Canadian-born, Portland-raised musician Emily Krueger on her new artist project VELVETTICA
Being so deeply connected and one with everyone around us. Her spiritual awakening. Manifestation & reaching the depths of yourself through music. Interdimensional pop. The importance of finding her sound and unique frequency. Hiatus Kaiyote, Jeff Buckley and Thom Yorke being notable influences. Forgetting about the notion of “making it” and remembering it’s not a destination, it’s a journey.
Fuzzer: I’d love to know how you got started in singing and making music?
Emily: Yeah, I mean, the inception of my music started like really, really young. I remember my mum telling me probably four or five years ago, and I didn't even really know this, but she was like “you were singing before you were speaking. Before you could speak, you were humming, and music was just clearly in you”. So she kind of always knew that and I had an affinity for piano, and my mom also told me because out of all the girls that she had, I was the one that she was playing classical music to through the womb (laughs). It was very full circle that I had such an affinity for piano when I was like 13, just wanting to play. And it was mainly just because I did kind of have melodies in my head often. I would just sing and have ideas, and I needed a vessel to kind of express that. And piano was great because it was just a way I could write music. And then I started writing lyrics and stuff actually, I think this was before piano.
When I was 10 years old, my dad gave me a little TASCAM recorder. It was like an eight track TASCAM recorder, and I was just layering all these vocals. I was really young - I guess it was like low-key producing vocals actually as a 10 year old, and that kind of stuck around because then, you know, I kept playing piano. And then I picked up guitar when I was 16 or 17, and I just loved it right away. Like I was telling you, it felt like I had known it in every single previous lifetime, it had always been there. It was really special. And at that time, I didn't realize it. I was just like “Oh, I guess it's just something I can do, and that's just that”. I didn't think anything of it, but thinking back, that's always in retrospect, right? That I’m like “oh, that’s actually pretty cool”.
Emily: And then I started writing songs probably in high school, and I don't know - it was something that everyone in my school knew about me. They're like “oh yeah. Emily's like the musician, and she's always writing songs and stuff”. But I was a very academic kid and I came from a very, I guess, normal family. They were just kind of like “Oh, get a good job with a stable income and something that's steady and reliable”. And that was the energy of my whole entire family. So it was like “okay, I love science so I'm gonna go into nursing school”. So I went into nursing. I did a year of nursing in Canada, and I finished it out and it was fine, but during that first year of university, I started posting guitar on Instagram because I wasn't really into social media. And I was like, “this is kind of weird”. I'm not interested in posting photos of my food like people did at that time. So I was like “okay, I’ll post guitar”. And I had no idea that anyone else did that. I didn't know that there was this whole niche category that was growing on Instagram. So I did that, and then all of a sudden started getting a following. And I'm like “where is this coming from? How are people seeing this?”. I saw that all these pages would repost and I was like “Whoa, there's this whole side of Instagram that I had no clue about”, and it kind of just happened, which is really cool and special. It felt like something I had to do because it was just happening naturally.
So through that, there was someone on Instagram who was also a guitarist who I totally looked up to at that time. His name is Beau - he was a guitarist in London, and he was like “you're really talented, we should write a song together”. And so we did, and we basically wrote this song through voice memos, I recorded my vocals, and he recorded this guitar. We sent it off to this producer in Maryland named Lindsay Lowend, and then it randomly did pretty well. And at one point it was on like the Spotify global viral chart. So I was like “oh shit, maybe there's something here”. And so I just told my parents I'm moving to London and Beau and I properly formed the band Zoology. I was there for a little bit just totally on a whim, quit everything. My parents were supportive, but they definitely wanted me to stick on the more normal path. But obviously I knew I couldn't do that. That wasn’t for me. So that was the inception of music. And we were a band for a couple years, and then we split up, and then I started working on my solo project, Emily Krueger.
Emily: And then after that, I went through the whole entire artist journey of being like “oh, do I want to be an artist?”. And then I started producing because I had all these ideas that certain producers weren't executing, right? And I was “oh, I gotta learn how to do this myself because I have this vision, and it's not exactly what I want and I know what I want”. And so I had to go through really getting into production to be able to just explain myself properly as an artist, because so many times you're an artist in the room and you don't know how to explain what you want. And so I knew that was so important to me for my artist journey, but I kind of took it a couple steps further (laughs). Production was all I was doing for a little bit, and I totally put the artist thing on the back burner, and thought I wanted to just produce for other artists.
And then I had this opportunity to go to LLAMP (Los Angeles Academy for Artists & Music Production) in Santa Monica, and that was amazing for my production skills because it was nine months of working 10am to 10pm, some days until midnight just straight. We would order food into the studios and it was the best year of my life. It was so fun, and it was so much practice that my skills and abilities as a producer just 10x’ed in that year so that was great. But during that process, when I was working with other artists and writing for them and producing for them, I was kind of starting to remember and realize like “oh shit, I have so much to say as an artist though, and there's so much of my own frequency that I want to put through the writing”. It was so good for me to kind of veer off the path, to remember how to get back on the path as an artist. And sometimes we need that, you know. So that was really helpful.
And then that started VELVETTICA. It was during the production phase, because there was something about the Emily Krueger project. I didn't really know myself yet, and I was exploring every kind of genre. And there was every kind of sub category of pop. There was pop R&B, there was pop-rock, there was like really indie, just weird. There was jazz pop. And so I was like “this isn't it”. And then I kind of started to gather this whole persona and identity of VELVETTICA during like a spiritual awakening, and realizing who I was as a being beyond this body and finding out what I actually wanted to say through my music and not just thinking about what other people wanted me to say or wanted to hear. So I really found myself through that process of taking a break from artistry, to allow myself to think and just to see it from a bird's eye view.
And it often comes from a period of time where you're kind of in a little bit of a hermit phase, where you're just kind of thinking “okay, who am I? What do we want to say outside of what the industry is wanting you to do?” and kind of taking a breather and a break is sometimes the best way to then come back with such renewed purpose and inspiration and like “okay, this is who I am, this is what I have to say”. It's funny too, because the energy of VELVETTICA has always been in there, in small amounts here and there, but I never dove into that artistry and that identity, and it resonated with me in such a way that nothing in the Emily Krueger project ever did, and so we knew it had to be a new thing, a new persona, because it was just so different. I had changed completely as a person, and so naturally the music did too. That'll happen with any artist. You're always growing and evolving and changing, but it was just such a drastic new arena of artistry that had to change.
Fuzzer: What an incredible story and thanks so much for sharing that journey with us! Who would you say were your main musical and creative influences growing up?
Emily: When I really got into music, I was actually into acoustic and kind of folk music. So like Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, that was some of the first phase of music, and then naturally a ton of indie music. And then I kind of got interested in R&B. When I was younger, I loved Erykah Badu and D'Angelo, those have been some of the biggest influences, I think especially just vocally and melodically. Hiatus Kaiyote is one of my all time favorites. She's just incredible, her expression and they're just so good to me. Oh, I love Jeff Buckley. Just kind of the moodiness of Jeff Buckley, and how he gets his songwriting across is so interesting and iconic, and not a lot of people did it Jeff. Alt-J was very influential for me, just because they really pushed boundaries and blended so many things together and really did something that was so their own that no one else did remotely like them.
Fuzzer: Amazing, some really incredible names in that list! And we’d love to talk about your new music with VELVETTICA starting with “Stereo Minds”! Can you tell us the concept of that track and how the song came about!
Emily: Thinking back to this song. “Stereo Minds” was actually the first VELVETTICA song that I made, and it was so different and unique but it also felt so natural. It just wrote itself. And I wasn't thinking, I wasn't trying. I wrote it during LLAMP at home, and I just wanted a reprieve from working with other artists. And it was such a cool song for me because it also was right on the precipice of a spiritual awakening and of just seeing the nature of who I am and who we are as humans and that's the same thing really. We are so deeply connected and one with everyone around us. And when you kind of really become conscious of that, it's just beautiful and everything feels so purposeful and there's so much reason for everything, and everything is happening so divinely. And I think that song kind of wrote itself because that's kind of the nature of that song - being one with your higher self and your soul, and being one with those around you. The “stereo minds” are the minds and the consciousness in the same frequency. And so being in that frequency of not only your higher self, but others and their higher self, and I felt like this was such a manifestation song for me, because it was shortly after that kind of “finding myself” and being just so content with myself, that I also found my husband. And then now thinking back, listening to the song, it's like “whoa, I was also talking about my relationship with my husband and my relationship with my divine counterpart”. Not only just myself, but it's kind of one in the same. When you really find yourself and are just content with yourself and happy with yourself, you don't need to look outside. The things that you once wanted come naturally when you kind of let go, like release it.
Fuzzer: We absolutely love VELVETTICA which is this incredible psych-rock sound mixed with these groovy baselines and soulful vocals almost with what I want to say are like these galactic elements.
Emily: Yeah, like interdimensional pop!
Fuzzer: I love that!
Emily: I’ve never thought about that until now (laughs) but that’s kind of the vibe that I want to go for.
Fuzzer: (Laughs) What do your main highlights have been working so far on this artist project?
Emily: Ooh gosh, there are so many. I feel like just the arc of the journey. Kinda like I was telling you before, even just the name Emily Krueger, that's me as a human but I kind of really yearned for this artist persona and identity where I could kind of like in a way, separate myself, to where I felt so free to just really be in that creative energy. Because there's us as an artist, and then there's us as a human. There's so many different parts of ourselves, and it kind of makes creative self expression easier when you have certain limits and boundaries. And that really helped me stick to a sound and find that sound that was so uniquely me. Because us as a person, we're so multifaceted that we like every genre. Basically, most people really do and want to explore every genre. And so I think just the highlight was actually just finding my sound, my unique frequency that I'm just so relentlessly shameless with sharing. Finding that has been the greatest journey, not only as a human, but as an artist. So that was really cool. And also, I think reaching the point in my artistry where I actually, genuinely don't give a fuck what happens. I know I'm sharing my frequency and saying exactly what I want to say, that that feels like the success that I've been “waiting for”.
Fuzzer: Beautifully said! And you’ve had quite an extensive career in the music industry, playing for artists as you mentioned, your artist projects and producing on the side. What’s one of the main lessons that you’ve learnt throughout your career?
Emily: You have to forget about the notion of “making it” - of getting to some point. The artist journey is not a destination, it’s a journey. It's finding yourself through the process. It's knowing where you're at within this human experience, and just sharing that unabashedly. Just being so fine with where you're at, like if you're in a really low place of life, be fine with writing shit that is coming out of you. Just allow yourself to express and when that feels uncomfortable, that means you're reaching the depths of yourself. That's gonna make you arrive, if there's some kind of arrival, but there's not, it's just the journey. And I think being okay with wherever you're at as a human and just not trying, trying less, you know. You think of art and it’s just expressing yourself. But there is this stigma of being an artist. It's the whole industry bullshit of like “oh, this is selling. This is doing well. These are the trends”, whatever. It’s like fuck the trends, make your own trend. Be the trend. Find the new trend.
Fuzzer: Yeah I love that. There’s always such a focus on “achievements” and the numbers that you’ve got to hit and you get so involved in the process that you can lose the whole point of it all which is just you expressing yourself.
Emily: Exactly. It's kind of when you forget about the numbers and when you forget about the goals and the destinations, just enjoy being an artist because the fact that you can even be an artist is such a fucking blessing.
Fuzzer: Absolutely. And what kind of music are you listening to at the moment? Are there any new songs or artists that you recommend?
Emily: Ooh I've been loving Magdalena Bay. I think their latest project is so good. Oh my God, they totally came into themselves and found this thing that is so them and so cool, it’s such a vibe. I love what they're doing. Dope Lemon, Oracle Sisters. I love Dijon. I love Freak Slug. She's sick. Jace Cameron - really, really cool artist and kind of also on the semi-spiritual, ethereal indie vibe. Continuously listening to Hiatus. The Smile. I am obsessed with The Smile. Anything Thom Yorke does. Thom Yorke is one of my biggest inspirations, especially just vocally and just absolute legend. So genius. I've also been listening to a lot of instrumental because I'm really interested in making just solo piano music as well. Ólafur Arnalds is incredible. Levitation Room is also really sick, like a total throwback to the 60s and they just nailed that sound.
Fuzzer: That’s such a good list! So for each of our interviews, we customize a cocktail or mocktail recipe for a song by the artist that we’re talking to. So if “Stereo Minds” was a drink, what do you think it would be?
Emily: Oh my god, I love this question! Okay, wait, let's think of all the liquors. This is so good. It's definitely hard liquor because there's like a rock edge. And it's kind of darker, but like ethereal. So I feel like you would have a dark liquor, like whiskey or rye, but then you would have like light things to balance it and contrast it. Would you put lavender with rye? Lemon, lavender, rye. That.
Fuzzer: That sounds amazing!
Emily: I want to try that! Who knows, that might be terrible but also could be really good (laughs). Or Chartreuse! It's this interesting green liqueur that's like kind of floral. I don’t know what’s good with Chartreuse, I just drink that alone (laughs).
Fuzzer: Love it! Well we’ll put together a recipe for it once the interview comes out. And last questions for you - what have you got planned for 2025?
Emily: Okay, so right now I'm currently finishing up, kind of just putting the bows on and the cherries on top with some co-producers, Blonde Brunette. They're amazing, Adam and Eric. We're kind of just tying up the Death, Sex and Inheritance project that will be coming out in the summertime, and starting on the next project. And I won't say too much about it, but the whole idea and the inception is there, and the visuals that I see for it are there. The evolution of VELVETTICA is kind of slowly happening and getting more me, and it's definitely like mystical and moody. It's getting a little moodier, which is really cool. So yeah, just lots of writing, doing shows as they pop up. But I kind of want to wait until the project is out to really do shows and keep doing the thing. I have an amazing band that hopefully I can keep playing with. I have a guitarist and a bass player and a drummer. I’m usually playing guitar - it's easier to just play one instrument but I also have the urge to be the bass player because a lot of the bass lines in my song are what started the music, so I feel really close to the bass. So still kind of working that out, how I could play more instruments, and then the next project will also be more keys. So yeah, the live show will also progress and evolve too.
