Five Questions with Karra
Having gotten her start penning and performing top lines for electronic dance music heavy-hitters like Breathe Carolina, JDG, Metrik, Jackal, Reid Stefan and more, New Jersey native-turned-L.A.-transplant Karra turned her love of pop and EDM into her own distinctive career, releasing music on prestigious labels like Dim Mak, Monstercat, and Spinnin’ Records. While she’s continuing to record and release her own music, you can hear her most recent work on a collaboration with Feenixpawl and APEK called “Quicksand.” We caught up with the budding singer/songwriter to find out more…
How and when did you start singing and writing?
I’ve been singing my whole life. My mother is a vocal coach, and when I was very young she started giving lessons in our home. I grew up listening to her lessons every day after school, and when I was old enough she started giving me my own. I didn’t start writing music until I was about 11 or 12. I began maturing, and having real life experiences, and with that came a lot of things for me to express and write about. Growing up, I always knew I wanted to be an artist, but writing was simply a hobby for me. It wasn’t until I went to college in Nashville that I knew that this is what I was born to do. Being in such a creative city that lived and breathed songwriting was very inspiring to me. Although I had my sights set on Los Angeles, I have Nashville to thank for helping me grow as a person and a writer. With appropriate timing and a lot of hard work, I made the move to LA, and my career in music officially began.
What is one of your favorite songs that you wrote and why?
I would have to say my song “Platinum Hearts” because this is the song that started it all for me. I wrote this top line with an incredible writer, Stephen Aiello, who is also the bassist of 30 Seconds to Mars. When I first came out to LA two years ago, I was sent a few unreleased ZEDD tracks that needed top lines. This of course was a dream of mine, so as soon as I had the opportunity I was writing on all of them. We wrote “Platinum Hearts” over my favorite tracks out of the bunch. It wasn’t an easy session. I remember being frustrated because I thought all of my ideas weren’t up to par with what ZEDD would be looking for, but when I got the track back, I was so excited about how amazing it sounded. I knew we had a slim chance to landing such a big cut so early on in my career, but a year later the guys from Breathe Carolina heard the top line and loved it. We ended up doing the collaboration with them, and that’s when I had my first big label release. This song will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s crazy to think back and look at all the roads this one song paved for me in EDM. It’s such a blessing.
Who is someone you would love to collaborate with?
There are so many writers, producers, and artists that I would absolutely love to work with, but I would die and go to heaven if I had the chance to collab with Skrillex. He’s just a genius, and his musical journey has no limits or expectations. He’s always surprising us, and always taking it to the next level. I remember seeing him live when he first started his career in EDM in this little tinyvenue in Nashville, and from that day forward I knew that he was going to change the industry in a big way. Rest assured, he did just that.
What are you currently listening to?
It’s funny, nowadays I find myself listening to my friend’s demos more than released music. I just really love being involved in the next wave of music, and it’s inspiring for me to hear what all of my friends are working on behind the scenes. But, when it comes to released music, I’ve been exploring a lot of different genres of EDM. After attending EDC for the first time in Vegas, I found that I was missing out on a lot of really interesting and incredible sounds. I’m loving tech house and trance these days. After seeing a few legends perform, I finally understood why people love this music, especially in a live setting. I’ve been collaborating with a ton of amazing trance DJ’s as well, so I’m falling in love with the genre more and more every day.
What can we expect from you in the next year?
I wish I could give you all some spoilers on some of these collabs I’m working on, but for now they’re going to have to wait. What I can say is that I’ve been in the studio with the likes of Gareth Emery, Steve Aoki, Jackal, Breathe Carolina, and many more. The number of songs to be released just keeps growing, and I’m not one to commit to one genre. I’m working on various genres of EDM, and you can expect a lot of Spinnin’, Armada, Universal, Dim Mak, and Monstercat releases from me as the featured artist. I also have a lot of songs that I co-wrote with other top liners to be released, not only in EDM, but pop as well. This has been the most exciting time in my career thus far, and I’m just anxious for everyone to hear all of the music I’ve been working on. Thank you BMI for giving me the opportunity to share a glimpse of my life. It’s only the beginning!
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