Serena Kern
Serena Kern is an artist with another job that you wouldn't see every day - she's a lawyer.
We got the chance to chat to the up and coming star about her life juggling legal work and music, as well as her childhood in India and her new EP.
Has music always been a passion of yours?
Yeah, it has. Let me give you some background (laughs).
I grew up in a very small town in South India, and I've always been interested in music and singing and as a child I was part of my school choir, and then - I did the A Levels, I went to an international school in India - and then I decided to pursue my higher studies in university here in the UK.
So, I did a law degree at the London School of Economics, and I think it was really when I came to university that I decided to pursue music more seriously - mainly because there was just so much opportunity available - in London especially. So that was when I started.
I started performing at open-mic events, small events, and at that time I was mostly performing covers, but I found that it was quite difficult to relate to some of the songs I was singing, mostly because these were words that somebody else had written, songs that somebody else had performed, and I think it's quite difficult to relate to songs when they're not yours.
So that was when I decided to give songwriting a try, so I wrote my first song which was called 'Thrown Away', at that time, and I performed that song also at an open-mic event at university and it was quite a nervewracking experience obviously, because you are putting yourself out there - when you're writing about quite personal things. But, it was really well perceived and that, so it encouraged me to kind of go on and write more songs, and record, and it got me to where I am now, I guess.
What is it about music that you love?
I don't know if I can pinpoint one particular thing about music. What I like to do is to create. The songwriting just comes naturally when I sit down and I'm in a particular mood - my mood really affects the songs that I write - and I love to create and that's why I love to create with the music videos as well.
This new EP that I'm just about to release is called 'My Promise', and it consists of three songs. You've got 'My Promise' from which the EP takes its name, and that's quite a fun, kind of upbeat song, and the music video that I did to match that was filmed in the English countryside. It was a nice Summery, warm day.
Then I did - the other song is 'Why I Cry' - which is a more meloncholy song, and again the music video I tried to match with that, so it's a black and white more dark sort of music video.
And then the last one is 'Better To Have Lost', which is a song that's quite - it's quite a personal song, because I wrote it after I lost someone quite close to me - and yeah. So that song has actually got some quite nice Indian melodies mixed with my usual kind of Western pop style.
So yeah, I guess that's what I like - I like to create and like to kind of do the music videos and the songs - I find that I'm able to express myself through my music. It's a great way to be able to do that.
When you're creating this music and expressing yourself through it, where do you draw inspiration from?
I guess just my life (laughs). When I was growing up I was exposed to so many different sounds as well. Just being in India - because it's so culturally diverse but also musically diverse - and my dad used to travel a lot because he was a ship captain - he would bring home tapes, at that time (laughs) that he had recorded on radio or that he had bought, obviously, he would bring those home - so I guess those sounds kind of feed into my music now, even unconsciously sometimes.
But the actual inspirations for the songs as I say just depends on my mood. It's all about my life and experiences that I've had in my life. Mostly love because that (laughs) is something that we all experience, and I try and - obviously you write songs about things that other people will relate to as well - 'Little Angels' is another one of my songs which was written just about little children, and that was inspired by some of the poverty I had seen when I was back home.
Well you're also a lawyer - how different is that aspect of your life?
People always ask me this question (laughs), and they say being a lawyer and being a singer is a very unusual combination, but I've actually found that there are so many aspects that are actually similar, and compliment each other almost.
For example, I used to be shy - as I say I grew up in a very small town - but I think being a lawyer has really helped to bring me out of my shell, and that's really helped my performance as a musician, and vice versa I'm sure (laughs). So I don't think they're all that different, or contradictory anyway.
How do you go about balancing both aspects of your career?
I think it just comes down to time management, I would have to say.
I try and do my music after work or during the weekends, and it's something I like to come home to. Not to say that it's not effortful, because it is, but it's also something I can come back to relax with, so that's I guess how I manage both.
Do you have any other projects in the works that you can share some details about?
Yeah - I am working with a composer in India, and I've written a song which is called 'Lullaby'. That was inspired by my childhood growing up in India, and a lullaby that my mother used to sing to me - it's a very, very old, I don't know if it's ancient (laughs), but it's a very old travel lullaby, and what I've done is I've incorporated it into the chorus of what's otherwise an English pop song, so I think it works really well. I've done a music video just recently for it as well.
So that's the latest project - I'm looking to launch that in India in December and then probably over here after that.
Serena Kern's EP 'My Promise' is released November 11.