Today we’d like to introduce you to Kylie Rothfield.
Kylie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My family tells me that I started singing before I could even really talk. I’ve always had a huge passion for music; it seems to connect human beings in a magical way and I think it’s one of the most powerful things on the planet. I started writing music and playing guitar around age 12, mostly self-taught, and making little demos in my room using Garageband. A local producer discovered a couple of songs I had posted on Myspace and I ended up recording my first EP around age 14 in San Francisco. Working in an actual studio, recording my own music was such a life-changing experience that I knew I had to pursue it full-time, so I applied to Berklee College of Music and was accepted in 2010.
Berklee was really special. I had friends/classmates/collaborators from all over the world who were so much better than me, which pushed me to practice obsessively and constantly try to improve. My second year, I won the Berklee Songwriting Competition, The Berklee Singer/Songwriter Showcase and was awarded the Jack Maher Songwriting Scholarship. I loved being at Berklee so much but unfortunately because of financial reasons, I had to leave after my second year. On the advice of some professors and after an inspiring school trip, I decided to move to Nashville to continue to grow as a songwriter.
Almost every single person I met in Nashville was also pursuing music in some way. I used to either play or go out and see shows 4-5 nights a week, which was such a great learning experience. In my four years there, I had a couple of different managers, went on a few tours, recorded some EPs and singles, worked about a dozen different service industry side jobs…eventually met Kyle Andrews who made his living writing music for television and film sync placements. He, along with his publishing company, Terrorbird Media, signed a sync/admin/publishing deal with me and together we had placements on E! Network, ABC, MTV and NBC as well as a few radio ads. I also signed a sponsorship deal with Epiphone Guitars in 2015. In the spring of 2016, I got a call from a talent scout who worked for The Voice and after a few phone interviews and sending music back and forth, I was invited to come out to LA for the Blind Auditions for Season 11.
I had already been wanting to move to LA because I missed California a lot and my music was starting to move more in a pop direction, so it really felt like fate. I ended up auditioning and having Alicia Keys pick me for her team. The show was an incredible experience and I was fortunate enough to make it to the Top 20. After that, I made the official move to LA!
Since then, I’ve been playing lots of shows and releasing singles that I’ve written and/coproduced, as well as playing guitar or bass and writing/producing for other artists (most recently and notably, Alisan Porter). My last three independently released singles, “Newport”, “Monster” and “Not Gonna Wait” have almost 300K combined streams on Spotify and I’m currently working on a completely self-produced and self-written EP.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
In so many ways, I’ve been incredibly fortunate, but it certainly hasn’t been a smooth road. For every small success I’ve achieved, there have been a few hundred rejections. TV shows like American Idol, AGT or even earlier seasons of The Voice that scouted me out to come audition but then let me go after 6-7 rounds of auditions…probably thousands of cold-call emails to different blogs and playlists gone almost completely ignored before finally getting a response for a premiere or feature…lots and lots of “no’s” before those wonderful, significant “yes” moments.
I’d say one of the most notable struggles was the Vocal Hemmorhage I suffered from in 2014. I was in Nashville at the time, finally feeling like my career was headed to the next level. I was talking to a label and two big publishing companies, about to release my newest single that had a few great features from blogs and had just sold out a show at The Stone Fox, one of my favorite local venues. But I was overworking myself completely. Working two jobs that required a lot of voice use, playing and recording a bunch and singing through periods of sickness/laryngitis rather than properly taking care of my voice and letting it rest. While on stage at that sold out Stone Fox show, during a big vocal moment in the 4th song, my voice just completely went out. I was trying to sing and what was coming out was unrecognizable. Couldn’t control the pitch or tone or volume of my voice…meanwhile people were yelling for an encore when I tried to end the set early, and I was just frozen up there, unaware of what the heck had just happened and unable to explain to my band or the audience why I was cutting the set so short. It was one of the most terrifying moments of my entire life. I couldn’t get an appointment with an ENT till a couple of weeks later, but she told me she believed I had suffered from a small hemorrhage. I went on vocal rest for almost an entire month and it took me six months to feel comfortable performing again. Part of me is grateful that happened though because it has led to me taking way better care of my voice since.
The most recent and probably most significant struggle for my music was a super toxic, life-changing relationship I got into when I first moved to LA towards the end of 2016. I fell in love with this guy who was my best friend out here and also my duo partner. We were inseparable…constantly playing music, taking secret trips, talking about how crazy our connection was and how our dreams and goals for the future aligned perfectly. I essentially stopped working on my artist project and put all my energy into our duo project instead, which I now realize was a huge mistake. The relationship was horribly unhealthy and manipulative and co-dependent. I was being told a thousand different versions of the “truth” and constantly pushed and pulled back and forth. I found out he wasn’t at all who I thought he was but I kept trying and ignoring how manipulated and disrespected I felt because I thought that’s what “real love” was. It took me two years to climb out of the depression that relationship caused and to get my career back on track after the major setbacks that happened, but I would’ve never been able to write the most recent songs that have been so successful if I hadn’t gone through what I went through.
I’m now experiencing gratitude for the heartbreak and the mistakes I made because they’ve led me to more personal and musical growth than I had ever experienced before. SO many people, especially women, have approached me about these new songs telling me how much they relate to what I went through and that’s been really incredibly touching.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
My biggest goal has always been to write music that connects with people so that they feel understood and not alone. I think everyone wants to turn on the radio and hear something that’s not only catchy and musically awesome, but also lyrically significant and relatable.
Currently, I perform as an artist, produce music, write for other artists and occasionally film/tv, and play guitar and/or bass in a couple of bands. I love it all so much and would be happy to continue to make my living this way forever!
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I used to believe the most important quality was a passion and love for music, but after being in this industry for almost ten years, I now believe the absolute most important quality is persistence. Being able to keep going after countless rejections and setbacks, having no clue if you’ll ever actually reach that level of greatness you’ve been dreaming of. Not giving up even when it seems like an impossible goal. Keeping that tunnel vision, believing in yourself even when it feels like no one else believes in you. The love of music makes our lives worth living and career worth pursuing, but I think having persistence is the only thing that will keep us going through the hardest times.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kylierothfield.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/kylierothfield
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/kylierothfield
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/kylierothfield
Image Credit:
Chris Greenwell, Stefan Fior, NBC
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