The Girls Room Tour: Kendall Payne
by Alex Teitz
The Girls Room Tour is an innovative tour featuring four of Capitol Records’ brightest stars: Tara MacLean, Kendall Payne, Amy Correia and Shannon McNally. Each artist on the tour has her own unique style. Sponsored by Playtex, this tour has been winding it’s way across America until it ends next week at The Roxy in Los Angeles on Tuesday August 8.
FEMMUSIC had the pleasure of sitting down with three of the four stars. This month we will present a new interview each week with them (while keeping the previous ones up). This week, we begin with Kendall Payne.
Kendall Payne’s debut CD Jordan’s Sister features the song “Supermodels” featured on the TV series Popular. Payne has drawn attention from her performances at Lilith Fair. On stage she is fiery sprite drawing the audience in. Kendall Payne
FEMMUSIC: Can you describe your songwriting technique?
KP: I don’t know if technique is the right word to use in describing songwriting at least not mine. I wait on inspiration. I know some people really think that it is able to be captured by just sitting down and going to work at it. I guess the songwriting that I enjoy is when something is going on inside my heart or in my mind or my emotions and sit down with a blank piece of paper and get to spill my heart for it. Try to be as honest as possible. I guess that’s my technique just breathing in and out. Finding reasons for songs.
FEMMUSIC: Tell me about Ron Aniello. How did you two meet?
KP: Someone introduced him to me as a producer slash guitar player and so I met him when I was fifteen years old and that was immediate friends and an immediate bond between us and he seemed to be the logical choice. At that point I didn’t know what I was doing. I still would have made that decision now knowing everything that I know which is a good feeling to know that I had someone looking out for me from day one. He is hysterical, funny, odd, quirky, strange man. He made it a very special process.
FEMMUSIC: What was the most challenging part of making your CD Jordan’s Sister?
KP: The most challenging thing? (thinking) Most challenging thing…getting it out I guess. That seems to be the most challenging thing that I faced. We recorded it and then it sat there for a while just different things that happened. Looking back now I realize that it’s not uncommon for that to happen but for me that was the most challenging thing is to not to grow weary in the waiting.
FEMMUSIC: How long were you waiting for?
KP: About a year and a half before it got released.
FEMMUSIC: What was your best experience making Jordan’s Sister ?
KP: The best experience making the album was getting to do what I had dreamed of doing. What I love to do. I think that ultimately if that’s what you get to do with your life then you are blessed beyond comprehension to get to do what you love to do every single day. That was the overwhelming greatest thing about it is that I was starting this journey that says, “I get to do this all the time now, or at least for this season.”
FEMMUSIC: What would you like to see changed about the music industry?
KP: I would like I think for it to swing back to the appreciation of music and the appreciation of a writer and not so much about image and what you look like and how cool you look, or how much money you’ve spent on your video or what a rock star you can look like. I want it to be about what’s going on in our hearts. What they make as music even if it is spinning or rap or whatever. It’s not defined by your genre in music. Just being real with your music.
FEMMUSIC: As a woman in the music industry, have you been discriminated against?
KP: Being a woman discriminated against or just in anything? As a woman? I haven’t really found that. That’s going to be different with everyone you talk to but I have not found that yet.
FEMMUSIC: What are your plans for the future?
KP: Taking over the world. My plan for the future in music is to do this as long as it is right. As long as it continues to fulfill me and then leave it with no regrets. If that’s in fifty years then so be it. Do everything that I have dreamt of.