Today we are joined by one of my favourite up-and-coming artists from the US, the fascinating Mr Kama Tala. With a wide variety of influences, his music finds its way into your head and keeps replaying over and over again no matter how much you try to escape it. We had the pleasure of chatting with Tala and asking him about the elements that make his music successful and what keeps him inspired to create more fun tracks.
- First of all, I would like to welcome you and thank you for being with us today. This is not the first time we feature an article about you on REM, but every time you manage to surprise us with an even more beautiful release. Can you backtrack a little and tell us the story of who you are and how you started making music?
Thanks for having me.
- Your artist name is derived from Sanskrit, if I’m not wrong, so please tell me why you chose this name and what it means.
Kama Tala comes from Sanskrit. Translated ‘Kama’ means love, lust, passion, and ‘Tala’ means rhythm, meter, or the measurement of time. When combined something struck me. It was something organic, meaningful and symbolic, and admittingly borrowed, but as authentic as I try to make my music.
- You won a major award back in 2022, what was that for and how did they contact you?
I contacted them a few years beforehand. Part of the music business, just like any other- is making connections. When the time came and I felt like I had something good enough recorded, I submitted my music to them for consideration. W.A.M. is a kick-ass organization out of Austin, helping independent artists so it was a no brainer for me to work with groups like them.
- In 2023 you started releasing more music in the form of singles. Why did you opt for that instead of making an album or an EP instead?
I love the idea of making albums. The first thing Kama Tala did was essentially a concept album, however, in order for KT to gain any traction in the modern world, releasing singles has just made more sense. I look forward to working on an album in the future, but for 2024, I have 4 other singles lined up as we speak.
- Congratulations on your new single ‘Sultans (Reprise)’ by the way. I truly loved it. What’s the inspiration behind this song and what do the lyrics mean, If I may ask?
Cheers & many thanks. The song was inspired by my father. I was determined to write a song that would be a #1 hit single in the year 1958. I started off with the guitar riff (which was inspired by George Harrison). The rest was written and composed as an Everly Brothers song to commemorate the times in a nostalgic way, to pay tribute, but also to add some flavor of what I have to add from a 2024 perspective in terms of recording. It’s funny, I was listening to a tune the other day, and this is going to out date me…’Carry Anne’ by the Hollies, but listening to how their producer decided to mix their song, which is a song I love, made me me appreciate so much how Zilchman (my producer) approached the mix on ‘Sultans’. He crushed it out of the park in my opinion.
- I had the pleasure of reviewing your previous release called ‘Provenance’ before, but it sounds really different from Sultans…which brings me to the next question: how do you keep your tracks so coherent and related to your musical identity while also drawing inspiration from many different sources and not sounding identical?
Provenance and Sultans (Reprise) are two totally different songs for sure. But I think what links them most is that they are authentic and just came from the heart. They were written at different times and I had different objectives with each song, but what I’ve learned over the years is if you sing with authenticity and soul in that moment…that realness or truth or whatever you want to call it can be felt in the moment and that has resonated with people which has led me to not overthink it and just sing in the moment what I am feeling.
- In your opinion, how does a rock artist stay relevant in 2024 compared to the past?
The only thing that has worked for me in any aspect of my life is to just be thankful to be breathing today and do what you can with the time you have.
READ REVIEW – SULTANS (REPRISE)
- Do you plan on touring in the near future? If so, do you have any venues in particular?
Yes. But we can talk about this off camera once the interview is over. Again, it’s too early to say and I’m just happy to be here right now talking to you.
- If you had a chance to collaborate with any artist or band, living or dead, who would you choose?
There are hundreds of artists I’d love to work with now. To answer your question, as a fly on the wall, I’d love to see the process of a few musicians…Sufjan Stevens, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Vampire Weekend.
- Last but not least, what kind of songs do you plan on releasing in the future? Like…can we expect any different genres or twists?
Yes, I have songs already set for release coming soon. And yes you can expect different genres and twists. With the Spring, I tried to bring a throwback vibe. The summer I have some more modern plans. I’m working again with Zilchman on a release I expect for July. That is a more top 40 feel. Right now it’s entitled ‘Project 20’. But it’s been in the vault for 4 months and I can’t wait for people to hear it. Thank you again….many cheers.
At the end of the day, I would like to thank you for giving us some of your valuable time and information, and it’s always a pleasure having you here. ‘Provenance‘ and ‘Sultans (Reprise)’ are out on all platforms now, so be sure to check them out and follow Kama Tala on all his social media accounts to stay updated. Cheers.
