Interview by Carol Wright | Photographer: Joseph Canoza
Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Kaitlyn Olson used to write songs for other artists, but now she’s focusing more on the music she wants to make. Olson talked to NYOTA about her EP After The Rain, her musical inspirations, and growing up listening to her mom’s music.
What initially sparked your love of music?
Some of my best early memories were listening to my mom’s music. There was a lot going on at home, and music became a big escape for me. As a 90s baby, I grew up on female singers like Celine Dion, Christina Aguilara, and Mariah Carey, and I would stay in my room for hours trying to sing along to every single run of every song on their albums. In 6th grade, I had a bus driver named Mr. Buford, who would blast R&B, and I was the second to last stop, so it was a long drive through Topanga Canyon and that’s when I fell in love with my queen, Mariah.
Throughout your career, you’ve written songs for other artists. How do you get into another musician’s headspace to write for them?
I listen to a ton of their music to figure out what they tend to sing about, their vocal range and cadence, etc., then I try to think about what I would want to say if I were them. It feels like putting together a puzzle, it’s really fun to write in all these different alter egos.
Due to you often writing for other people, does it ever feel daunting or unfamiliar to sit down and write songs for yourself again?
Yes. It takes a very special bond with a producer or co-writer for me to feel comfortable being vulnerable, but there’s no better feeling than when I find that. Most of my favorite songs I’ve written for myself have never seen the light of day.
Your EP After The Rain touches on heartbreak, love, self-discovery, and more. Did you grow as an artist while working on it?
I made this EP after a long break I took from making music. I signed a record deal in 2019, and everything at the label came to a screeching halt for me with Covid. I stopped making music for a few years because it felt too difficult to navigate the industry, but that made me feel pretty unhappy. I realized that regardless of the outcome, making music is my happy place, so I made this EP to get back into the studio, if for nothing more than the joy of it. You never know what you can attract when you’re in joy!
The title track, “After The Rain,” has a great line, “You find the light you never found, even when no one’s around.” Do you hope listeners can be encouraged by the message of the song?
Yes, music has gotten me through my hardest times and making it is like therapy to me, so when I write a song I try to tell a story with some sort of resolution, or just something that makes me feel good.
You were signed to Roc Nation’s Equity Distribution. Did getting that type of backing feel validating as an artist?
It definitely did. I signed a deal with Desiree Perez, the CEO of Roc Nation. It was a dream come true to have support and it gave me the ability to prioritize music over other work. Aside from Covid, the challenge for me after I signed was that the focus really changed from making music to creating content and visuals, and I’m a very private person, so that’s something I still contend with a lot.
Who are your musical inspirations?
I listen to a lot of old music my mom grew up listening to from the 50s and 60s, like early rock and soul, jazz, and Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound. My Spotify top artists this year were Brenda Lee, Chet Baker, and Dionne Warwick. I also listen to a lot of pop, R&B and country from the 90s and 00s. Then there’s some 80s new wave in there. I’m pretty all over the place.
What advice do you have for aspiring singer-songwriters?
One of the best things I did was take a class in Ableton so I could engineer and record my own vocals, that really helped me to not have to rely on producers or favors. An alternate option is, do something else.