Kelly Pepper
Kelly Pepper is one of the new artists who will be making a name for herself this year as her debut single Live The Day sees her blend dubstep with pop elements.
This is the first track to be lifted off her new EP Intent to Conquer and we caught up with her to chat about the single and the new collection of tracks.
- Live The Day is your debut single so what can we expect from the new track?
The way that I would summaries it is that it is dubstep but with a pop vibe. It has also got big vocals on it - some of the dubstep tracks that you get normally have just got little samples here and there but this has got a full vocal. Hopefully it sounds a little bit unique.
- As I said this is your debut single so you are very much introducing yourself as an artist so how would you describe your sound to people who are coming to your music with this track?
I think it is quite similar to my debut single as it is dubstep influenced and sometimes I throw some drum and bass in there as well. But generally it is quite pop and dance.
I don’t like slow songs personally as I love getting people up on the dance floor and getting ready for a night out. I like upbeat stuff. Hopefully it is quite positive music with big vocals and big lyrics.
- The track is produced by Ripper so how did that collaboration come about?
My manger is a mutual friend of both Ripper and myself and he put us together. We started writing and found that we worked quite well together basically.
- Well you have slightly touched on my next question as I was wondering how you found working with him? And what his influence brings to your music?
The debstep vibe definitely comes from him because that is his style and that is what they do; they do lots and lots of dubstep remixes for other people.
I have not found one person that I have not liked working with so far. I am quite an easy going person and they are lovely guys.
- I have given the track a listen and it does seem to be very influenced by trance so where did you love or interest in this genre come from?
I have always been more into the dancey side of things and when I was younger I never really liked ballads or anything like that.
When I was about twelve or thirteen I found an old dance album in my house and it had all of the old trance anthems on it. So from a young age I have always like synthy sounds and dance elements and the interest grew from there really.
I started looking into dubstep and drum and bass and I found that I had a liking for that; every part of dance I love (laughs).
- How have you found the response to the single so far?
People have been really really supporting it actually. I have had a lot of people online dropping comments to me on my social networks and things like that. Also people have reviewed in various different blogs and that has done really well.
It has got picked up by a couple of video channels and radio stations already and that is only after just a few weeks of promotion. So it has doing quite well and I am really pleased with it.
- The EP Intent to Conquer is just around the corner so how does this track introduce us to the rest of the record?
It is just an introduction to me and my vocal sound and the way that I am pop, dubstep, drum and bass sound; I am a bit of a hybrid between all of these elements. I just think that this song summaries me and what I do.
- The EP always features an acoustic version where the track is very stripped back and your voice is allowed to take centre stage so are we going to see you go down that path a little more as we see you develop as an artist?
Not particularly. I like doing acoustic and stripped back versions of my own songs but I wouldn’t realise a song that is just like that.
If I listen to the radio and something like Adele or Ed Sheeran comes on I do tend to turn if off because I just love the synthy bass and I like people like Will.i.am and Nicki Minaj at the moment. I think that I wouldn’t be true to myself if I was to go down that route.
- Intent to Conquer is an EP release so are there plans for a full album further down the line?
I would love to, absolutely love to. What the plans are for the foreseeable future is we have Live The Day and then we are going to release another single from the EP; I am not sure if that is going to come before or after the EP release yet.
Then after that who knows as we are just taking things as it comes and taking it one step at a time.
- Over the last year or so you have supported the likes of Pixie Lott, Example and Labrinth so how have you found working beside these artists? And what did you take from these experiences that you have been able to take forward?
I love it. The live side of things is just amazing and excites me so much - it really is the best part of the job.
I have done festivals with ten thousand people or more in the audience and the way that N-Dubz or Example walk onto the stage and get that massive reaction I just think ‘wow’.
It has just boosted my confidence and boosted by determination even more to just work work work and make it happen. It is the bit of my job that I just love.
- So how have you found the live response to your music?
Generally it is quite good - I have not really had a bad experience, touch wood. Because it is quite dancey music I have found the people just get into a dancey atmosphere.
I have done a lot of festivals and nightclubs and people just dance away and have their hands in the air - it is a pretty good feeling.
- What other live performances do you have on the horizon?
For the next few months I have a lot of London showcase type gigs going on and then once we hit the summer I have got a few festivals then. So it is very much London based shows and then festivals at the moment.
Hopefully I will have a few more booked up later along the line and we are currently looking at trying to get a support slot with a bigger artist.
- So where did your love of music start? And what artists/bands were you listening to as you were growing up that have influenced your sound and your song writing style?
I started singing when I was about five - I basically just enjoyed it and wouldn’t shut up (laughs). My parents pushed me because they thought it was something that I wanted to do and so I started to sing at different shows and nightclubs.
Then at the age of thirteen my parents got The Stage newspaper and found an opportunity for me to go on a song writing course; so I started song writing from the age of thirteen onwards.
Once I had been on this song writing course I just kept on finding people to work with and I have building and building from there. So I have been doing it for a long time.
The biggest influence was the trance music that I listened to when I was younger and the old CD’s that I would find and I would make a point of going and buying more retro CD’s so I could listen to it.
I really fell for the trance music even though it was before my time. I think that that has had a massive impact on what I like today.
- Finally what is next for you as we go through 2013?
I have got the single release and then I am hopefully going to do another single after that before the release of the EP. It is onwards and upwards really.
I have got a lot of features on the horizon with a lot of people that I can’t mention at the moment; they are DJ’s and producers that are very well known in the industry. Hopefully we can go on to release a proper album towards the end of the years.
Click here to download Kelly Pepper Live The Day