IndiePulse Interviews: Krista D.

 

Krista  D  is  an  eclectic  singer-songwriter  and  visual  artist  based  in  Edmonton,  Alberta Canada.  She  began  releasing  music  again  in  2016,  after  a  10  year  hiatus,  having  shifted  her  focus  to  a  career  in  the  visual  arts,  following  her  move  to  Alberta  from  New  Brunswick.  She  now  balances  art  and  music;  creating  distinct  series  of  artwork  under  3  aliases  (Krista  Acheson,  Gerri  Harden  &  M.N.V)    and  likewise  has  divided  her  songwriting  into  3  separate  genres. In  2018-19  she  plans  to  release  her  soft  rock/indie  pop  material  under  the  artist  name  Molly  Grue.  Her  harder  rock  songs  will  be  released  under  the  band  name  Hooha  and  the  Peter  Guns  and  she  will  continue  to  release  any  hybrid  Punk  Rock/Ska/Doo-Wop  tracks  she  writes  under  Krista  D,  which  is  her  longest  standing  moniker.  The  music  she  releases  under  Krista  D  is  lyrically  centered  on  women’s’  issues  and  inspired  by  the  women  who  have  shared  their  life  experiences  with  her.

IPM:  What inspired you to write music like you do?

Pretty much everything inspires me. I basically collect experiences and filter them back through songs, paintings or sculptures. Lyrically the tracks are snippets from the lives of women I’ve met, mixed with my own personal experience- with the exception of the track ‘You & Me’. That song was completely random because I’m not that sappy and I certainly wasn’t feeling that way about anyone at the time. There’s actually a fan video that was made for it recently- I posted it on my YouTube channel. The ending is pretty hilarious… and pretty dark, especially given it was all apparently edited from a single Scooby-Doo episode. The video probably represents me better that the song does.

IPM: Where you express yourself through both songwriting and visual art- do you find one comes easier than the other?

The inspiration for a song, or an art piece, comes about in a similar way – lyrics just kind of develop in my mind, mostly when I’m in the shower and especially if my hair is full of shampoo.

But, in terms of what gets created easier, I’d have to say visual art- but that’s because I don’t require any help with it. With music I’m kind of trapped in my head a lot. I’m not proficient at any instrument, and I lack the ability to write sheet music- so it means I have to hire and involve other people in my creative process. When I get a concept for a sculpture- I just mush up some clay and that’s that.

IPM: What are some of the challenges for you in regards to production while keeping true to your vision of your music… is there any reason that you haven’t just taken lessons to write sheet music?

Well, the challenges are still probably similar to what a full band faces in the sense that the song gets altered a little bit as it goes through the hands of each musician- even when I have a clear demo. So there’s always an evolution I’m trying to guide. That’s usually a positive thing though, I work with extremely talented studio musicians. The only downside is that it may not always sound exactly how I imagined it.

I did actually go to school for music, years ago, but I unfortunately suffered a mental health crisis which led to my dropping out. I do intend to take another stab at it, now that I’m back working on music again. A small ‘one on one’ course might be less overwhelming. It might be really interesting to try to have a song sound exactly like it does when in forms in my head.

IPM:  So you’re just getting back into music now, why’d you stop- or maybe just tell us why you came back to it.

I moved from New Brunswick to Alberta, and it was a whole new music community… I didn’t find it as easy to plug in to. It was difficult to find musicians willing, or interested, in learning my material. That’s basically when I decided to become a visual artist. It afforded me the ability to create and express myself autonomously. My recording hiatus was about 10 years and I came back to it simply because I missed singing. That and I wanted to wrap up and release all of my unfinished material. So, I separated my songwriting catalogue by genre, divided it under 3 project names and will hopefully release them later this year.

IPM:  So have you been back on stage yet? Or are you still inactive.

Not entirely inactive- my first time back on stage was in March but it was a bit of an unorthodox performance. Again- I had an impossible time finding live session musicians, but I’d been invited on to the bill by an out of town band, so I was extremely motivated to get back out there. Completely frustrated I decided to perform my set with mannequins. I made them band shirts, I hung instruments on them, had the studio take the main vocals out of my tracks and I performed karaoke style with them. It received a great response – I think that’ll be my thing now.

IPM:  Any new music in the works? Are you and your mannequins planning to tour to support the EP?

I am planning on booking some shows to support the EP but where my band mates are all Calvin Klein models, I’ll have to consider their schedules. (Sorry… I had to at least try to be funny about it.) But seriously, I do intend on booking some shows after I’m done with a solo gallery show and an upcoming artist residency.

As for new music- I’ve almost finished an EP of my soft rock material, which is going to be released under the name Molly Grue. My first MG single ‘Anyway’ will have it’s first spin on the 13th anniversary of Pop Garden Radio, May 25th. I do have some other material, harder rock songs, which I’m recording under the project name: Hooha and the Peter Guns. Neither of the new projects have any real momentum behind them at the moment- it’s more about compartmentalizing my catalogue by genre and releasing it as an experiment of sorts.

IPM:  Any “strange tales” or things that may have happened in regards to your music that seemed too weird to be true?

I guess the only thing that I felt was a little weird was when I received the royalty report saying that my track Land Mine had been streamed over 719000 times in a single month. I thought there was definitely a mistake. It was really unfathomable how that could happen, being as under the radar as I am and given how unceremoniously I had released it. There must have been a saint at Pandora radio that added me to a playlist or something. The thing about this EP was that it was meant to be my last release as Krista D; and now I’m kind of getting lured back into it with the positive response.

IPM:  Well if it did lead you to something, where would you like it to lead to?

Like every artists, I think it’s just about getting to a point where you’re able to self-sustain with just the earnings from your art. I assume that’s really the main dream of any artist, with the exception of the guys I know whose main deal is wanting to be in front of huge crowds. I’m not as much about crowds- I just basically have an impractical skill set that I’m trying to earn a living with. So if I could manage it- I’d like to get to the point where the music I’m producing has gained enough public interest that I can pay the bills.

IPM:  What would you like our readers to know about you, Why do you think that they would enjoy your music / performances.

I’m not sure what would make my music more enjoyable than any other female singer-songwriters’ music; I try to write catchy tracks with meaningful lyrics- but who doesn’t. The only thing that I feel distinguishes me is that I’m currently creating visual art as 3 artists, in 3 different styles- on top of recording and releasing music in 3 different genres. I like to think that people might enjoy the scope of what I do and be curious about the output- if nothing else.

IPM:  Where can our readers find your music

Krista D webpage: http://www.kristadmusic.com ( All links like   Spotify, Bandcamp etc.. are on this page)

All art and music projects are accessible through: http://www.trimorfik.com ( Respective Instagram and Facebook links of each project can be found through here)

Most updated site: https://www.facebook.com/krista.acheson and on YouTube

Record Label: http://www.looselambrecords.com