*thumbnail photo by Kelley Curran

Kyle Ekstrom came onto my radar at some time during 2016. I found a link of a cover he had done of The Neighourhood’s “R.I.P. 2 My Youth” featuring Jonny Craig. I didn’t know that much about him other than he had been in a band and now he made solo material.

I kept my eye on Ekstrom ever since then and watched him release a string of solid covers with features from other artists I already knew well like Kurt Travis and Mike Champa. The songs were great and I had to know more about him.

In the conversation that sparked this interview, Kyle was just returning from a trip to my home state of Florida. After a long phone conversation we ended up with this piece in which we get to know Kyle Ekstrom and find out he’s headed for big things:

NT: So you went on a trip to Florida this year? How was that?

KE: “I went there with my dad, caught a bunch of fish and ate a lot of great food.”

NT: Do you come to Florida often?

KE: “No, it was a pretty spur of the moment trip.”

NT: Have you been to any good shows recently?

KE: “Some of my favorite shows I went to recently were Dance Gavin Dance and Tilian’s solo tour with Royal Coda & Andres. Tilian was nice enough to list me and my friend when Dance Gavin Dance sold out the show. Tilian, my friend Robert and I all took shots of Vegas bombs before he went on. It was awesome. I saw Slaves this year and they sold out their show too. They were all sick but still went on to perform. It’s cool to see them doing great. I also went and saw CHVRCHES again recently and they always put on an amazing show.”

NT: At what point in your life did you become interested in making music?

KE: “I got my first guitar when i was in my early teens. In high school I took guitar class and my friends and I played in a few bands together. When I was 19 is when I started releasing my music online.”

NT: We spoke about your musical influences in your 10 favorite albums list but what else influences your art?

KE: “Events or people in my life tend to influence me more in the way that it dictates the mood or feeling of a song. If something very drastic happens, good or bad, I can be inspired by it. I find it’s very easy to write about bad things, negative experiences. It’s much more difficult to write about something positive, and it seems that way for a lot of artists. As a songwriter, I’m personally trying to channel more positivity into the music I’m making currently.”

NT: There’s so much negativity being propagated through our culture right now, it’s good to try to balance that out.

KE: “When I did the cover of “Clearest Blue” I got a lot of people together from the music scene to record a short message of them putting up a simple peace sign. That video was a lot harder to make than I anticipated but I’m so glad I did it. Now I can look back on that years from now and feel good about releasing it.”

NT: Do you have any new videos coming out soon?

KE: “No set dates yet, but I will have a lot more intriguing and high quality visuals to go along with these new songs.”

NT: To rewind a little bit, I first heard about you through Jonny (Craig). I saw that he had done a feature on your cover of “RIP 2 My Youth”. Were you anticipating the overwhelming response you got to that track?

KE: “That was actually the very first solo song I ever put out. The response was a slow build at first but then it definitely took off. I was really happy I did it because it felt like it revitalized me creatively to keep making music as a solo act.”

NT: How did you link up with Jonny?

KE: “I actually just sent him a message on Facebook and we met up after the fact to make the song. To be honest I had other solo material already recorded and on the shelf. The cover of “RIP 2 My Youth” just happened to be the first thing to get finished and released.”

NT: Do you have any other collaborations planned for your next project?

KE: “I love working with other artists. On this upcoming (what will probably be a full length LP) there aren’t as many features. Andres and Kyle Lucas will be appearing for sure.”

NT: Kyle Lucas is a good friend of the blog, how did you come to meet him?

KE: “I met Kyle at a Slaves show I think. I’m fairly sure that anyone who I’m associated with or meet in the music industry seems to come back to the Slaves crew. (he laughs) Any time I’m around those guys I meet someone new. Kyle has one of the most impressive stage presences I’ve ever seen.”

NT: When you released your EP, Youngblood, how did you feel it was received?

KE: “It was interesting because I had something to compare it to. I had been in a band before. This time, making solo material with other great artists, my engineers, everything was the way I wanted it. It just came together and for the first time people were doing things like buying my merch. I had so many people reaching out to me loving the songs and that really meant a lot. You can always look at things like “Oh, this could have been better.” I prefer to just appreciate every moment, every project for what it is.”

NT: You mentioned your engineers, who are such an under-appreciated asset in the music industry. Who engineered the Youngblood EP?

KE: “Joe Scaletta did a lot of mixing and mastering as well as set ups and instrumentals. Dave Hansen did some mixing as well.”

NT: Have you been doing many shows as a solo act?

KE: “I just did a show with Kurt Travis. It was amazing and at the end of my set we preformed “Easy”. It’s a moment I will never forget and hopefully we can play it again soon.”

NT: How much new material do you already have done?

KE: “I have some things ready to release pretty soon. Singles that will come out before the album. I think this whole album as a unit is a step in an interesting direction. Flushing out a new sound and keeping true to my roots.”

NT: In what ways do you think it’s different?

KE: “Good amount of heavy hitting songs. A lot more clean electric guitar this time around rather than acoustic. I’m putting polish on this one. I’m taking my time and making sure it’s 110%”

NT: You mentioned the visual component being more of a priority this time around. Do you have anyone in mind that you want to direct your video?

KE: “I do have my brother who’s a motion graphic designer. He’s done a few lyric videos for artists like Slaves and Kyle Lucas. I saw the 3D stuff he’s doing and I think that might make an appearance. I plan on it being very visual body of art but we will see.”

Check out a live video of Kyle performing “Easy” with Kurt Travis:

Check out Kyle’s cover of Post Malone’s “Better Now” featuring David Escamilla

Listen to Kyle Ekstrom below:

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