Meet Kylie Hughes, the Pepperdine graduate and California artist has many other musical accomplishments under her belt, having gigged both with her band and performed solo acoustic sets in numerous Hollywood hotspots (Viper Room, Hotel Café, House of Blues), and local clubs in and around Malibu (Malibu Inn, Sunset Lounge, Canyon Club). Additionally, the pop songstress also sang the National Anthem before a concert by John Mayer at the California Mid-State Fair; shared the stage with The Beach Boys in Thousand Oaks, CA and with Jewel in Napa, CA; played at the Cantinas Music Festival in Paso Robles, CA on a bill with Newsboys and MercyMe; and performed a duet in 2013 at Carnegie Hall with Michael W. Smith.
The Malibu singer-songwriter is flying off of the success of her first EP, Kylie is currently in the studio writing + recording her new album. Creating more mature, emotional music, Kylie is constantly evolving her sound and growing as an artist.
“I have learned a lot about myself through this process and experience in this business and deciding to control my own destiny. I have my own record label and I make all the decisions about my career. Is it important to have advisors and trust in your team? Yes! But ultimately I will stand or fall knowing I did it my way.”
Get to know this rising star in our exclusive interview below. Kylie will be collecting a handful of Grammy’s in not time!
What initially inspired you to become an artist?
I just always loved music and songwriting as a vehicle to express myself. Songwriting is like therapy at times, it can make you laugh and it can make you cry.
How does music affect you and the world around you?
I think that looking through the lens of a songwriter, you try and be ready and open enough to absorb any type of inspiration. Music makes my world a better place when it’s something I can escape to during a rough day.
Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? And what is your usual songwriting process?
I pull from my own personal experiences, whether that’s a whole story or just one feeling plucked out of 100 feelings. I also love co-writing because I like to tap into other people’s triumphs or tribulations and personalize it to me: “how would I react in that situation, what do I wish that person did instead, how would that make me feel”.
True or false: It is the duty of an artist to put her personal emotions into the music she plays.
True and False. True that you should believe in what you are singing about, as the audience can always tell and won’t be completely sold. False because you could translate someone else’s personal emotions that inspired the song. Also not EVERY song needs to be emotional. You can play a song that correlates to different parts of your personality. Something can be true in the moment and maybe not all the time. There are no rules.
Name one person dead or alive who you’d love to cut a record with and why?
Miranda Lambert. Because she’s incredible, talented, witty and sassy.
What constitutes a good live performance in your opinion?
I love when an artist does a little crowd work and even gives a little backstory on a song. As a songwriter, I appreciate those details AND as an audience member, it makes me feel like I know the artist better.
What guilty pleasure songs would we have found on your MP3 player in high school?
Oh man, Britney Spears, Hillary Duff, The Killers, Elliott Smith, Mars Volta, Chingy, Yellowcard, early Chris Brown, Kanye West, Relient K, John Mayer, MGMT, Avril Lavigne and probably the most embarrassing… A Lindsay Lohan song or two.
What are your future plans? A tour hopefully!
More music videos and more shows.
What words of wisdom can you share with aspiring female musicians and entrepreneurs?
Trust your gut and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Even if you don’t have the vocabulary to ask for what you want, you probably know exactly what you don’t want. So be patient with yourself and find people that will be patient with you and respect your opinion.
What’s your interpretation of a Raw Femme?
Unapologetic for being exactly who you are no matter how wonderful or not so wonderful… As the quote goes: “if you can’t handle me at my worst, you don’t deserve me at my best”.