Interview: Kennedi
The Social in Orlando, FL
By Jade Pike
Stemming from a small town in Minnesota, Kennedi is an indie artist and songwriter. She shares that she has always had a love for music, claiming that she has been doing this “since I could walk and talk, really.” A majority of her work has been in collaborating with others on songwriting. She has written for the Jonas Brothers, Dua Lipa, Bea Miller, and Ariana Grande, just to name a few.
“It’s fun because I’m kind of like a secret ninja. I get to write everybody else’s songs, then also put my own stuff out and dance around on stage, which is what I like to do.”
We had the chance to sit down with her to discuss finding inspiration and touring with Bea Miller. Read the interview below:
Where did you find your start in writing music?
“It’s actually a really funny story. I’m from a town of like 1,000 people and my parents are pretty strict. They would do this thing where they would make me read 30 minutes a night. I hate reading. So what I would do is get these library books and just write in the library books, basically destroying them. Then I got banned from the library so I didn’t have to read anymore, which I was stoked about. After that I would just write.”
What has been your biggest muse when starting the songwriting process?
“Lana Del Rey, actually. When I first heard National Anthem I was in Nashville, Tennessee. I was driving along the strip and I heard that song for the first time. I remember thinking lyrically and sonically, I want my songs to sound like that. That was the moment when I was like, “that’s what I want to do.” ”
Where do you go to find inspiration, on tour and off?
“Honestly, anywhere around people. People is the biggest thing for me. Just because of everyone’s energies and life stories. Everybody goes through so many different things. I feel like my job as a writer, or just an artist as well, is to channel that energy and make it relatable so everyone can feel it.”
I absolutely love your style. Do you have any fashion icons?
“Heck yeah! Vivienne Westwood is definitely the queen of punk. I’m obsessed. Also, early 90s Madonna. I’m so obsessed with denim and the coloring all over it.”
What has been the most important or memorable moment of your career?
“I got to have a session with Snoop Dogg a long time ago. It was me, him, and like 3 other guys. He brings a blunt the size of a dry erase marker, I swear. I’m a stoner, I love to smoke weed. We’re smoking and hanging out, I’m just eating up every word he says. I swear it was like, through the Bible. He’s a genius, the nicest man ever. These boys hit the blunt once and they actually pass out. We’re there to write and they fall asleep. So it’s just me and Snoop awake in the session, smoking. He sets the blunt down after about an hour and a half of us smoking. It’s like a cigar. He sets it down and I’m like, “Wait, you’re done?” He goes, “Huh? You’re about to outsmoke the Dogg?” I said, “I guess.” and I hit it one more time, then put it down. I can say I outsmoked Snoop Dogg. I need a shirt that says “White Girl Outsmoked Snoop Dogg.”
