Kole Wrote ‘Bloody Mary’ to Say Goodbye to the Past

Kole is a cosmic, fabulous, and passionate spirit with new music coming out in 2017. Galore met her at the Palihotel on Melrose to discuss her latest single, “Bloody Mary,” and what to expect next. Peep exclusive pics and an interview with the bombshell.

What do you write about?

I’ve been writing since I can remember without realizing it.  I’ve always been a dancer, a singer, when I was little I was in plays, but it finally clicked that writing was that fueled my passion to the core. I didn’t realize how much I was really utilizing my experiences to create a song. I do write about my life. I write about my past relationships. I will be driving down the road and I’ll see something and be like I need to write about that! You end up finding yourself in full circle: if you take yourself too seriously, in my opinion, that’s then you’ve sort of failed. You gotta get to the point where you take yourself seriously enough, and then also let go. And I think that’s when you’ve stepped into your humanity, your dignity, and embraced who you actually are. And because I feel like I’ve stepped into that space, I know what that feels like and I know the difference.

Tell us about “Bloody Mary.”

I put up this song about a month ago. It has a lot of different meanings for different people. It feels like something that needed to be written; it needed to be said. This was a lyrical rebirth for me. It was kind of saying “goodbye” and being okay with saying goodbye to the girl who made mistakes, the girl who learned from the past, and stepping into the skin that I want to live in.

And the visuals on your website?

The visuals are a teaser, not quite a video. There’s some blood and there’s a knife. If you listen to the lyrics, it’s basically saying, “Hey, there’s so much more that what you see on the surface”. I tend to be somebody who, when you see me, I’ll be smiling and laughing, and that’s okay. But, if you peel back the layers, theres such a guard underneath, and the layers run deep. I’m proud of it. So the song is kind of the death of the former self, and the birth of a future self that I’m brave enough to put out there.

Are you a nostalgic person?

Yes. I’m nostalgic, but I don’t regret my past. So I’m nostalgic for the lessons.

Yeah, for the experiences.

You have to have these experiences that lead you to the next phase. I think when you really feel pain, not that everyone needs to, it propels you to access your life.

How would you say your look reflects who you are?

I’ve always been inspired by vintage, the 60s. I always find myself wanting to write a song as if Quentin Tarantino was filming something. One day I want to feel full of glitter and sexy, another day I want to wear a suit and heels. It’s always gonna be a mix of old and new, that juxtaposition.

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So what are you working on right now?

I write every day. I can’t help it. I’ve just been very engrossed in music from the moment I could remember. I’ve learned to color my music with dance, with movement, and I’ve put it all together into a finished piece. When I’m writing, I think about how I want to record it, how I want to execute it in my voice.

Are you going to put out some more music soon?

Oh yeah, I have so many songs. I’ll be putting out songs if you’re ready for them or not. I have a story to tell, and “Bloody Mary” for me was the beginning of saying, “This is who I was, this is who I am now — get ready.”

What kind of topics are you gonna cover in your new stuff?

The past year has been really… it’s so embarrassing, but it’s like the soundtrack to my documentary. Don’t you feel like we’re all the star of our own documentary? We all have our soundtrack and our own inner monologue happening, and I’m thankful I’m a writer because the past fifteen songs I’ve written were about a specific topic. As I listen to them back, I’m like, wow, these were stages of grief. I can see in my songs the hurt in my voice. The topics covered are definitely relationship-based, but every time I write a song about a relationship, I always eventually feel that song relates to life in general, or a relationship with myself. I have a song for example called “Wasted Love” that was initially about a guy and I was like wait a minute, that song was about wasting love on a certain type of human. It starts with a guy and always comes back to me.

When do we expect to see a new drop from you?

I have a lot of music actually coming out with a lot of DJs.  There’s gonna be a lot of songs you want to dance naked to in your room, and a lot of songs you want to cry to.

Where can we find your music? 

Soundcloud for now. I will be releasing “Bloody Mary” officially sometime late January or February.

Who are your inspirations?

Quentin Tarantino, Wes Craven, makeup artists — I’m obsessed with makeup artists. Priscilla Ono, the first makeup artist I worked with. And fashion-wise, I can really just say the old, vintage, reconstructed pieces. I like taking something that’s old and making it new.

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Photography by Maddie Cordoba

Styling by Laura Crayton

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