Today we interviewed Kimmii Heart – the amazing frontwoman of Reality Suite!
Shannon Wilk – When did you discover your singing talent, or was it a developed skill?
Kimmii Heart – “I discovered it when I was four years old and I just wouldn’t shut up. My favorite movie was The Titanic and I was obsessed with the song My Heart Will Go On. I would go around the house singing it and my parents would be super annoyed, but then they realized, there’s something there. I started going to singing teachers and I always loved it.”
Shannon – Who are your musical inspirations?
Kimmii – “I have a lot. I love 90’s grunge and that whole era, I get a lot of inspiration there. I grew up listening to Flyleaf and The Pretty Reckless and Halestorm and Metallica and all these bands. I also love Sia. There’s so many.”
Shannon – Have you studied music in school?
Kimmii – “I studied a little bit of music, mostly in high school. I took chorus but I mostly studied it outside of school. Teachers would come to our house and I took piano lessons, vocal lessons, and guitar lessons.”
Shannon – How did you grow your following?
Kimmii – “Really social media has been a huge help. It’s an amazing platform for any artist to grow. It really gave us a voice. Now we’re just trying to keep getting gigs and get out there even more.”
Shannon – How did you end up in Reality Suite?
Kimmii – “I was looking for a band and for some reason I found it really difficult to find a gig. So I went on Craigslist and searched, band looking for singer, and I came to their audition. So I went there and they actually had a couple other people audition and they decided I would be a good fit. It just happened, and here I am.”
Shannon – What song do you enjoy playing most live?
Kimmii – “I love Grave. That song is really special.”
Shannon – Who does most of the lyric writing in Reality Suite?
Kimmii – “I do a lot of the lyrics and melodies, and Brian (King) also does a lot of the lyrics and melodies. Mostly it’s just a collaboration.”
Shannon – What was the inspiration behind ‘Playing With Fire’?
Kimmii – “It was inspired by a relationship I stayed in too long and I realized I was better off leaving the fire burning behind me, than trying to put it out.”
Shannon – What’s your current favorite band?
Kimmii – “That’s a good question. Probably In This Moment. They’re amazing.”
Shannon – What was it like to open for Vixen?
Kimmii – “It was amazing, there was so much energy at the show. Vixen was so nice, it was amazing to get meet them, the experience was really cool. Backstage was really cool, they like served us food everywhere. They treated us like celebrities, it was amazing. After the show, they gave us really good feedback and I met a lot of cool people. It was just a really good night.”
Shannon – Aside from singing, you play guitar. If you could, would you want to play guitar on a Reality Suite record?
Kimmii – “I would love to play guitar on a record. It’s really not my strong suit, but I’m working on it. I’ve been practicing a lot. That’s definitely one of my goals, to play one of our songs. That’d be really cool. But I don’t see myself soloing any time soon.”
Shannon – What can we expect from the next Reality Suite album?
Kimmii – “I’m so excited. I’m actually getting ready to go to the studio right now. We just got our mixes from the engineer and they’re almost in their final stages and we’re just putting our finishing touches and little nuances here and there. Then it will be ready to be mastered and we’ll be ready to hand it in to the record label. I’m so excited. You can expect, a high-energy album. We put a lot of work into it, so I hope people like it.”
Shannon – Where do you see Reality Suite in 5 years from now?
Kimmii – “Touring. That’s my hope really. Keep doing it, I never wanna stop.”