She threw it “Right Back!” to us in February, but as we head into summer, pop artist KARLEE GIRL is facing the same question as many of us: “What now?”
After her third single became a viral sensation, the past few months alone have shown there’s a rising star in the making. With all eyes on the singer with the iconic bob, fans have eagerly waited for more music and she’s heard all their wishes. Entering a more introspective headspace, the 22-year-old’s latest single contemplates the grueling what-ifs of the future. It captures the bittersweet moment of achieving success, but the constant fear of falling behind that comes with it. Exploring a more melodramatic sound, KARLEE GIRL proves beauty can still be found in life’s unwritten moments.
We caught up with KARLEE GIRL on Zoom to discuss her newest era with “what now?” and how she’s been embracing growth this year. Read our exclusive interview with her below.
Sweety High: What media have you been consuming for fun lately?
KARLEE GIRL: During all of my lunch and dinner breaks, I feel like I shouldn’t be looking at things when I’m eating and chill out. But I love Royal Court by Brittany Broski. I just started Love Island this year, and I am… I’m in it. I’m really loving it. I’ve also been watching a lot of random nature documentaries. I’m a big David Attenborough fan, so I love any nature documentary he’s voiced over. I’ve been watching like, oceans and then national parks. It’s like a really weird spread of media.
(Photo credit: Zach Arquilevich)
SH: How did the cover art for “what now?” come to life?
KG: It was a collaboration between me, the photographer Zach, and then my creative director, Mao. We actually shot the cover art months ago and I cut it because I was like, “This just doesn’t feel right.” It felt like we were trying to play into the trends too much and not into the artistry of the song. So I was like, “I want to reshoot the cover.” I also ended up reshooting the video and everything for that song. I wanted it to be more intentional and have a lot of empty space, but I also wanted to have objects that represented to me, “what now?”
Every single item in that cover, there’s the heel from “Right Back!,” there’s a watch that’s pointing north. It’s so detailed and I wanted to describe it to my photographer. So I drew this incredible state of the art drawing on the touch option on iMessage, and I sent it to him. He took that and we used it as a reference. We just ended up shooting the cover from that reference with the rest of my ideas for what kind of items I wanted to put in, and it worked really well. I’m in love with the cover. I’m so happy and we shot it on my patio.
Also read about: ISADORA on Performing at FIFA Fan Festival in Miami and the Uniting Power of the World Cup
SH: While “Right Back!” leaned into a warm-toned aesthetic, “what now?” embraces a much cooler-toned palette. What inspired that shift in your visual identity?
KG: It’s funny because I always say that the world of the visual identity for “Right Back!” was for “Right Back!”, but not me. I really created the visuals around the song rather than myself, and it’s kind of bittersweet. I love it, I wouldn’t have done it differently… Actually, that’s a lie. I think I would’ve done things differently and maybe leaned a little bit more into the cool-toned side because I feel like that’s more me. But during that time, you know, it’s only my third single. I’m still finding my visual identity, I’m still finding my brand.
After “Right Back!,” I realized that I wanted to shift into a more cool-toned world. But it’s funny because that’s the song that ended kind of blowing up, right? So people got used to the warm tone. But I thought about it like, I could stick with the warm tone but it just doesn’t feel me into the world that I want to dive into. So, I decided to start branding the cool tone starting with “what now?”
SH: Sometimes you have to go with what’s in your gut feeling.
KG: Right, right! Sometimes, it’s so much easier said than done to trust your gut. People don’t ever talk about how hard it is to switch up the visual identity. You don’t know how it’s going to be received, but you know that it’s you, so you have to go with it.
SH: What’s your process for creating choreography to your songs?
KG: I actually don’t want to dance a lot. I want to move, but there’s a certain level of intense pop dance that Tate [McRae] does for example, that I don’t want to do personally. Even for “what now?,” that’s quite a bit of dancing for me of what I want to do. That being said though, if I’m creating choreo for a song, it really depends.
For “Right Back!”, I really wanted something that came naturally to the body. It’s just a normal hit moment and then “that, that, that, that.” Those are all things that when I was listening to the song, I just let my body go because I really wanted it to feel effortless. I created from that mindset and then I brought that to my choreographer, Jonathan.
For “what now?”, I wanted something a little bit more heel driven, a little bit more feminine and expressive. I feel like “what now?” has deeper meaning, so I went to Brianna Stevens who choreographed that. I just love her style and she was able to create a more intimate, theatrical feminine movement.
SH: What advice would you give to people who are in the same boat of asking themselves “what now?”
KG: You’re about to go through something so incredible. As cynical and kind of messed up as it sounds, like… be excited. It’s so hard like no one’s gonna hear me say that and be like, “Yeah sis, I’m so excited!” But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from a “what now?” moment, it’s one of the most transformative times of your life.
Hitting such an intense roadblock where you don’t know where to turn means that you’re going to discover something really special and that’s proved to be true every single time. In everything that I’ve ever done, whether it’s school, Dream Academy or me doing the solo artist and independent career, I’ve had those moments everywhere. They’ve been the most life-changing ones but the hardest. It’s kind of cliché, but it’s true.
SH: From the start of your career up until now, how have you navigated being in the public eye personally and artistically?
KG: For me… It’s been rough. It’s been a learning process and it still is. I literally had therapy this morning and was talking to him about social media. I hate the idea of posting to appeal to an audience, rather than posting because I want to. Someone told me this, “I like to move out of confidence and not fear when it comes to social media.” It sounds so deep for social media, but it’s true.
In the beginning, the numbers and the comments game really got to me. I started moving in a way that was trying to adhere and satisfy the numbers or the people who are watching me online, which I think is a totally natural thing. Unconsciously I was doing it and posting being like, “Well they like this, will this get a good response?” When I realized that was really f***ing with me, I was like, “Okay, this needs to change.”
Even when I get good comments or lots of likes, don’t get too caught up in that either. Know who you are, know what you want to post, and do what you want. Your social media is an expression of yourself. I feel like that’s the biggest thing I’ve learned and I’m still working really hard on it, but not caring about the social means.
SH: What’s been the most heartfelt moment or reaction from your loved ones since the start of your career as an independent artist?
KG: I have a photo collection that’s like every time my mom cries on FaceTime, it’s a screenshot of her. It’s every other day, her FaceTiming being like, “Oh, I miss you” or “I’m so proud of you.” Besides that, I appreciate this reaction from my parents the most.
I have Asian parents, my mom’s from Korea. So even though they live in America, there’s still a conservative side to them. And I will say, I have done many things that I know she’s uncomfortable with. We’ve fought over a lot of things like how exposing I’m being, what I’m saying on the internet, or what I’m interacting with. I do it all in a way that speaks to me, and I think they’ve been trying to be a part of that world even though they can’t really understand it. Them being open and trying to understand me as an artist and person as I express myself is really something you can’t choose in a parent. I’m very grateful for that.
SH: What were your biggest takeaways after your first live performance at Beaches Tropicana last month?
KG: My biggest takeaway was, “Sis, we have a lot of work to do.” I’ll be super honest about the performance. I had such a time, like I’m literally staring at a fan right now that one of the drag queens gave me. The energy was so good and I couldn’t have asked for a better crowd. That being said, I’m so hard on myself all the time. And people might be like, “Oh, it’s just a club performance.” But everything matters to me, it’s my job at the end of the day. It’s my art, my form of expression. So of course, I’m going to care about it.
You can never really practice the adrenaline rush with singing. I think that’s just something you get used to and something I’ve talked to other artists for advice. At soundcheck, I sounded like a bird. Like, I sounded amazing. Then I got on stage, and the adrenaline messes with your breath. I just took away that it feels different on stage and to accept that, rather than get anxious or freak out about it. Like, it’s gonna happen. You’re on stage, adrenaline’s high. Do your s***, and I’ll get better at it. That’s all I plan to do, you know.
(Photo credit: Zach Arquilevich)
Also read about: From Dance Floors to ‘BLEACHERS’: Full Circle Boys Discuss Their Next Era
SH: If you were to start touring right now, describe what your dream show would look like.
KG: I love this question! I’m so excited to do shows. I want performance to be one of the biggest things in my career, so I’ve thought about this a lot.
I definitely want a walkway in between the audience. The closer I can physically get to an audience, the better. As someone who’s been to so many concerts, there’s some moments where you feel like they’re so far away that you can’t even register that they’re there and I don’t want to be that kind of artist. I’ve seen some people like P!NK where they get on the string and fly. I don’t know if I’ll do that, but like, some way that I can be intimate with the audience.
I would also say a live band. I have such a big appreciation for it and live musicians. There’s a lot of jazz R&B in my music, so if it’s someone who plays the saxophone or someone who plays the trumpet, finding ways to integrate that would be really fun.
I don’t need a lot of backup dancers. In my opinion, backup dancers should be chosen moments. It would be a good combo of just me holding the stage down—and me, the girls, and the gays holding the stage down.
SH: What themes and visuals are you most excited to explore in a future project?
KG: I don’t want to be bound by genre and concept too much, so I’m always looking for different ways to get out of the box. One of the genres I’m really excited to do is a really maximalist sounding album, with a very minimalistic visual concept. It’s something that I’m always curious about exploring.
Another concept I’m interested in is Girls’ Generation. They’re just such an iconic pop girl group. I would love to do something that kind of pays homage to that but in a way of like, “What would it look like now in today’s music industry?”
SH: Where are you finding your current sources of inspiration these days?
KG: I just got Michael Jackson’s Moonwalk biography. I’ve been reading his book and looking into a lot of his inspirations, like James Brown, a lot of Earth, Wind & Fire. I’ve just been in the MJ world a lot recently, so I’ve been pulling a lot of inspiration from him.
I’ve also been pulling a lot of inspiration from Beyoncé randomly. I’m pulling from a lot of her performances, her music, and her work ethic. And of course, our girl Ariana Grande. I’m always inspired by her, so always pulling from the Ari textbooks.
SH: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from your teen years that you’re carrying into your 20s?
KG: You can ask all of my friends, but I was a completely different person as a teen. I just cared about what everyone thought, and I was a people pleaser to the bone. I realized that fear and perception of people’s judgment truly does hold you back from your fullest potential in every single way possible. Whether it’s art, friendships, or just being a human.
Being conscious of other people’s thoughts, which by the way they’re probably not even thinking, makes you not want to take the risk. It makes you not want to say the idea, it makes you not go in there and sing full out. But then you figure out, “Okay, that didn’t work. Let me try this so I can do better.”
Or even asking a guy for his number, like that’s very scary but why are you scared to do it? Because of fear of other people’s judgment. But if you just go, you never know, he could say yes. And if he says no, then it’s fine. It’s nothing personal. I’m still actively working on that, but I really learned about that in my teen years so I’m trying to carry that over as much as I can to everything I do.
(Photo credit: Zach Arquilevich)
SH: Lastly, is there anything else you want the fans to know that we didn’t ask about?
KG: Literally everyone and their mom has been DMing and commenting asking what palette I use for my blue eyeshadow. I just want to say it here and now, so that I’m not repeating myself. It’s called the Retro Glam Palette by Natasha Denona. But I’ve been searching for my signature blue eyeshadow, the search is not over yet so that’s subject to change. I’m open to suggestions for blue eyeshadow recs.
Want to discover more rising pop stars? Click HERE to read Cailin Russo speak about her latest single.
