In Conversation with Kendall Nicole

Conducted by Rachel S

"Breaking the mold of the typical singer/songwriter, 19-year-old Kendall Nicole is a lyrical & vocal powerhouse known for her intimate penmanship & sensitivity to the female experience. Originally from Los Angeles and having lived across the map in her teen years, she's learned the science of storytelling firsthand, resonating with the hearts of a dedicated and diverse audience. Her warm & polished vocals and emotionally rich lyrics have the power to both bring the walls down & make the whole room go quiet. Kendall made her start in the entertainment industry through child acting, inevitably leading her down a path towards discovering her own musical prowess. She began college in Nashville at Belmont University at the age of 16 and has garnered a loyal following on Instagram and attentive eyes on her songwriting. In Spring 2025, she won Belmont University's Spring Songwriters' showcase hosted by BMI, placing her on a bill in an arena with an audience of 2K+. She released her debut single "Davy Jones Locker" in June 2025, and she just followed it up in October 2025 with her new fan-favorite track "Front Lines", only scratching the surface of her talents as she gears up for a full-length project release in the new year."

How do you think musical theater impacts or affects your music?

I would say yes, in the storytelling aspect that I was talking about, because a lot of my songs have stories. One specifically is written from the perspective of another person telling a story. Lyrics are my favorite thing, so I would say in that aspect, yes. Also in the vocal aspect, I took a lot of what I learned from my background in musical theater and applied it. I think at one point it was that kind of thing where I had to dial back the BFA belt a little bit, and also the constant vibrato and the constant over pronunciation. When I was 16, that was definitely more of an issue. But I'm 20 now, and I'll be 21 at the end of this year, and I feel like I have really honed in on finding a vocal sound that incorporates that background but doesn't overpower it.

What are you listening to right now, and do you think that's affecting the music you're creating?

Oh, yes. We were just listening to it right before I got on this call. My friend Mori released her debut album in October. It's called It Can't Be You. It's so unbelievably good. She and I had coffee before I moved out of New York, and we talked about songwriting and kind of what her process is like, what her melodic process is like, and guitar tunings and all that kind of stuff. I feel like I learned a lot just from talking to her, and ever since, I've had her album on loop, just studying it, because it's so genius, so smart. I would say every time I pick up a guitar and write a song now, I feel that influence. Definitely also the second part of it. Ever since July of last year, when Jake Minch put out his album George, we both have been on that kick. He's been on that kick with production, and I feel like that has, especially as a duo working on songs in the studio together, been a huge influence and, for me, a huge songwriting influence as well.

In conversation with both Kendall Nicole and Aiden Klein (Music Production)
What is both your creative process like?

Nicole: When we're working together in the studio, I don't think we've ever started a song from scratch when it isn't already written.

Klein: It's more of we take the song at hand, and we like to listen to the lyrics and think of what instruments are viable for that. Often when we start a song, we start by listening. I have her play the song, and I'm like, what if the main focus of this song is a specific instrument in a specific tonality? We have a couple, like "By Proxy," which is an instrument that we literally duct-taped dried Swiffer pads onto the bottom of and turned into a makeshift rubber bridge. We just sat there that night and recorded it, and it sounded ingenious. It had a very distinct tone, and now it's completely identifiable to the song. I think the process has really just been about obtaining a specific sound to do the song justice.

Nicole: I completely agree with that from a production standpoint. From a songwriting standpoint, a lot of times it kind of happens differently every time, which is a cliché answer. A lot of times I'll be driving or walking around or doing something completely mundane, and a line will come to mind. It takes me a couple tries to really expand on that idea sometimes. A song that I recently wrote, which was my first uptempo song I've ever written, came about because my friend Aubrey Bug told me, "You need to write uptempos, because you only write sad stuff." I took that and was like, it's time to do something. I got this random line in my head: "I was jealous of Eddie once." Who's Eddie? No clue. I don't know who that is. I've met one person in my life named Eddie back in first grade. Something I know about myself is I've struggled with a lot of different jealousy issues my entire life. So randomly I just thought, "I was jealous of Eddie once." I thought of the people that I've experienced jealousy with, jealousy about, jealousy over. I mulled that over for the next three days. Then I took a stab at expanding on it. I expanded maybe a verse and a chorus, but I couldn't get any further. I waited until the next day. Then the next day I completely redid that verse and chorus. Then I waited until the next day. Then the next day I got the rest of the song in its full form. Then the next day I was able to edit it to the point that it is now. Sometimes it happens like that. Other times it spills out of me in 20 minutes, and what comes out in those 20 minutes is the full finished song. It always stays like that. That usually happens when I'm feeling a really intense emotion that's very personal. If I'm going through something really personal at that moment and it comes out in 20 minutes, that's the form I want it to take. I don't want to touch it after that.

What song of yours are you most proud of from a songwriting point of view?

I have a song called "Lucky Me" that I wrote when I was 17. It was about my hometown ex from his perspective, like when I mentioned a song from somebody else's perspective. The way I introduce it to people is, "This is a song about a high school breakup in which the girl goes off to college and the guy stays in his hometown, and he watches her chase her dreams. It's how he perceives her thereafter." It's kind of like an "Angelina" by Lizzy McAlpine moment, where she wrote it about herself from her ex's perspective. I am so, so proud of that song from a songwriting standpoint. Something that really kickstarted my career into what it is now, and even us working together, was at the beginning of 2025 when I submitted it to a songwriting showcase competition hosted by BMI through my university. I submitted it last minute and was like, this is probably not going to get in. It ended up getting me in with the highest score. I won the competition with that song. I had no idea that it was actually good until that happened. I would say that one, and it will be coming out.

If you could give one piece of advice to somebody wanting to start in the music industry, what would that be?

That's a really defining part of the question, because you could ask me what piece of advice I'd give to somebody wanting to try musicianship or songwriting or whatever. But in the music industry, meet people. And it doesn't have to be face-to-face. If you don't live in a place yet where you can really meet people who are making strides in the music industry, I would say if it's really your dream, go somewhere where you can find community there. In the meantime, a lot of my friends who have ended up moving to Nashville, New York, L.A., whatever, lived in places previously where music wasn't as big, so they took to social media. They took to meeting people through social media, having Zoom meetings, Zoom co-writes, commenting, being annoying in people's comment sections. Definitely form genuine relationships with people that you admire as musicians and just be there for each other. I think connection between people in the music industry is really important.

What would be your dream artist to collaborate with or maybe open for in the future?

I really love Jensen McRae. I think she would be a wonderful person to co-write with. I admire her songwriting, her production, her creativity, and just the sound of her music. I would love the chance to play with her or open for her at some point.

What are some other small artists that everybody you think should listen to? Any recommendations?

Definitely Mori, and also Aubrey Bug. I love both of them as people. They are wonderful people. Also, Eli Patterson is another one of our friends who is absolutely killing it right now, recently got signed, and is putting out some of the most incredible, from-the-heart music. I really, really appreciate his artistry. In addition, Marie Dresselhuis is another one of my friends that I met when I was in New York. I think she lives in Vancouver, but she was playing a show with one of my friends. Her music is absolutely out of this world. I have no words. Mia Vrablich is incredible. She's another one of our friends, and he's (Klein) producing for her right now. They're working on a song called "Punch Back," which is absolutely going to be so good. She's got a couple songs out, and her songwriting is out of this world.