An Interview with Kally Hall, July 2025

 How would you describe your sound? What interests you about your genre specifically?

 I would describe my sound as experimental, lyrical, and electronic. It’s difficult to classify myself within one singular genre because I try to continuously experiment with sounds.   

Who/what inspires your music?

 I’m inspired by stories. Whether that is in literature or movies or in life. Usually I get sucked into an idea, feeling or story and I write from there. Additionally, a lot of the songs that get finished are the ones I have a strong visual connection with. Making music videos, for me, is a rewarding part of the experience and serves as one of the ways I get to bring the world of the song to life.

If you could open for any musician/band, who would it be?

 Among others, I love the artists Flower Face, Julianna Joy and Death by Romy. I’d be honored to open for any of them.

What does making music mean to you? What got you into it/keeps you continuing?

What draws me to music is getting to flesh out an experience. I see music as a way into exploring new territory with words, sounds, and visuals. A song becomes its own language, with its own poetics, and hidden messages. It's bringing those worlds to life that brings me back to making music. 

How do you keep yourself motivated and inspired/how do you work through creative blocks?

Blocks happen naturally, but so does creativity. It’s a practice, so as long as you show up each day to work you will eventually come up with something you find meaning in. 

What is your creative process like? Is it more organized & session based or more sporadic and fleeting? 

 It’s definitely a mix of both. When I’m working towards a project I’m determined to finish, I try to set practical goals and stick to them while also staying open to new inspiration that strikes along the way. Anytime inspiration strikes I try to chase it. A lot of my projects have started with that initial spark, but are fleshed out and finished through continuous effort, deliberate exploration and further experimentation.

Tell me about the music portion of the visual EP!! What was the process of creating a full EP? What were some of the main ideas behind it, what did you want to convey, how did each song go from idea to reality? 

Be Not Afraid, the EP, was created one song at a time, starting over three years ago. I make the music by myself, so it takes a lot of time to flesh out each project. Gradually over that time I felt the pulse of the larger themes I wanted to convey in the larger work. The EP to me is about circularity, of optimism and nihilism within the human experience. Yes, we will die, and our stories are not unique, but it’s because our human experience is something we share with each other, and we all are getting to try this again.

What was the process like creating the visual portion of the EP? When you were creating the music, had you always planned to include a visual aspect? What were some of the main ideas behind the videos/what did you want to portray through the videos that the music couldn't achieve? (ex. more storytelling, providing more context for the music, etc.) How did they go from ideas to reality? 

 For me, the music and visuals usually go hand in hand. I’m mostly drawn to making music I have a strong visual connection to. Typically as I’m making the music the vision I have for it develops until eventually I flesh out what I plan to film. The film element of the project helps to showcase the story and the atmosphere of each song in ways they might miss if they were listening to just each song alone.

What are some of your rituals/inspirations when writing music? (do you listen/pull inspo from other artists? do you have a specific place you like to write at? etc.)

 I usually just drink coffee and start new work somewhere private where I won’t be embarrassed to try different things and experiment. I’m always inspired by other artists and other works. Recently I played a game called Mouthwashing that was really inspiring as a creator. It was so well made, and had such a creative way of telling such a strong story I'm still processing the experience. I highly recommend it if you don't mind horror.

Which song of yours do you consider to be your favorite? Why?

Truly, I love them all for different reasons. The music videos for the songs "Darkstar" and "No Repose No Melody" were really fun to film with my friends. I really love the music production and lyric writing I did for the song "Ophelia’s Drowning". I am really proud of how we managed to pull off filming in the woods at night in winter for "The Ending Has Already Happened" music video. And lastly, I really love the message and video for the song "Be Not Afraid". Along with how it conveys the larger themes of the EP, it became a way for me to process all the strong emotions I had with graduating college, and having to leave my home state of West Virginia to pursue a career in the arts. For me it's a song that conveys the love within both staying and leaving.

https://kallyhall.com