Q&A

Interview: Little Monarch

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Little Monarch is the brainchild of LA-based artist Casey Kalmenson. Recognized for her exceptional songwriting, production, and vocal abilities and blend of indie pop, soul, jazz, and funk, Casey has collaborated with a diverse range of artists, including Daisy The Great, Jessie Ware, Far East Movement, Parra for Cuva and more. 

Little Monarch found viral success as a solo artist with her debut single "No Matter What," which has wracked up over 25 million streams across platforms.

She has seen her work feature prominently in a variety of TV networks and film projects (including ABC, CBS, MTV, and VH1 and popular shows like Grey’s Anatomy, All American: Homecoming and Love Is Blind).

With her sound as a summer sunset, Little Monarch continues to shine in the music industry, resonating with audiences globally. Her more recent single "Same Old" followed Little Monarch's track "Tears" and an extensive tour playing in Gracie Abrams band. The tour included multiple opening act performances for Taylor Swift on the Eras stadium tour. "Tears" combines pieces of soul, jazz, and indie pop to create a sunshine filled sonic reminder to let go of control and find your own place in the flow.  

What's the one thing you hope fans will take away from listening to your new song “Same Old”?

In general, it's always “self confidence” and a renewed sense of self worth. And not giving up. That's always been kind of the pillars of what I write about. Because it's always what I need to hear and what I want to transmit into the world, the messaging of “don't give up, just keep showing up”. You just gotta keep going and things turn around.

What's the most unexpected place/time/space you found inspiration for a song?

I don't think this is unexpected, but it's recent. I was feeling really blocked creatively and I went for a hike. There was this little rock and I thought “that looks like a wonderful rock". I'm gonna sit on it”. And I sat on it and I closed my eyes, did a little meditation and I got this inspiration for a song, came home and started to play it. It was just this feeling that I really wanted to capture and I think that I did. It was just so renewing because I had kind of felt a little bit lost, trying to navigate putting this album together. I was thinking “I really want something, I don't know what I want yet, but I don't know what it feels like”. So, I kind of landed on this when I got quiet and got out in nature. And that always seems to do the trick for me.

What's an important lesson you've learned in your music career?

Ooh, I mean, so many but…don't give up. Just keep going. There's really no “one path”. You can read people's bios. You can study the greats (and you should) but there's no trajectory that you can copycat. So you really just have to be patient and keep showing up for yourself and your own path, which is going to be unique.

What’s a piece of advice for finding creativity on a tough day?

Don't force, it would just show up. Even if it's just 20 minutes of practising or journaling, there's a lot of ways to be creative that doesn't involve sitting down and writing music or producing something. Also, make sure you’re giving yourself a “creative palate cleanser”; get a little bit done, go take a walk. I love to do that - it just clears my head - and then I can come back to something with fresh ears. And also, most importantly, if it's a tough day and you're not feeling it, just don't. You don't have to. You can take a rest and that's just as productive sometimes.

What’s your top tip for people that want to become music producer, singer songwriters etc?

When I wanted to start producing, I was buying some gear (I was you know, figuring it out what I needed) and somebody ironically (amazingly enough) at guitar centre said to me “give yourself seven years and then you'll actually be a producer, you'll be good enough for you to want to hire yourself”. I actually still think about that and think that's kind of true.

You have to give yourself this runway of time to you know, learn the skills and you're always learning. I think, just giving yourself a runway of time and setting yourself up for that, knowing that it could happen overnight or you might want to build something where it has a lot of longevity and you can sustain it - in which case you, you need to set up a support system and figure out a way to really know that it's a 5 to 10 year journey to get to a place where you might deem yourself successful or comfortable or sustained. Just give yourself some time and patience because it's beautiful that you're even showing.

What are some of your favorite songs to wake up to?

This week it's been “Love and Happiness” by Al Green (and just anything by Al Green). I really love to take a morning walk and listen to some (Frédéric) Chopin, it just stimulates my brain, it's beautiful.

Three things you can't live without in your bag.

Aquaphor, sunscreen, earbuds. Pretty pretty standard.

Follow Little Monarch:

▶ Stream: https://ONErpm.lnk.to/-LittleMonarch

▶ Instagram:   / littlemonarchmusic  

▶ Facebook:   / littlemonarch  

▶ Twitter:   / littlemonarchla  

Elkka's DJ-Kicks Mix Takes Listeners on a Colorful Journey Through Dance Music

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Elkka is a Cardiff-born DJ and producer based in London. She has released music on labels such as Technicolour, Ninja Tune, and her own label and party femme culture. In 2021, Elkka was awarded BBC's Essential Mix of the Year, showcasing her blend of classic house, breakbeat, and experimental electronica.

Elkka's music is inspired by her deep intuition and communicates feelings that are difficult to put into words. She champions the LGBTQ+ community and women in her music and believes in self-acceptance and community building. She is the next curator of DJ-Kicks - a mix that takes listeners on an intoxicating journey through Chicago house, disco, leftfield techno, and UK bass. Her mix, out this Wednesday, April 26 via K7 records, is a celebration of everything she loves and is a brightly-hued universe for listeners to get lost in."

Watch our Q&A with Elkka across our socials or below for more insights into her music.

5 Questions to 3 Music Industry Execs: Temima Shames, Nikisha Bailey, and Ranya Khoury

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In celebration of Women's History Month, we had the opportunity to speak with three accomplished women in the music business. We asked them five key questions about the industry, their experiences, and their thoughts for the future. Read on to discover their valuable insights and perspectives.

Temima Shames is a rising entertainment executive and entrepreneur with a core focus of innovating around music artists, creators, and influencers through content, brand partnerships, and more. Originally born in Israel and raised in New York, she’s the Founder & CEO of Next Step Talent – a full service management company that specializes in long-term career growth strategy and capitalizing on organic relationships with the individual talent they work with. Temima’s clients span those in comedy, acting, modeling, dance, among others, with an average social following of 10 million across platforms. Songs, records, and projects she’s been a part of have garnered 25 million streams and viral campaigns with more than 1 million recreates. Temima is an advocate for entrepreneurship and aspires to inspire others to take a chance at any age.

Who’s a woman that inspired you growing up?

My cousin always inspired me growing up as she was always spontaneous with traveling and trying new things. We both did gymnastics and always had a love for new experiences. In a family where being spontaneous and adventurous was out of the norm, this is what inspired me to expand my perspectives, think outside the box and fuel my “inner entrepreneur”. 

What would you say are the biggest challenges the music industry is currently facing?

Right now the biggest challenge in the music industry is over saturation and a lack of experimentation, uniqueness. We have seen a shift in focus from albums to singles which means there is a huge loss of development. We are so focused on short term success, that we are losing the storytelling and story building. With this new era of TikTok music, artists are creating songs for virality and less for connection. The music industry needs a reset. It needs something new. A sound that is missing and a shift in focus. TikTok is amazing as it gives opportunities to artists that would never have had a chance before. However, there is a specific sound that the app favors and that limits artists’ creative ability. I’m super excited to see what the next platform will do to level out the playing field. 

What do you see as the future of women in the music industry?

I see women taking their power and making the change to create equality within the music industry. Women are beginning to not take no for an answer and set their boundaries from day 1. We are seeing an increase in the amount of female producers, A&Rs and the amount of men working in marketing or publicity which used to be more female dominated areas of the industry. Women are now playing a role of educating the new generation of men about the inequalities and calling out subconscious behaviors as they occur. Instead of women being the “assistants”, there is an increase in female executives. In order to reach this future, women must educate men instead of creating a divide between each other in business.

Is there a particular project or achievement you’re most proud of?

In short, one of the achievements I am most proud of is the viral moment surrounding Brooklynne Webb’s “My Crown” release as this the first time I saw my entire team ban together to execute an idea. Each person used their different strength and brought it to the table. The execution involved a fully packaged plan with over 6 months of work, but not only that, the whole team pivoted the plan week of to react to what was happening in the comments. It was a game time decision with all hands on deck. The result of this was over 20M+ views and streams across platforms and a moment that showed how important building a strong team is. I’m also super proud of our relationship and talent growth on YouTube. Starting from nearly 0, we now have 3 clients over 1M subs and 5 more about to hit that markWe’ve truly expanded our company relationships across platforms. 


What advice would you give to other women looking to break into the music industry?

Use others' comments,, especially he “I usually think young women don’t have their sh*t together, but you do” one, as your motivation to push through. You only need a few people to believe in you. Be the disruptor and make that change.

Connect with Temima

Instagram –

@temimashames

@nextsteptalent

LinkedIn

Nikisha Bailey is a community-driven entrepreneur, entertainment executive, and philanthropist with a lifelong commitment to music. Professionally, the St. Louis native is General Manager of the Nvak Collective – a next generation record label & artist advocacy collective that embraces web3 to drive change for creators and intellectual property. The two-time Billboard R&B / Hip-Hop Power Player provides creative perspective to the company’s facilitation of A&R, marketing, and label operations across their diverse artist roster. Extending her influence throughout music and culture, she also serves as Vice President for The Recording Academy’s New York Chapter and an Ambassador for the Academy’s Black Music Collective (BMC). On the entrepreneurship front, Nikisha owns and operates Philadelphia's Win Win Coffee Bar – handpicked by Goldman Sachs as a featured vendor at its 10KSB National Summit and adding Nikisha to Forbes’ Next 1000. Prior to the Nvak Collective, Nikisha was the VP / Head of A&R Admin at APG (Artist Partner Group) including additional stints at Atlantic Records and Def Jam Recordings working with acclaimed producers, studios, artists, and more. She now resides in New York and pushes herself to learn, grow, and pay it forward.

Who’s a woman that inspired you growing up?

My mom has always been and continues to be one of my biggest inspirations. As a black woman growing up in Missouri in the 60’s during Jim Crow, I can’t even imagine what she had to go through. She always had such a positive outlook on life and has instilled in me that no matter what your current circumstances in life, through hard work and consistency, anything is possible 

What tangible way(s) can women better support + celebrate each other in the music business?

We can have more open, transparent, REAL conversations. The music industry can be an extremely sugar coated industry where we tend to paint the best picture possible and have the all that glitters in gold mindset. The reality is, that this is far from what it is. Women are consistently undervalued, underpaid and expected to be happy with whatever circumstances are presented to them. When we can start having more REAL conversations as to what we all have experienced, I think that can only strengthen the common bond that we all have for the most part. 

What inspired you to pursue a career in music? I’ve also loved music.

I’m a former musician myself. In college I had to decide whether or not to be a jazz performance major or audio engineer major and I went with audio engineer! The jazz students were a little too intense for me lol. From there I had a professor that told me in order to really make it in the music industry, I had to either be in NY or LA. My professor was able to help me sort out an internship at Sony Studios that was 6 months out, so for those 6 months I worked 3 jobs and saved up $5,000 and left to pursue my dream in the big city with nothing but two suitcases!

Is there a particular project or achievement you’re most proud of?

My biggest achievement in my career was when I started as intern in a new city, a new industry and now work myself up to a GM position. I’ve also been able to establish such a solid network of industry friends and colleagues that are not only there for me in my professional life, but have been able to be such immense resources to me in my journey as a coffee roaster and distributor through my business, Win Win Coffee. 


What advice would you give to other women looking to break into the music industry?

Bet on yourself! Hone in your superpowers and what makes you innately you…and EMBRACE it! What is the one thing that you can do, that nobody does better? It’s the differences that you have experienced in life that bring value to the table. Own that part of who you are all throughout your journey.

Connect with Nikisha:

Instagram – @nikideebee

LinkedIn

Ranya Khoury is a rising executive in the music business with a track record for setting trends and being a first-mover throughout several entrepreneurial endeavors. Today, as the first U.S. hire for global dance label Spinnin’ Records, she is the stateside Streaming Director where she has worked tracks for Alok, Timmy Trumpet, The Chainsmokers, Joel Corry and many more. Prior to Spinnin’, her career has been rooted in digital commerce with previously managing Los Angeles-based DJ Kooze, creating new revenue models for Hits Daily Double as Digital Accounts Manager, and being a part of Universal Music Group’s streaming marketing team.

Who’s a woman that inspired you growing up?

I’ve had so many. I was lucky enough to grow up with a mom who was a complete powerhouse, so I’ve always had the impression that success as women, in whatever field, was possible. Hilary Duff was and still remains a big one for me. Rihanna, for obvious reasons. The list really does go on and on.  

What do you see as the future of women in the music industry?

As we begin to bring more women in leadership roles, our perception of what’s possible will begin to shift into a much more empowered place. Doorways will open for rising industry leaders. Role models will help inspire those looking to pursue a career in music. Companies will become more inclusive from the start. There’s still a long way to go, but we’re moving in the right direction. 

What inspired you to pursue a career in music?

It initially was ignited through my unwavering passion for the music itself, but it wasn’t until my second year of college that I committed to pursuing a career in music. Once I learned that business and creativity coexisted in the space, I began immersing myself in the industry, where I realized how strong my passion for music really was. 

What advice would you give to other women looking to break into the music industry?

Give yourself permission to show up authentically. Don’t try to be one of the boys. Know your worth early on. Speak up. And always lead with passion and curiosity. 

How do you balance personal and professional life as a woman in the music industry?

It’s hard. it’s a practice that I’ll probably always work on deepening. Naturally, my personal and professional life tend to overlap. You meet so many like minded people in the industry, that they quickly become a part of your personal life. Your time spent in professional settings molds into what is typically thought of as personal time (there is no 9-5 in the industry). So, it becomes an act of prioritizing and enhancing any personal time you do get. Sometimes it's carving out time in solitude. Other times, it’s dining out with friends, most likely at Sugarfish or Found Oyster. Whatever and whenever it is, I make sure it's time well spent on things that renew and reground me. 

Connect with Ranya

 Instagram – @ranyakhoury

LinkedIn