Article: Shae Fontaine
Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan make up the super-group Karmin. You can say it was a match made in heaven – or Berklee College of Music to be exact. The Duo had been making music together before their rendition of Chris Brown’s hit “Look at me Now” hit YouTube, garnering over 53 million hits and solidifying Karmin in the internet hall of fame as one of the all-time favorite indie artists of the digital era. The acoustic pop duo from Massachusetts started recording covers of fun pop songs; and in an off-the-cuff strategic move decided to post a few on the popular video sharing site. “We started posting original music on YouTube before the covers became a reality and nobody was really searching for a little duo out of Boston with a wooden box and a piano.” But, quicker than the speed of Amy’s flow on the infamous Busta Rhymes verse, the video exposed Karmin to a worldwide fan-base that both Amy and Nick didn’t expect – at least not this fast. They were prepared though “We happened to have like 37 other videos up at the same time, which I think helped us out.
A lot of viral YouTube stars just have the one video and we had this whole archive of things and original music.” This, of course, made is easy to fall in love with their whimsical style and undeniable chemistry. If you watched one video, you’d be compelled to watch a few more. It was evident this group had talent and would be a big hit in a short time. “There were so many factors and Look at Me Now was the one that gave us the worldwide global introduction. Yes, it’s something we didn’t expect it to go this crazy this fast, but we’re so happy it did”. To help ensure their rocket-like rise to success, label Exec L.A. Reid was quick to ink a deal with the singing couple. After meeting with several labels, they found the best fit at Epic Records. They performed an acoustic set for Reid and he loved it. “Our label, Epic, has been so supportive. L.A. Reid signed us for what we were, which was a quirky, honest duo that’s musically trained.”
It’s no secret that Heidemann’s ability to rap was key to the instant Karmin obsession. It’s not every day you hear a white girl raised in a conservative Christian household spit 16 bars so flawlessly. You’d might be surprised to know that she wasn’t allowed to listen to rap music growing up, but that didn’t stop the songstress from her growing interest in hip-hop. “I grew up loving rap music… The parental advisory sticker really kind of limited my abilities to listen to it, but I always wanted to be a part of that world”. However, it was never her intention to try her hand at rapping, but at the request of her band mate and Manger, Nils Gums, she put her own popswag on covers from Lil’Wayne, Eminem and Nicki Minaj, which did garner some criticism that was soon overshadowed by an overflow of support and interest in this offbeat couple with a retro look and contemporary coolness. The transition from cover tunes to original music was a very natural process for the duo.
Prior to the record deal they had written an impressive catalogue of original material, but finding a unique sound amid the growing expectations from the endless amount of YouTube fans was no easy feat. They had only been recording together for two years, but they had developed a distinct idea of who they were as performers. Yet, the response from their online audience sent them moving in a direction they had not considered before. With over half of their newly founded followers hungry to hear more rap on their upcoming album, Karmin faced a challenge. “We were definitely very careful and we made sure to preserve as much of the Karmin sound that we could while making it [our album] compete with what’s out there in the mainstream world.” “We always knew that we had to come with original music that competed with the Lady Gaga’s and the Katie Perry’s of the radio mainstream world, so we were writing songs that would sound good in any genre.” By the time Karmin hit the studio to record their debut album “Hello”, they had settled on a sound that can only be described as a musical potpourri. The feel goes from sunny, upbeat pop-influenced melodies to fierce beats with a hip-hop drive. They call it “Pop Swag”, and that seems like the perfect way to describe it. “The whole album has that feel where everything just kind of shifts back on the beat with a lot of big heavy drums. Everything is very rhythmical and of course, there is a lot of rhyming”. In terms of Karmin’s live performance, they like to keep the crowd entertained. They are animated and energetic, like caricatures of themselves when the band starts playing. “It’s going to be a lot of live instruments…we have a guitar player, a bass player, and a drummer and they’re all killing. It’s a lot of energy, it’s a lot like the Maroon5 type vein as far as our live performance goes, but still very hip hop based.”
Although Karmin is riding high off their new found success, as always there are some harsh critics that don’t think the group has enough ammo to make it past their 15 minutesof fame. Some have dubbed them as a gimmicky, tongue-in-cheek cover band riding the waves of an unoriginal pop formula; one that’s no more than a combination – or worse – an imitation of Katy Perry, Jessie J, Ke$ha and Nicki Minaj. Accused of abusing and replicating other artists (even in their original material) seems to have a select few music industry columnists in a tizzy. By now, Karmin has surely come to realize – you can’t please everybody. Some will protest the new music and long for the days where they cleverly reinterpreted the top 10 hits of present time, while others will gladly follow them on their musical journey. “I think one of the best lessons is to not listen to the critics or the haters. One of the hardest things to deal with when we started uploading YouTube videos was all the people saying nasty things about us. As soon as you get over that and stop listening to it, it’s like the entire world opens up to you. It’s really crazy.”
Regardless of what the future holds, the past 6 months have resulted in a few memorable moments that have made a huge impression on the group “When the video blew up, we had a two-hour sit down with Kanye West. That was pretty incredible. We performed at the I Heart Music Radio Festival. That was also pretty incredible. We met everybody – Coldplay, Nicki, Jay-Z, Steven Tyler, Kelly Clarkson – and, of course, there was the SNL performance.” It seems Karmin is on the right track. With an amazing team behind them, they have a bright future ahead of them. As Karmin enjoys the success of their first single “Brokenhearted”, which climbed to No.4 on the Billboard charts, they quickly follow-up with a second track, “I Told You So”, off their Debut album entitled “Hello”. The album boasts some hard-hitting melodies that have undeniable edge and a very calculated twist of pop and hip-hop. “… [on the album] we wanted to tell our story. We had gone through a lot and since we can’t bring our fans and supporters with us every step of the way, we tried to tell the story in the verses. In the choruses, we wanted to get some of our pride out because we felt, “You know what? We actually could be the next big thing and we want people to know that.” When asked about their title track “Hello” they say “We used to have a joke where we were like, “Hello, we’re your new favorite duo… it’s kind of a cocky thing to say, but we were like, “Hey, nice to meet you and we’re awesome”.
We couldn’t agree more.