Interview with Sarah Kinsley

Everything I do has to remain mine.

Sarah Kinsley talks about his first visit as headliner to Mexico, the dream of scoring a film and why to continue being an artist DIY It is still the most important part of everything you do.

Sarah Kinsley arrived in Mexico for the first time opening for Keane. Then he returned to Crown Capital. This time it is different: August 20th comes to Indie Rocks Forum! with his own show, his own band, his own setlist. First time for real. Five years after starting her career professionally, the New York alt-pop artist builds every part of her project from her apartment: the tour visuals, the soundscapesthe sketches for the videos. Nothing comes out of her hands without her having thought about it first.

He told us about the August show, about how to put together a setlist when you have intimate songs and huge songs on the same album, about the film scores that she's obsessed with and why the “alternative indie pop” hyfren is perfectly fine with her.

Indie Rocks!: Thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us and congratulations on your upcoming show in Mexico. How excited are you?

Sarah Kinsley: Super, super excited. It still feels a little far away, it's in August, but it will surely arrive sooner than I think. Time flies and suddenly you are there.

GO!: You've been to Mexico, but not with your own show. What have those previous visits been like?

SK: Yes, I think the first time I went to Mexico it was opening for Keane. I did two shows, one in Mexico City and one in Guadalajara. Then I came back last year for a festival. And now I'm coming back for my own headline show, which is going to be a lot of fun.

Crown Capital It is one of the best festivals in Mexico, it was an incredible experience to arrive in that context for the first time. open for Keane in it Sports Palaceone of the venues bigger, it was also very exciting. But I think the most exciting thing is doing your own thing, especially when you have new music to play.

GO!: How are you going to assemble the setlist? Do you check the numbers to see which songs connect the most with the Mexican public or do you just do your show?

SK: We put together the setlist it's been a while now. I think I'm going to do something similar to what I played on the last tour I did in the UK. And yes, it's really nice to see the numbers and see which demographic leans towards which songs, although overall it's pretty similar in different places.

But put together the setlist It's like solving a very fun puzzle: you put the pieces in different places and try things. I'm very happy with how it turned out. There is a very beautiful flow of energy because I have very intimate songs and I have much bigger songs, and finding the balance between all of them has been very, very fun.

GO!: Are you going to play with a full band or will there be more intimate moments?

SK: I bring my whole band. We are a quartet: me, who plays a lot of keyboard and synthesizers; a friend with whom I have toured practically my entire life, who plays guitar and bass; another guitarist friend; and a drummer. There are four of us, but it's going to sound very full and very good.

GO!: How nice is it to tour the world with your best friends?

SK: It's very special. We are very lucky to be able to tour, it is a huge privilege. Although the typical misunderstanding is that you are not really traveling. There's something funny about that: you do basically the same thing every night, the day's process is always similar. Hopefully I can get to a point where I stay in places longer and really see the world. I hope to do that when I go to Mexico City, stay a little longer and explore.

GO!: Is the August show part of a tour or a special event?

SK: I just finished a huge tour, two months on the road. The Mexico show is a special event in August, it is not connected to any tour. It's its own thing, just that.

GO!: You are a young artist and when you start making music your goals grow: first you want people to listen to your music, then you want to reach the other side of the world. What are your goals right now?

SK: Right now I want to score a film, which is a separate goal from my music. I want to make music for other people and for other projects. I also want to make more albums, lots of albums. I want to play on venues huge. I want everything to continue happening naturally. But the subject of cinema has been around me for a long time.

GO!: Whenever I see your videos and your covers I feel something very cinematic. Now that you say it, it makes perfect sense that you want to score movies.

SK: Thank you. It would be a huge dream. And I'm definitely very inspired by film scores, although it's a slightly different circle of music. I love them Phantom Thread and its score is incredible. Also the soundtrack of Kajillionairewhich a friend recommended to me, by the composer Emil Mosseri. Very, very good.

GO!: Many people talk about your music as pop. I feel that it is pop, but a pop that grew. How do you define yourself?

SK: It's definitely left-wing pop, alternative pop. I wouldn't call myself pure pop either, but I'm very attracted to pop sensibilities. I like writing pop melodies. The thing is that my music is slightly eccentric, slightly off-center, and that makes me very happy. I am very comfortable with the alternative indie pop label. The hifens They seem good to me.

GO!: When did you start your career professionally?

SK: In 2021, five years ago. And I started in a very indie way. I still consider myself an artist DIY. I do a lot of things from my own apartment: tour visuals, soundscapes, I build the whole set, I draw the sketches for the music videos. It is very important for me not to lose that essence. I think it defines the project and drives it in many ways.

GO!: What are Sarah Kinsley's hidden talents?

SK: I like to paint and I do it a lot, although I don't know if it's a talent. And I'm very, very good at packing. I inherited that from my mother, who is very meticulous with those things. But beyond that, I don't know if I would say that drawing or painting is a hidden talent, I just love doing it.

GO!: Now that you mention packing, do you bring merch for the show?

SK: Yes, we brought a lot of things. It is another part of the work that I do very DIY with my team. I hope to bring something for the show in Mexico City, we'll see. The show will last about an hour, an hour and a quarter, maximum an hour and twenty. We will see.

GO!: Do you leave room for improvisation? If the public starts asking for songs that are not in the setlist, do you touch them?

SK: It's rare that we do things that we don't plan, but sometimes it has happened, playing a song because people want to hear it, and it's very nice. But we want to leave room for some surprises within the set. I always leave room to talk and do whatever comes out, but I don't know exactly how it's going to turn out yet.

GO!: Do you talk between songs?

SK: Yes, absolutely. I love telling people why I wrote a certain song or where it came from. I've been to shows where artists just go from one song to the next without stopping, and I'm like, wait, I want to know what these songs mean. I try to keep that within my own set as well.

GO!: Thank you very much, Sarah. Do you have a message for the people in Mexico who are waiting to see you?

SK: I'm very excited. I can't wait to get there, I'm going to bring all my energy and see what happens. Thanks everyone and see you in August.

GO!: See you in August.