Kayla Steen’s joyful noise
Kayla Steen shines bright tonight for LadyFest Atlanta.
Photo credit: Photo by Billy Mitchell
Kayla Steen exudes happiness. It filled the room the first time I saw her at Moodring at the Mammal Gallery, and it fills the room as we begin her interview at MINT. She’s self-described as “bubbly and nice,” and our chatter is non-stop laughing and smiling. In the middle of a tangent about being bad at roller skating, we hear the gallery manager give out two quick sneezes. Kayla immediately says two “bless yous”, compliments the cuteness of the sneezes, and gleefully admits that she has practiced transforming her own sneezes from gross ones to kind of cute ones. This is a happy person who will put in the work. Below are a few things that fill this new singer with joy.
Ladyfest Atlanta – Tonight (Thurs., March 3) Kayla plays a Ladyfest fundraiser at 529. “I love it ‘cause it’s been booked by people in Atlanta who want shit to happen for us.”
One of the ideas behind Ladyfest “is to celebrate and encourage community.”
She’s excited by the possibility of connecting to a new audience through positivity. “I want people to dance and feel the funk. You shake your butt because I said positive things.”
Connecting with old community has been an added bonus of playing this event. “I grew up here and it’s reconnecting me to people from fifth grade! Like Sarah Lawrence! WTF!”
Atlanta – “I’m from here, really from here. I feel like a unicorn. Like nobody is ever really from here. I grew up on Moreland!”
529 has a special place in her heart, it’s where she first met Andre 3000. “I mean, you don’t get it, you’re not from here! OutKast is the soundtrack to my childhood. My dad bought Stankonia and he took me to their concert. We waited in the rain and he let me sit on his shoulders and watch them play.”
I’m a little jealous, my parents took me out to the suburbs to see Peter, Paul and Mary.
The Atlanta Music Scene — Kayla is open to playing anywhere and seems to be invited to play everywhere. From living rooms to the Department Store to 529 to Mammal. Her goal is to “be humble enough to go anywhere. No matter the stage, I want to shut it down like Madison Square Garden.”
Since October 2015, she’s been putting out enormous positivity and people have been responding. At first it didn’t come easy, but big influence and hometown hero, Brittany Bosco, encouraged her “to just keep going for it.”
Bosco - Speaking of Bosco, she’s the first name that came to Kayla’s mind when asked who I should be listening to. “Bosco, she brings this electric vibe. She’s just doing it and helps us all out.”
She’s clearly a big influence — an artist that reaches out to other artists, pushes her limits artistically and brings energy to the stage.
Kayla Steen plays 529 tonight (Thurs., March 3) with Rlly Srry, Dux, and Yancey. Donations taken at the door. 529. 529 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-228-6769. www.529atl.com.