What is your name?
Kris Angelis
What is your genre of music?
Folk/Pop Singer-Songwriter
Give us a little bio about you.
Kris Angelis grew up on a farm, writing songs with her twin sister in their treehouse. She’s toured all over the US and Europe and at festivals including SXSW, Edinburgh Fringe, Sundance, and NAMM. Her first full-length album, “The Left Atrium” was awarded Best Female Album of 2013 by the LA Music Critics Awards.
The title track from her upcoming indie-pop EP, “Heartbreak Is Contagious’ (set for pre-sale on May 12 and release June 2nd) is featured on Relix Magazine’s first ever “Women Who Rock” sampler CD in their September/October 2016 issue and can be heard throughout Season 2 of AwesomenessTV’s show Guidance.
Kris was just awarded Best Female Artist in the 2017 International Acoustic Music Awards and is currently a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition.
Are you a signed?
At the moment I am completely independent, but I would love to get a kickass team together weather that involves a label or a great manager, licensing agent, and booking agent. It would be wonderful to have more opportunities available to me through industry connections and to be able to focus more on the creative and performing aspect of being a musician rather than trying to everything all by myself! I’m glad I have done it thought because I know what goes into it and what I want.
You are releasing new EP “Heartbreak is Contagious” in June, tell us about it.
Heartbreak is Contagious is a love story in four songs. It takes the listener from hurt to sorrow to hope to joy in order. I think it will be relatable to anyone who has been in love or been heartbroken but its not a requirement 😉 These songs can bring the comfort of knowing that you’re not alone, the release of sadness, frustration, guilt and the myriad other feelings that potentially come with a break-up by going into them and coming out the other side. The journey will be empowering because it helps to let go and find hope that there is something more and better and that wholeness and joy and love are possible and within you! The presale starts on May 12th and thats a really important time because if it sells enough before June 2nd, we have a chance of getting on the iTunes charts which will be a huge help in spreading the music.
I’d love to tell you more and explain where the title comes from, so I want to invite you to the Live Launch Broadcast I’m doing on May 12th! You can join in and I’ll be doing interviews, performing a couple of the songs live and acoustic, giving sneak listens of the recorded songs, and you can be part of a Q&A! Just go to www.krisangelis.com and join my mailing list and I’ll send you the link!
Describe each track in three words.
This is funny because the first two are 3 word titles and there are so many ways to describe a song – the content, the sound, etc, but here goes:
Heartbreak Is Contagious: hurt, frustration, release/acceptance
Built This House: trapped, sorrow, memory
Life Support: escape, wakening, hope
Kevin Bacon: joy, fun, dance
How long did it take to write?
I got together with Morgan Taylor Reid and Alexander Cardinale in Morgan’s home studio and each song took 2 days of about 6-8 hours each to write and record and a couple more days of fleshing out the production. Morgan did an incredible job of that!
What was the writing process like?
It was a departure for me from how I had written up until then. I was used to sitting in my room alone with a guitar and writing pieces of whatever I was feeling. This process was different because I came into the recording studio with only the seeds of song ideas and we decided before hand the kind of feeling we wanted each one to have in order to tell this story. We even started with some of the production and wrote to that. It was uncomfortable and scary at first but in a good way!
What else can we expect from the release?
The third song, “Life Support” was written in my room by myself with a guitar and produced beautifully by Bill Lefler. I love that it made it onto the EP because I think it brings the element of hope – the transition from that broken place after a relationship falls apart to the rediscovery of love and happiness.
Do you have any gigs coming up or maybe a tour of your own?
I am having an EP Release show at The Hotel Cafe in Hollywood on June 1st at 8pm. After that I am planning to do a tour around the US playing mostly house concerts! I find those much more intimate and connected. I’d also love to come back and play at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as I have a few summers in years past.
do you have any collaborations with any other artists or bands coming up?
I am doing a bunch of co-writing. I’ve been working on songs with Jon Bryant, Adrienne Gonzales (The Rescues), Paris Carney, and Mallory Trunnell (Crimson Calamity). I’m hoping to also collaborate with Lyndzie Taylor, Gregory Alan Isakov, and many others in the near future! Co-writing used to be scary to me but now I love how it gets me in a new space with new ideas and keeps things exciting!
If so where will you be heading?
I actually can do a lot of co-writing through Skype on my computer but I may head to Nashville and Boulder for a couple of those potential collaborations.
Where is your dream venue to play in the uk?
To be honest, I don’t know that many specific venues in the UK but if they ever have concerts in The Globe Theatre, that would be pretty dream fulfilling!
Where is your dream venue to play anywhere overseas?
Again I don’t know of a specific venue overseas that is a dream venue at this point but I did very much enjoy playing in Europe! I did a whole tour in Germany through Songs & Whispers and it was incredible! We played to full rooms of quiet, engaged people! It seems like people over there appreciate music and artists in a way that is getting lost in a lot of places in the US. It was amazing to be an unknown artist to these people and they were still interested and supportive!
What made you go in to music?
I enjoyed singing in choir and performing in musicals and I grew up listening to my parents’ vinyls and my grandparents old musicals on VHS so I always really enjoyed music and then when I discovered artists that I really related to, it inspired me to learn how to harmonize with my twin sister and start writing and learning guitar.
Do you play any instruments?
I play acoustic guitar and a little bit of ukulele and piano. I’d like to get much better at piano. I also played violin when I was little. I still have my great grandfather’s violin that he brought from Germany on a ship.
Who are your influences?
Ingrid Michaelson, Katie Herzig, Brandi Carlile, Ray Lamontagne, Elton John, The Lumineers, Mumford and Sons, Gregory Alan Isakov, Taylor Swift, Hanson, Queen, Rachel Yamagata, Damien Rice, and the list goes on!
How do you get inspiration to write songs?
Usually from experiences/feelings I’m having and things that are weighing on my heart and mind. Sometimes from a book or other music or story that brings up emotions that I can tell the story of with a song.
Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
I see myself making my living from music and being able to give back to other musicians and causes that are important to me through music and influence.
When you’re not doing music, what do you do?
I am also an actress so sometimes I’m doing that, but on my off time I love getting together with friends and playing games! We play running charades or board games and its really fun! I also enjoy seeing movies and plays, reading, cooking, and baking. I don’t do this all the time but I did completely re-stuff and reupholster my victorian couch and chair and I made a coffee table last year in the shape of an old-fashioned surfboard. Those were fun projects working with my hands.
What was the song you listened to most that influenced you to go more in to the music scene?
The artist that I listened to the most that really got me into learning guitar and writing and performing as a singer/songwriter was Brandi Carlile. The songwriting, performance, and work ethic of Brandi and her band was and still is so inspiring. They do so much good with their music and success as well and that is definitely something I aspire to.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given?
Just keep going. Keep creating. The ones who succeed are the ones who are left, who didn’t give up. Someone once said “Go the extra mile. Its not crowded.”
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians not about the industry and just as an artist?
The same as above.
What quote or saying do you always stick by?
I’ve thought about this question for a couple of days and I don’t think I have a particular quote that I always stick by…I do always try to do what I say I’m going to do – at least when it comes to other people – I need to do it for myself too! Thats a big deal.
When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
Guitar, capo, CD’s, lyrics, and chords 😉
You are away from home on tour for ages and you get back, where is your go to place in your
hometown?
The ocean. In LA or Carmel, its good to be by the ocean and watch the sunset. A lot of places on tour don’t have that. They have a lot of other great and beautiful things though!
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
Yes, here they are!
Join my mailing list at www.krisangelis.com to get special update and access to a private special Live Launch broadcast when the EP presale begins on May 12th!
www.patreon.com/krisangelis – you can join at whatever level you want to get rewards, content that no one else gets like brand new songs that won’t be released to the public for months or ever, and you support me in recording more music and making the music video for “Kevin Bacon”!
