How to Build a Song | Artist: Krista Marina | Songs: "On This Wave", "Clinckin"

As an alternative R&B/pop singer, songwriter and music producer, Krista's music displays jazz, blues and hints of Middle Eastern soul - the music she grew up with. Listen carefully as she eloquently talks about the heart of her music, how she crafts her sound - from first inspiration to finished product. 

Discover Krista's music on her Website
Discover Krista's music on Spotify

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Host: Lisa M Arreguin @ LivingCrazybrave.com
Recorded @ LoveandLaughterMusicGroup.com
Podcast Music: Joey Arreguin
Music bong: Andrew Kim
Engineering & Sound Design: Michael Jennings

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

You are listening to the Crazy Brave Songwriter Podcast. This is a podcast about the magic of making music one song at a time. My name is Lisa m gui. I'm happy to be your host for today. Christ Marina is a musical force to be reckoned with as a multi-talented singer songwriter, music producer and instrumentalist. In this episode, Christa shares how she creates and produces music that represents her distinctive personal style. Listen closely with all ears as she shares lots of information on style, creating songs from the ground up and how she navigates the craft. She talks about two songs in this episode, the song on this wave, and the song clinking. Both tunes lyrically remind us of the value of human connection. Now, it's important to note that since we've cut this show, Krista's music is not surprisingly soaring on various music platforms. You'll want to check out the show links in this episode to keep up on this rising star

Speaker 2: 1:09

Check one, two, check one, two, testing, testing

Speaker 3: 1:15

On this way.

Speaker 4: 1:25

My introduction to music was Armenian music growing up, always hearing it in the household, and I think that really shaped how I view music, how I listen, because it's so intricate and so detailed, and there are so many different layers. And I started really taking it seriously in high school. I auditioned and joined this, I call it school of rock, but in real life,<laugh> essentially is what it was. It was called music media and Entertainment Technology. And it was foundational in making me realize that I could do this, you know, really pursue this seriously and make it, you know, my dream, my living. And that was really transformative for me because I was presented with the tools and the tips and the teachings of how to make that happen. I think for a while I resisted the urge to let that Armenian influence show up in my music, because along my journey there were people that told me, You have to pick a lane. And that lane had to look like one thing and one thing only. Like, let's say it was pop music. And so, you know, in the beginning there were people that told me it's, it's gotta be pop, so everything has to fit this mold. And as I found my own voice as an artist, I started to realize that when they say, you know, try to find that one thing and that one lane, that doesn't mean picking one genre. It means finding that one, one thing that is you and magnifying that. And because being Armenian listening to Armenian music is and always has been such a big part of my life, that it started to feel not genuine, to not include that influence in my music. And so as I started getting more confident in my own production as well, um, was at the same time where I started involving more of those elements into my music, into my writing. And I feel that I've, I've struck this balance now that really powerfully represents who I am within my music. You know, both the American Western r and influences as well as the, the subtle Middle Eastern and Armen influences, and finding that combination. I grew up also performing a lot of Armenian music. I was in choir, et cetera, and I missed it. I missed performing Armenian songs. And the second part was that I felt a little bit of imposter syndrome trying to be this archetype pop artist. It didn't feel genuine to me. It felt like something was missing. And I soon realized it was that Armenian element, that cultural element that is so embedded in me that wasn't showing up in, in the music, that that made it feel like something was missing. And it, it was the perfect sort of peace to, to complete the sound

Speaker 3: 4:23

Point. If I'm the only one feeling this way, tell me I'm not the only one on this way, on this way.

Speaker 4: 4:33

I've been lucky to work with a lot of producers over the years. I remember in the beginning too, I was very driven to find that producer that like one person that understood the sound and would help me craft it over time and sort of be that, that production partner. But over time I felt that there was this sound that I heard in my head that I had trouble articulating. And the producers that I worked with are all so talented in, in their own right, but I had trouble sort of nailing the sound that I heard in my head for my music. And I think part of that was the cultural element that I was raised with, and that was hard to articulate for other people. And so what I started doing was I started producing my own demos to try to sort of get those ideas out of my head and into something tangible, to something people could listen to. And over time I realized that I started to feel more connected to my own demos. I loved that production with other people. I love that process. I love collaborating, and I always will continue to do that. But in terms of finding the stuff that was truly my sound, it was in my demos, that little piece of magic that I felt like this is, this is me and my music, and I just kept working on that craft. Until fast forward to today, I feel comfortable producing my own music. It's also made me feel more confident as a female being in the studio setting to articulate what I wanna hear and, um, really have it be a team effort. If I'm working with another engineer or another producer or another artist, it also makes me feel more empowered to be part of every step of the process. When people ask me about my process, I wish I had a pretty clean answer, but I don't because my process isn't pretty or clean.<laugh>, it really varies in terms of what comes first, the lyrics, the melody, the rhythm, the harmonies. But that's what makes it exciting because I'm, I'm never sure which of those pieces is going to inspire the full song first. Sometimes it's one line, and I know that I want that to be the tagline of the chorus. And so I build everything around that. Other times it's a melody, and then I pick the key and then we go from there. Other times it's, it's the rhythm first. Um, I play them bec or Middle Eastern drum, ibec, the, and sometimes it's inspired by a beat I hear on that instrument first, and then it, you know, building from there. When I wrote on this wave, I was out with friends in 2019, in the summer of 2019, I was in Armenia for six weeks volunteering, um, in the villages, running day camps for the children, teaching them hygiene, uh, tips and, you know, English and things like that. Um, and just bonding with them. Um, and there was one night where all of us were, um, went out, uh, went out dancing and hanging out, and we were in a very crowded, super, super crowded, um, room. And I became overwhelmed with this feeling of feeling out of place. And I remember I sat down in the corner of this bar and I started writing the lyrics to on this wave. And so with this song, it was the lyrics that came first. And I felt like I loved seeing everyone have such a beautiful time, but I felt like I was on a different wave where I was just sitting and absorbing it as opposed to being immersed in it. I felt like I was looking from the outside in and so on. This wave is really about feeling a little out of place and sort of finding empowerment in that and finding comfort in that, and that that's okay. And most of the lyrics are me questioning, you know, does anyone else feel this way? And so I wrote the lyrics down and that's what inspired the intro of, On This Wave, because you hear a bunch of people talking and you hear really loud bass, um, but just the low end as if you're like right outside. And I, the tricky part was I was trying to record a voice memo in this super loud like bar essentially, and you can barely hear like the little melody that came with it that came next. And the melody was that baseline. The, the did. I like the climbing baseline that runs through the whole song. And as soon as we got back from Armenia, as soon as I got back to the states, I immediately produced it started with that bass loop drum, Super simple, and then that piano loop. Um, and that was it. And that was on this wave. And that's how the song came about. And I actually have yet to perform on this wave live, but I'm hoping we get too soon

Speaker 3: 9:20

Here I am surrounded by the everyone's from one, I only one with a d I'm the only one feeling this way. Tell me I'm not the only one on this way, found this way. Tell me, I

Speaker 4: 9:53

I think the best things in life happen when you are so present that you get too lost in the moment to where you're not worried about tracking time. And that's the same with creating. I feel that the best creations come from completely getting lost in it, where you, you know, lose where you are<laugh>, how much time you're taking up, everything you get. You're so immersed in the process that nothing else matters for that hour or for that two hours or for that session. And honestly, those moments, you know, whether it's when you're playing live and you get lost in the performance and you're, you forget where you are, but in the most beautiful way because you're taken to this whole new<laugh> dimension. It's those moments that made me want to do this. But I, I'm writing constantly in terms of writing a full song. Last year I did a song a month and that was really fulfilling because I started a song from start to finish each month. And that was a super rewarding process. But I would say I write every day, um, in terms of a full song, maybe once a week or once every couple weeks in terms of full production, fully producing a song, I would say once a month. But I think it's those moments where you get pulled to do it that are the most sort of organic and powerful and rewarding clink in came to mind at the peak of quarantine on a Saturday night where I missed being with friends. I missed, ironically, being in this similar environment,<laugh> of where on this wave was written, where I fell out of place. Being in that environment where you're with friends, you're celebrating your dancing, celebrating life together, the idea of clinging came to mind because I remember feeling I missed the sound of two cups hitting each other. I miss that sound because that sound is so, um, symbolic of something bigger, right? Of this thing that as humans, we all need, which is each other, which is being with each other, which is laughing together. And, um, sharing those experiences together. And that's where the idea of Clinton came from. And so I built it all around that. And it was a Saturday night. I was alone in my room,<laugh>, and I was just sort of fiddling on the guitar, just sort of, you know, just jamming, practicing really. And I went back and forth between these two chords and um, suddenly I found this little pocket that I was playing. And so with this song, it was the guitar, the little guitar, um, I mean it was, it was rhythmic so we can call it like a guitar rhythm that came first. And, and then I heard the beat. So I made that next. And I, I wanted to add a cajon cause I wanted it to feel raw. Um, and so I had the Cajon and then I had the Clavos, the, And then I had my friend Lance from UCLA come in and record some sacks cause I knew I needed to hear some, some sacks or some trumpet on there. And then my friend Trey came into play that baseline on a live bass. And that was it. With, with those with both on the Wave and Clinton, the songs really came together very rapidly, very easily. Sometimes I feel like when I'm building a song, I black out for an hour and then I come back to reality and there's a song in front of me.<laugh>. If I were to give advice to other artists and writers out there, I mean, I'm still learning every day, but one sort of overarching thing I've learned in being an artist and in life is remembering why you do it. Because it's easy to get lost in the pursuit and the chase and forgetting why you started chasing this in the first place. And that's because it's something that you love, that it's because it's something that makes you feel understood. That it's because it's something that's been there as a healing, um, factor for all of us, whether we're on the creating or the listening side. And let that be your driving force. Don't let comparison with others be a driving force. Don't let numbers be a driving force because then you start to sort of lose that fulfillment if you're worried about arbitrary results instead of the why. And I feel that by focusing on the why and by focusing on the craft, the rest will come anyway.

Speaker 1: 14:13

Now for your listening pleasure. The song Clinking played in its entirety

Speaker 3: 14:29

On your mind the same way you think about, Oh, that's fine, but I don't think that I believe you. What's those?

Speaker 5: 14:53

When

Speaker 3: 14:53

You hear, hear my name, does it catch your way? I've what you drinking's fill your cup bottoms up, feel the I keep you up your mind insomnia. But I wonder how do you do it? Cause you always get secret your mind though, the same way you walk all over, all across the I see you and walk, Right? What's mess? Yes. So fill bottoms up, Feel the, I've been thinking what you drinking? Let's get this mess.

Speaker 5: 17:08

So

Speaker 3: 17:08

Fill your cup, bottoms up. Feel I don't see about the rest. Don't think about the rest.

Speaker 1: 17:24

This is Lisa again and I wanna take this moment to applaud the team at Love and laughter music group.com, a safe and knowledgeable spot for musicians who wish to learn more about writing songs and recording great music. This episode is a product of living Crazy brave.com, another hub where musicians can cultivate new awareness about what it takes to honor the sacred art of making honest music. I have been writing songs for and with artists for years now, and it's so refreshing to find an artist that keeps the pressure on and keeps loving what they do. If that sounds like you, and you've been at this for a time, don't be discouraged. You might never hear from the guy on the east coast who heard your music and cried because it said all the things that he felt after a life altering change in his life. Or the teenage girl in Denmark who feels like you are talking directly to her. And because of your song, she now has a new perspective. You are making an impact even though you may not know it. So keep up the good work and make every song better than the next. And like Krista, love what you do and strive to do it well.