“Sparkle & Shine” Released!
A beautiful blue-eyed California baby of the late 80’s, Kailee Spark started taking piano lessons at 8 years old and became forever intrigued with the idea of expressing herself through songwriting. “My parents are big into classic rock and artists like Bob Dylan and Cat Stevens. So I grew up listening to a lot of music. At one point I was obsessed with this CD my parents had called “Wacky Favorites” which had songs like “The Auctioneer Boy” and “Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport”. I’d listen to it over and over. I remember sitting on the floor listening to this CD when I decided that I wanted to be a musician someday, I must have been around 6 or 7.”
Spark found her instrument of choice at 14 when ‘Uncle Billy’, an eclectic character from her family’s church, gave her an acoustic guitar for Christmas and she immediately began to write songs on it after learning several chords. In high school Kailee formed several short-lived bands, emulating her favorite bands/songwriters like Saves the Day, Conor Oberst, and Jewel.
It wasn’t until her college years, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology, and a MA in cultural anthropology that she began to explore her wanderlust and her desire to gather stories by traveling the world. Packing her charming curiosity and her guitar, Spark’s extensive international travels have certainly influenced her unique songwriting style, as many of her songs provide glimpses into her love of travel and inquisitiveness of culture. Spark explains: “I love travel- it’s one of my favorite things to spend time in a completely ‘foreign’ environment (foreign to me, that is), and learn as much as I can about it and get to feel comfortable there. I’ve had so many interesting experiences, and I try to encapsulate these experiences into my quirky and uplifting songs, while touching on a broad range of topics and emotions”.
Spark’s love of exploring and culture led her to call the floral trade winds of Hawaii her home. “I found this bizarre, clothing-optional intentional community on the Big Island that was offering an internship in permaculture. My third day there I made the decision that I’d be moving to the island- it just felt right. After that move, a massive wave of creativity hit me and I wrote a bunch of songs. Some of them made it onto my upcoming album. The natural beauty here is incredible-sometimes the stars are so magnificent they look close enough to touch- like you can run your fingers through the Milky Way. The lush jungles, lava, the snow-capped volcanoes, the sound of birds...the island definitely sparks a lot of nature themes in my songs. ”
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Spark’s newest single and music video, ‘Sparkle & Shine’, was released June 4th. Spark relates, “Writing ‘Sparkle & Shine’ was a lot of fun. I stopped at the studio one day to have a production meeting with Bub and showed him like four lines of a song I was working on that at the time was called ‘Bright & Shiny’. The idea of the song was that sometimes I’m feeling like I’m in the flow of life, and sometimes I’m not, but either way it’s cool and I’ll just keep doing my thing. Later that same night he sent me a recording of practically an entire song he had written based on the little information I’d given him! We went back and forth creating the verses and fine-tuning the hook, and recorded the song maybe a week after we wrote it. That was a fun and quick co-write!”
The video is a fanciful frolic through cliffside Hawaiian vistas. After a sunrise songwriting session on a cliff overlooking the vast Pacific, and a ceremonial toss of her mobile phone into the open waves, she finds that her jeep won’t start. Spark grabs her guitar and meanders down the rural jungle road, intending to hitchhike back into town. A sweet couple in a truck pick her up, and as she rides in the back, an adventure ensues with a crazy cast of characters and riveting imagery.
Sparkle & Shine on YouTube— https://youtu.be/kOy6yZ6mgXY
Whether her subject matter is otherworldly or of the everyday, Spark is a true poet: she weaves her lyrics masterfully through a pallet of emotions. Her songs are filled with wisdom, affirmations, and stories of love and loss. Spark’s voice is pure and unique, and the distinctive, saturated hues of her imagery are likely to leave a lasting impression on the listener.
Spark said “I’m not quite sure how to classify my singing style or voice. I am a soprano, but to me, I sound kind of like a female version of Dylan or Oberst. I wouldn’t call myself a singer, more of a musician singer/songwriter. I don’t have a great voice, but I think the uniqueness of it is an asset to me rather than a hindrance because I don’t sound like everyone else. Something I know I’m good at is conveying emotions through my voice and I think that’s why it resonates with people.”
Reflecting on her songwriting process, Spark explains, “Typically I’ll just fool around with some guitar or piano chord progressions, then start humming a melody. Emotions and words will flow through, and in that initial burst of inspiration I’ll usually get a good portion of a song written. I always record my ideas using a voice recorder app on my phone, so I won’t forget anything. Often I will listen to it over and over and finish writing the song in my head while I’m on a walk, or driving or doing something mundane. I write the lyrics in a notebook in a way that probably wouldn’t make much sense to anyone else, just lots of chaos and mess, but it works for me.”
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Lockdown was a major creative bridge for Kailee- it was during that time that she first began live streaming her music performances- and was surprised to find that large numbers of viewers would ask where they could purchase her recordings. With the encouragement and support of her new fans, she decided to finally undertake the project of recording her first album. This led her to search for a place to record and that’s when she found Kukuau Studio, a multi-media art space/recording studio curated by Bub Pratt.
“The minute I walked in I heard Conor Oberst in my head, “let’s live it up boys, make some noise!”. I felt at home right away. You walk into the studio and there is this whimsical mural on the wall with mushroom houses and flying whales and stuff. I’m not some diva who needs a crisp, sterile environment to work. There is definitely a vibe at the studio that matches well with my own. Bub, the producer, is great to work with too. And the engineer Keli’i is incredibly talented. I’m pretty lucky to be working with these guys.”
The album, “Savor This” is due to be released digitally June 26. Spark says that although she had dozens of songs to choose from, the ten included on the album were carefully chosen as they represent a range of topics. “Some of the songs on the album are love songs, some are energetic, uplifting songs, and some are darker or a bit sexy. And yeah, some are like ten years old, and some are brand new”.
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Spark’s first single and music video, ‘Passageways’, was released on April 19 of this year. Passageways is a love song, but some listeners may interpret it to have a slightly darker tone. Spark explains “There is one level of the song that is about how sometimes, in loving someone, we hope that our love can ‘heal’ them from their pains and their shadow sides or whatever. It’s a kind of idealistic, naive pining. We know we can’t “fix” someone, but damn, when you love someone and are enamored with them you sometimes hold an unrealistic optimism that you’ll be the one who can help them change.”
The music video flashes back and forth from a ‘dream reality’ and ‘normal reality’ of a live stage performance in a theatre. The dream sequence is set in a thick, misty jungle, and at one point in it Spark crawls through a deep mud puddle. Spark said that “The idea of crawling in the mud seemed kinda fun at first, but actually doing it was disgusting. It was a stagnant swampy mud puddle that smelled awful. It was all warm and mushy and with each step I didn’t know how deep it went.”
She goes on: “It brought back these terrifying flashbacks from when I was 10 and almost died by walking into a muck pit, which is basically a huge deep hole of cow manure. I was visiting a relative’s dairy farm and was wandering around, and started sinking down into a muck pit like quicksand. My life flashed before my eyes and I thought my short life was over. Luckily I managed to crawl out after getting up to my chin in manure. I think that the fact that it brought up those emotions made the story in the song come to life for me”
“The whole video shoot in the jungle was an emotional experience. It felt like I was on a cathartic journey, starting off feeling this total fear in the mud and then setting off on the “mission” to submerge and cleanse myself in the ocean. After I covered myself in mud it was another two mile hike to get to the ocean, and I was exhausted by the time we reached it. Hiking barefoot over slippery, muddy trails in a mud-caked dress. I definitely got some strange looks from other hikers on the trail. Of course Bub (the producer), always the funny guy, would say to other hikers as we passed “sorry guys, she had a little accident!”. Overall, filming it was a great experience. Everything just seemed totally in the flow, the weather, the ideas we had, the sunlight pouring down through the trees like spotlights, the huge mud puddle we came across. Couldn’t have asked for a better team. And while the mud part was disgusting, well, it definitely leaves an impression on people when they watch the video.”
‘Passageways’ on YouTube— https://youtu.be/CybVvpQhm6E
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When asked about words of wisdom shared with her on this journey, Spark says, “The best advice I have gotten is ‘don’t take yourself too seriously’, and ‘the fun is in the journey, not the destination’. That’s where my idea for the album name came, “Savor This”- to savor the moment. Nothing lasts forever, so enjoy it now. All we have is the present moment, and right NOW is where all the fun is. Happiness is an inside job.”
The future is looking very bright for Ms. Spark, and she’s excited to share more songs and stories with her fans. Her musical bucket list includes landing on billboard charts, a Grammy nomination, songs on the radio and playlists around the world. “It would be pretty cool to get my ‘Universe at your fingertips’ song into an iPad commercial or something.” Keep your eyes, and ears on the lookout for this up-and-coming artist as she Sparkles & Shines her way to your favorite radio station, and right on into your heart.
Recently featured two of those songs from the record on the local podcast - “Songs & Stories w/ Steve Roby”
Performed 2 more at the historic Palace Theater in Hilo - on the music series called “Live at the Empty Palace”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui41IuMSe6M
To date has released 2 singles w/ music videos available on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC94_xE9iuR3EGsRpW7SNYYQMusic available on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2aTvoXAvHLcXcluPvYuWmwFor more links go to:
www.allmylinks.com/kaileesparkmusic
