Boston-based singer, songwriter Kerrin Connolly released her self-produced debut album, Almost, on May 24th and I’ve had it on repeat ever since. Described as “a DIY musician who writes songs about evil twins, sentient pencils, and existential heartache”, you’ll instantly love her bedroom pop sound and refreshing lyrics. Learn more about her journey as an artist, her rise to internet stardom, and the creation of Almost by reading the interview below!
Interview edited for clarity
I’d love to learn more about your background. You have family members that are in the music industry, but how did you, personally, get into music?
My parents were both in a band like since I was super young. They mostly did covers. I just always had instruments at my disposal and music in the house. Eventually I pick stuff up but not seriously, I would just goof around with pianos and stuff. In fifth grade was when I started being like “I might be good at this”. I started doing talent shows, and I was in choir up until high school. Eventually I got a scholarship based on doing music in school and did nothing with it. After that, I started YouTube and posting covers and stuff eventually started writing my own music.
With YouTube, would you say the atmosphere of the platform was different in comparison to other platforms?
I feel like the landscape of YouTube has changed a lot since I started, it’s definitely a different place. But it’s a super inspiring to be part of because you can find your niche and likewise other people can find you very easily. Certainly, a lot of the folks that I look up to as musicians are also YouTubers and they do similar things to me. I used to post liked videos on Facebook but I wanted an actual place my music could live that wasn’t also a social medium. YouTube was the only place you could do that in like 2008 or whenever I started doing stuff. And now I’ve branched out a little bit, but I’ll always be making videos to go along with my stuff.
How long would it take for you to write your first album, Almost?
A while. Five years ago was when I wrote the title track, some of the other songs are only a year or two old. All of the songs already existed on YouTube like years ago. This album was to officially put the songs out there and spruce them up.
Did you produce this album yourself?
All me baby! I learned how to produce by myself. I think it started as a necessity. I am a very stubborn person but I’m also bored. I was just like, “I don’t want to wait and send this out and make a whole ordeal.” There’s a lot of terrible sounding things I’ve made but we’re getting there. Now I’m more willing, as an artist, to get outside opinions and help. With this album, specifically, it was something I wanted to do entirely self-contained.
Do you feel like you would have achieved the same result that you wanted if you’d worked with other people, or do you think doing this yourself was better?
There’s definitely room for improvement and it could sound way different as far as arrangement and quality goes. It doesn’t sound like it came out of the studio but I kind of like that. I like that I made a thing in my bedroom and it sounds like it. That’s cool to me.
What was your favorite track from this album?
Right now it’s “Thanks for Playing”. That song has always been my favorite to play live. I was very excited to finally put all the things that I wanted into it. There’s a lot of details in that one. It’s kind of emo which I like. I feel that, the album as a whole, the songs have their own dark beginnings, but they sound pretty upbeat. With “Thanks for Playing” I was like, “let’s get into it. Let’s be sad for a bit.”
Would you like to write more songs like “Contagious” that are sort of comedic, or would you rather write more songs that are on a more personal level?
I think we can do both. It’s really hard to write comedic songs because I don’t I don’t think I’m that funny. Those are songs I have to check with people and see if they are funny. At the same time, that song is about trauma. I know that, hearing that song, people don’t know the history behind it. All of the characters that I write are parts of me that have experienced bad stuff and I’m writing it out so I can process it.
With the times that you’ve performed, how did you feel on stage?
I would say that I get very nervous the day of the performance. But, as soon as I’m up on stage it’s fine. When I was younger I was very concerned with how perfect my performance was and I would practice a lot. Now I’m just like I’ll do the best that I can. I just have to prepare to laugh at myself and make it a fun experience if it doesn’t go well. Performing in front of my peer’s parents for a long time helped a lot.
How does it feel doing live stream concerts?
I think I have a unique circumstance where it’s easier to do live stream instead of booking a local show. My audience is so widespread that it’s hard to pick a place and actually benefit from doing it. Now, I live stream pretty regularly though YouTube just cause they’re fun, and I get to connect with my audience in a smaller way. As I do them more, it becomes harder to maintain structure with an actual set.
Which song from Almost are you most excited to perform lives in a venue?
“Evil One” is a pretty sun song to play. That’s the hype song. I got to play it with a band once which was really good, so I hope I get to do that again at some point. I’m also excited to play… all of them. I’m glad that these songs are renewed in a way that makes me excited about them again and I get to perform them differently than I have been. “It’s a Conspiracy” is fun to play. Every time I play that song I feel like there’s a different reaction to it. Like I said, I don’t think I’m funny, but like one time I played it and I got a few laughs and I was like huh I now have a different way to play that song. That’s what I like about performing. I don’t do it often, but when I do like you get instant feedback and, for better for worse, it should be a good time.
Kerrin Connolly
