Check Out Kayla Christopher’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayla Christopher.

Hi Kayla, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
One could almost say I am an “accidental” musician. I’ve always been drawn to music and enjoyed it immensely. Music tried to find me early in life, but I wasn’t ready until a few years ago. When I was 5, my mom enrolled me in piano lessons. But I hated it at the time. I was too young and didn’t have the attention span to stick with it. I never was in the high school band. My grade school didn’t have a band program in high school, and by the time high school came, I was already into softball. It was impossible to participate in both activities because they took up so much extracurricular time.

In my early 20s, I got my first set of turntables. I loved spinning records badly for years as I was self-taught. About 10 years ago, I bought a set of digital decks and a monitor. I played a few parties for friends. When Covid hit in 2020, I got a new DDJ400 controller and started streaming and DJing on Twitch as Kayla_Marie_Music. I became close to many online music communities, especially within the “Anjuna Family.” Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep are the record labels from the group Above & Beyond. I have been a fan of that group for years. As fans, we call ourselves the “Anjuna family,” as we are all a rave family that loves Anjuna.

I started wading into learning music production about 3 years ago. In November 2021, I decided to get serious and started weekly Ableton lessons with a tutor. That helped cut down my learning curve. I found music production groups on Discord and Facebook. I began networking online to find other music production students to get track feedback.

My first release under a new alias of ELEKTRIK BLVNKET is “Shadows,” which is a Progressive House banger inspired by Matt Fax and his track “To The Ground,” which came out December 23rd on Masvingo Recordings.

My wife Jeana came up with the ELEKTRIK BLVNKET because I get cold easily and use an electric blanket every winter. My previous artist alias, “Kayla_Marie_Music,” was too common as several other artists go by Kayla Marie (my first and middle name).

This spring, I have 2 more tracks set for release, along with new music I’ve been working on. I was heavily influenced by the early 2000s Trance and House rave scene here in St. Louis. The concert that blew my mind was Hybrid opening for Moby in 2000 at the old (theater name) downtown. This was a UK group that combined orchestra and Breakbeat music. I want to combine the current Progressive House with Breakbeats but updated for today that I call Progressive Breaks.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I had DJs tell me that girls can’t DJ, and finding lessons has been a struggle. Music is my side hustle and passion project for now. I work full-time as a project manager for a large bank. Fortunately, my schedule is very flexible, and my manager allows me to work on afternoon music lessons twice a week. My music teacher Josh runs an online music production school, Sequence Music Production, from Northern Ireland, and we have lessons over Zoom. We have a 6-hour time difference between our areas. I’m very excited to share my new music as a producer. I aim to continue perfecting my personal sound in my original songs and remixes. I have 2 new tracks and a remix that will be released on 2 different labels later this spring. These are Progressive Breaks and Deep House-influenced songs that will rock the dance floors this year!

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. What can you tell our readers who might need to be more familiar with what you do?
I am a Project Manager for a large bank for my full-time gig. I am a deep & progressive House producer for my music side hustle. Two styles of music I plan to focus on will be Deep House and Progressive House & Breaks for a style I call Progressive Breaks. This type of music is always well received on the dance floor, but only a few of this music is available. We need more of this specific music genre in Dance Music. One of my new releases was in this “Progressive Breaks” style. The other track is a Deep House track influenced by Marsh and features a talented singer from South Africa who sounds similar to Khalid. I also plan to have several collaborations later this year. I am very excited to pair up with Duce (aka Adam Ducey), who released a track called “Hypnotized” in January on Masvingo Recordings. Duce is another local STL producer, and we have had recent releases on Masvingo

“In the Jungle” releases on April 14th on North Origin Records. Pre-orders start a week prior to the release date.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Being disciplined, persistent, and focused. Plus, the value of being easy to work with. These characteristics will take you far in life. For new music producers, it is important to find feedback on improving their music composition. I’ve been fortunate to find several of these groups on Discord. My favorite channel has been with Leo Lauretti and his Abstract Music Lab. Leo has produced for over 10 years with releases on multiple labels and shares his knowledge with students. He regularly streams on YouTube, giving critiques and feedback on improving your tracks. He also has a great weekly blog that he sends out as part of an email subscription with tips and advice on marketing, dealing with record labels, etc.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elektrik_blvnket/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ELEKTRIKBLVNKET/
• Other: https://hypeddit.com/9a74gn

Image Credits
Christine Lohse