Formed just three years ago, music duo, Karmin, has had nothing but success. With its debut album “Pulses” released earlier this spring, Karmin’s music has already been a major success in the world of pop culture. Bringing the band lots of early recognition, its hit songs “Hello” and “Brokenhearted” were both named Number 1 on the US Hot Dance Club Song in 2012. Stopping in Orlando, Florida on August 21, Nick Noonan and Amy Heidemann sat down with The Bite before the show to talk about their career and unique sound.
You have been very successful, and could you tell us about anything that really stood out to you during your success? Why?
AH: I think that it’s easy when you’re in this industry to kinda get lost in all of it and forget that you kinda have to count your blessings everyday cause you get so serious about it. There’s been some amazing things. I mean the first one was when we broke off of Youtube because of our fan base. They were the ones that kinda catapulted us and then we of course signed a record deal. And then the first TV show that we had was “Ellen”. So, I remember that was a big moment for us. We were like, “I think we have something, you know.” Then it was Saturday Night Live after that.
NN: Those were, you know, big kinda milestone things that you hope for. That you reach for.
AH: And it’s crazy because every time you get one you want more.
Do you have any goals for the future?
AH: We recently became independent artists, and our big goal I think for this year is to get the new music recorded. We’ve been in the studio actually just this past week. This is the first time we are even talking about it so.. it’s kinda weird but it’s really, really exciting because it reminds us of when we started.
How have your fans received your newest album. Is it better or worse than what you thought?
NN: Well, they are always so over the top about everything we do anyways so we kinda get a little delusional after a while.
AH: They’re the best.
NN: But no, I mean they really, really loved it, and it was made for the live show in mind..it was received really, really well so it was a good sign. We were excited about it.
AH: The music was made with this in mind, actually being in front of people and what I’ve liked most about it was that I see people discovering it everyday. It wasn’t one of those “ahh number one on the chart albums” but everyday there [are] new people finding it.
How does your songwriting process go? Where do you find your inspiration?
NN: It changes all the time because there’s a lot of bands like the Beatles and the [Rolling] Stones, and a lot of the classics that are always kinda there, and then there’s a lot of new stuff. There’s kinda a lot of new modern things we are looking at and then some old stuff too.
AH: And lyric inspiration comes from anything. We will be writing about something we’re feeling…or we could write about you guys tomorrow if we want to.
So if you could go back and tell yourself something now that you’ve learned. What would it be and why?
NN: Failure is not as bad as you think it is.
AH: Yeah, I think don’t be afraid of failure. We didn’t do this the way we wanted but it all happens for a reason. You don’t see the silver lining until way later.
Did you both start out with music or was there a different path?
NN: Yes and no. I mean we were doing different things. I was playing trombone a lot and starting to get some recognition for that, and I was gonna be a chiropractor actually until my junior year of high school.
AH: Because his dad is.
NN: So then I actually found out I was good at trombone, not just for my high school but for like everywhere. I decided to kinda give it a shot and then met Amy at Berkeley.
AH: I knew by I think 6th grade. I started a girl group with some of my friends and preformed, and I was nervous and everything. Then afterward all the compliments that I got I was almost addicted to it like, “Wow, your voice moved me.” I didn’t know what that meant at the time, but I’ve always been obsessed with pop culture. I’m a very creative person too. I like making things so I’m kind of trying to figure out what that means too because nowadays you don’t just have to be a musician.
What city are you looking forward to most on your tour?
AH: What city? Well we’ve already been to most of our favorites. We love Orlando obviously. We were here a few months ago. Yeah, the House of Blues, which was great. There were like four thousand people there. It was a crowded room that was fun…Boston is where we came from with our Youtube days and stuff so we love Boston. We are doing the State Fair next weekend, which is like a big Bucket List thing for me.
Life on the road can be tough and demanding. What is it like being on the road all the time?
AH: It’s not tough when you have someone like that [publicist]. She makes everything flawless…It used to be hard though. I remember when we started and doing radio promo and stuff because you do just ride around in a van all across the country. Twice sometimes.
NN: It’s a lot of energy.
AH: A lot of meet and greets. Which is awesome..We love meeting fans and stuff, but after a while you’re like, “I think my face is frozen. We are really fortunate because we get to stay in cool cities, and we have cool hotels. We sightsee, and we like to go to museums.
