Today we’d like to introduce you to B.K. Habermehl.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’ve been a creative being from the jump; there are baby videos of me banging on pianos that were too tall for me and wailing my infant heart out. Professionally, I began with acting, and I had my first gig at eight years old. I performed with a stage troupe called the Young Shakespeare Players, which was known for producing uncut Shakespearean productions acted by children between the ages of 8 and 18. I did a number of stage productions, but when I was about 12 I started writing my own music on an old keyboard I found in the garage.
I coated the thing with Harry Potter stickers and started teaching myself how to make chords and melodies! The more I wrote on piano the more my heart led me towards music, which led to my involvement in a wide variety of choirs, plays, and musicals, culminating in my admission to New York University. At NYU, I created my own major studying music and Africana studies, and named it “The Self Sufficient Recording Artist and the African Diaspora.”
During this time I found myself more as an artist, and began calling myself The Pastel Princess! After graduation, I moved back to my home base of L.A. and began taking classes with Faline England at Diana Castle’s Imagined Life Acting Studio, as well as working with Grammy-nominated talents such as Akon and music legends like Dame Dash. I began pursuing my music and artistry full time, performing live with a full band, and recording myself independently. I just dropped my first single and music video “Owe Me That” a few months ago, which is available everywhere!
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?
I think anyone trying to turn a creative pursuit into a career is definitely no stranger to obstacles, but those are honestly the only way to learn and progress. It can be hard to find trustworthy collaborators and can feel lonely and disappointing when exciting opportunities fall through, but it’s all led me to become a stronger and more independent person. It’s always so hard to see when you’re in the middle of the cloud what the point of the storm is, but once it passes and you get to enjoy the bloom afterward, it all feels purposeful!
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I am the pastel princess! I am also a singer, songwriter, pianist, producer, dancer, and actress. I call my music soul-pop: an amalgamation of influences from Erykah Badu to Astrud Gilberto to Kylie Minogue to Fleetwood Mac, and of my own personal style. My approach to songwriting is to nestle my lyrics into their perfect places amongst the instrumentation; I like to feel the chords I write on a piano or produce create puzzle piece shaped holes that I can just naturally fill with my melodies.
What sets me apart is my unique tone, look, and presence! I am most proud of my debut music video “Owe Me That” because it is a complete manifestation of my own personal vision. Every detail was curated by me, with the goal of allowing everyone that sees it to get to dip into my Pastel Princess world, and seeing all of my hard work come to fruition and knowing that I did it all independently makes me extremely proud!
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
The biggest variable in the success formula is perseverance. I think that feeling like a failure and getting to the brink of giving up is almost required, I can’t think of any artist who hasn’t felt that struggle at some point. The stardom comes in how you push through it. And I been pushing like Salt N Pepa!
Contact Info:
- Website: bkhabermehl.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/bkhabermehl
- Facebook: facebook.com/bkhabermehl
- Twitter: twitter.com/bkhabermehl
- Other: ffm.to/OweMeThat
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