Having first sat down at a piano at an age where most kids haven’t even started school, Kev Kelly truly has a long, strong and lasting passion for music as an art form through playing, writing and singing it. Inspired by a range of artists from Taylor Swift to Frank Ocean, he’s carving his own unique path in the music world and his songs, including latest single “Everything’s On Fire”, are often written from personal viewpoints, reflect moments in his life, and are about issues and topics that matter to him, allowing him to build a stronger, deeper connection with those who hear them. PopWrapped caught up with Kev to talk new music and his strong dislike of social media.

While most people, it could be argued, don’t really get into music until they’re maybe approaching their teens, music has been a part of your life since you were 4, when you started playing piano. Whose idea was it for you to take up an instrument so early, and do you have any regrets over that?  

I definitely don’t have any regrets about taking up an instrument at an early age. My parents never forced anything on me. I really loved playing. They never suggested I take lessons or anything like that. They wanted me to figure out my likes and dislikes for myself and I think that’s why I still really love music. It’s hard for people to love something they were forced to do.

PW: What did learning the piano teach you in terms of commitment, confidence and artistic performance and what advice might you give to anyone considering picking up an instrument for the first time? 

I think I had a much different experience with music and playing the piano then most other people. I chose to do it and taught myself. I think that benefited me because I was never forced to learn how to read music or play something technically correct. When you’re an artist and you write your own stuff, it can be hard to do something different or creative when you’ve been taught to work inside a certain set of rules. If you like playing an instrument you should only play the things that you like. Being forced to play something you hate can kill creativity and love for an instrument.  

Which artists are you most influenced by? If you had to say you sounded similar – musically or lyrically – to one, which would it be? 

I really love artists who take their time and try something different. When Channel Orange came out, I was a senior in high school. It was so eye opening to me. The pitched vocals, the song structure. Frank Ocean really just did what he wanted and didn’t care if it was commercially viable. Which of course made it commercially viable. I think Kanye West does the same thing. Each album was always a new thing. He didn’t make the same album twice which a lot of people can. I would also say Taylor Swift is someone who I admire. She had a really great way of connecting with her audience, growing with them and making them feel like they’re a part of her albums. 

Tell me a little about your new single “Everything’s On Fire.” From what or from where did you get the idea for it?  

EOF is about a dream that I had. I usually don’t dream super vividly but this night I did. In the dream a city was on fire and I woke up, finished the song and went back to sleep. 

The song is taken from your Saint KDK V EP. For anyone yet to check it out, how would you sum it up in a few words or a sentence? 

A brief glimpse into my life between 2017-2019.  

You’re often referred to as an artist who writes considerably from and about personal experiences. How important to you is it that listeners can and do relate/connect to the songs you share with them?  

I write from personal experience because I’m just like everyone else. All of us deal with something and have ways of coping with stress or happiness. If you listen to something and it means something specific to you that’s all that matters. I don’t really care if people feel the exact same way I felt when I wrote something. I think a good song lets everyone insert themselves into it and experience through their own eyes. 

What, in your mind, makes a song truly great and which might you say, of the thousands that have been released over the years, is to date the greatest song ever written?  

A great song is something that adapts itself to multiple situations. Trying to pick out the greatest song ever written is like trying to get a parent to pick their favorite child. I don’t think that I can confidently say “this is my favorite song of all time and I will always love it regardless of the situation I’m listening to it in” – maybe “Mr. Brightside.”

In a world so seemingly reliant on technology, how do you feel about social media? Are you much of a Twitter or Facebook user, and do you have any concerns over how technologically reliant we all seem to be, and how heavily industries like the music business rely on artist connectivity with fans online? Do you think it is or would be at all possible for an artist emerging today to have a strong fanbase or following without having social media? 

I hate social media. People tend to over share their lives and I’m not a big “please look at me” type of person. I understand it’s important for a fan base to feel like they connect to you. It can be sort of a black hole. It’s not my favorite thing in the world. I think making good music will always connect a fan base to an artist. They don’t need to see what you had for breakfast or your new haircut. I don’t know. It’s not really for me. 

The Corona Virus has thrown the world, personally and professionally, into disarray – how have you been coping with the crisis? Have you been working on new music or just enjoying some downtime? Have you found any of your plans as an artist thrown into chaos as a result of this pandemic?  

Covid is a really serious thing. Unfortunately here in Nashville, it’s been handled poorly which just further delays us from getting back out and performing. Leaning into the fact that I can’t control Covid but I can control how much I write and record has been really helpful. Lots of other people are dealing with the loss of family and friends, astronomical medical bills or loss of jobs. I’m really incredibly lucky to be able to have a team that has handled this pandemic really well and allows me to keep doing the job I love doing.  

What’s the first thing you want to do when any sense of normality returns to the world?

Go to a bar and watch sports. It’s really one of those things I took for granted. Sports are a way of life in my family and not being able to watch or attend sporting events had been less than ideal. 

Finally then, taking into account you’re a fairly new artist and that the music business is cut-throat, what’s your long-term goal? How do you hope to ensure you’re still around several years from now, that you stand out among your many artistic counterparts and that you achieve all you want to?  

Music can definitely be cut throat if you let it. Nashville in particular can get that way. There are definitely groups that only write together or labels who will sign people they know or who has a large social media following even if they aren’t the more talented artists. I tend to stay out of that. I write everything by myself and record with my friend and producer Dylan Byrnes. The two of us stay out of the politics of music which is helpful. We also don’t work with other people which prevents our stuff from sounding like everyone else’s. At times pop music can be like the car industry. Everyone is so obsessed with what everyone else is doing that everything starts looking and performing the exact same. You just put a different badge on it. There’s really only one professional goal that I would like to accomplish; to make sure I can support my family and make sure that everyone is secure and happy.

Check out “Everything’s On Fire” below and you can keep up to date with Kev Kelly by visiting his website, giving his page a like on Facebook or by following him on Twitter.