Kaylee Lauren
Kaylee Lauren is a bright and amazing talent. She recently released her latest single “Not Enough” and I think this song is very important. We all struggle through insecurities and we’ve all felt like we are not good enough.
Despite her young age, Kaylee Lauren paints honest, personal and empowering songs that can truly make a positive difference in our societies. She is definitely an artist to watch. Thank you so much Kaylee for this conversation.
“Not Enough” is out now !
Photo credit: @sxfiyuh
Introduce yourself - what's your story?
Hello, I’m Kaylee Lauren, I'm an independent, singer/songwriter based in Los Angeles. I write all of my own songs which pair vulnerable and relatable lyrics with distinct vocals and production, that build confessional pop songs. I take passion in my songwriting in order for my audience to connect with my music and artistry, in a way where they can listen to my music and feel understood and validated. I currently have three debut singles out now on all streaming platforms called “Not Enough”, “Tell Me”, and “Rollercoaster”, which all combine authentic emotions, portrayed in the songwriting, with catchy, pop, production that works to make each song melodic. I have been singing from a young age, and songwriting for about 2 years now, which has included shaping my artistry. I believe my music can be depicted as portraying authenticity through my songwriting, with production mainly pop and indie pop focused. I truly love to write songs that are curated for my audience to connect to, in order to make them feel less alone with their isolated, inner thoughts. I believe that my social media presence has built a safe place for my listeners to feel externally validated and connected to strangers who all feel the same emotions. You can stream all of my music on all streaming platforms under the artist name Kaylee Lauren and my social media accounts are all @Kayleelauren_
What did you grow up listening to?
I grew up listening to 60’s and 70’s music that my grandparents would play for me when I was a child, which I instantly fell in love with the catchy melodies and vulnerable songwriting. I also grew up listening to the pop sensations of the time such as Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, and other similar pop artists.
When did you start writing songs?
I started writing songs around 2 years ago when I was going through a difficult time processing my emotions, as an early teenager, going through overwhelming, emotional experiences. At the time, I felt as if no one understood my inner thoughts and I decided to start writing my feelings out, wherever I was, such as in the car, at 3am in bed, etc. Deeply personal songwriting became a creative outlet for me and I was able to express every inner thought that I was too afraid to say out loud, which was very therapeutic and eventually turned into affective lyricism for my audience to relate to. When I began writing songs, in the middle of the intense emotions I would feel, I started to understand myself better and process my emotions in a way where I never felt so emotionally connected to my thoughts before. I started writing songs about every situation in my life and quickly honed my songwriting process, everyday with practice. I started to post my songs that I would write on social media, which in a way was a very vulnerable decision at the time. People from my school were able to see my honest emotions, my family, friends, and even strangers on the internet were able to judge my songwriting and honest feelings. I am so thankful that I decided to take songwriting seriously, because I now have over 34,000 streams on my single “Not Enough” which thousands of people feel understood and validated by my songwriting, which makes me feel internaly grateful.
When did you know you could sing?
At a young age, I would sing everywhere I went and would never stop, because I couldn't get enough of my fascination of perfecting my vocals and singing. I always knew that working towards my singing career would be the path I wanted to take, because of my deep interest in the creative passion of mine. According to my parents, I would constantly sing and hum, right on key, to every song that I listened to. I would also consistently watch musicals and movies with singing scenes, just to sing and dance along, so I guess you can say I knew what I wanted to do with my life even then!
Growing up, what were your favorite songs to sing along to?
When I was growing up my favorite songs were “Beauty Queen Of Only 18” by Maroon 5, “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele, which I actually have a singing cover of that song on Youtube from 2011, and ‘Moves like Jagger” by Maroon 5.
What gave you the confidence to be an artist and release your original music?
In 2020, when Quarantine first started, I finally built up the confidence to post singing videos, because I started to develop the “who cares” mentality because of the current state of the world. So I decided to post singing videos, and a lot of my friends from school didn’t even know that I could sing, so it caught a lot of people by surprise. Ever since the day I posted the “Selfish” by Madison Beer cover on my instagram, I gained the confidence that maybe this is a career path that I could professionally follow. About a year later, I decided to start writing songs, on a random day at my Aunt’s house, when I was going through a difficult time, and ever since then, I'm so happy that I followed my dreams.
Who was the first person to ever believe in you?
I believe the first person who believed in my singing career was my dad, because he has always loved when I would sing and sit at the piano, singing random lyrics, when I was a kid. My dad has supported my singing career 100% since I decided to take this path in my life seriously. The first day that I told him about meeting up with a producer in our area, he was completely on board with the idea and has shown up to every studio session since.
"Not Enough" is your latest single - what's the story/inspiration behind this single?
“Not Enough” is definitely a fan favorite and I believe that is true because of the honest lyricism, about how difficult it is to deal with the insecurities that we, as a society, battle with in our heads. I started writing this song when I truly believed that nothing I did was ever good enough, and I internally believed that I was not pretty enough, talented enough, basically not enough for anything. I knew that a lot of people around me related to the topic of insecurities, so I wanted to write down all of my personal, insecure thoughts, and put it into a song that could truly convey the hardships of struggling with comparing yourself to a stranger on the internet, and doubting one’s self worth. There were days that I woke up, looked in the mirror, and truly could not think of one reason to love myself, except for my ability to songwrite. So I took the one thing I felt confident in, at the time, and wrote a song that now has reached an audience of over 900,000 people on instagram and already 36,000+ streams on Spotify. Dealing with Insecurities definitely has altered the way I perceive myself and life, but honestly this song has changed my life and I'm so excited for everyone to hear the new songs that are almost completed and ready to be released.
Could you describe the songwriting/production process for this single? Who helped you create it?
I wrote the lyrics to “Not Enough” mostly in my bedroom, on the verge of tears, because of the toxic patterns, in which I perceived my self worth and body. I knew that I wanted to match the production to the emotions of the song, so when I went to the studio to record the song, I told my producer that the song should have a dark pop production similar to and inspired by Billie Eilish’s music. At first, the second post chorus “Not Enough, You’re not enough…” did not exist until, one day at the studio I randomly thought of an idea to make a post chorus that sounds like the annoying, toxic, and insecure thoughts that run through my head. I truly believe that the dark pop production enhanced the darkness of the overall emotions and lyrics of the song, which made the song that much more relatable and melodic.
What did you feel when writing this song?
When I first started to write “Not Enough”, I was afraid that I was being too honest with the reality of the way I truly felt on the inside, and I believe the entirety of the fear I felt was mainly because of the vulnerability I was expressing, when writing the song. I was afraid of being too open about the way I viewed myself, when most people believed that I was a confident, happy girl, and I was afraid of people's judgment. It was also extremely therapeutic, as writing the song became an outlet or a way out of feeling these isolated thoughts. I knew this song would be a fan favorite because the song truly says what a lot of our generation is thinking and feeling, but can’t say out loud.
What's your favorite thing about this single?
My favorite thing about “Not Enough” is definitely the first post chorus, because it is such a creative part of the song with adlibs and harmonies in the background, that truly add to the darkness of the song. The post-chorus only has four lyrics which are “I’m Not Enough, I don't feel loved, I'm not enough, you're not enough”. This part of the song has a melody in the background, that conveys the repetitive voices I hear in my head making me feel not enough, which we brought to life with repeated vocals and production. Being able to bring creativity into a feeling that makes me feel like I'm not enough, through music, definitely gave me the confidence and reassurance about my artistry that I really needed.
What message do you want to offer through this song?
I want to convey that feeling insecure and feeling like you're not enough is a normal and common feeling that most people go through in our generation, and you're not alone. I wanted to write a song that allows my listeners to connect to my lyrics in a way where they could finally feel understood about what they’re battling with on the inside, that most people might not even notice. Feeling insecure is definitely an isolating feeling that leaves most people doubting their self worth, and I wanted to express, through my song, the darkest inner thoughts I have dealt with, to give my followers a chance to feel externally validated. This song is so special to me because it truly has allowed me to express every deeply personal emotion that I have felt about my body. Now after months of the song being released, this song has given me the validation I was seeking and reassured me that I'm not alone, and it will get better eventually.
As an artist, what is the hardest part? And what is the best part?
The best part about being an artist is definitely the fan interaction that I experience every single day when people comment on my posts or leave me messages saying that they “relate to my song”. When people write that they connect to my artistry or lyrics, it truly makes me feel confident that I am doing what I love and helping people feel externally validated, with their own self damaging thoughts. I believe that my music allows people to finally feel heard and less alone in regards to their personal issues. My music exposes how common the feelings I express are, which directly convinces my followers that they are no longer alone and makes them emotionally involved with my songs.
The hardest part about being an artist, personally, is maintaining a social media presence. There are days that I get 1000 views and days I get over 900,000 views. I definitely get down on myself when I don’t get 900,000 views everyday, because a low amount of views must mean i’m not talented enough right? Well what I've learned is the opposite, which is that no matter how many views I get on social media, the people that regularly listen to my music and relate to my music on such a deep level, are what truly stands out and builds a connection between my audience and I. It definitely takes practice mentally to train yourself to not seek validation through the numbers on your videos, but with time you’ll learn that nothing matters more than those people that connect with your music and artistry.
What are your thoughts on today's music industry? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
I believe that social media has definitely enhanced the music industry in today’s society, which has completely benefited smaller, independent artists when it comes to self promotion and music marketing. From what I understand, a lot of artists don’t need to be signed to a major label to become successful, as long as they put in their own hard work and dedication to their craft and artistry. I think there are so many artists trying to make it big in the industry, and it’s definitely a struggle to try to compete with so many talented artists, but every artist’s music is curated for a specific audience and there are so many people looking for new music, so it doesn’t need to be seen as a competition. If I could change one thing, it would be the fact that most people believe that in order to be perceived as accomplishing, in this industry, they need to have millions of followers next to their name, but honestly the people who relate to your music, make videos, and stream your music daily, provide the most rewarding feelings, and it means your doing what you love and giving people an outlet to connect to their deep feelings, through an artist's music.
What's the best advice you've ever received?
The best advice I've ever received is that the 3 things that I need, in order to be successful in the music industry, are drive, support, and confidence. In order to be successful, I need to keep promoting myself on social media and marketing myself on articles, podcasts, and live interviews. I need the support from my family, friends, and followers to push me to keep going and to guide me through my life, when I need someone to encourage me and support me, through this music journey. Lastly, I also need confidence because if I don’t believe in myself, it will be apparent, and no one else will believe in my artistry. As they say, confidence is key and if I practice loving myself and my artistry, then I will learn to truly appreciate who I am and create more and more music from a confident aspect.
In your opinion, what would make the world a better place?
In my opinion, I truly believe, if people were kinder to each other, the world would evidently be a better place to live in. There are so many people I know that voluntarily choose to bring others down or shame other people for their mistakes and actions. If everyone could take accountability for their wrongdoings and learn to forgive others, the world would be better. If we all could learn to see from others perspectives, to see all opinions before judging those that aren't their own views, there would be fewer unnecessary arguments.
Connect with Kaylee: