Kenny Elrod shares his journey from a casual music creator during the pandemic to an aspiring indie pop star at Berklee College of Music. He emphasizes the importance of self-marketing, learning from experiences, and the joy that comes from live performances.
• Kenny’s evolution from bedroom recordings to serious music career
• The significance of music education in shaping his path
• The difference between studio recordings and live performances
• Engaging the audience and creating interactive experiences
• Finding inspiration from everyday life and fictional narratives
• Balancing academics, performances, and personal growth
• Important advice for aspiring musicians seeking to follow their passion
Hello, and thank you for listening to Thirsty Topics podcast! I'm Lawrence Elrod, and every week Meryl Klemow and I dive deep into the stories that matter, the conversations that shape our world."
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Hello everyone, welcome to this week's episode
of Thirsty Conversations.
Hello, hello.
We have a great show for youtoday.
We are here with the wonderful,very talented songwriter,
producer, performer and writer,Kenny Elrod.
(00:43):
Hello, Kenny, welcome to theshow.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Thank you guys, so much for having me.
I'm very, very excited.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
We are very excited that you're here.
You've done a lot, you know,between your songs writing and
producing your songs, being astudent now doing performances.
Tell everyone out there who maynot know who you are.
A little bit about yourself.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
So yeah, I am.
My name is Kenny Elrod.
I'm an indie pop writer, singerand producer from Illinois, a
little bit away from Chicago,but for people who aren't
familiar with cities in Illinois, I like to say Chicago,
illinois.
But yeah, I started releasingmy music in 2020.
(01:30):
During the pandemic, I had noreal form of like entertainment
during the pandemic besidesmaking music, which I discovered
, and at first I was not takingit seriously.
But then I decided to put myfirst song out to the world for
the heck of it, and it made merealize that I wanted a real
(01:52):
career in music and ever sincethen, I've kind of been working
towards that.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Yeah, the world responded.
The world enjoyed it.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
The world did respond .
The world enjoyed and the worldliterally changed my
perspective on what I wanted todo for the rest of my life,
which is insane yeah, well, itfeels good to be good at
something.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
You know what I?
Speaker 3 (02:12):
mean it.
It does genuinely.
If it were not for, like, Idon't think I'm like necessarily
bad at other things, but I justhad no other passion for
anything else.
So if it weren't for takingthis leap of faith into diving
into the music industry, I don'tknow where I'd be right now,
and now I'm actually going toschool for music, so Awesome.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
So we, we interviewed you, gosh a year ago.
Maybe, yeah, maybe even acouple.
Yeah, I think.
I don't know how many timesI've seen you.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
a few times yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
I've interviewed you at least once.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
What have you been doing since?
When we last spoke with you Ithink you were still in high
school you just had maybe one ortwo big songs out.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Yeah, what's going on in your life since songs out,
yeah, going on in your lifesince.
So ever since then, I likebetween then and now, is when I
like really finalized that Iwanted to pursue music seriously
.
So, around my senior year ofhigh school, I began like
(03:22):
rushing to find a good schoolfor this career, because I feel
like majoring in music is one ofthose things where, like you
really need to find a goodschool or else, like you don't
really know where it's going totake you, and I wanted to be
like confident in my schoolchoice.
So I decided to apply toBerklee College of Music, which
(03:45):
is where I am thankfully nowenrolled at, and I've just been
studying there, for it's mysecond year right now, and I've
been studying here for, yeah,like about a year and a half now
and it's just been like themost amazing school experience I
have literally ever had.
Um, um, they like really reallyare preparing me for a future
(04:08):
in music, which is exactly whatI needed.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
And I just want to, I want to ask sorry, I keep
interrupting Um, so with um,with school like what did
surprise you with something thatyou've learned there, that
you're like oh, they're teachingme this.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Yeah, I think the biggest thing that I've learned
is how to market myself bettersince being here, because that
was something that I didn't havemuch knowledge of before.
All that I really had knowledgeof was, like how to write songs
and how to produce them.
(04:45):
I was able to teach myself that, um, but as far as like how to
really market myself as anartist, that is knowledge that I
didn't really acquire before,and ever since being here, I've
really gotten like more of aninsight and more of an
understanding of how importantmarketing yourself really is.
(05:07):
I never would have reallyunderstood that before coming
here.
They have really, really helpedout in that field.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Yeah, I feel like it's a hard concept.
You're a very humble person.
You're not like a boastful typelook at me type person.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
They think that that's something that has to be
taught Because it'suncomfortable doing that Exactly
the problem is.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
marketing yourself feels like boasting sometimes,
because to be able to marketyourself, you need to know that
you're good.
You're good enough to marketyourself, which is like the
problem, because I don't want to, you just have to learn how to
do it right.
Because I don't want to comeoff as like I'm good, like hire
me, do these things with me.
(05:54):
I don't want to come off likethat.
I just want to come off assomebody who's like approachable
and you just want to work withbecause I'm approachable and I
can also do things you know,yeah, well, yeah, I mean, you
have to believe in yourself,because it's hard for other
people to believe in you if youdon't believe in yourself.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
So that's an important thing and there's
nothing wrong with that at all.
I'm kind of curious now thatyou transitioned into doing live
performances as an artist, whatdo you feel is the major
difference?
You know, as far as when you'rein the studio, you know you're
doing your editing, you'regetting everything perfect,
versus doing live, wheresometimes you know things don't
(06:37):
go the way they're supposed toyeah, I mean, it's literally a
night and day difference because, in the studio.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
when I'm well studio, I record stuff from my own
bedroom.
I consider that my studio,though, but there I'm like
completely by myself.
Nobody there to judge my notgood vocal takes, nobody there
to like judge really anythingbut myself.
So I can do things over andover again and like make it as
(07:09):
perfect as I want to sound itwhen I'm recording things from
my room, but when it comes tolive performances, it obviously
just does not work like that.
Like there are artists outthere that perform with
auto-tune as well.
I have my own opinions about it.
I don't, it's not for me.
It's not for me.
I don't want to be.
(07:30):
It just feels less authentic tome.
So I just like performing myvocals like straight through how
it sounds and there's going tobe mishaps, but honestly, I've.
At first I was very insecureabout it it, but I've kind of
come to learn that like that isthe whole point of live
performances.
Nobody wants to go to a liveperformance and hear the music
(07:55):
exactly how it is in the studiorecording, because then they
would just be able to listen tothat studio recording for free
from home to listen to thatstudio recording for free from
home.
So I feel like doing liveperformances with those
imperfections is what makes itperfect, you know.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
What I saw also in one of your live performances
you taught the audience how tosing.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
What provoked you to do that, Like where'd you even
get that idea?
Speaker 3 (08:24):
So I actually got the idea from the person who drums
with me.
His name is Easton.
He likes to go by the jazz punkhe.
We were practicing the song,rehearsing the song, and in the
studio recording.
There is a point in the song.
It's called Whenever You'reGone.
By the way, in the studiorecording there is in the chorus
(08:47):
.
There's like these vocalslayered on top of each other and
I create this chorus effectwith my own voice, but only with
myself.
So Easton, at one of ourrehearsals, was like how sick
would it be to try to turn theaudience into a choir during
this section?
And I was, like you're on tosomething.
(09:07):
Like you're, you're on tosomething.
So we he and honestly he cameup with this idea a couple weeks
before the performance which,like I, was pretty nervous about
.
I didn't know if there would beenough people there to like
really go through with this.
I didn't know if we had enoughtime to like really go through
with this.
I didn't know if we had enoughtime to like perfect it, but the
turnout was literally.
(09:28):
I couldn't ask for a betterturnout.
It was exactly what I imaginedit to be.
Rehearsing it was pretty likefunny, because I would have to
pretend that there was anaudience in front of me singing
a choir, so like I wouldrehearse it like that.
So I was like I hope I'm notdoing all this for nothing and
it really really did turn out.
(09:50):
So, honestly, shout out toeaston for that idea, because it
was just, oh, it was so muchfun.
I'm just, I'm so happy theaudience engaged, like actually
participated.
Yeah, yeah, couldn't have doneit without them.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Shout out to that audience too yeah, your audience
really does get into your music.
Um, I remember when we came outto see you at so far and, um,
there was actually a couplethere I don't know if you
remember or not that did not goto your school, but they follow
your music and they're actualreal fans and they came out to
(10:24):
see you and I thought that wasso cool that they did that.
And you know it was so funny.
And I know some people outthere like, hmm, lawrence Elroy,
kenny Elroy yeah, he's actuallymy son, that's okay, and it was
so fun to see.
And even when you did theperformance at the cafe, how
(10:47):
people got into it.
They were singing your music.
I mean singing word for word.
What kind of motivation do youget when you're up on stage?
Speaker 3 (10:57):
You know, what kind of feelings do you get,
especially when you see peopleliterally just really getting
into the music, getting intoyour performance yeah, I mean
honestly, I think it's theenergy of the audience that
gives me that motivation, itgives me that hype, because even
if the audience wasn't asenergetic as I am, I'm gonna try
(11:20):
to give that same performanceenergy no matter what.
But like I can really honestlysay it makes such a big
difference when you have like asolid audience that does like to
engage and does enjoy listeningto music, that you can like
tell just enjoys music ingeneral.
It makes a very big difference.
I I get so much more confidentup on that stage when there's
(11:41):
people in the audience that arelike hyping me up, no matter
what.
It just makes me feel reallygood.
It gives me that like boost,you know.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
I'm sorry if you heard dogs running in through
here screeching.
That was you, didn't, oh good.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
I didn't, I didn't hear a thing.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Hey, the wonders of you so now do you feel more, now
that you have all theseperformances sort of under your
belt, do you feel that you arelike progressing more as a
performer, or would you stillcall yourself like a writer or a
musician or an artist?
(12:18):
Where where would you rank?
Speaker 3 (12:20):
yeah.
So I've actually been thinkinga lot about that recently
because at first I did not haveintention really of performing
my own music.
I didn't know that was like athing I could do.
At first, honestly, I was justwriting music, putting it out,
(12:44):
thought that that was going tobe like, and I was happy with
that at first.
I didn't know there was moreoutside of that at the time, but
ever since, like being at thisschool is where I realized that
like performing is such a bigpart of being an artist as well,
and so now that I've like beenperforming more, I feel more
well-rounded as an artist andlike it just makes me really
(13:05):
excited to like keep doing this.
I I've had so much funperforming lately.
It's kind of been consumingmost of my time.
Actually, I I need to get backinto recording music and stuff,
but lately performing has kindof been consuming everything
because it is so much fun, likeit.
It genuinely just brings me,honestly, a lot more joy than
(13:28):
recording stuff in the studio bymyself.
It is so, so much fun.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Do you still get nervous?
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Like yes, definitely, I do still get nervous.
I feel like those butterfliesin my stomach right before
getting on stage, but I'd sayafter, like my first song, that
I perform on the stage.
Once I get past one song, therest is a breeze.
I just get those good vibes,the good energy, and then I
(13:57):
don't even, I don't even seemyself as performing on stage in
front of an audience.
It gets to a point in which Iam performing for my friends or
my family.
It's like I'm just putting on ashow just for fun.
I don't see it as like oh, youhave this audience that's gonna
judge how good of a performanceyou're putting on.
I don't.
I start to not see it like thatanymore.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
I just start to see it as I have some friends here
that are here to watch meperform and I'm Let me ask you a
question regarding your music,when you do work on songs and
I'm just curious, becauseeveryone has their own style,
their own motivation as far aswhat they do or what they see
(14:43):
that motivates them to writetheir music, what motivates you
to write your music anddetermining your songs and how
you're going to put the songstogether and, you know, lay the
songs out- honestly, I getmotivation and inspiration from
multiple different outlets.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
it it's hard to pin it down to one specific thing
because I find myself in themost random settings, sometimes
getting motivation to write.
Like I can't even think of anexact example.
Like sometimes I'll just bewalking down the street and I'll
see like a random person withtheir partner walking their dog
(15:24):
or something, and I'll likepaint out an entire story in my
head about these random peopleand just get inspiration to
write.
Or sometimes it'll be somethingthat I'm going through that I
feel personally that I wouldlike to write about and I kind
of turned writing songs into myoutlet for just like letting out
thoughts in my head.
I kind of do get motivation andinspiration from like just life
(15:49):
in general, just a little bitof everything you know.
There's nothing like specific Ican pin it down to.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
I'm happy you said that you get motivation from
like people on the street,because I think to some of your
songs I'm like Kenny has reallygone through it and a broken.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
It makes me feel a little better that maybe it was
like a little like no, yeah,yeah, some some of my songs
definitely are like likepersonal, like I could say
confidently my song so low,that's about my life, like that.
That is stuff that definitelyhappened to me.
But I do have songs out, likethe most recent one I put out uh
(16:36):
is called stove.
That one was kind of just I waswriting from the perspective of
a fictional character.
Honestly, like I do thatsometimes because I'm only 19
years old, I haven't evenexperienced so much life yet,
not enough to write about likethings like deep, deep topics,
(16:56):
you know.
So sometimes I just have tocreate stories in my head, like
fictional characters in my headand then write about their lives
and yeah, I, it's so much fundoing that actually, because
then the possibilities are likeendless well, stove had me
worried about you.
I was like yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah, yeah, no, don't, don't you
(17:21):
worry that one specifically,that that was just a made-up
story like it, okay, good butit's still relatable.
I still try to make it likerelatable.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Yeah, yeah I mean it and it is relatable, and what I
like about it is that I don'twant to say vague enough, but
it's.
It's open for so muchinterpretation yeah, yeah, yeah
that there's not really like alike I.
I don't know the whole story,but like I need to in order to
like apply it to my life or apast relationship or whatever.
(17:53):
It's good, it's good, I'm gladthat you said that that's.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
That's kind of exactly the vibe that I go for.
I want I want my music to beuniversal, if that makes sense.
Like I want people to relate toit.
Even though, like it wasn'tspecifically written about them,
I wanted to them to still beable to relate to it and find
some type of connection to it.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Well, success.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Thank you, I really appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Hey, Kenny, I'm curious.
You have a lot on your platewith going to school, still
doing your music performing, andthen all the other things
that's going on in your lifemusic performing and then all
the other things that's going onin your life.
What keeps you focused as faras being able to do your
performances, do well in schooland then even work on new music?
What's your motivation to keepmoving forward?
Speaker 3 (18:44):
my motivation.
Creating a stable career out ofmy like art is my motivation to
keep going.
I am doing performances likecrazy.
I'm still writing music likecrazy because I'm just thinking
(19:05):
about that end goal and I am somotivated to, like make
something out of this.
It's really what pushes me tokeep me going and, honestly,
like you guys and all my friendsaround me, family and
everything like, I want to makepeople proud as well.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
So yeah, you do.
Thank you Now, with all theselike live performances, have you
had like a rock star momentthat you were definitely like,
oh, like that's how they thinkof me, or like you know what I
mean?
Have you had a rock star moment?
Speaker 3 (19:44):
I you know what, like I we've already talked about it
, but I think, after turning theuh audience into a choir like
how I did with that one show,that kind of even though it was
like them performing that andnot me it still kind of felt
like a rock star moment because,like I, I wrote this song with
(20:09):
no intention of ever doingsomething like this.
But to be able to createsomething like that out of a
song that I just wrote so longago and then, like, turn this
entire choir into, or turn thisentire audience into a choir,
like that it felt so cool.
Like it genuinely like filledmy heart in a way that I cannot
(20:30):
explain.
And then I got, um, I got suchpositive feedback about it
afterwards too, like everybodywas telling me that, like that
was their favorite part of theshow, it was so much fun.
Like they genuinely just likeloved doing that and I'm like,
oh, that's so good to hear, likeit's just so good to hear.
I would say that was honestlylike my rock star moment, that
(20:51):
that really, really likesolidified that.
Like I want to do this forever.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
When they listened to you like that's the thing, like
I've been to like a show andthere's been like an opener,
that's like hey, like they likestart clapping.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
When else starts clapping with them Cause they're
not into the band.
Like this starts clapping withthem because they're not into
the band.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Like this yeah, like that's horrible feeling, so like
it could have went thatdirection.
It could have went thatdirection.
Yeah, that's that's honestly,that that was my biggest fear.
To be honest, I I have seenopeners before for concerts and
people tend to just dislikeopeners because they just want
to get to who they're actuallythere to see.
But genuinely, like my biggestfear is to be in that position
(21:42):
where nobody's bringing thatenergy.
But I just got to remember tolike keep, keep my head up there
, no matter what.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Like still bring that energy, even if they don't
reciprocate it yes, that's hugehey, kenny, I was wondering, um,
what type of artists would youlike to collaborate with one day
?
Because, you know, I think thatyou're getting pretty close to
that point where, um, you know,you, you may be thinking in your
mind, hey, I would love tocollaborate with this type of
(22:12):
artist, with this type of genre.
Um, because one of the things Ilike about Berklee is they
force you to go out of yourcomfort zone, and that's what I
really love about that school.
So have you kind of thoughtabout, you know, maybe getting
out of your comfort zone, tryingdifferent types of music, or
maybe even just collaboratingwith someone that you probably
(22:32):
wouldn't think of collaboratingwith, let's say, a year or two
ago?
Speaker 3 (22:36):
Yeah, that's a hard question.
I can't exactly put names topeople that I'd want to
collaborate with, but beforelast year collaborating with
somebody wasn't even somethingthat crossed my mind at all.
But now I'm at a point where Iam so open to collaborating with
people.
As far as like doing differentgenres I don't know about that
(23:01):
yet.
I'm sure at some point I wouldlike to like experiment with
different genres, but honestly,like I would not have thought of
myself as collaborating withanybody before last year or a
couple of years ago.
So now that I'm at this schoolwhere collaboration is such a
(23:23):
common thing, it has reallyopened my mind to being, like,
just more open to collaboratingwith other people.
I definitely would.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
And you mentioned your drummer Easton.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Do you?
Speaker 1 (23:36):
have other, like like band members that you
repeatedly work with, or is itreally?
Yeah, oh, you do have a wholeband.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Yeah, no, I have a whole band.
So I have Easton as the drummer, I have Haven playing keys, I
have my friend Joe playing basshe goes by Stumbler as his
artist name and then I have myfriend Lila on guitar and they
are just so, so good.
I actually recently likesolidified them as a band, I
(24:07):
think, because last year when Istarted doing performances, I
was still like in the air aboutwho to perform with, who I like
vibed with the best and who waswilling to do this with me and
was not like too busy to do it.
And that was really hardbecause we're all here Study.
We're still here to study, likedoing performances is fun and
(24:30):
everything, and like we do haveto do it to like advance our
career.
But in retrospect, we're allhere like studying still.
So it's like hard to findpeople who match the vibe and
have the time to do it, uh.
So last year I people I wasperforming with was still like
in the air.
But this year I did one showwith them, uh, in september at a
(24:58):
different venue, and then afterthat show went really well and
after that show they were likewe want to keep playing with you
and I'm like well, I want tokeep playing with you guys.
So then then, after that, wegot the, we got the cap show and
that went really really well.
And now we're all like.
We're all like yeah we're goingto keep playing together
(25:22):
Awesome.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Yeah, I did see a video of you just with the
guitarist and so and that mademe think of other genres for you
I was like, could I imagine youwith a country singer?
Like I was writing songs foryou already, Like I was, I was
dancing for you.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
So I mean, like honestly, I would be down to
doing other genres like that,and so at some point I think,
like right now, I want to buildmore of my discography is like
my primary genre.
But once I like get to thatpoint where I'm very, very
comfortable in this genre, Iwould like to like experiment a
(26:02):
little bit more.
At some point doing so, Idefinitely want to do more
acoustic things too at somepoint too yeah, really good, it
sounded really good thank youthank you.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
I know, kenny, that a lot of people are watching this
, and you know there's someyoung performers out there that
want to get in the music as welltoo, and you know you're not
even anywhere near the peak ofwhere you're going to be, but
there's a lot of people thatactually look up to you as far
as what you're doing.
They follow you, and you have alot of followers, consistent
(26:38):
followers, that also engage withyou.
What advice would you givesomeone that are looking at you
and saying, hey, I want to dothis, I want to make this a
career.
What steps should I take?
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Because I think you're at that point right now
where you could probably givethem some sound advice,
especially being that you knowthey're probably near that same
age group you're in.
Honestly, it's very cliche, butI think the first thing I would
tell them is just to get out ofthe mindset that it might not
be possible, because you justgot to tell yourself that it is
possible and you are going to doit.
Just tell yourself I can dothis and then work towards it.
(27:18):
You just got to work towards it.
So, as far as like how to getreally into it, I personally
started with YouTube videos.
You can teach yourself how toproduce by just watching crazy
amount of YouTube videos.
You can teach yourself how toproduce by just watching crazy
amount of YouTube videos.
You can teach yourself how towrite by watching YouTube videos
or just like anything online orhonestly, just by listening to
(27:43):
music that you enjoy, bylistening to what you like to
hear.
You can reflect off of that andtake inspiration from that and
try to recreate things like thattoo, because it it's it's a
hard learning curve, but onceyou get around that curve, it it
becomes extremely fun, and thenyou could just like keep doing
(28:05):
it and you just gotta keep doingit until you get to that point
where you're like, yeah, this isit, you know yeah, love that
advice, um.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
So I've seen like I've snooped on your TikTok, um,
and so I was curious when wewere talking about you marketing
yourself, you always look socool, oh so cute ideas, so
intrusive.
But no, you always look so coolLike you always have your, your
(28:37):
glasses or jewelry or yoursweaters.
You always look so good, likehow, how much like prep time
goes into that, or are they likegenuinely, like super authentic
, like yeah, this is what I puton today, and then I just said
you know it's, it's a, it's alittle bit of both.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
I can't lie.
So what I wear on stage, Iwould just casually wear out too
.
I, I want to say as authenticto myself on stage as I do off
stage.
Um, but I I actually am likepretty heavily into fashion.
So when, when I am performing,I do like to step out of the box
like a little bit, just becauseit's a big event for me.
(29:20):
It doesn't happen every day, soI want to dress up like a
little bit cooler than I wouldon a day to day basis for sure.
So thought, thought definitelydoes go into what I'm wearing on
stage ahead of time, for sure,gotcha.
But it's still you, it's stillme.
It's still me.
I want what I'm wearing tomatch the vibe of me as a person
(29:44):
, if that makes sense, and Ialso have a weird thing for
matching my clothes to the colorof my hair.
So I don't know if you couldtell right now, but my hair is
blue, dark blue, and I got thisuh, this sweater from Urban
Outfitters a couple days ago andit matches the hair like pretty
thank you the same thing, sothat you're gonna wear red for
(30:10):
like three weeks yeah exactly,exactly
Speaker 2 (30:14):
it's a gen z thing, it's a it's, it's, it's a gen z
thing yeah, speaking of fashion,uh, somebody I know actually
did their first professional uhphoto take for a, a major
outfitter.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Oh you're talking about, okay, gotcha, I was a
little bit confused at first too.
Yeah, it wasn't actually likethrough the company, but I work
at an Urban Outfitters and so Igot asked by.
Her name is Natalie, I don'tknow exactly what her position
(30:55):
is, but she asked me if I wantedto do a shoot for the Urban
Outfitters Boston account,specifically a photo shoot, and
I was like, honestly, yeah, I'venever really done photography
before, but like I'm willing totry it, and so we did it and she
posted us on the UrbanOutfitters Boston account.
But then the Urban Outfittersofficial account, with like 8.2
(31:19):
million followers, saw that postand then reposted it onto their
Instagram and I'm like that'spretty cool.
That's pretty cool yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Did they like how to model and like your angles, or
were they like be you?
Speaker 3 (31:35):
it was a, it was a little bit of both.
So, like I, I would just liketest something out, and then
she'd be like you look great,but try this, and then, like, do
a little something different.
Um, so yeah, yeah.
No, it was really fun, thoughI've never really done modeling
before, I don't really know ifit's like my thing, like I would
(31:56):
do it again, but it was cool tojust like do it, like just say
yes to it and then get posted onthe Urban Outfitters like
Instagram, like that.
That's why, like, I feel likeit's a good example of just
saying yes to everything, like,like, maybe maybe not to
(32:17):
everything, but I have kind ofbeen in the mindset where, like
lately, I've just been takinglike every single opportunity I
can get, like ever.
So I think, yeah, I think thatwas like a really good example
of like just say yes to it.
You don't know what couldhappen.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
You know, like a really good example of like just
say yes to it, you don't knowwhat could happen, you know yes.
And that's such a great lesson,because, yes, you, you, I don't
know.
And when you're younger, youtend to think that opportunities
just come up all the time.
So you have the luxury ofsaying no but at a certain point
you have to say yes or elseit's dry up.
So it's great that you've justgotten into the habit of saying,
yep, I'm going to try it.
(32:53):
Yep, let's do it Maybe.
I'll fail, it'll be fun.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Exactly, exactly.
Maybe it'll fail, maybe it'llbe fun, that's the thing.
But like you never know, sojust just do it, you know yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Do you ever think that you would ever try
something like that if theydidn't approach you?
Speaker 3 (33:10):
If, can you ask that one more time?
If?
Speaker 2 (33:13):
in other words, if they didn't approach you.
If, can you ask that one moretime?
If, in other words, if theydidn't ask you to do the photo
shoot, would that something youthink you would have tried on
your own at some point?
Or not really.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
I don't, I don't think so.
Personally, I've never reallythought about modeling, but like
I think, just the fact thatthey asked me to do it, I was
like I don't see, why not, youknow?
Speaker 1 (33:35):
was like I don't see why not you know?
So then I took it yeah, and youmentioned that you are into
like fashion.
Have you?
Would you ever like designsomething like would you ever,
you know, make your own pantsline?
Speaker 3 (33:44):
I don't know what designers do, but you know what
I mean I would do somethingalong those lines or just nah uh
, I mean actually, uh, myboyfriend, he goes to school
like right around here and heactually makes stuff for me to
perform in.
So, uh, I don't know if thiswill come up on the screen, but
(34:07):
like what I'm wearing in thispicture, he kind kind of like he
made that like by himself, andI kind of, if I want something
made, I could kind of just go tohim and be like, yeah, yeah,
yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
No, for sure, Nice Now.
Do you have any new projectsthat you're working on right now
?
Speaker 3 (34:32):
So, yes, I don't have a time frame of like when
they'll actually be released tothe general public, but I
definitely do have things thatI'm like keeping in my back
pocket, for now for sure howabout any music videos?
At some point I I don't havemuch to speak on it yet, but at
(34:57):
some point for sure now, do you?
Speaker 1 (35:02):
I mean, I kind of joked about you being like Gen Z
earlier, um, but do you feellike your?
I guess the music industry thatyou're getting into is
different than the musicindustry of 15 years ago or 10
years ago, and how do you thinkyou have been?
Able to maneuver that change.
Speaker 3 (35:21):
Yeah, so like 100%, it is completely different than
it was, like even 15 years agocompletely different.
It was like even 15 years ago,completely different.
Um, and I think the biggestfactor in that has been social
media.
Specifically social media haskind of changed the music
industry entirely, likecompletely, because the industry
(35:45):
right now is honestly sodependent on social media, like
making as much as it kind ofsucks, but like making a good
following on your social mediaswill kind of make or break a
career in the music industry,whereas 15 or so years ago you
(36:09):
could send demos to a label andthey'd like what you, they like
what they hear, and then they'relike we sign you and we'll take
care of it from here.
They'll market you.
But that's why, like, being atberkeley has been so, it's been
so like important to learn howto market yourself, because
that's what it's about now.
Like you, you can't rely onthat record label to find you
(36:34):
from just one little demo andthen they'll market you from
there and take care of yourcareer from there.
You, you got to get yourself tothat point, you got to work
your way up there, and then youcan talk to the labels once they
see you on those social medias,you know.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
When I remember when you first had gotten big, that
you like declined to sign with,to kind of go out on on your own
, and again I'm like that's justso opposite of what I I would
do?
I think yeah yeah, but I meanagain, I think that goes.
That goes with you know, youknowing what the current
(37:10):
industry is like, and me from aposition of, well, you know,
when I was young, when I wasyounger, you know, yeah no to do
it.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
yeah.
So like then, when I had myfirst single, like blow up on
social media, I did not think Iwanted to pursue music like I
genuinely.
That was at that point where Iwanted to pursue music Like I
genuinely.
That was at that point where Iwas putting out music for the
heck of it.
I was just like, let's justlike put this out.
(37:40):
At first it was just for myfriends and my peers at school
to listen to, and my family ofcourse, and that's like where I
drew the line.
And then, obviously, it pickedup a little bit more.
And so when these labels startedto reach out and asking me to
do these these big boy things,I'm like, I am 16 years old, I
(38:02):
have no clue what you're evensaying to me right now.
Like I, I just didn't know.
I didn't know, I didn't havethe knowledge of like, is this a
good deal?
Is this a good deal?
And that's that's also anotherreason why I'm at this school
right now, because I want to beable to make good decisions for
myself in the future.
Um, cause, at the time I I didnot know what they were asking
(38:26):
out of me, what they wanted todo.
I didn't know they wanted tolike what they wanted to do.
I didn't know they wanted tolike take me as an artist.
I was like I don't even like.
I just didn't know that was theissue.
So, yeah, but um, now I'm likestarting to gain that knowledge
of those good decisions to make.
(38:47):
So if at some point that evercomes back, that like, then I'll
, and it's a good feeling.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
Yeah, I'm actually pretty curious.
You know you've been in thisjourney now over three years.
You know doing it seriously.
I guess if you had to go backto when you first started, right
before writing that first song,what would you tell yourself
three years ago?
That you did not know then,that you know now?
Speaker 3 (39:18):
I would just tell myself to be cautious, because
there are some labels out therethat see you as less of a human
being and more of a transaction.
So I would say, just like, bemindful of who you're speaking
to and what they really want, ifthey actually have the right
(39:42):
intentions of signing you.
Because, again, like the pointof a label is a business, it's a
corporation.
Their main goal is to makemoney, which isn't the problem.
The problem comes where, like,they dehumanize people, artists,
(40:04):
because they are like theirtransactions.
They can make them money andthat's all that they really care
about.
And I would just tell myself tostay the heck away from those
people.
Speaker 1 (40:19):
Similarly, like have you noticed that with like
people, like friendships orfriends, like people are get
weird and like just try to beyour friend because you are
successful?
Speaker 3 (40:37):
your friend because you are successful.
Yeah, this is that's like aweird.
It's kind of a weird topicbecause, like I don't like again
, I don't want to come off aslike somebody like I I I do know
that I have a like generalfollowing and some streams.
I don't want to like come offlike as like oh, I I know that I
(40:58):
do have all these followers andstuff.
But there have been a coupletimes where I've like noticed
some people say some weirdthings to me when trying to be
friends with me, specifically atthis school.
Um, they would.
If somebody approaches me andbrings up like my following or
(41:20):
my streams before introducingthemselves as a person, I'm like
okay, I see your intentionswith like wanting to be friends
with me, which is like weirdbecause, like I'm open to being
friends with everybody, like Igenuinely I love people, I love
making friends, it's like myfavorite thing to do, but only
if they have the rightintentions of being friends with
(41:41):
me, because I have been able totell sometimes a couple times
at the school that like peoplewill want to be your friend
because they think they canbenefit off of being your friend
.
You know, like in a businesssetting.
It's weird, but it's happenedfor sure.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
And don't like.
You do not come across as likebeing an ego maniac or anything
like it is, so it doesn't soundcrazy or anything thank you,
yeah no, you don't sound full ofyourself like you.
You, it's a genuine real talentyou have, so it's like okay to
say that in you yeah thank younow tell me how do you keep
(42:31):
everything straight with yourschedules?
Speaker 2 (42:33):
because man, working school, music performing, just
saying all that, I get tiredjust thinking about.
How do you keep everythingstraight and still be able to
balance your life?
And you know, obviously youknow you're a college, so of
course you got to have some timeto yourself and enjoy your
friends.
So how do you keep balancingyour life?
Speaker 3 (42:55):
I just try to make sure that, like I'm I'm happy at
the end of the day.
Like, as long as, like I'mdoing all of these things and
I'm really busy, but I'm stillhappy at the end of it, then
that's all that I need.
If I ever am like at a pointwhere I'm doing so much and I'm
burning myself out and I'mgetting stressed out and stuff
(43:16):
like that, then I'm like okay, Ineed to cut it down, we, we, we
need to cut, cut all thebusyness down a little bit for
my own wellbeing, for my ownmental health, um, and it has
not gotten to that point yet.
I genuinely I'm kind of thetype of person that likes always
having something to do, um,cause it just makes me feel like
(43:36):
productive, I guess.
Uh, and even even spending sometime just with myself, like
watching TV, that's still doingsomething, like it still makes
me feel good because I'm doingit for myself, know, um.
Speaker 1 (43:50):
But yeah, I just think like, as long as I'm busy
and not like stressed out andjust happy, then I'm chilling
yeah yeah now kind of going awayfrom like the music aspect or
like the career and just likecollege stuff, like you that
(44:13):
moved like across the country oflike states away out of your
parents house and you've beenable to, like, manage your
schedule and you obviously, like, you're eating like you're not
you have to lose like 30 poundsbecause you don't like.
Do you have any advice for likesomeone who's thinking of
(44:33):
making a huge move like that?
Speaker 3 (44:36):
yeah, it was very difficult at first because I
have never done anything likethis before, like I've never
really been, I've never reallybeen out of my house, away from
my parents, away from all myfriends before, in a setting
like this.
So to just move 1718 miles ornot miles away, like hours away,
(45:01):
and then, like I think, likealmost 1000 miles away it was.
It was scary at first and it'sgoing to be.
No matter what advice I giveanybody doing the same thing,
it's going to be.
No matter what advice I giveanybody doing the same thing,
it's going to be scary, nomatter what, it's still going to
be scary.
But, like, genuinely, as long asyou like know what you're doing
(45:22):
, you know what you're there for, you are going to be okay, like
genuinely you're going to beokay.
And I wish I could have toldmyself that at first, because I
was pretty sad, pretty stressedout, felt pretty lonely at first
because I didn't know anybodyhere.
But you just got to give ittime, let yourself, be
comfortable by yourself and thengo out into the world, meet new
(45:46):
people, see new things.
It will be OK.
You're going to have, like it'sgoing to be, a good time, no
matter what.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
Awesome.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
Well, Kenny, this was an awesome interview.
Speaker 3 (45:59):
I appreciate you coming to the show.
I had so much fun.
You guys are so much fun totalk to.
Thank you so much for having meagain.
Speaker 2 (46:07):
Thank you.
Now, of course, before youleave out of here, I do want you
to tell people that's watchinghow they can not only stream
your music to enjoy it andlisten to it, but also follow
you on your social media as well.
As you know, maybe even there'ssome venues out there that may
want to reach out to you to hireyou to play music.
Tell everybody how they can geta hold of you.
Speaker 3 (46:29):
Yeah, so if you want to check out the social medias,
both my TikTok and my Instagram,which are my primary social
medias you can look me up atKenny Elrod, which is Elrod is
spelled the same way as Elrod TVNetwork.
If you're here watching and ifyou want to stream any of my
music, I on all streamingplatforms, whatever you use,
(46:52):
under the name kenny elrod andhow do people reach out to you
if they want to hire you?
if they want to hire me, theycan shoot me a dm on instagram.
Uh, I think that's probablywhere I'm most active on is,
honestly, that's where I'vegotten a lot of business things
actually outside.
It's surprising, but email iskind of in this industry, email
(47:17):
kind of doesn't really exist.
Most things that I've beenreached out to for have been
through Instagram, so you couldshoot me a DM and I will see it.
Speaker 2 (47:26):
Okay, I know you're calling me old because I still
use email, but that's okay.
Speaker 3 (47:30):
And it's okay.
It is okay, I still use emailbut that's okay.
Speaker 2 (47:31):
Yeah, and it's okay, it is okay.
Well, everyone else, don't gotoo far.
We're going to take a quickbreak and, kenny, thank you
again for coming on the show.
Thank you guys, thank you youtoo, everyone else, we'll be
right back.
Welcome back everyone.
Speaker 1 (47:56):
This was a fantastic interview, as always.
Yes, I love his energy so much.
Kenny is just such a like abright, shining little star.
I just he is the best.
He's so happy he always likejust brings such good energy.
Speaker 2 (48:06):
Oh, yes, yes, and we really appreciate him spending
some time.
And, you know, we learned alittle bit more about kenny, not
only about his, his art, butalso about kenny, the person,
too, which people don't realize.
You know, believe it or not,the people that you watch and
listen to.
Speaker 1 (48:21):
They are people, too, he has.
He is a genuine human being,yeah, and he's just so humble
and great.
So I I enjoy talking to him andI can't wait to see all that
you know, he hasn't you knowlife has in store for him and
the success that he'll he'llhave, you know, in the years to
come.
So definitely, definitely.
But if you are interested ingetting a hold of us or perhaps
(48:43):
being a guest on our show,please reach out to us on our
social media.
Elrod tv.
We're on Instagram and also onFacebook.
Speaker 2 (48:53):
And I want to take this time to tell everyone thank
you again for watching us andsupporting us, and do us a favor
and let other people know whowe are and come watch us as well
and, most importantly, alwayshave those thirsty conversations
.
Thank you, enjoy your evening,everyone.
Bye, bye, bye.
Hello everyone, welcome to this week's episode
of Thirsty Conversations.
Hello, hello.
We have a great show for youtoday.
We are here with the wonderful,very talented songwriter,
producer, performer and writer,Kenny Elrod.
(00:43):
Hello, Kenny, welcome to theshow.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Thank you guys, so much for having me.
I'm very, very excited.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
We are very excited that you're here.
You've done a lot, you know,between your songs writing and
producing your songs, being astudent now doing performances.
Tell everyone out there who maynot know who you are.
A little bit about yourself.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
So yeah, I am.
My name is Kenny Elrod.
I'm an indie pop writer, singerand producer from Illinois, a
little bit away from Chicago,but for people who aren't
familiar with cities in Illinois, I like to say Chicago,
illinois.
But yeah, I started releasingmy music in 2020.
(01:30):
During the pandemic, I had noreal form of like entertainment
during the pandemic besidesmaking music, which I discovered
, and at first I was not takingit seriously.
But then I decided to put myfirst song out to the world for
the heck of it, and it made merealize that I wanted a real
(01:52):
career in music and ever sincethen, I've kind of been working
towards that.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Yeah, the world responded.
The world enjoyed it.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
The world did respond .
The world enjoyed and the worldliterally changed my
perspective on what I wanted todo for the rest of my life,
which is insane yeah, well, itfeels good to be good at
something.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
You know what I?
Speaker 3 (02:12):
mean it.
It does genuinely.
If it were not for, like, Idon't think I'm like necessarily
bad at other things, but I justhad no other passion for
anything else.
So if it weren't for takingthis leap of faith into diving
into the music industry, I don'tknow where I'd be right now,
and now I'm actually going toschool for music, so Awesome.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
So we, we interviewed you, gosh a year ago.
Maybe, yeah, maybe even acouple.
Yeah, I think.
I don't know how many timesI've seen you.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
a few times yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
I've interviewed you at least once.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
What have you been doing since?
When we last spoke with you Ithink you were still in high
school you just had maybe one ortwo big songs out.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Yeah, what's going on in your life since songs out,
yeah, going on in your lifesince.
So ever since then, I likebetween then and now, is when I
like really finalized that Iwanted to pursue music seriously
.
So, around my senior year ofhigh school, I began like
(03:22):
rushing to find a good schoolfor this career, because I feel
like majoring in music is one ofthose things where, like you
really need to find a goodschool or else, like you don't
really know where it's going totake you, and I wanted to be
like confident in my schoolchoice.
So I decided to apply toBerklee College of Music, which
(03:45):
is where I am thankfully nowenrolled at, and I've just been
studying there, for it's mysecond year right now, and I've
been studying here for, yeah,like about a year and a half now
and it's just been like themost amazing school experience I
have literally ever had.
Um, um, they like really reallyare preparing me for a future
(04:08):
in music, which is exactly whatI needed.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
And I just want to, I want to ask sorry, I keep
interrupting Um, so with um,with school like what did
surprise you with something thatyou've learned there, that
you're like oh, they're teachingme this.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Yeah, I think the biggest thing that I've learned
is how to market myself bettersince being here, because that
was something that I didn't havemuch knowledge of before.
All that I really had knowledgeof was, like how to write songs
and how to produce them.
(04:45):
I was able to teach myself that, um, but as far as like how to
really market myself as anartist, that is knowledge that I
didn't really acquire before,and ever since being here, I've
really gotten like more of aninsight and more of an
understanding of how importantmarketing yourself really is.
(05:07):
I never would have reallyunderstood that before coming
here.
They have really, really helpedout in that field.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Yeah, I feel like it's a hard concept.
You're a very humble person.
You're not like a boastful typelook at me type person.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
They think that that's something that has to be
taught Because it'suncomfortable doing that Exactly
the problem is.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
marketing yourself feels like boasting sometimes,
because to be able to marketyourself, you need to know that
you're good.
You're good enough to marketyourself, which is like the
problem, because I don't want to, you just have to learn how to
do it right.
Because I don't want to comeoff as like I'm good, like hire
me, do these things with me.
(05:54):
I don't want to come off likethat.
I just want to come off assomebody who's like approachable
and you just want to work withbecause I'm approachable and I
can also do things you know,yeah, well, yeah, I mean, you
have to believe in yourself,because it's hard for other
people to believe in you if youdon't believe in yourself.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
So that's an important thing and there's
nothing wrong with that at all.
I'm kind of curious now thatyou transitioned into doing live
performances as an artist, whatdo you feel is the major
difference?
You know, as far as when you'rein the studio, you know you're
doing your editing, you'regetting everything perfect,
versus doing live, wheresometimes you know things don't
(06:37):
go the way they're supposed toyeah, I mean, it's literally a
night and day difference because, in the studio.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
when I'm well studio, I record stuff from my own
bedroom.
I consider that my studio,though, but there I'm like
completely by myself.
Nobody there to judge my notgood vocal takes, nobody there
to like judge really anythingbut myself.
So I can do things over andover again and like make it as
(07:09):
perfect as I want to sound itwhen I'm recording things from
my room, but when it comes tolive performances, it obviously
just does not work like that.
Like there are artists outthere that perform with
auto-tune as well.
I have my own opinions about it.
I don't, it's not for me.
It's not for me.
I don't want to be.
(07:30):
It just feels less authentic tome.
So I just like performing myvocals like straight through how
it sounds and there's going tobe mishaps, but honestly, I've.
At first I was very insecureabout it it, but I've kind of
come to learn that like that isthe whole point of live
performances.
Nobody wants to go to a liveperformance and hear the music
(07:55):
exactly how it is in the studiorecording, because then they
would just be able to listen tothat studio recording for free
from home to listen to thatstudio recording for free from
home.
So I feel like doing liveperformances with those
imperfections is what makes itperfect, you know.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
What I saw also in one of your live performances
you taught the audience how tosing.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
What provoked you to do that, Like where'd you even
get that idea?
Speaker 3 (08:24):
So I actually got the idea from the person who drums
with me.
His name is Easton.
He likes to go by the jazz punkhe.
We were practicing the song,rehearsing the song, and in the
studio recording.
There is a point in the song.
It's called Whenever You'reGone.
By the way, in the studiorecording there is in the chorus
(08:47):
.
There's like these vocalslayered on top of each other and
I create this chorus effectwith my own voice, but only with
myself.
So Easton, at one of ourrehearsals, was like how sick
would it be to try to turn theaudience into a choir during
this section?
And I was, like you're on tosomething.
(09:07):
Like you're, you're on tosomething.
So we he and honestly he cameup with this idea a couple weeks
before the performance which,like I, was pretty nervous about
.
I didn't know if there would beenough people there to like
really go through with this.
I didn't know if we had enoughtime to like really go through
with this.
I didn't know if we had enoughtime to like perfect it, but the
turnout was literally.
(09:28):
I couldn't ask for a betterturnout.
It was exactly what I imaginedit to be.
Rehearsing it was pretty likefunny, because I would have to
pretend that there was anaudience in front of me singing
a choir, so like I wouldrehearse it like that.
So I was like I hope I'm notdoing all this for nothing and
it really really did turn out.
(09:50):
So, honestly, shout out toeaston for that idea, because it
was just, oh, it was so muchfun.
I'm just, I'm so happy theaudience engaged, like actually
participated.
Yeah, yeah, couldn't have doneit without them.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Shout out to that audience too yeah, your audience
really does get into your music.
Um, I remember when we came outto see you at so far and, um,
there was actually a couplethere I don't know if you
remember or not that did not goto your school, but they follow
your music and they're actualreal fans and they came out to
(10:24):
see you and I thought that wasso cool that they did that.
And you know it was so funny.
And I know some people outthere like, hmm, lawrence Elroy,
kenny Elroy yeah, he's actuallymy son, that's okay, and it was
so fun to see.
And even when you did theperformance at the cafe, how
(10:47):
people got into it.
They were singing your music.
I mean singing word for word.
What kind of motivation do youget when you're up on stage?
Speaker 3 (10:57):
You know, what kind of feelings do you get,
especially when you see peopleliterally just really getting
into the music, getting intoyour performance yeah, I mean
honestly, I think it's theenergy of the audience that
gives me that motivation, itgives me that hype, because even
if the audience wasn't asenergetic as I am, I'm gonna try
(11:20):
to give that same performanceenergy no matter what.
But like I can really honestlysay it makes such a big
difference when you have like asolid audience that does like to
engage and does enjoy listeningto music, that you can like
tell just enjoys music ingeneral.
It makes a very big difference.
I I get so much more confidentup on that stage when there's
(11:41):
people in the audience that arelike hyping me up, no matter
what.
It just makes me feel reallygood.
It gives me that like boost,you know.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
I'm sorry if you heard dogs running in through
here screeching.
That was you, didn't, oh good.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
I didn't, I didn't hear a thing.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Hey, the wonders of you so now do you feel more, now
that you have all theseperformances sort of under your
belt, do you feel that you arelike progressing more as a
performer, or would you stillcall yourself like a writer or a
musician or an artist?
(12:18):
Where where would you rank?
Speaker 3 (12:20):
yeah.
So I've actually been thinkinga lot about that recently
because at first I did not haveintention really of performing
my own music.
I didn't know that was like athing I could do.
At first, honestly, I was justwriting music, putting it out,
(12:44):
thought that that was going tobe like, and I was happy with
that at first.
I didn't know there was moreoutside of that at the time, but
ever since, like being at thisschool is where I realized that
like performing is such a bigpart of being an artist as well,
and so now that I've like beenperforming more, I feel more
well-rounded as an artist andlike it just makes me really
(13:05):
excited to like keep doing this.
I I've had so much funperforming lately.
It's kind of been consumingmost of my time.
Actually, I I need to get backinto recording music and stuff,
but lately performing has kindof been consuming everything
because it is so much fun, likeit.
It genuinely just brings me,honestly, a lot more joy than
(13:28):
recording stuff in the studio bymyself.
It is so, so much fun.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Do you still get nervous?
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Like yes, definitely, I do still get nervous.
I feel like those butterfliesin my stomach right before
getting on stage, but I'd sayafter, like my first song, that
I perform on the stage.
Once I get past one song, therest is a breeze.
I just get those good vibes,the good energy, and then I
(13:57):
don't even, I don't even seemyself as performing on stage in
front of an audience.
It gets to a point in which Iam performing for my friends or
my family.
It's like I'm just putting on ashow just for fun.
I don't see it as like oh, youhave this audience that's gonna
judge how good of a performanceyou're putting on.
I don't.
I start to not see it like thatanymore.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
I just start to see it as I have some friends here
that are here to watch meperform and I'm Let me ask you a
question regarding your music,when you do work on songs and
I'm just curious, becauseeveryone has their own style,
their own motivation as far aswhat they do or what they see
(14:43):
that motivates them to writetheir music, what motivates you
to write your music anddetermining your songs and how
you're going to put the songstogether and, you know, lay the
songs out- honestly, I getmotivation and inspiration from
multiple different outlets.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
it it's hard to pin it down to one specific thing
because I find myself in themost random settings, sometimes
getting motivation to write.
Like I can't even think of anexact example.
Like sometimes I'll just bewalking down the street and I'll
see like a random person withtheir partner walking their dog
(15:24):
or something, and I'll likepaint out an entire story in my
head about these random peopleand just get inspiration to
write.
Or sometimes it'll be somethingthat I'm going through that I
feel personally that I wouldlike to write about and I kind
of turned writing songs into myoutlet for just like letting out
thoughts in my head.
I kind of do get motivation andinspiration from like just life
(15:49):
in general, just a little bitof everything you know.
There's nothing like specific Ican pin it down to.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
I'm happy you said that you get motivation from
like people on the street,because I think to some of your
songs I'm like Kenny has reallygone through it and a broken.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
It makes me feel a little better that maybe it was
like a little like no, yeah,yeah, some some of my songs
definitely are like likepersonal, like I could say
confidently my song so low,that's about my life, like that.
That is stuff that definitelyhappened to me.
But I do have songs out, likethe most recent one I put out uh
(16:36):
is called stove.
That one was kind of just I waswriting from the perspective of
a fictional character.
Honestly, like I do thatsometimes because I'm only 19
years old, I haven't evenexperienced so much life yet,
not enough to write about likethings like deep, deep topics,
(16:56):
you know.
So sometimes I just have tocreate stories in my head, like
fictional characters in my headand then write about their lives
and yeah, I, it's so much fundoing that actually, because
then the possibilities are likeendless well, stove had me
worried about you.
I was like yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah, yeah, no, don't, don't you
(17:21):
worry that one specifically,that that was just a made-up
story like it, okay, good butit's still relatable.
I still try to make it likerelatable.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Yeah, yeah I mean it and it is relatable, and what I
like about it is that I don'twant to say vague enough, but
it's.
It's open for so muchinterpretation yeah, yeah, yeah
that there's not really like alike I.
I don't know the whole story,but like I need to in order to
like apply it to my life or apast relationship or whatever.
(17:53):
It's good, it's good, I'm gladthat you said that that's.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
That's kind of exactly the vibe that I go for.
I want I want my music to beuniversal, if that makes sense.
Like I want people to relate toit.
Even though, like it wasn'tspecifically written about them,
I wanted to them to still beable to relate to it and find
some type of connection to it.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Well, success.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Thank you, I really appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Hey, Kenny, I'm curious.
You have a lot on your platewith going to school, still
doing your music performing, andthen all the other things
that's going on in your lifemusic performing and then all
the other things that's going onin your life.
What keeps you focused as faras being able to do your
performances, do well in schooland then even work on new music?
What's your motivation to keepmoving forward?
Speaker 3 (18:44):
my motivation.
Creating a stable career out ofmy like art is my motivation to
keep going.
I am doing performances likecrazy.
I'm still writing music likecrazy because I'm just thinking
(19:05):
about that end goal and I am somotivated to, like make
something out of this.
It's really what pushes me tokeep me going and, honestly,
like you guys and all my friendsaround me, family and
everything like, I want to makepeople proud as well.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
So yeah, you do.
Thank you Now, with all theselike live performances, have you
had like a rock star momentthat you were definitely like,
oh, like that's how they thinkof me, or like you know what I
mean?
Have you had a rock star moment?
Speaker 3 (19:44):
I you know what, like I we've already talked about it
, but I think, after turning theuh audience into a choir like
how I did with that one show,that kind of even though it was
like them performing that andnot me it still kind of felt
like a rock star moment because,like I, I wrote this song with
(20:09):
no intention of ever doingsomething like this.
But to be able to createsomething like that out of a
song that I just wrote so longago and then, like, turn this
entire choir into, or turn thisentire audience into a choir,
like that it felt so cool.
Like it genuinely like filledmy heart in a way that I cannot
(20:30):
explain.
And then I got, um, I got suchpositive feedback about it
afterwards too, like everybodywas telling me that, like that
was their favorite part of theshow, it was so much fun.
Like they genuinely just likeloved doing that and I'm like,
oh, that's so good to hear, likeit's just so good to hear.
I would say that was honestlylike my rock star moment, that
(20:51):
that really, really likesolidified that.
Like I want to do this forever.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
When they listened to you like that's the thing, like
I've been to like a show andthere's been like an opener,
that's like hey, like they likestart clapping.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
When else starts clapping with them Cause they're
not into the band.
Like this starts clapping withthem because they're not into
the band.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Like this yeah, like that's horrible feeling, so like
it could have went thatdirection.
It could have went thatdirection.
Yeah, that's that's honestly,that that was my biggest fear.
To be honest, I I have seenopeners before for concerts and
people tend to just dislikeopeners because they just want
to get to who they're actuallythere to see.
But genuinely, like my biggestfear is to be in that position
(21:42):
where nobody's bringing thatenergy.
But I just got to remember tolike keep, keep my head up there
, no matter what.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Like still bring that energy, even if they don't
reciprocate it yes, that's hugehey, kenny, I was wondering, um,
what type of artists would youlike to collaborate with one day
?
Because, you know, I think thatyou're getting pretty close to
that point where, um, you know,you, you may be thinking in your
mind, hey, I would love tocollaborate with this type of
(22:12):
artist, with this type of genre.
Um, because one of the things Ilike about Berklee is they
force you to go out of yourcomfort zone, and that's what I
really love about that school.
So have you kind of thoughtabout, you know, maybe getting
out of your comfort zone, tryingdifferent types of music, or
maybe even just collaboratingwith someone that you probably
(22:32):
wouldn't think of collaboratingwith, let's say, a year or two
ago?
Speaker 3 (22:36):
Yeah, that's a hard question.
I can't exactly put names topeople that I'd want to
collaborate with, but beforelast year collaborating with
somebody wasn't even somethingthat crossed my mind at all.
But now I'm at a point where Iam so open to collaborating with
people.
As far as like doing differentgenres I don't know about that
(23:01):
yet.
I'm sure at some point I wouldlike to like experiment with
different genres, but honestly,like I would not have thought of
myself as collaborating withanybody before last year or a
couple of years ago.
So now that I'm at this schoolwhere collaboration is such a
(23:23):
common thing, it has reallyopened my mind to being, like,
just more open to collaboratingwith other people.
I definitely would.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
And you mentioned your drummer Easton.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Do you?
Speaker 1 (23:36):
have other, like like band members that you
repeatedly work with, or is itreally?
Yeah, oh, you do have a wholeband.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Yeah, no, I have a whole band.
So I have Easton as the drummer, I have Haven playing keys, I
have my friend Joe playing basshe goes by Stumbler as his
artist name and then I have myfriend Lila on guitar and they
are just so, so good.
I actually recently likesolidified them as a band, I
(24:07):
think, because last year when Istarted doing performances, I
was still like in the air aboutwho to perform with, who I like
vibed with the best and who waswilling to do this with me and
was not like too busy to do it.
And that was really hardbecause we're all here Study.
We're still here to study, likedoing performances is fun and
(24:30):
everything, and like we do haveto do it to like advance our
career.
But in retrospect, we're allhere like studying still.
So it's like hard to findpeople who match the vibe and
have the time to do it, uh.
So last year I people I wasperforming with was still like
in the air.
But this year I did one showwith them, uh, in september at a
(24:58):
different venue, and then afterthat show went really well and
after that show they were likewe want to keep playing with you
and I'm like well, I want tokeep playing with you guys.
So then then, after that, wegot the, we got the cap show and
that went really really well.
And now we're all like.
We're all like yeah we're goingto keep playing together
(25:22):
Awesome.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Yeah, I did see a video of you just with the
guitarist and so and that mademe think of other genres for you
I was like, could I imagine youwith a country singer?
Like I was writing songs foryou already, Like I was, I was
dancing for you.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
So I mean, like honestly, I would be down to
doing other genres like that,and so at some point I think,
like right now, I want to buildmore of my discography is like
my primary genre.
But once I like get to thatpoint where I'm very, very
comfortable in this genre, Iwould like to like experiment a
(26:02):
little bit more.
At some point doing so, Idefinitely want to do more
acoustic things too at somepoint too yeah, really good, it
sounded really good thank youthank you.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
I know, kenny, that a lot of people are watching this
, and you know there's someyoung performers out there that
want to get in the music as welltoo, and you know you're not
even anywhere near the peak ofwhere you're going to be, but
there's a lot of people thatactually look up to you as far
as what you're doing.
They follow you, and you have alot of followers, consistent
(26:38):
followers, that also engage withyou.
What advice would you givesomeone that are looking at you
and saying, hey, I want to dothis, I want to make this a
career.
What steps should I take?
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Because I think you're at that point right now
where you could probably givethem some sound advice,
especially being that you knowthey're probably near that same
age group you're in.
Honestly, it's very cliche, butI think the first thing I would
tell them is just to get out ofthe mindset that it might not
be possible, because you justgot to tell yourself that it is
possible and you are going to doit.
Just tell yourself I can dothis and then work towards it.
(27:18):
You just got to work towards it.
So, as far as like how to getreally into it, I personally
started with YouTube videos.
You can teach yourself how toproduce by just watching crazy
amount of YouTube videos.
You can teach yourself how toproduce by just watching crazy
amount of YouTube videos.
You can teach yourself how towrite by watching YouTube videos
or just like anything online orhonestly, just by listening to
(27:43):
music that you enjoy, bylistening to what you like to
hear.
You can reflect off of that andtake inspiration from that and
try to recreate things like thattoo, because it it's it's a
hard learning curve, but onceyou get around that curve, it it
becomes extremely fun, and thenyou could just like keep doing
(28:05):
it and you just gotta keep doingit until you get to that point
where you're like, yeah, this isit, you know yeah, love that
advice, um.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
So I've seen like I've snooped on your TikTok, um,
and so I was curious when wewere talking about you marketing
yourself, you always look socool, oh so cute ideas, so
intrusive.
But no, you always look so coolLike you always have your, your
(28:37):
glasses or jewelry or yoursweaters.
You always look so good, likehow, how much like prep time
goes into that, or are they likegenuinely, like super authentic
, like yeah, this is what I puton today, and then I just said
you know it's, it's a, it's alittle bit of both.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
I can't lie.
So what I wear on stage, Iwould just casually wear out too
.
I, I want to say as authenticto myself on stage as I do off
stage.
Um, but I I actually am likepretty heavily into fashion.
So when, when I am performing,I do like to step out of the box
like a little bit, just becauseit's a big event for me.
(29:20):
It doesn't happen every day, soI want to dress up like a
little bit cooler than I wouldon a day to day basis for sure.
So thought, thought definitelydoes go into what I'm wearing on
stage ahead of time, for sure,gotcha.
But it's still you, it's stillme.
It's still me.
I want what I'm wearing tomatch the vibe of me as a person
(29:44):
, if that makes sense, and Ialso have a weird thing for
matching my clothes to the colorof my hair.
So I don't know if you couldtell right now, but my hair is
blue, dark blue, and I got thisuh, this sweater from Urban
Outfitters a couple days ago andit matches the hair like pretty
thank you the same thing, sothat you're gonna wear red for
(30:10):
like three weeks yeah exactly,exactly
Speaker 2 (30:14):
it's a gen z thing, it's a it's, it's, it's a gen z
thing yeah, speaking of fashion,uh, somebody I know actually
did their first professional uhphoto take for a, a major
outfitter.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Oh you're talking about, okay, gotcha, I was a
little bit confused at first too.
Yeah, it wasn't actually likethrough the company, but I work
at an Urban Outfitters and so Igot asked by.
Her name is Natalie, I don'tknow exactly what her position
(30:55):
is, but she asked me if I wantedto do a shoot for the Urban
Outfitters Boston account,specifically a photo shoot, and
I was like, honestly, yeah, I'venever really done photography
before, but like I'm willing totry it, and so we did it and she
posted us on the UrbanOutfitters Boston account.
But then the Urban Outfittersofficial account, with like 8.2
(31:19):
million followers, saw that postand then reposted it onto their
Instagram and I'm like that'spretty cool.
That's pretty cool yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Did they like how to model and like your angles, or
were they like be you?
Speaker 3 (31:35):
it was a, it was a little bit of both.
So, like I, I would just liketest something out, and then
she'd be like you look great,but try this, and then, like, do
a little something different.
Um, so yeah, yeah.
No, it was really fun, thoughI've never really done modeling
before, I don't really know ifit's like my thing, like I would
(31:56):
do it again, but it was cool tojust like do it, like just say
yes to it and then get posted onthe Urban Outfitters like
Instagram, like that.
That's why, like, I feel likeit's a good example of just
saying yes to everything, like,like, maybe maybe not to
(32:17):
everything, but I have kind ofbeen in the mindset where, like
lately, I've just been takinglike every single opportunity I
can get, like ever.
So I think, yeah, I think thatwas like a really good example
of like just say yes to it.
You don't know what couldhappen.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
You know, like a really good example of like just
say yes to it, you don't knowwhat could happen, you know yes.
And that's such a great lesson,because, yes, you, you, I don't
know.
And when you're younger, youtend to think that opportunities
just come up all the time.
So you have the luxury ofsaying no but at a certain point
you have to say yes or elseit's dry up.
So it's great that you've justgotten into the habit of saying,
yep, I'm going to try it.
(32:53):
Yep, let's do it Maybe.
I'll fail, it'll be fun.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Exactly, exactly.
Maybe it'll fail, maybe it'llbe fun, that's the thing.
But like you never know, sojust just do it, you know yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Do you ever think that you would ever try
something like that if theydidn't approach you?
Speaker 3 (33:10):
If, can you ask that one more time?
If?
Speaker 2 (33:13):
in other words, if they didn't approach you.
If, can you ask that one moretime?
If, in other words, if theydidn't ask you to do the photo
shoot, would that something youthink you would have tried on
your own at some point?
Or not really.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
I don't, I don't think so.
Personally, I've never reallythought about modeling, but like
I think, just the fact thatthey asked me to do it, I was
like I don't see, why not, youknow?
Speaker 1 (33:35):
was like I don't see why not you know?
So then I took it yeah, and youmentioned that you are into
like fashion.
Have you?
Would you ever like designsomething like would you ever,
you know, make your own pantsline?
Speaker 3 (33:44):
I don't know what designers do, but you know what
I mean I would do somethingalong those lines or just nah uh
, I mean actually, uh, myboyfriend, he goes to school
like right around here and heactually makes stuff for me to
perform in.
So, uh, I don't know if thiswill come up on the screen, but
(34:07):
like what I'm wearing in thispicture, he kind kind of like he
made that like by himself, andI kind of, if I want something
made, I could kind of just go tohim and be like, yeah, yeah,
yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
No, for sure, Nice Now.
Do you have any new projectsthat you're working on right now
?
Speaker 3 (34:32):
So, yes, I don't have a time frame of like when
they'll actually be released tothe general public, but I
definitely do have things thatI'm like keeping in my back
pocket, for now for sure howabout any music videos?
At some point I I don't havemuch to speak on it yet, but at
(34:57):
some point for sure now, do you?
Speaker 1 (35:02):
I mean, I kind of joked about you being like Gen Z
earlier, um, but do you feellike your?
I guess the music industry thatyou're getting into is
different than the musicindustry of 15 years ago or 10
years ago, and how do you thinkyou have been?
Able to maneuver that change.
Speaker 3 (35:21):
Yeah, so like 100%, it is completely different than
it was, like even 15 years agocompletely different.
It was like even 15 years ago,completely different.
Um, and I think the biggestfactor in that has been social
media.
Specifically social media haskind of changed the music
industry entirely, likecompletely, because the industry
(35:45):
right now is honestly sodependent on social media, like
making as much as it kind ofsucks, but like making a good
following on your social mediaswill kind of make or break a
career in the music industry,whereas 15 or so years ago you
(36:09):
could send demos to a label andthey'd like what you, they like
what they hear, and then they'relike we sign you and we'll take
care of it from here.
They'll market you.
But that's why, like, being atberkeley has been so, it's been
so like important to learn howto market yourself, because
that's what it's about now.
Like you, you can't rely onthat record label to find you
(36:34):
from just one little demo andthen they'll market you from
there and take care of yourcareer from there.
You, you got to get yourself tothat point, you got to work
your way up there, and then youcan talk to the labels once they
see you on those social medias,you know.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
When I remember when you first had gotten big, that
you like declined to sign with,to kind of go out on on your own
, and again I'm like that's justso opposite of what I I would
do?
I think yeah yeah, but I meanagain, I think that goes.
That goes with you know, youknowing what the current
(37:10):
industry is like, and me from aposition of, well, you know,
when I was young, when I wasyounger, you know, yeah no to do
it.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
yeah.
So like then, when I had myfirst single, like blow up on
social media, I did not think Iwanted to pursue music like I
genuinely.
That was at that point where Iwanted to pursue music Like I
genuinely.
That was at that point where Iwas putting out music for the
heck of it.
I was just like, let's justlike put this out.
(37:40):
At first it was just for myfriends and my peers at school
to listen to, and my family ofcourse, and that's like where I
drew the line.
And then, obviously, it pickedup a little bit more.
And so when these labels startedto reach out and asking me to
do these these big boy things,I'm like, I am 16 years old, I
(38:02):
have no clue what you're evensaying to me right now.
Like I, I just didn't know.
I didn't know, I didn't havethe knowledge of like, is this a
good deal?
Is this a good deal?
And that's that's also anotherreason why I'm at this school
right now, because I want to beable to make good decisions for
myself in the future.
Um, cause, at the time I I didnot know what they were asking
(38:26):
out of me, what they wanted todo.
I didn't know they wanted tolike what they wanted to do.
I didn't know they wanted tolike take me as an artist.
I was like I don't even like.
I just didn't know that was theissue.
So, yeah, but um, now I'm likestarting to gain that knowledge
of those good decisions to make.
(38:47):
So if at some point that evercomes back, that like, then I'll
, and it's a good feeling.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
Yeah, I'm actually pretty curious.
You know you've been in thisjourney now over three years.
You know doing it seriously.
I guess if you had to go backto when you first started, right
before writing that first song,what would you tell yourself
three years ago?
That you did not know then,that you know now?
Speaker 3 (39:18):
I would just tell myself to be cautious, because
there are some labels out therethat see you as less of a human
being and more of a transaction.
So I would say, just like, bemindful of who you're speaking
to and what they really want, ifthey actually have the right
(39:42):
intentions of signing you.
Because, again, like the pointof a label is a business, it's a
corporation.
Their main goal is to makemoney, which isn't the problem.
The problem comes where, like,they dehumanize people, artists,
(40:04):
because they are like theirtransactions.
They can make them money andthat's all that they really care
about.
And I would just tell myself tostay the heck away from those
people.
Speaker 1 (40:19):
Similarly, like have you noticed that with like
people, like friendships orfriends, like people are get
weird and like just try to beyour friend because you are
successful?
Speaker 3 (40:37):
your friend because you are successful.
Yeah, this is that's like aweird.
It's kind of a weird topicbecause, like I don't like again
, I don't want to come off aslike somebody like I I I do know
that I have a like generalfollowing and some streams.
I don't want to like come offlike as like oh, I I know that I
(40:58):
do have all these followers andstuff.
But there have been a coupletimes where I've like noticed
some people say some weirdthings to me when trying to be
friends with me, specifically atthis school.
Um, they would.
If somebody approaches me andbrings up like my following or
(41:20):
my streams before introducingthemselves as a person, I'm like
okay, I see your intentionswith like wanting to be friends
with me, which is like weirdbecause, like I'm open to being
friends with everybody, like Igenuinely I love people, I love
making friends, it's like myfavorite thing to do, but only
if they have the rightintentions of being friends with
(41:41):
me, because I have been able totell sometimes a couple times
at the school that like peoplewill want to be your friend
because they think they canbenefit off of being your friend
.
You know, like in a businesssetting.
It's weird, but it's happenedfor sure.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
And don't like.
You do not come across as likebeing an ego maniac or anything
like it is, so it doesn't soundcrazy or anything thank you,
yeah no, you don't sound full ofyourself like you.
You, it's a genuine real talentyou have, so it's like okay to
say that in you yeah thank younow tell me how do you keep
(42:31):
everything straight with yourschedules?
Speaker 2 (42:33):
because man, working school, music performing, just
saying all that, I get tiredjust thinking about.
How do you keep everythingstraight and still be able to
balance your life?
And you know, obviously youknow you're a college, so of
course you got to have some timeto yourself and enjoy your
friends.
So how do you keep balancingyour life?
Speaker 3 (42:55):
I just try to make sure that, like I'm I'm happy at
the end of the day.
Like, as long as, like I'mdoing all of these things and
I'm really busy, but I'm stillhappy at the end of it, then
that's all that I need.
If I ever am like at a pointwhere I'm doing so much and I'm
burning myself out and I'mgetting stressed out and stuff
(43:16):
like that, then I'm like okay, Ineed to cut it down, we, we, we
need to cut, cut all thebusyness down a little bit for
my own wellbeing, for my ownmental health, um, and it has
not gotten to that point yet.
I genuinely I'm kind of thetype of person that likes always
having something to do, um,cause it just makes me feel like
(43:36):
productive, I guess.
Uh, and even even spending sometime just with myself, like
watching TV, that's still doingsomething, like it still makes
me feel good because I'm doingit for myself, know, um.
Speaker 1 (43:50):
But yeah, I just think like, as long as I'm busy
and not like stressed out andjust happy, then I'm chilling
yeah yeah now kind of going awayfrom like the music aspect or
like the career and just likecollege stuff, like you that
(44:13):
moved like across the country oflike states away out of your
parents house and you've beenable to, like, manage your
schedule and you obviously, like, you're eating like you're not
you have to lose like 30 poundsbecause you don't like.
Do you have any advice for likesomeone who's thinking of
(44:33):
making a huge move like that?
Speaker 3 (44:36):
yeah, it was very difficult at first because I
have never done anything likethis before, like I've never
really been, I've never reallybeen out of my house, away from
my parents, away from all myfriends before, in a setting
like this.
So to just move 1718 miles ornot miles away, like hours away,
(45:01):
and then, like I think, likealmost 1000 miles away it was.
It was scary at first and it'sgoing to be.
No matter what advice I giveanybody doing the same thing,
it's going to be.
No matter what advice I giveanybody doing the same thing,
it's going to be scary, nomatter what, it's still going to
be scary.
But, like, genuinely, as long asyou like know what you're doing
(45:22):
, you know what you're there for, you are going to be okay, like
genuinely you're going to beokay.
And I wish I could have toldmyself that at first, because I
was pretty sad, pretty stressedout, felt pretty lonely at first
because I didn't know anybodyhere.
But you just got to give ittime, let yourself, be
comfortable by yourself and thengo out into the world, meet new
(45:46):
people, see new things.
It will be OK.
You're going to have, like it'sgoing to be, a good time, no
matter what.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
Awesome.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
Well, Kenny, this was an awesome interview.
Speaker 3 (45:59):
I appreciate you coming to the show.
I had so much fun.
You guys are so much fun totalk to.
Thank you so much for having meagain.
Speaker 2 (46:07):
Thank you.
Now, of course, before youleave out of here, I do want you
to tell people that's watchinghow they can not only stream
your music to enjoy it andlisten to it, but also follow
you on your social media as well.
As you know, maybe even there'ssome venues out there that may
want to reach out to you to hireyou to play music.
Tell everybody how they can geta hold of you.
Speaker 3 (46:29):
Yeah, so if you want to check out the social medias,
both my TikTok and my Instagram,which are my primary social
medias you can look me up atKenny Elrod, which is Elrod is
spelled the same way as Elrod TVNetwork.
If you're here watching and ifyou want to stream any of my
music, I on all streamingplatforms, whatever you use,
(46:52):
under the name kenny elrod andhow do people reach out to you
if they want to hire you?
if they want to hire me, theycan shoot me a dm on instagram.
Uh, I think that's probablywhere I'm most active on is,
honestly, that's where I'vegotten a lot of business things
actually outside.
It's surprising, but email iskind of in this industry, email
(47:17):
kind of doesn't really exist.
Most things that I've beenreached out to for have been
through Instagram, so you couldshoot me a DM and I will see it.
Speaker 2 (47:26):
Okay, I know you're calling me old because I still
use email, but that's okay.
Speaker 3 (47:30):
And it's okay.
It is okay, I still use emailbut that's okay.
Speaker 2 (47:31):
Yeah, and it's okay, it is okay.
Well, everyone else, don't gotoo far.
We're going to take a quickbreak and, kenny, thank you
again for coming on the show.
Thank you guys, thank you youtoo, everyone else, we'll be
right back.
Welcome back everyone.
Speaker 1 (47:56):
This was a fantastic interview, as always.
Yes, I love his energy so much.
Kenny is just such a like abright, shining little star.
I just he is the best.
He's so happy he always likejust brings such good energy.
Speaker 2 (48:06):
Oh, yes, yes, and we really appreciate him spending
some time.
And, you know, we learned alittle bit more about kenny, not
only about his, his art, butalso about kenny, the person,
too, which people don't realize.
You know, believe it or not,the people that you watch and
listen to.
Speaker 1 (48:21):
They are people, too, he has.
He is a genuine human being,yeah, and he's just so humble
and great.
So I I enjoy talking to him andI can't wait to see all that
you know, he hasn't you knowlife has in store for him and
the success that he'll he'llhave, you know, in the years to
come.
So definitely, definitely.
But if you are interested ingetting a hold of us or perhaps
(48:43):
being a guest on our show,please reach out to us on our
social media.
Elrod tv.
We're on Instagram and also onFacebook.
Speaker 2 (48:53):
And I want to take this time to tell everyone thank
you again for watching us andsupporting us, and do us a favor
and let other people know whowe are and come watch us as well
and, most importantly, alwayshave those thirsty conversations
.
Thank you, enjoy your evening,everyone.
Bye, bye, bye.
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