Vancouver-based pop artist and renowned writer Kyle Richardson recently dropped his brand new single Anything and we wanted to know more about it. We sat down with Kyle and learned more about the Canadian music landscape, his career, the creative process, diversity and representation in music, gaming, and his ideal pre-gig routine.
Hi Kyle, thanks so much for blessing us with your valuable time. How is Vancouver today and how do you normally start your day? A cuppa coffee or a long walk? Or straight to the studio for some vocal warm-ups?
Thanks for chatting with me! Today is a very nice, warm summer day here in Vancouver. Usually I sleep pretty late (I’m a night owl), start the day with some form of caffeine, watch some entertainment business related stuff on YouTube, listen to some music, and either chill before heading into my job, or work on some music (either learn a cover song, practice singing something of mine, work on new song ideas).
Anything. This is your hot new single and we love the vibe. Who have you made the track for and what does it all mean to you? Also the video was tremendous. Who was the team behind it all?
Thank you for the kind words! I’m so happy with how Anything turned out.
It’s truly been a labor of love, and time. I wrote the song many years ago before I ever even moved to Vancouver. I had shown collaborators the demo I made at the time, and no one really took the bait in terms of turning it into a full production. Years later, I circled back to the demo and again showed it to collaborators as I still loved the song. This time, producer Jeff Dawson loved the demo and we quickly finished the single version you hear today!
I wrote the song about the belief that small moments of kindness can really make all the difference in your relationships, whether it’s a romantic relationship, or a friendship. It’s also about making sure you take the time to let your loved ones know how much they mean to you.
The video was directed by AJ Astle of Roadhouse Productions in Toronto. It was a really fun day of shooting. We had a very limited window of time to get those beautiful beams of light through the windows you see during the chorus of the song, but I really wanted that bright, ethereal kind of look to bring out the vibe that the choruses are delivering.
Louder Than Words is your debut album that is due to be dropped into our awaiting ears this fall. What can fans expect and what was the process like to create something you’re proud of? It must be quite the journey. What have you learnt along the way?
It was a really fun process to create the album. We really went song by song. I basically had a period of time in which I wanted to commit to writing and recording one song at a time. I really wanted to focus on vocals and melody, and create some beautiful and heartfelt songs to comprise the album. Doing the album one song at a time – and truly taking time with each one to make sure they were perfect – really meant no songs were wasted. We really only wrote and recorded exactly what’s being presented on the album, and towards the end of the process we looked back at some older demos I had worked on throughout the years (for example, Anything, Can You Hear Me, and Keep The Faith were all older songs I had always wanted to do something special with), and filled out the project with the best songs that I had never given proper time to finish and get fully produced.
We see that you love your gaming. What kind of games do you like and which is the best platform, PC, Playstation or XBox?
Honestly I am pretty diverse in terms of which platform I choose to game on, except PC. I’m not really into PC gaming as I’m more of a Mac user. My favorite gaming platform is Nintendo Switch, as I’m a huge Mario junkie. I love basically all the major Nintendo franchises like of course Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Splatoon, Yoshi, and the party games like Mario Kart, Mario Party, and fun stuff like that to play with friends. I do really enjoy Playstation 5 and the Xbox platforms as well for games like the recent (and upcoming) Spider-Man games as I love Marvel comics, also games like Uncharted and Tomb Raider. The Lego games are fun takes on some of my favorite franchises, and the recent Star Wars Jedi games are also incredible and have such good storylines!
What are your top 5 favourite movies ever and why? In any order. You can even sneak in a few more if you like, we don’t mind.
I love movies. I go to the theatre almost every week and sometimes more than once in a week. So a favorites list is tough! I will say my fave movie trilogy of all time is Back To The Future. I love pretty much the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe and all the older Spider-Man movies (even the infamous Spider-Man 3). I love The Conjuring franchise, even if all the spin-off movies aren’t necessarily as good as the first two original movies. The two Sister Act movies starring Whoopi Goldberg are movies I’ve turned to my entire life as fun, musical, escapist movies and I probably watch them both once a year when I need a good cheer-up.
Carly Rae Jepsen, DYLN, and Garrett Neiles. You’ve written songs for these outstanding artists. What makes a great hit song and what does it feel like when one of the songs you write makes it onto TV or into the mainstream so successfully? It must make all the hard work worth it surely? How do you stay humble throughout this discovery?
Well in terms of Carly Rae Jepsen and DYLN,I wrote songs with them that were intended to be released by me! These two songs haven’t ever seen the light of day as fully-finished tracks but never say never. I was writing with a lot of artists to get a better grip on who I am myself as an artist, and collaboration is such a good chance to really see what works and what doesn’t work. I did write a song with Jeff Dawson and Garrett Neiles for Garrett’s project, and I am not sure if he’s recorded the tune yet, but it was a lovely ballad as he wanted to write a more emotional song.
It’s really cool when I see a song I’ve been a part of get picked up for a placement on a TV show, it really does give a sense of being on the right track, and it makes me want to create more songs that are even better and can have an even broader scope to reach more people! Creating a hit song is not something that can always be planned. I find I just want to create something honest and fun that I would want to listen to myself, and see how that can resonate with others.
Lastly, how do you feel the music industry can be better with diversity and representation in the industry? Also, does Ai music scare you and do you feel it threatens the long-term future of musicians?
The music industry, and any industry whether creative or otherwise, can only be improved with more diversity and inclusiveness for all people. Everyone has a different background, a different story, and a different perspective. I think everyone wants to feel represented in the media they consume, and I think the more diverse that art and media gets, the more potential audience it can reach. I am not sure how I feel about AI music, I think the human touch and perspective, and talent is important to create something emotional that will have a better chance of really connecting with an audience.
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Check out this fine new single on YouTube.
See more of this journey on IG.
Interviewed by Llewelyn Screen
