In early 2019, Splice hosted its first ever gathering of creators, featuring one-on-one sessions, Q&As, and panel discussions.
For one of our panel discussions we spoke to Karra, a vocalist and producer who, since releasing two of the most popular vocal packs on Splice, has signed a publishing deal with Ultra Music, collaborated with the likes of Steve Aoki, and heard her vocals sampled by David Guetta, Jai Wolf, and even a Kellogg’s commercial. In this discussion, she talks about balancing mental health and creativity, mentoring other female producers, and how working with Splice has changed her career.
Here are a few invaluable insights we learned at her panel.
How men can become better allies for women in music:
“It’s really important how you communicate with females. Make sure you’re, one, not creepy. When I wanna go do a session with somebody, I don’t wanna feel like it’s a questionable thing here. I wanna know that I’m there for business and that’s business only, and if I get any ounce of creepiness or inappropriateness, I check out completely. But a lot of females like, when I first started I’ve gone through all of that. I’ve been sexually assaulted, I’ve gone through all of that with people I worked with. So for me it’s really important to make especially young girls feel comfortable. You never wanna touch them, you never wanna say anything that could be suggestive in that way. You wanna empower them, you wanna give them opportunity, you wanna make them feel like they’re an equal collaborator. And just by saying simple things like ‘love that idea,’ or ‘let’s try and work it,’ even if you don’t like it, say ‘let’s try and rework it in this way,’ or ‘do you wanna try tracking the singer?’ Just having them being involved more and encouraging them to be involved if they seem like they’re shy about it.
If you ever see any guy say something weird or do anything towards a woman, step in because a lot of females don’t feel like they can. We’re sometimes too scared to say anything because we’re worrying about our careers. So, it’s much better and it’s a much more empowering situation, if you do see something happen, step in right away.”
Being authentic online:
“People want substance when you’re online. I just think a lot of the content out there nowadays is just complete garbage. And so, I wanted to offer something that was genuine and real and helpful to people because a lot of people wanna put off this front all the time that ‘everything’s great, everything’s going well, I have a lot of money.’ Like, it’s not that at all. When you’re working in music, there are so many ups and downs and sideways – you don’t know what you’re gonna get that day. You don’t know when your next check is coming. That’s real stuff.”
Her biggest advice to new artists – deal with rejection:
“You have to be prepared for rejection and build a thick skin. That’s the biggest thing, especially – it’s hard for anybody but I feel like especially for females, it’s hard to be rejected. You have to look at rejection as being part of the creative process. You can’t look at it as a roadblock. You have to work with it, and you have to use it to your advantage. Figure out how to deal with rejection and learn how to love yourself, because when you love yourself, that’s when you’re able to put that true, genuine energy into your own art, and that’s when it’s gonna resonate with people because they feel like it’s coming from a good place.”
Learn more about ways to get involved with the Splice Creator Initiative here.
March 2, 2019
