Check out our interview with Stephanie K about her song, “Her.” Stephanie has been racking up the number of features on this song. Make sure to read below and chack out some of the others.
Why did you select this song as your current single?
I selected this song, Her, as my current single because it’s a personal true story…It comes from the heart and its about a classmate that saved me from suicide when I was in my junior year of high school. I didn’t have any friends or family support back then. There were a lot of conflicts at home with abuse, seeing my sister get in trouble a lot with the law, and being made fun of a lot in school. I think my personal testimony relates a lot and connects with the listener than just me writing this song from a bystander point of view. Its upbeat and not so melodramatic that you can tell it’s a sad song when you listen to it. Its like a sad story written behind a meaningful melody.
How does this single relate to the rest of the Album, EP or Mix-tape?
My EP is roughly based off of personal experiences dealing with poverty, loneliness, and those types of issues. Most of lyrics come from me personally or being able to see problems then write about them
What was the writing process for the song?
It initially started out as a different song 2 months back and was titled “All of you”. It was never released because I wasn’t satisfied with the production of it with the producer I worked with at the time. Then 2 months later (June) the words sort of just clicked and I was like talking about what I wanted to pen and what had happened between this person and me. Within 30 minutes, I had completed the song and titled it “Her”.
What does this song’s lyric mean to you?
Its very personal considering how I’m opening up a suicide experience among the community I reside it and beyond. The community I reside in is like a bubble and suicide, poverty, and those issues aren’t usually recognized or prominent among many people since Mt. Lebanon is a pretty affluent suburb. The song’s lyrics are true and genuine with me respecting this person despite the events that had transpired afterwards which include being led on to a friendship and her saying she wanted a friendship…but ended up not happening after waiting for a couple months to the winter break of my freshman year of college…I gave her a e-gift card as a birthday tribute at the end and paid my final respects and have since moved on. I haven’t had contact with her for a while. I think the lyrics hopefully help/teach others that are suicidal to not hate/blame the world and to turn pain into beauty instead. That way you don’t end up being emotionally/physically hurt more and to direct that frustration on something positive and influential for your well-being and to prove those that doubt you wrong. At least from personal experience, I found out that looking at things from that perspective makes me more happy and content with my life. That’s what I did despite her actions and ended up succeeding with radio airplay, blog posts, and some record label attention from Nashville.
What would it be like to see you in person performing this song?
I think I come across as any family member, sister, or friend. I’m not really materialistic so hopefully people would get a positive message and see me as someone who is truly genuine/passionate about what I write/sing about. I hope I’m able to touch some people because not many musicians go through a bit of each issue like poverty, insecurity, abuse, and seeing a bunch of brokenness and goes to write a first person suicide song…I’m not writing this from a bystander point so hopefully I can touch some people’s hearts. But I usually just rely on my acoustic guitar and have my drummer/friend, Shawn, who helps out with the cajon and drumming.
Could your fans summarize who you are as an artist by this song?
They probably could. My EP is pretty much wearing my heart on a sleeve in an artistic way. I turn pain into beauty. That probably would be my motto even through negativity or hateful comments…I want to follow a straight path that encourages others who are lost in life to do the same…or anyone else if it just so happens to inspire them.
Is there a video planned and or completed and if so, what was the idea behind the video?
No, not yet. I was planning to do a video. I’ll have to see what happens…but the idea would be telling the true/actual events of what happened between her and me. Starting with the night she talked me out of suicide and the events that proceeded that with me doing whatever I could to support her thinking she was truly genuine and her not wanting any of that.
One last question, what is your motivation behind your music?
My motivations are personal experiences and a reflection of others that I met on the streets from public performing. Basically, soulful material because I grew up amongst a bit of each event and I want to be one of the few artists that relate to people through actually going through these events and penning songs about them. Mainstream music today doesn’t offer this soulful outlook and is mostly about having a good time which is very depressing amongst the additional social outlets that are available for others to bully, say hurtful things, and etc. I’m not a bystander. I write my own testimonies through music.
