speaker 6: music and I love singing, and they always wanted me
Speaker 6: to do it. But it was just that thing of like,
Speaker 6: we don't know anything about the music industry or how
Speaker 6: people release songs or how people get a record deal,
Speaker 6: and you know, how are you going to make money?
Speaker 6: How are you going to survive? So I think, yeah,
Speaker 6: it was it was a big conversation. But they are
Speaker 6: the most supportive parents in the world now, Like they
Speaker 6: just they back everything I do. They support me, They
Speaker 6: come to every show like they're the best.
Speaker 3: We love it.
Speaker 5: Yeah, we heard you on your bossing song when you
Speaker 5: speak a few bars or like yeah, you know, they
Speaker 5: sound lovely to be seen, And I think you're so right.
Speaker 5: It's our parents always operate from a place of fear
Speaker 5: because for them, they were probably the first generation to
Speaker 5: really experience quote unquote material success. So to them, they're like,
Speaker 5: it can be taken away. You have to have security, security, security,
Speaker 5: And then with the generation after that, like we're secure
Speaker 5: now now.
Speaker 1: What you know? Now we dream?
Speaker 5: Yeah, now we dream right now, we can do those
Speaker 5: other things that you wanted us to do. Deep down,
Speaker 5: this is what you were doing it for. But I
Speaker 5: think this is so hard for them to fathom. How
Speaker 5: do you yourself keep yourself motivated as a young black
Speaker 5: woman experiencing life through a predominantly white lens.
Speaker 1: As you said in your bio.
Speaker 6: I think like, as much as it is difficult, it's
Speaker 6: also really exciting. I think, you know, there's a there's
Speaker 6: that feeling of pushing the envelope and pushing that glass
Speaker 6: ceiling further and further up, and knowing that the more
Speaker 6: that I push in, the harder I work, the easier
Speaker 6: it's going to be for you know, the next young
Speaker 6: black girls who are making music, you know in white Australia,
Speaker 6: I think by the time I've gone and done it,
Speaker 6: you know, the next batch that's coming up, it's just
Speaker 6: going to be you know, a much easier, a much
Speaker 6: easier journey for them. So there's always that in the
Speaker 6: back of my mind. But I think it's also just
Speaker 6: exciting feeling like, oh, you know, we're actually going to
Speaker 6: push some barriers here, and we're going to see what
Speaker 6: it looks like to see change actively happen. Then it's
Speaker 6: frustrating some days, and it's hard some days, but other
Speaker 6: days you get those big wins and you actually really
Speaker 6: get to go, yes, I did that, and I get
Speaker 6: to claim that, and I get to say, you know,
Speaker 6: I get to put my heritage and my culture at
Speaker 6: the forefront, and.
Speaker 1: You know, let the white people watch me do it.
Speaker 3: And enjoy you while you do that as well. Enjoy
Speaker 3: it while you do that.
Speaker 4: Because I think that there's something really special. As much
Speaker 4: as there's pushback sometimes on culture or difference, I think
Speaker 4: there's something that draws people to you know, be like wow,
Speaker 4: like that's something that's different to me, and so on
Speaker 4: and so forth. So I think it's really inspiring what
Speaker 4: you're doing. And we wanted to know who inspires you
Speaker 4: music like your your your journey, your sound and all that,
Speaker 4: if he could.
Speaker 3: Share with us.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's always so hard to pinpoint musical influences because
Speaker 6: I think it just expands and changes every day. But
Speaker 6: my parents brought me up on a lot of like
Speaker 6: Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston and Shaka Khan and you know,
Speaker 6: all of those great great artists from that time. So
Speaker 6: R and B and soul music and like great pop
Speaker 6: music has always been something I had around me, So
Speaker 6: I think, yeah, my early songwriting was definitely like, oh,
Speaker 6: you know, I know this Michael Jackson song because I
Speaker 6: know it's got this hook. So I've got to write
Speaker 6: songs that have got hooks. So I think, yeah, the
Speaker 6: early influences is that. And then yeah, just as I've
Speaker 6: gotten older, just discovering more and more artists that I love.
Speaker 6: I'm a big Beyonce fan. It's embarrassing, you tell us twice.
Speaker 1: Yeah, No, I have.
Speaker 6: An embarrassing love for Beyonce and just her work and
Speaker 6: her career been really inspiring to watch. And then you know,
Speaker 6: just some of the newer R and B stuff that's
Speaker 6: coming out Scissor and you know, all this kind of
Speaker 6: artists Kailani who sort of make that alternative R and
Speaker 6: B and I think it was really cool listening to
Speaker 6: that music when people weren't really across it yet. And
Speaker 6: now if you say Scissor, everyone knows who Scissor is.
Speaker 6: But if you said Sissa five six years ago, people
Speaker 6: will be like, I don't know, I've not heard of
Speaker 6: that artist before.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think not so much.
Speaker 6: Sonically, I think, you know, I don't really make super
Speaker 6: R and B music anymore, but I think yeah, definitely
Speaker 6: career wise, and watching you know, other black young artists
Speaker 6: sort of come up from the underground and really place
Speaker 6: themselves in the mainstream.
Speaker 1: Yeah, has definitely been a big influence. I mean speaking
Speaker 1: on that.
Speaker 5: You know, we always talk about things we want to
Speaker 5: see or places you want to be And for you musically,
Speaker 5: who do you think you would love to collaborate with?
Speaker 1: Oh, I mean number one Beyonce.
Speaker 6: I say it for every every interview if I asked
Speaker 6: the question, I always say it because I know that
Speaker 6: if I say it enough times, it'll happen.
Speaker 5: So yeah, watching this beyond is internet that absolutely, there's
Speaker 5: there's so many Honestly, if there wasn't Beyonce.
Speaker 1: Gosh, I mean Ed Sheeran.
Speaker 6: Honestly, I think Ed Sheeran is one of the greatest
Speaker 6: pop songwriters, like in the world right now, Ed Sheeran,
Speaker 6: Max Martin. Yeah, a lot of amazing pop songwriters out there,
Speaker 6: So yeah, but number one Beyonce.
Speaker 3: Queen?
Speaker 1: You heard that, Queen?
Speaker 4: Which would you say? I think people often say it's
Speaker 4: hard to choose. It's like choosing which is your favorite child.
Speaker 4: But what do you enjoy more? The songwriting aspect or
Speaker 4: being a vocalist because your vocals are quite like, you know,
Speaker 4: like really impressive, just the way able to scale and
Speaker 4: you know, listening to some of your covers like it's
Speaker 4: just really really inspiring. So which which side of it
Speaker 4: do you enjoy more? The songwriting or the vocals performing?
Speaker 3: I don't know anyone.
Speaker 1: It is hard. It is like being your favorite child.
Speaker 6: I think lately it's been like vocals the actual I
Speaker 6: think like artistry behind vocals has been a big thing
Speaker 6: for me. I think in my previous records, I think
Speaker 6: a lot of people who know me or have heard
Speaker 6: me sing have been like, oh, you don't really sing
Speaker 6: on your records, which is really interesting because they're right
Speaker 6: I don't really have to work hard vocally on some
Speaker 6: of the records I've put out. A lot of the
Speaker 6: new music is like vocal, like vocally heavy, like really
Speaker 6: I've had to get really into the nitty gritty of
Speaker 6: like my singing and really use my vocals for the
Speaker 6: stuff that's coming out later. So I've been really in
Speaker 6: that space at the moment, just really working on vocal
Speaker 6: arranging and I mean getting better.
Speaker 1: As a vocalist to I teach vocals.
Speaker 6: I have about fifty students, yeah, so that's been like
Speaker 6: a big part of the process. I've been teaching for
Speaker 6: about a year and a half. Yeah, so it's been
Speaker 6: really really interesting to get into the mechanics of my voice.
Speaker 1: So that's been really fun.
Speaker 6: But it's amazing gear up, Yeah, as we gear up
Speaker 6: to go back on tour. I'm so excited to get
Speaker 6: back on stage because I think that is my my
Speaker 6: happy place being.
Speaker 3: On That's amazing. That's amazing.
Speaker 4: And would there be anyone that you would love to
Speaker 4: songwrite with for collaborate with on a songwriting scale, because
Speaker 4: we talk about the honest song overall, but like anyone
Speaker 4: you'd love to write with. I know you mentioned ed Sharan,
Speaker 4: Is there anyone else there?
Speaker 6: Yeah, honestly, I would love I would love for Edge
Speaker 6: Shearing to write me a song. But yeah, at the moment,
Speaker 6: I think my my focus has been collaborating with people
Speaker 6: who are really different to me and make really different
Speaker 6: music to me. Like I just did a couple of
Speaker 6: sessions with an Australian artist named Jeef Flip and their
Speaker 6: music couldn't be any more different to what I make,
Speaker 6: And the music that we made was really really cool
Speaker 6: and really opened up a new space for me. So
Speaker 6: I think, yeah, without sort of pinpointing any names, I
Speaker 6: think there's so many artists that I would love to
Speaker 6: work with who are just in a completely different genre
Speaker 6: to me.
Speaker 1: So I think that's yeah, that's.
Speaker 5: The beautiful you know, it's so interesting to talk about
Speaker 5: how your voice. I think we forget their voices are instruments.
Speaker 5: I remember when we were like in music school in
Speaker 5: high school and they'll be like, oh, you can do music,
Speaker 5: and then people will be expecting you to play an instrument,
Speaker 5: and some people would just sing a compeller and it's like, well, yeah,
Speaker 5: that is an instrument. So it's beautiful that you're even
Speaker 5: teaching music and using our voices. It's such a I
Speaker 5: don't know, it's such a I guess, underrated part of music.
Speaker 5: It's funny we know you're a singer, but then we
Speaker 5: always the production and we forget that you're vocalist first. Right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, No, it's really true. It's really true.
Speaker 6: I think even as I've gotten back to being more
Speaker 6: of an instrumentalist because I do play, I think even
Speaker 6: getting back to that and being like, oh, I have
Speaker 6: to give as much practice and time to singing as
Speaker 6: I have to give to guitar or piano or so yeah,
Speaker 6: how technical it all is. So yeah, the voice is
Speaker 6: such an interesting instrument because it's so personal. You know,
Speaker 6: if you play the wrong note on the piano or
Speaker 6: you hit the wrong drum, it's like oops. But if
Speaker 6: you see a wrong note, it's so deeply, like personally reflective.
Speaker 1: I think that.
Speaker 6: Very exposing. So yeah, no, it's been it's been fun
Speaker 6: to dig into.
Speaker 5: It's so funny you say that because we grew up
Speaker 5: in the era of like Christina Anguilera, and I remember
Speaker 5: on one of her studio sessions she had like the
Speaker 5: lights dimmed and everything was just because she's like, I
Speaker 5: just want people to focus on my voice and not
Speaker 5: like what I look like. And it's just so interesting
Speaker 5: because just one for you. Well, I mean we've just
Speaker 5: been the same studio, so we feel like we've really.
Speaker 1: Hang out with you. We recorded our.
Speaker 5: Special at the Base Studios as well in South Melbourne.
Speaker 1: What do you think you enjoy most about being in
Speaker 1: the studio?
Speaker 6: Oh gosh, so you would have seen the bass, which
Speaker 6: is great for context because it's such like a It
Speaker 6: depends on how you light it, I think, but it's
Speaker 6: such like a movie and it's just like the atmosphere
Speaker 6: of it is just very intimate, I think. So I
Speaker 6: really like to get into intimate space when I'm recording
Speaker 6: because it really does affect it. It affects the way
Speaker 6: that you're seeing and perform. I can't do it with
Speaker 6: bright lights on. My voice sounds completely different under bright
Speaker 6: lights than it does, you know, in a dark space,
Speaker 6: which is so funny.
Speaker 1: It's so weird.
Speaker 6: But yeah, however it affects your brain is just how
Speaker 6: the sound comes out, which is yeah, really funny.
Speaker 1: But I love recording at the Base.
Speaker 6: It's been my home now for a while and my
Speaker 6: first sort of music that came out as Kai was
Speaker 6: all recorded at the base that I haven't recorded anywhere
Speaker 6: else since. So, yeah, it's just my little musical home.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we had We had a great time recording there
Speaker 4: and just as you said, the energy is just really
Speaker 4: really great. You shared a little so you like the
Speaker 4: more sort of dimmed side of things when it comes
Speaker 4: to recording. Can you share a bit about your creative process,
Speaker 4: because you know what I always wonder about the songwriters
Speaker 4: or the singers, you know, especially if you have a
Speaker 4: hands on approach to make creating your music and seeing
Speaker 4: it through from the start to the finish.
Speaker 3: What does that look like?
Speaker 4: Because I think sometimes as regular humans we can't fathom, like, so,
Speaker 4: where does the song come from?
Speaker 3: You know what I mean?
Speaker 4: Like, yeahs, what does that create a process look like
Speaker 4: for you?
Speaker 3: Or does it differ change? Like do you have like a.
Speaker 6: Systems chop and change around? But I think that question
Speaker 6: you asked before, where does the song come from? Is
Speaker 6: is a really interesting question and something that I've been
Speaker 6: I think grappling with probably for the last few years,
Speaker 6: because I think my best songs that I've ever written
Speaker 6: feel like they fall out of the sky, Like it
Speaker 6: doesn't feel like I write them. It feels like they
Speaker 6: just happened to me and then I happen to just
Speaker 6: be there at the right time and place. So yeah,
Speaker 6: I think my favorite songs I've written them driving and
Speaker 6: they just happen all like linearly or in the shower,
Speaker 6: and the whole song happens. And the last song that
Speaker 6: I wrote that I really loved, I felt like was
Speaker 6: the best song I've ever written. I had heard two
Speaker 6: chords on her guitar and it just happened. People in
Speaker 6: the room are like, what just happened there? Like you
Speaker 6: just heard the sound and then you know, the.
Speaker 1: Christians and Zimbabwe be like, it's like exactly, yeah, and.
Speaker 6: You know they said, oh, it's like you just reached
Speaker 6: up in the air and just grabbed it. And so
Speaker 6: I think that's something I've been just trying to I
Speaker 6: think I'll never understand that's actual.
Speaker 4: There's something, there's something really when they I've been reading
Speaker 4: different things and.
Speaker 3: Oh, specifically Power of Now.
Speaker 4: I've been reading Guys and things like that and talks
Speaker 4: about flow and when you're in flow and it's almost
Speaker 4: like an element. That's why consciousness is so important, because
Speaker 4: you're not in your head, you're just in flow. With
Speaker 4: whatever you believe, whatever the universe whoever is talking to you,
Speaker 4: and then that's where it just comes to you. And
Speaker 4: it really shows that you really are in contact with
Speaker 4: your flow and and and kind of moving in that.
Speaker 4: So that's really beautiful. So guys, there's no like secrets.
Speaker 4: I'm sure there are recipes.
Speaker 7: Just like I just like, but it just it just
Speaker 7: comes as well.
Speaker 6: I think like flow is really important. But I think
Speaker 6: even like flow within yourself, I can't write as I
Speaker 6: don't feel good like if I don't take care of myself,
Speaker 6: if I'm not like on my absolute one hundred percent
Speaker 6: in terms of like am I being healthy? Am I exercising?
Speaker 6: Am I reading? Am I surrounding myself with people who
Speaker 6: make me happy? Am I having a good time? In general?
Speaker 1: In life?
Speaker 6: I can't be creative because I think, you know, being
Speaker 6: creative out of negativity is just not it's not me,
Speaker 6: Like I just feel like, I, yeah, I just can't
Speaker 6: go into that space. I can't get into that place
Speaker 6: where I guess I can receive. But yeah, I think
Speaker 6: being on that wave for a while now of just
Speaker 6: being like how do I actually make myself feel better?
Speaker 6: Has been Yeah, has been just an unlocking point for
Speaker 6: songwriting and being creative and yeah, just opening up my
Speaker 6: artistry in general.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we love that for you, We love that beautiful.
Speaker 5: Yeah. I think self care is such a thing that
Speaker 5: people it's almost got to the point where it's become luxury, right,
Speaker 5: People always think self care, Oh, you have to go
Speaker 5: to SPA, you have to those things.
Speaker 1: Definitely got a space you all love a bad day.
Speaker 5: But like, I think what you're saying, like, even on
Speaker 5: the day to day, checking in with yourself is so important.
Speaker 5: And I think that's the lovely thing about your music.
Speaker 5: It's just so fun, Like it's too joyful. Yeah, you
Speaker 5: cannot listen to it and not be in a good
Speaker 5: mood at the end of it. And I think it's
Speaker 5: such a special talent that you have that you bring
Speaker 5: that out, you know, even if you don't know the lyrics, you're.
Speaker 1: Like, like, you know, it's just like step So I'm
Speaker 1: not love it.
Speaker 5: When I saw your shows, you know, I was like,
Speaker 5: oh my gosh. People are really responding to that energy.
Speaker 5: And I think, especially in this world there's so much
Speaker 5: going on, it's nice to have to spark on those
Speaker 5: moments of just pure joy and fun but how does
Speaker 5: it feel for you performing your songs live?
Speaker 1: Oh? So fun, so much fun.
Speaker 6: I think even before writing the Ribena EP, a big
Speaker 6: thing was how do I make it so that when
Speaker 6: I'm performing, the whole thing is fun, you know? And
Speaker 6: I think there is a place for sad songs. There's
Speaker 6: definitely a place for more serious topic songs, and a
Speaker 6: lot of other artists do that and they you know,
Speaker 6: they fill that space, and I'll eventually do that as
Speaker 6: I'm moving to my album. But I think if there
Speaker 6: is an underlying feeling of actually, even if it is
Speaker 6: a sad song, I still want you to be able
Speaker 6: to find your joy in there, because you know, sadness
Speaker 6: doesn't negate joy. So I think just finding that feeling of.
Speaker 5: Right there that's not can make us take a lot.
Speaker 1: R carry on.
Speaker 6: Yeah, but I think, you know, wanting to engage with
Speaker 6: that part of your audience and being like I want
Speaker 6: you to feel joy is Yeah, it just makes performing
Speaker 6: incredible because it's no longer about you. It's not you know, Oh,
Speaker 6: I'm on this stage and I want you to look
Speaker 6: at me and look at all the things I do
Speaker 6: and listen to my voice. It's like, oh, let's let's
Speaker 6: have an experience to get that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, beautiful and speaking of sadness, does not have, does
Speaker 4: not negate joy.
Speaker 3: Now this is gonna be a Quotable's gonna be out here,
Speaker 3: okay in the streets.
Speaker 4: But you know, your your song Tuesday, I think speaks
Speaker 4: that because.
Speaker 3: It's not really a happy song. Am that right?
Speaker 4: And then the way I understood it because sometimes you
Speaker 4: must understand the song. But I guess not really a
Speaker 4: happy song, but you made it joyful. I watched the
Speaker 4: music when I was like, oh my gosh, it's and
Speaker 4: then I was like, but the if you listen.
Speaker 3: Clearly it's not.
Speaker 4: So I think that epitomizes so perfectly what you just said.
Speaker 4: It's like you can you can cry in you know,
Speaker 4: in a on a bed of flowers and you know,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: So I think that.
Speaker 4: Juxtaposition was so beautifully done.
Speaker 3: So I yes, so creative.
Speaker 4: Any advice that you have for upcoming artists or those
Speaker 4: who want to work in the music industry, because as
Speaker 4: you said, I think historically, especially in Zimbabwe. Fun fact,
Speaker 4: I wrote a song at sixteen, I even recorded it.
Speaker 3: I wanted to be an artist.
Speaker 4: Then my parents were like not going to happen and
Speaker 4: I listened and you know, Cela VI. But any advice
Speaker 4: for as you said, you're trying to carve a way
Speaker 4: for the younger generation, so.
Speaker 3: It's a little easier.
Speaker 4: It feels a bit more normalized for them to see
Speaker 4: themselves doing the things that were not.
Speaker 3: Easy to do.
Speaker 4: You know why we had to push against the grain
Speaker 4: as you did. Any advice or thoughts for them, just.
Speaker 6: That authenticity is everything. I think if you do everything
Speaker 6: from an authentic place, then you know, whether it's in
Speaker 6: the business side of music or whether it's in the
Speaker 6: creative process, you'll always have the outcome that you're proud of.
Speaker 6: I think it's really easy to lose yourself in, you know,
Speaker 6: an industry that's like this, so that's all about entertainment
Speaker 6: and it's all about being in front of people. It's
Speaker 6: really really easy to just become a version of yourself
Speaker 6: and not just truly yourself. So I think really sticking
Speaker 6: to being your authentic self is what's going to make
Speaker 6: you happy at the end of the day and what's
Speaker 6: actually going to bring you success because nobody can be
Speaker 6: as you as you, and that's what's going to be
Speaker 6: different on the market too, So I think just yeah,
Speaker 6: being absolutely you to a fault is the way to go.
Speaker 6: And I think just injecting your personality into everything that
Speaker 6: you do as well, making music that actually connects to
Speaker 6: you and not just you know, singing songs on a
Speaker 6: piece of paper, actually having a personal and real connection
Speaker 6: to your art. Yeah, I think just being real, if
Speaker 6: I had to sum that up, is just being real.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, no one can be you, nobody can be more
Speaker 4: than you. Bars another one.
Speaker 5: Another, one another, one another, one another one. You know.
Speaker 1: What I love about gen Z? I feel like you guys.
Speaker 5: Just do it like yeah, And there's a lot of
Speaker 5: conversation around gen Z and obviously we're not gen Z else,
Speaker 5: But what do you think with the dialogue around millennials
Speaker 5: and gen Z? Do you think millillions can take anything
Speaker 5: from gen Z? And is there anything you would take
Speaker 5: from millennials or.
Speaker 6: Is it just like I think it's so it's so
Speaker 6: funny because like I know, I'm technically what they call
Speaker 6: a cuspa because I'm not quite gen Z, but I'm
Speaker 6: not quite a millennial either, And I grew up with
Speaker 6: all the stuff that like, you know, millennials grew up
Speaker 6: with but I'm too young to be like a millennial millennials.
Speaker 6: I'm a cusper, so I've got a bit of book.
Speaker 6: So I think there's things to learn from both. I
Speaker 6: think gen Z has really gotten I think like emotional
Speaker 6: openness and vulnerability. Having that included in like the mainstream
Speaker 6: conversation is something that I've noticed from gen Z that
Speaker 6: is massive, Like people are really talking about their feelings,
Speaker 6: which when I was in high school, that was not
Speaker 6: a thing. We didn't do that. So I think that's
Speaker 6: been really cool and really important. And I think gen
Speaker 6: Z does have that whole thing where you can be,
Speaker 6: you know, an individual and you can be really authentic.
Speaker 6: But I think that millennials also have this like realism
Speaker 6: that's like, yeah, we can be all of these, but
Speaker 6: we need a functional way to do it because we've
Speaker 6: seen what happens when the big dreaming boomers dream away
Speaker 6: and dream the future away, so.
Speaker 3: We suffer thanks to them.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think you got that realness. I think if
Speaker 6: you brought that all in together, then yeah, you get
Speaker 6: a really wonderful mix for a society.
Speaker 1: But we'll see how we go. Gen Z is getting.
Speaker 5: I think for me, it's just a it's a social
Speaker 5: media stuff for me, Yeah, I cannot and I commend
Speaker 5: you like your reels are so fun Yeah, like you
Speaker 5: get to know.
Speaker 3: I feel like I know you, like I feel like,
Speaker 3: oh yeah doing a thing you know.
Speaker 5: Yeah right.
Speaker 1: I think for our generation, when I cannot be doing that, you.
Speaker 4: Know, no one should see me like it's so funny,
Speaker 4: like the difference.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's it's great.
Speaker 4: I love the call out to all everyone saying when
Speaker 4: are you getting back to your what real song writing?
Speaker 4: Or seriously, yeah, that was too funny.
Speaker 3: I was like, oh my god.
Speaker 2: And even when you're looking for the clip from Wendy
Speaker 2: Wendy and you're like, there's a thing called legal, I
Speaker 2: was like, yeah, it was too funny the whole song,
Speaker 2: and then forget about the legal part of it, Like
Speaker 2: it's just and everyone just giving you recommendations.
Speaker 1: That's the beautiful aspect.
Speaker 5: I guess that we it's a community and you're definitely
Speaker 5: in touch with your community, which is a beautiful thing
Speaker 5: to see. I think sometimes, especially being from Zimbabwe, we
Speaker 5: use social media to perform, to show off too, and
Speaker 5: we forget that there's people receiving and those people need
Speaker 5: that interaction and yeah, of course it gets overwhelming, but
Speaker 5: there's definitely space where it's like you're not just coming
Speaker 5: on here to show off, you here to really connect.
Speaker 1: There's intent behind it.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think working with like artists that are bigger
Speaker 6: than me, like when I first started in music and
Speaker 6: was doing like a lot of backing vocal stuff, seeing
Speaker 6: their fan bases, because some of them are crazy, Like
Speaker 6: working with Rule, like his fan base is one of
Speaker 6: the most insane fan bases I've ever encountered. Like they
Speaker 6: are just so loyal and like attached, but like attached
Speaker 6: to each other as well, Like they've really become this
Speaker 6: really like glued community. So you'd end up on your
Speaker 6: Instagram and you go into your request folder and you
Speaker 6: see that it's like groups of girls who have met
Speaker 6: each other at concerts or met each other online and
Speaker 6: then added you into the group to be like we
Speaker 6: need to get information from her about this, we need
Speaker 6: to get her to talk to us. But there were
Speaker 6: girls who were from totally different parts of the world
Speaker 6: and they were best friends in this chat and they
Speaker 6: would come in and they would tell each other about
Speaker 6: their day and like their struggles and like I've stayed
Speaker 6: in the requests, like they've stayed in the request folder.
Speaker 6: But I've read those groups for years, like they are
Speaker 6: still friends, like they've been since they were like twelve,
Speaker 6: and now they're nineteen and they're still on there talking
Speaker 6: to each other and it's like, wow, you know, there's
Speaker 6: one thing community together. So I think community is like invaluable.
Speaker 6: It's amazing.
Speaker 4: That's beautiful. Your sound on you know, your hit songs
Speaker 4: like Barson and Rubena, Rabina Rabina. Guys, I'm not Australian,
Speaker 4: I don't know what Boson and Rabina definitely gave me
Speaker 4: emptv select vibes like re rewind by Artful Dodger and
Speaker 4: also a bit of like Craig David filled me in you.
Speaker 5: Know that very she's a casta in the music.
Speaker 4: Yeah, when you're talking about being a Casper, I was like, ah,
Speaker 4: that makes sense.
Speaker 3: What drew you to that?
Speaker 4: Because it felt so nostalgic for me listening to it
Speaker 4: as I'm a full on Millennire.
Speaker 3: I can't even deny it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that really gave me like that vibe, but like
Speaker 4: obviously you really you breathed a new life into it.
Speaker 4: It was so it's so great to see just how
Speaker 4: you did that, Yeah, so tell me about that. I can,
Speaker 4: you know, go on, but tell me about your thoughts.
Speaker 6: So that's like, that's that's what's really nostalgic for me,
Speaker 6: that sound, because that would have been around like two thousand,
Speaker 6: two thousand and one, and that's when I moved to
Speaker 6: the UK as a kid, so like those were the
Speaker 6: first sort of songs that I was listening to in
Speaker 6: the car with my parents, like driving around.
Speaker 5: So what was that on top of the pop of
Speaker 5: the yeah one like.
Speaker 6: Radio, yeah, like all of those radio stations. And it
Speaker 6: actually like I had a full circle moment last year
Speaker 6: because I got to go and talk about bossing on
Speaker 6: Kiss and I was like, oh, I would have heard
Speaker 6: you know, Daniel Beddingfield and Craig Davis kiss when I
Speaker 6: was a kid, So then to have my own, you know,
Speaker 6: two step song that's being played on Kiss, I was
Speaker 6: like just mind blowing. But yeah, that's a really nostalgic
Speaker 6: like era for me, and a really nostalgic sound and
Speaker 6: a lot of that like Ripop is a big influence
Speaker 6: on me as well, like Sugar Babes and.
Speaker 3: I'm going to be doing the rest of the day.
Speaker 7: Yeah, yeah, yeah, because I had a recent like rewind
Speaker 7: of like even Spice Girls and like, I don't know
Speaker 7: all these girls.
Speaker 3: Were in their.
Speaker 6: Song you know, the Superstar by Jamilla. Yeah, yeah, that
Speaker 6: sound is really like my childhood. Yeah.
Speaker 5: I think that's what I love about TikTok as well,
Speaker 5: because all those sounds come back like, yeah, someone to
Speaker 5: do it, real about it, remember that song and then
Speaker 5: the researcher and I think even some songs are coming
Speaker 5: back on the chats that are like yeah, yeah it's crazy,
Speaker 5: Yeah it's crazy.
Speaker 3: So thank you for that.
Speaker 4: It was It was really really lovely to hear that
Speaker 4: in juxtaposition with like our saying Tuesday and sometimes, which
Speaker 4: I love how you did that, especially the end of
Speaker 4: that video, just like the kind of sadness means like
Speaker 4: hysteria like you, because you're like combined hysterically laughing with
Speaker 4: like this pain you're going through.
Speaker 3: I just love.
Speaker 4: How your your interpretation of all these emotions and songs
Speaker 4: is so uniquely yours. And then the fashions, I mean
Speaker 4: a man can talk a bit more about the fashions
Speaker 4: in your music videos and you know, so just really
Speaker 4: love as you're saying, how you're multi hyphened and you're multifaceted,
Speaker 4: and how it all comes together, it's it's done really well.
Speaker 6: So thank you, thank you, thanks for noticing the fashion
Speaker 6: I'm a fashion girl, the right place.
Speaker 3: You came to the right.
Speaker 5: Any upcoming projects we should start looking out for. I
Speaker 5: know you've been teasing us on the socials. Yeah, I have.
Speaker 6: I do have a song coming out. It's coming out
Speaker 6: on feb twenty first, so yeah, I haven't actually announced
Speaker 6: the date yet, but we're getting really close. We're less
Speaker 6: than three weeks out. So we've got a song coming out.
Speaker 6: It's called now Come on Now. I've been teasing it
Speaker 6: on my socials and the sound is actually available to
Speaker 6: use on socials now. And then we have another song
Speaker 6: that I won't announce the name of yet coming out
Speaker 6: straight after that, and it's almost I guess it's kind
Speaker 6: of my little send off to the Rabina era, just
Speaker 6: putting the lid back on and putting it back in
Speaker 6: the fridge for a little bit. Yeah, I started writing
Speaker 6: an album which has been big and scary and wonderful
Speaker 6: and exciting, but again just like another iteration of myself
Speaker 6: and just another evolution.
Speaker 1: So yeah, just.
Speaker 6: Kind of putting this party era to rest for a
Speaker 6: sus second and just like getting those last couple of
Speaker 6: tracks out so they'll be out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and this month, which is crazy. They can't wait.
Speaker 5: You can't wait to hear them, and obviously hear the
Speaker 5: song on full. We've been loving the snippet the sound,
Speaker 5: so yeah, we can't wait to hear it.
Speaker 4: And happy birthday for Tuesday to you. Honestly, keep shining,
Speaker 4: you know, you epitomize joy. I think that's a really
Speaker 4: if I were to bottle you up, it would be
Speaker 4: like you are like spring in a bottle or joy
Speaker 4: in a bottle and just ye, So keep that everything going.
Speaker 1: We love to see it.
Speaker 5: Yeah, we definitely do love to see it, and also
Speaker 5: loving to see that even though you like this person
Speaker 5: who has all these cultures within you, it's just a
Speaker 5: positive space.
Speaker 1: It's not like a negative thing. You know. Sometimes we're like, oh,
Speaker 1: I don't feel like I belong anywhere.
Speaker 5: But it's like you found your space and you found
Speaker 5: your sound and you found your music. And I think
Speaker 5: music is something that your knights people whole no matter
Speaker 5: where they're from, and you're definitely proof of that.
Speaker 1: So keep going. We'll watch it, Yeah for sure.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much, and thank you to our listeners
Speaker 4: for joining us for yet another episode of its LB podcast.
Speaker 4: We appreciate you. If you haven't already, please check out
Speaker 4: Kai Kai. What are your social media handles? Where can
Speaker 4: people find you?
Speaker 6: You can find me on all platforms and it's at
Speaker 6: get it Kai.
Speaker 4: G E t I t K y e exactly and
Speaker 4: she's so much fun to like. Yes, yourself the favor,
Speaker 4: Do yourself the favor. Thank you so much for being here, Amanda.
Speaker 4: As always, thank you for doing this with me, and
Speaker 4: we'll see you on the next episode.
Speaker 3: Goodbye.
Speaker 1: Ye use your hand will tell you lack a purpo.