About Kiesza: Kiesa Rae Ellestad is a Canadian singer and multi-instrumentalist from Calgary, who has most recently worked in New York City and London.
Life experience brings out different emotions and different perspectives on things. I just want to be constantly evolving.
Beauty has so many forms, and I think the most beautiful thing is confidence and loving yourself.
I was in a rock band; I was my own folk singer; I was in a death metal band for a very short time; I was in a cover band, a jazz band, a blues band. I was in a gospel choir.
I was a weird teenager. My mother was actually worried because I didn't have any interest in dating in my teenage years. I had all this desire to pursue my passions like ballet, then sailing, then music, so I didn't have any emptiness to fill.
I feel like, when you turn on the radio and you hear a great song, you know it's a great song, and you sing along. We all know what a great song sounds like, so we all have that instinct, it's just being able to accept your own instincts when you wri...
As an artist, I feel so fortunate to be able to learn from all these great musicians that came before me, when some people have nobody that came before them.
I didn't date for my entire teen life - it just wasn't on my mind.
You cannot go wrong by learning classical music because it trains the ear.
I love Canadians. I think we make an impact around the world just when people meet us, and whenever I meet another Canadian, I see it as well.
It's hard to dance to really fast music. All you can do is pump your fist to it, and after a while, you're going to have a seizure.
I don't think shoving my butt into people's faces will tell them anything about who I am. How is that connecting to your audience? What is that doing for your music?
My sound definitely pays a lot of homage to the Nineties, but not just the dance music. There's also breakbeats, R&B, the big ballads. It's that whole era infused with very modern sounds.
When I started writing music on the guitar, it started off very folky because of my limited ability to play. It was slow, soft melodies. But then, as I got better on the guitar, I started exploring different sounds.
I'm very naturally happy, quirky and positive.
I believe that anyone can be what they want to be; it just comes down to hard work.
