Interview: NZ Country Singer Grace Kelly

Releasing your EP on the first day of the Covid lockdown may not be the best marketing ploy, but that’s what happened to 17-year-old Grace Kelly. 

Not to be confused with the iconic film star, Kelly has spent time growing up between New Zealand and the US. She’s back in Auckland now just in time for lockdown, instead of playing show to support her new release, titled “before“.

So, putting the newly-found spare time to use, The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda gave Grace a call to find out a bit more about her and to see how she’s handling these isolated events.

Click here to listen to the interview with Grace Kelly:

Or, read a transcription of the interview here:

M: So you’re in Auckland

G: Yup

M: And you were living in the States so how long have you been back to New Zealand?

G: My dad was living there when I was eight he moved over there for a job that he got and so I half went with him. Basically he was living there and I would go back and forth to see him and ended up living half in each country and then the last couple of years I was in the States for more of my time than in New Zealand. So after that, been back and been here finishing school and all that fun stuff.

M: Yeah that’s right, you’re only seventeen.

G: Yeah one more year.

M: Well It does feel like New Zealand’s a good place to be at the moment so I think you made the right choice there.

G: Oh definitely yeah, no complaints

M: You’re EP was released on the 28th of March which was just a little while ago and of course that’s when all the lock down stuff happened so did one thing affect the other at all?

G: It was definitely not the way I planned my release. So released it on the 26th of March which was the first day of lock down so it’s kind of easy to remember and so two important things happened that day but I had some gigs and some shows and stuff planned that I didn’t get to do but it’s just sort of been getting creative and seeing what other artists that I like are doing. So I’ve been doing a bunch of live streams because that seems to be a good way to connect at a distance at the moment so I’ve been doing that.

M: You did some kind of Instagram thing on the 28th is that right?

G: Yeah I did a live video so that’s sort of just been what I’m doing. I’m gonna do another one tomorrow. It’s just kind of like you get bored and you want to play for people but there’s a certain point when my family don’t want to hear me play I’m sure.

M: I’m sure that’s not the case. What is it like doing these live Instagram things or internet things when you’re kind of playing to no one really but you might be playing to everyone.

G: It’s really weird, I’ve tried to stay real cool and like yeah I’m still confident in front of the camera but it’s so awkward cause it’s like you finish a song and if you’re performing it with people then there’d be an applause and you’d be like ok cool thanks and then that’s how you’d intro into the next song but you just kind of play out the last chord and then there’s just silence. It’s quite intimidating so you’ve gotta rework the oh thank you cause there’s no applause coming back that you know of so it’s gotta be like thanks for listening. It’s interesting.

M: It’s amazing how much the interaction between a performer and audience really is important like I watched John Oliver the other night and he’s doing it without an audience and no laughing and it’s really disconcerting, am I supposed to laugh here or not you know?

G: Yeah I know and I think it’s kind of a thing of you get a vibe off the audience and they can reciprocate that energy that you feel or not. So when it’s just you, you know there’s people there so you can’t switch off but you’re not receiving any kind of energy back, it’s a weird thing but I mean it’s been fun it’s been something different to do and the other day I did one and all my friends were on and they were just saying funny things in the comments and then everyone was sort of having a laugh about it and so I think it was a good way to forget about everything that was happening even though it was like we weren’t together, everyone was still having a good time.

M: That’s cool. So maybe we can just talk a little bit about your background since for a lot of folks may not be aware of you, you’re kind of new and exciting all that stuff. So this back and forth between living in the States and in New Zealand, how did that affect your musical interests?

G: It was definitely…I think there was some cool opportunities that I had over in the States, so definitely growing as a performer that was super key and I got to go to Nashville for the first time in 2016 which was sort of towards the end of when I was there but definitely still super impactful. Because it’s like if you were in New Zealand, going to Nashville that’s a big ask but it was a short plane ride away so it was like ok we could make that happen. So my dad and I went to Nashville and yeah country music wasn’t really on my radar, I mean we don’t have a huge country music situation happening here in New Zealand so it’s like I wasn’t exposed to it enough for it to I guess seem like an option and I didn’t know enough about it and then I went to Nashville for the first time and I just remember walking down Broadway and I was like this music is incredible and it’s making me feel so good. I was like I just love this sound and I love these players and I love everything about this genre and I was like tell me more, tell me more so then it just kind of became my genre of choice and here we are. And now I sing in a southern accent so that’s that.

M: So you didn’t grow up listening to country music?

G: No I didn’t, it’s really funny I always hear my favourite artists in interviews, like ‘Yeah you know I grew up listening to Dolly and all of that’ and I’m like ok brilliant like I always freak out if an interviewer was ever like ‘who are your great country artists that you’d want to have for dinner with?’ cause I’m like my parents didn’t grow up listening to country so I’m having to find out the greats you know what I mean? So it’s like it’s interesting but It’s so fun cause it’s like there’s so much to learn which I guess is exciting, there’s no stop to it and I can just keep paving away and that’s the great thing about technology nowadays is I can actually do that it’s not as difficult as I imagine it would have been twenty, thirty years ago.

M: Have you seen the Netflix documentary about Dolly Parton?

G: Yes I have. It’s very good and it introduced me to her bluegrass album which I love.

M: Yeah, that was amazing wasn’t it?

G: Yeah

M: She’s quite an impressive person, I saw her when she last came here and yeah pretty cool. You mentioned that there’s not much of a country scene in New Zealand but are you familiar with what’s going on in the South Island and in Christchurch and people like Tami Neilson and Jackie Bristow and those folks, do you know them?

G: Yeah one hundred per cent definitely and it’s quite cool the South Island’s got their own little thing going down there and the Gore Guitars, I was gonna do that this year but then obviously plans changed around the world so this year’s calendars jumped a bit but yeah it’s definitely, we’ve got some things happening here but just in a larger scale, the States is where it’s at.

M: Definitely, so is that kind of your focus? To go back there and do more stuff?

G: Yeah, I think eventually I’ll probably move to Nashville but New Zealand’s home for me so it’s staying here and getting as much reach as I can but I don’t know a lot of people that love country music like I do so I don’t know.

M: There’s a few kiwis that have moved to Nashville that are musicians, Tattletale Saints do you know them?

G: No I don’t but I met with Kaylee Bell she’s a singer songwriter and she’s over there and it kind of seems like the end goal, Jamie McDell is I think she’s not living in Nashville but she’s been recording there a but so yeah it’s interesting I think especially because Nashville’s such a songwriting-based city and that’s what country music’s all about and that’s where all the greats are located and where the buzz and songwriting and getting co-writes and all that is and everyone’s sort of there doing the same thing so it’s a bit of a family. Intimidating to join but I’m sure I’ll get there eventually and that’ll be fun.

M: I’m sure you will. I’ve been listening to John Prine the last couple days cause he just passed away and the quality of the song writing from his first album on is just incredible and you listen to that and go man how do you do that? So how do you do that? I mean when did you decide that you could write songs?

G: I don’t know it’s kind of a weird thing, I remember when I was probably maybe like ten-ish and I was singing and I really loved to sing and I couldn’t play any instruments and my brother and sister were like why don’t you learn to play guitar and I was like nah that’s fine I’m just saying cause it was kind of like it seemed like a chore to have to learn something and they were like yeah but then you can write your own songs and I was like oh and that idea was quite exciting to me to be able to write songs and make my own music. So I learned guitar and maybe when I was twelve I wrote my first song and it was terrible ……. but yeah the first few were terrible and I guess the quality gets better as you get older but it’s kind of sifting through what you like and what you don’t like with your songs and figuring out which ones you wanna keep and throw away.

M: And as a budding song writer, did you listen to other songwriters and take things from them or did you kind of work on your own?

G: Yeah a hundred percent  and like definitely in the early stages I’d hear a line that I’d like and I’d be like ‘ooo I’m gonna use that’. But it was sort of getting in that mind set and getting the vocabulary, getting the how people were phrasing things and just figuring out ways I could articulate how I was feeling or how I wanted to show I was feeling and it’s fun I mean I love songwriting it’s healing and it’s gotten me through a lot.

M: Well we’re all in lock down here, we’ve got another couple weeks to go and I think everybody’s thinking, well songwriters and musicians, this must be great there’s all this creativity happening.

G: Oh it’s perfect.

M: Is it good?

G: It’s amazing I mean it’s like time has been given to you so it’s what should I do today, maybe I’ll write a couple songs so yeah I have written a few since we’ve been in lock down, there’s one that I really like that I’ll probably end up doing something with or hope that I’ll do something with. But yeah it’s pretty nice you’re just around home all day and I think well for me I can find that sometimes if I get bored for too long then I get to a point where I’m like I need to do something that’s stimulating my brain so I’m ok let’s write a song and then it usually turns out pretty good cause my minds just been sort of off however long and then it’s back to work.

M: Excellent. So we’ll be hearing the lock down blues at some point from somebody I’m sure.

G: Yeah exactly.

M: That’s great. So I know you had all these shows planned and things to do on the back of the EP release so you’re just waiting to see what’s gonna happen next and take it from there is that the plan?

G: Yeah, just sort of playing it by ear and I’m finding out how the next little while is gonna be unfolding and what new restrictions and whatever’s gonna happen it’s just kind of making the best of the less than great situation. I mean it’s kind of good, everyone’s sitting at home so it’s like what are you gonna do? Go listen to my music.

M: Well that’s true. I have watched a few of these live sessions, people doing their things and it’s great cause it’s a weirdly intimate relationship you develop with someone watching them like that, they don’t know you’re there and they’re right in your phone and yeah it’s very interesting.

G: Yeah it’s definitely new. I mean I hope that artists keep doing it cause I really like it and like you say gives a more intimate view and I mean live is definitely better, seeing someone live and that audience. But I mean it’s like people can keep doing that so that more people can get the opportunity to see them and see how they are in person-ish. It’s great

M: Well hopefully we’ll get some live music here in Auckland sometime soon who knows, I’m going out of my mind.

G: Finger’s crossed. I know get me out.

M: Yeah well thank you very much for making time to talk to me. We’ll get this posted on the old 13th Floor and hopefully you’ll be out playing and singing in front of real people soon.

G: Yeah exactly