You're listening to song exploder, where musicians take apart their songs and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. My name is Rishi your way. Hey, I'm going on tour this spring, I'm going to be playing my own songs in telling stories, along with my friend, Jenny Owen Youngs I haven't been on we're playing songs since, before I started this podcast and I'm so excited you can see all the dates and get tickets song, exploder dot net, slash tour, I hope, to see other. Song exploder is sponsored by audible every day A little bit of science fiction becomes sides fact and you can't help, but wonder what will our features? Look like Opel and self by southwest, have teamed up for a new podcast called future ology twelve big questions about. What's next questions, is college becoming obsolete. How long is too long to live. Listen to the first. four episodes now only from audible go to audible dot com

slash futurology, that's audible, dot, com, slash, Futurola oh gee, why Song Explode is brought to you by progressive. We thinking more about how to tighten up your budget these days, drivers who saved by switching you progressive, save over seven hundred dollars on average and customers, qualified for an average of six discounts on they sign up a little off your rate. Each goes a long way get a quote today: a progressive dot com, progressive casualty, insurance company and affiliates now annual average insurance savings by new customers surveyed who saved with progressive between twenty twenty and may twenty twenty one potential savings will vary discounts. Berry and are not available in all states and situations. Sarah Kinsley is a singer songwriter and multi. Instrumentalist Most recent release is an e p called the king, which came out in when he twenty one when it came out. She was in college in New York City and at the moment she still is

the title track on the king, was written at a time when the pandemic had shut things down, and she was back in Connecticut living with her parents. In this episode, Sarah tells the story of Demo ing the song in her childhood bedroom and then recording it in the studio with producer Jake Aaron before it went on to become a hit with over twenty million streams online. So far, also on March sixteenth. Sarah is performing at the song exploiter show at south by southwest, along with perfume genius Kimbra and more helps you there. Here's Sarah Kinsley on Song, Exploder the my name is Sarah Kinsley. I had been college for about

three years and it was exciting and riveting and and then I went home for this uncertain amount of time. I was at parents home in. I get a lot of my. books on the shelves. You know the same sort of a bed frame and my walls are kind of covered in the same things and nothing has changed, and I was Craving the feeling of being like. overwhelmed by life and by music and art and people, and I miss that feeling a lot. so ten or fifteen days before my birthday, I remember, being really moody that day I was just thinking so much about like I'm turning twenty you know on this is, the sort of shedding of a decade. I had written this list of things that I wanted to do before I turned twenty six

up all night to watch the sunrise from my window. Dance in the rain barefoot on my driveway and go through the street and then the last thing on the list was like right. the song my use of my life so far. You know something really big telling myself to do something to remember the past few years by and then I got this. no idea The This plan on my parents home. My phone is always, popped up in front of me on this upright piano that I've been playing since first I can remember,

I get really sucked into the instrument, and I just feel like sometimes insists start playing. I forget everything, but I've never gotten feeling ever before. Music work just like something has fallen out of the sky and into my fingertips grown up The piano is like my introduction to music, so it made perfect sense that that was the thing that would be the catalyst for the rest of the song and then Filled in and No, are making me listen to this. that recording is just hilarious. Cuz. It's from the day that

my brain figured out what the pre chorus melody would be, and you can hear me mumbling, like a fool. so yeah good. you can hear my my fingers going up and down the fretboard, because I know that there's a really really sick cord, but I don't know where it is yeah, Before I even finished writing it. I just started producing a demo on my computer.

This horrible little drum rack of like that programs and I've found a couple since I don't have a base. So I would chief by just tuning my guitar part, an octave lower, but I knew exactly how I wanted certain things to sound. I recorded it in my childhood bedroom in my closet. I had this makeshift setup of like three really thick blankets, kind of taped to my doors that would just put my mic there. We then see a he's, settle his heels and food, and I put this kind of wonky demo together,

Between the half demo phase and then the final thing There are so many big decisions. is to be made. I had never worked with another producer or collaborator on any of my own work, and so that was big decision island on Jake Aaron, who has studio in green point in Brooklyn and had a great phone call and I I loved his earlier. Where can I was a relatively short phone call, but I remember feeling very apt and thinking I've. Ok, we're going to turn this into the thing you know. So one of the first things we did was we brought in an actual drummer, which was crazy, because I had also only ever sort of programmed Miti drones, Jason Burger,

It was big thief came in and then we into this other room in the same building of Jake Studio. I remember this scheme He clean white piano in the room and was all night and set up, but when I had it the demo. I had found this. piano sound for the introduction and I loved the sound the so I really hesitant about giving that up and replacing it, but I remember going and sitting down and playing one note, Onenote

was exactly the same as what I had programmed I had a friend who was in a different studio there and he was sort of listening to me and a shower him nodding like furiously like yeah like it was. It was so validating. Jake played the bass part. I played the guitar parts and we kind of

Wrote those simultaneously we had to go back and forth about the rhythm of the bass during the chorus like maybe five times I wanted it to move faster project was like no. No. I think we should go just on the beat every four and we it was so great. I played a lot Classical music, I was in high school really and I was like my whole life for a long time, and I play the piano violin and, classical music. The

that I played in the is like this really lush really layered cord, and it was something that I learned about like impressionist, music or like romantic music, which made use of these kinds of cord, and that was a huge part of the king. My favorite lines of the entire song- were the first ones that I wrote, which was that first verse I built a time machine to see you again It felt like a really guttural, very expressive way of admitting to myself that I was longing for something that I didn't have anymore. More The time machine to see and asked

thinking like who am I talking about to hear your phone call your voice down the hall, the way that speaking to myself in the past saying you know I could call myself and and hear my own voice and know what it was like to feel so. Abundantly happy like I had and what I had known. You told me before we get all the leads to see those back. Convoke was during the verses are from my first them. the I'll just sing into the MIKE over and over again on loop, and then events,

something comes out of it. I really wanted to keep the background vocals as how I recorded them, and we did and and Jake mix them in, and it was great you there there's more background vocals. At the end, I'm singing like again again, we did like a bunch of layers of those. and We talked a lot about layering when we were in the studio the meaning of the song was about the multiplicity of life or, like me, talking to myself like that influence, this kind of production choices we made

You know we layered tons of instruments, the piano arpeggio, the he came in default major. I tried playing it another keys and I would go back to that original idea and just just sink into it, because it felt so right. So the heart It's hard to sing and the song is the chorus because it's

it is so high on a bed. Yeah, that's odd. I can see the the the the Think of just the word, the king, I think of this greatness, and I about this a lot after writing the song like why the king there so many connotations immediately in beer into the word. You know it's gendered. It's has to do with power has to do with status. There's a lot of things like wrapped. Into it. But when I Think of king of your heart, I think of living in a way that's

loving and loving, very powerfully and and in a way that sort of unashamed It was really funny when the sun came out, because I remember people saying it's about love. This song is about loving someone and it's about wanting to be the king of their hard and giving yourself to someone I guess that's that's true, except it's about myself. I wouldn't love to say, and I think I can very. Fully, unlike surely say that I am the king of my heart and now here's the king by Sarah Kinsley in its entirety,

the visits

only dot net to learn more you'll, find to stream or download this track on the exploiters, sponsored by wealth front. A lot of vestment apps make it easy to start trading, but just because it easy to do doesn't mean you know what you're doing what easy to invest and easy to grow your savings with a diversified portfolio to start building your wealth and get your First five thousand dollars managed for free for life: go to wealthfront dot com, slash song, exploder that W E, a l, T, H, F, R, o n dot com, slash song exp to start building your wealth today. so much too do who are sponsoring upcoming song exploder herself, by south concert on March sixteenth. odoo is the most popular open source e on the planet, Companies rely on odoo because their applications are fully integrated. What is full integrated mean, but imagine a mechanic there

wasting their time going from one toolbar to another tool box as they work they keep up. tools in one convenient easy to access place. Was just like that. But instead of a Emma and a wrench, you get user friendly, applications dedicated to every aspect of your company and they're are always connected and communicating with each other helping your company stay up to date at all times, how to eliminates the need for multiple platforms, duplicate data entry mundane manual tasks and so much more. Keep off Your businesses tools in one handy place for a free trial, visit, odoo dot com that. o d, o o dot com, stop wasting time and start getting stuff done with odoo. This absurd and the shows the music were made by me with editing help from Craig III and Casey deal artwork by car, LOS Larva, music clearance. Kathleen Smith and production assistance from Chloe Parker Song.

motor is a proud member of Radio Tokyo from Pr X and network of independent listener, supported artist. Don't You can learn more about our shows at Radio Tokyo, DOT Fm. You can follow. On Twitter and Instagram at Rishi here way, and you can follow the show at song, exploder, to get a song exploder t shirt at song. Explode I that Flash shirt we're she case your way, thanks for listening Radio to. Thanks. So much too oh, who are sponsoring upcoming song exploder herself by south concert on March, sixteenth odoo is the most popular open source e on the planet. companies rely on odoo because their applications are fully integrated. What is full integrated mean, but imagine a mechanic there

wasting their time going from one toolbar. To another tool box as they work they keep up, tools in one convenient, easy to access place, was just like that, but instead of a hammer and a wrench. You get user friendly, applications dedicated to every aspect of your company and they're are always Connected and communicating with each other helping your company stay up to date. At all times. How to eliminates the need for multiple platforms, duplicate data entry, mundane manual tasks and so much more keep off your businesses tools in one handy place for a free trial, visit, odoo, dot com that o d, o o dot com stop wasting time and start getting stuff done with odoo.