Kayla DiVenere on Her Latest Single, "Blue Jean Baby."
Kayla DiVenere has been exploring the music world and coming into her own as a singer-songwriter. After spending time as an actress, DiVenere shifted her focus to begin experimenting as a musical artist and has been releasing music since 2020. The most recent release is “Blue Jean Baby.” Released at the beginning of the summer, “Blue Jean Baby” fuses indie pop and classic Americana to create a fun, upbeat, yet nostalgic-sounding song of the summer.
We spoke to Kayla DiVenere ahead of the release of “Blue Jean Baby.”
I'm interested to talk about the beginning of you as an artist. You spent some time acting and that you wanted to explore the world of songwriting. What sparked your interest in music and the idea of pursuing being an artist?
Well, my dad introduced me to music at a really young age. He was in a rock band when he was younger, just his teen rock band. He was a drummer, and he told himself that he would always make it a point to introduce his kids to music at a really young age. He showed me a bunch of classic rock that I grew up on and really introduced me to the world of music. He brought home a piano for me one day when I was six. I had no idea what it was, and I just started messing around with it and fell in love with music. But it was just kind of a hobby. I never really thought about doing it professionally or as a career or anything. I didn't really think I was all that good at it either, and I really wasn't.
It took a lot of practice, and it wasn't until I moved to LA from Canada for acting because my brother and I started acting when we were really young. And I knew that I wanted to do that as a career, but it wasn't until I moved here (Los Angeles). And then around 13, I really started getting into the music scene here. First of all, because my brother also was in the music scene and he was writing songs in his room, and I overheard him one day and it kind of just clicked to me in that moment that anybody can write music. I got jealous and I wrote a song to retaliate back, and then we had a little sibling competition and we would write songs and have this little contest. So that's where my joy for doing this as a career kind of sparked. I realized that anyone can make music and if I can have the opportunity to help people the way music has helped me, that I would just love to do it. So that's the moment where everything kind of clicked in my brain.
Regarding the music scene in LA, what has it been like when you were viewing it from the outside versus now as an artist? Do you see any changes in it at all?
Yeah, I mean, I think viewing it from the outside is definitely really scary, and I had no idea what to expect. I was a little confused on how studio sessions worked and how you meet people, and they just seemed really intimidating and really cool and I was just scared of everything. But after I started doing sessions four times a week, I realized that everyone in the music industry in LA for the most part is just really cool, down to earth, humble people, and it's just a good hangout. I thought it was some scary thing to go to a session and write a song, but there's such an amazing community here that really embraces a lot of people and helps people out. At least from what I've experienced, I've been super lucky. So it definitely started with me being scared of it, to me just loving it and feeling so comfortable. It's like a family. Everyone knows each other and it's great.
A lot of your music seems to explore different genres. In the last four years since you've been releasing music, what has it been like exploring different sounds and what genres are you most drawn to?
I think when I started making music, I was definitely really confused as to what my sound was because I didn't know if I wanted to make music that I listened to, or that sounds best with my voice. And then I also had a lot of people kind of telling me what to do because I was so new to it and kind of telling me what they think I would sound good with. I think I was just really overwhelmed by it all, and I kind of was just listening to everyone. And so I definitely started out making music, kind of experimenting and listening to people and doing all that stuff. And there came a point where I just didn't really feel like the music really represented me as a person and what I wanted it to sound like. It's definitely been in the past two to three years that I've really found my sound of this indie pop vibe versus when I first started I was doing this indie rock punk. And so I really feel like this indie pop vibe is just like a thousand percent me, and I totally found where I fit. I think I'm still going to keep up the old songs that I have up there to just see that growth. But yeah, it's been a journey, and I just found the best thing to do is to just experiment and you'll find what you like eventually.
So, you released “Small Talk” a few months back in March. And I interpreted that song and the lyrics as navigating and exploring relationships as a young adult. What inspired the song and what is the message that you're looking to send?
I have had a crush on my brother's best friend forever, ever since I was 14. And he would always come over, and we'd always just have these five minute conversations. And it was always small talk and just nothing really deep. And it just came to a point where I was like, “oh, I want so much more than small talk. I want that romance that I've seen in these John Hughes movies and everything like that.” So I thought that could be a cool song concept to work with because I know that all my friends I speak to as women, I feel like we watch romantic movies and we're like, “where can we find that? Where can we find the guy outside my window holding up a boombox?” Not this classic small talk that everyone is doing these days. So I kind of just ran with that, and then it just kind of poured out of me really easily when I was writing it, just kind of blending the world of small talk and then the John Hughes romance vibes that I wanted to blend together.
Your latest single, “Blue Jean Baby,” I loved the kind of juxtaposition of light and dark sound. Lyrically and sonically, the song alludes to a classic Americana sound; I noticed that especially right at the end when the guitar line comes in. Sonically, what was the process like for creating this song?
Well, I always kind of liked to start on acoustic guitar and then kind of build up from that, just because I feel like it's an easy base to work with and it's easy to mold. And then as the song and inspiration started to take shape with the Americana vibes, I think we really wanted to add a lot of sounds that kind of remind us of old Americana. Then we paid an homage to Miss American Pie at the end, and just kind of added these little nuances of this vintage Americana aesthetic that everyone knows so well. It's a very nostalgic feel that I wanted to portray, and I think it came across.
What I found really interesting is I felt like the beginning had your classic indie pop sound, and then it slowly shifted at the end to just pure Americana. When you had the idea of coming up with this song, did you off-the-bat want this to be inspired by classic Americana, or did it just kind of come as you were writing?
I have always wanted to write an Americana type song, so I went into writing it with that idea. And then as I was in the session at my producer studio, he has a lot of vintage Western Americana artwork and magazines and these old things. And I think it really inspired me further to delve deep into that sort of world. And I kind of started it by just writing about a romance for an American boy. But then definitely, as we were writing it, we were like, “this needs to be deeper than this.” And we thought it would be cool to just scratch at some nuances of the power of the American government and just America's history of freedom and everything, and kind of relating that to a romance. And if you just listen to it, it just sounds like a romantic song. But if you really listen to the lyrics, you can see how there are some little nuances of this old Americana history.
Where did the song name come from?
The name I was originally going to call the song was “American Boy,” but I thought that “Blue Jean Baby” was a little cooler, so we just ran with it.
When it comes to writing your songs, do you have a typical process? Do you have a formula?
I do think it's a little different for every song, depending if I'm writing it in my room or at a studio. Normally it'll either be from this notes page in my phone that I just compile a bunch of ideas just every day from conversations I have. Or it'll just be something that happened to me that day that I'm like, “oh, I really need to write about this because it's bothering me so much.” So it'll either start like that, and then I definitely just pick up an instrument and just work with it. And honestly, when I write a song, I just black out and then it's done because I'm so into it. But that's kind of how it starts.
Recently, it seems like you've been playing more live shows. What has it been like finding your footing as a performer and doing these new live performances?
Well, this January was my first live performance ever. So it was definitely a little scary. I didn't really know what to expect, but at the same time, I've been wanting to do live shows for a while, so I was definitely very excited. I think the main thing that just takes all the nerves away is just the energy of a show day is insane. And you can just feel all the love. All my friends show up, my family is there, a bunch of people who just love music are there, and there's so much love and community all around that it completely overtakes any negative thought that I have. So that's been something really nice to discover.
Do you notice any changes from when you played your first show to some of the most recent ones?
Definitely. I mean, I think like anything it's just getting used to it. With time and doing it over a bunch of times, I definitely am getting used to it. I’m learning about myself on stage and what I like to do and what sounds best with my voice live. It's a big learning process.
As an artist, who are some of your musical inspirations?
I think I definitely take little bits and pieces from a lot of people I listen to, but I love Dominic Fike so much. I love Role Model. I love Olivia Rodrigo, Tate McRae, and then there's just a bunch of random and indie artists that I just fall upon on Spotify. I really do feel like I take inspiration from everyone, just little bits and pieces. There's not one specific person.
I was wondering if you could just give an insight into what's coming next for you after the release of “Blue Jean Baby?”
Well, there definitely will be more songs until the end of the year, maybe three or four more songs. And then next year I am planning to do some sort of EP. We'll see how it goes. But definitely just a lot more new music and more live shows to look forward to.
Follow Kayla DiVenere on Instagram and Spotify. Stream “Blue Jean Baby,” here.
(Photo Credit: Lili Skyler)
