Exclusive Interview: Kitt Wakeley
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We had a chance to talk to outstanding artist Kitt Wakeley who recently collaborated with Joe Satriani and released a hit single ‘Conflicted.’
With a composing style characterized by crossover atmospheres, his signature sound lies at the intersection of orchestra, pop, rock, edm, piano, ethereal, for a sonic experience that could be described as Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana taken into the modern world.
We talked with Kitt Wakeley about his upcoming album, touring, and defining his unique sound!
Congratulations on releasing your single ‘Conflicted’! It’s an outstanding composition.. You manage to feature so many different moods and influences. Can you tell us a little bit more about how you put this song together? What story did you want to share?
The whole album is about the strife between a positive and negative tone, which applies to every aspect of life. The title of the album is indicative of this concept, Symphony of Sinners and Saints. Even the title of the song, “Conflicted” follows this theme. Each arrangement takes the listener through various calls and responses between the instruments, a journey through moods of inspiration and strife, and other emotional senses. With that in mind, “Conflicted” starts with a motivational vibe, but underneath there are haunting guitar harmonics. However, as the song progresses the inspirational tone builds, only to be taken to a short-term brooding period. Ultimately, the soaring guitars, string arpeggiations, and the triumphant brass prevail as the victor.
How did the workflow with Joe Satriani go? Was it your first time collaborating?
Yes, this was our first time collaborating and it went remarkably well. He instantly got the concept and applied his brilliant creativity. Of course, his obscene talent on the guitar was incredible but just as impressive was his way of taking the lead, while still letting the various parts of the orchestra come shining through.
We read on your Instagram that you are preparing yourself to drop an album, Symphony of Sinners and Saints, sometime this year. Can you tell us a little bit more about this release? Can we expect any more guests on it?
The album will be released on May 21st, 2021. This will coincide with a red carpet event and performance at the Oklahoma City Civic Center. The producers of the show are spending $125K on the stage production, so it will have a mega-wow factor. An important footnote to this is that attendance will be limited, due to social distancing. To increase audience attendance, we will be streaming the performance.
Your sound is often described as ‘symphonic metal’ – do you agree with it? How would you describe it?
There are definitely elements of metal, but I think that might be a bit aggressive for a description. Rather, it is much more of “orchestral rock”. The dominant element is the orchestra, while the rock music adds the ear candy. This helps create the epic, larger than life sound. It’s much more aligned with Hans Zimmer and Bill Conti’s film scores. In fact, once the album is released, by default the music will fall into the categories such as Classical Crossover and Rock. Specifically, I’m referring to Grammy categories, Billboard Charts, iTunes Charts, and Spotify tracking.
In May you will be performing your latest project in Oklahoma, how exciting! Is it going to be your first concert since the coronavirus breakout? Are you preparing anything special for that occasion?
Yes, it will be. I’m anxious to get the performance mode started. We have Carnegie Hall scheduled for October 11th, 2021 and the team is starting the process to determine what other venues will be allowing performances.
As said earlier, the OKC event will have a wow-factor on many levels. It will have all of the elements of a major concert, with tons of lighting, effects, video, and other bits of production that will engage the audience. However, just like the concept of Sinners and Saints, the event may have a rock concert vibe, but it will be a red carpet event, similar to attending an orchestral performance.
www.kittwakeley.com
www.instagram.com/kitt_wakeley/
