Kelly Thans performing on stage / © K.T.
E.V. Hello Kelly, can you tell me about you please?
K.T. Hi Elise! I’m from the Netherlands actually! Specifically, from the South-West part. I grew up living in a small village. I already started singing when I was 14. At that point, it was mostly jamming with some classmates during recess, forgetting to eat because we had so much fun doing it. It became almost a daily activity. My music teacher heard us and brought me in contact with a singing teacher, and that’s kinda where it all started. Apart from singing I would also draw and write a lot.
Who where your favorite bands? Inspirations in music as well as literature maybe?
My first big inspirator was actually Amy Lee from Evanescence. They, and similar bands like for example Nightwish, were the bridge for me that got me to listen metal music. But I really looked up to Amy back then. Her style and the way she sang. I have been singing a lot of her songs during my teens and shaped my singing style into a similar way because of that. With the years my taste in music got only louder and I started listening to more kinds of metal than just melodic and symphonic. Right now, I listen to a very wide variety of music, from singer songwriters to sludge metal bands like Amenra.
What brought you to music?
I have always loved singing. I would sing along with movies as a little kid and do full performances in the living room for my parents, ha-ha. But the one who really saw talent in me for the first time was actually my music teacher at school. He connected me to the vocal teacher who taught me the basics and who really tried to push me to do something out of my skills. From that moment on, my parents became supporters as well. But finding “my place” in the music world was something I had been struggling with was an adolescent. During my teens I would mostly sing pop and pop rock because that was what the people I knew wanted to do mostly, and also what people wanted to hear around me. It was fun but it never felt completely right. I did write a lot of lyrics and poems back than but I was not capable of writing my own music. It took a good while to meet people that could actually write music with a similar music taste.
How would you describe your personal artistic world (color, symbols, make up, …)?
Oh, that is a hard one! I have been in a multitude of bands and projects and every one of them asked for a different take. So, I would wear a different style of clothes and different make-up. For one project, for instance, I wore for example a battle paint on my face and I had this warrior costume whereas for my last band I wore more feminine clothing- (but still dark and cool and such).
With my YouTube channel I change it up for every video. I will try to reference the original band or singer if possible, matching my clothing style slightly to theirs. This can go from “this person wears red in this videoclip so I will put on a red dress” to full costumes and dramatic make-up. We are creating a series of Disney covers for example which will be in complete costume (the first one will be out the 15th of January). But in general, my style is more dark, “gothic” as you wish to call it, and that is something you can still see in every outfit I have worn so far in both my bands and projects as my covers.
You have a great voice, quite deep! What do you like the most about singing?
Since I started singing when I was 14, I have had a good number of lessons over the year from a few different teachers. Till my 18th I mostly learned the basics from a blues singer. She taught me how to breath properly and to clearly speak out my words. Later on, I took more lessons on performing and how to bring over emotions while singing.
Nowadays, I am more focusing on twang and growl, which I feel I am slowly getting better at! I like to be diverse, and to try out a lot. Every style of music, and also every role you play, might ask for a different feel and a different technic. I like to learn and experiment, it keeps things interesting. For example, when I sing in Giotopia, I will play an evil witch, and for me she needs to have this high twang as a voice because it fits her personality. While with my last band I would sing more open and slide my notes a lot more. I do like this diversity, and I also like to challenge myself.
How do you produce your songs? And with whom?
In my bands we had different producers, people that were connected to the project or where in the band themselves. But with my cover channel I work with Gio Smet. Gio creates custom backing tracks for me and will mix and master my vocals once I deliver them to him. He is also the founder of Giotopia, so I work with him for that project as well!
So far you’ve been working on covers, if I am not mistaken. Will you compose and sing your own texts some day?
That indeed is the plan yes. We had just finished an album with my band when I decided to leave. So, I actually have been writing a lot the last year. But these songs I will probably never sing for we left everything behind. At the moment it is mostly figuring out if, how and when I want to “start over” in some way. There are plans together with Gio to write original material, and one song is pretty much finished now in vocals.
I have written some more but I am not sure yet if it is what I would like to release. It’s a very early stage, and we have no real fixed direction yet. So, the answer is yes, but I simply can’t say when exactly.
I love the “Rose Tattoo” cover! How did it go? How did you choose it?
It is funny that this one specifically got picked up so well, for I did not expect that. Overall, the pattern is I will do 1 complex cover, and 1 simple. “Rose tattoo” seemed to fall int eh second category to me, that is a simple video for a small song that I personally feel very connected to because it has pretty strong lyrics and a nice meaning.
I actually teared up once while filming when I was singing the “you’ll always be here with me, even if you’re gone” lines because suddenly the meaning of that line hit me. It is a pretty emotional song when you listen to what they are actually singing. The original song has a lot of “crowd singing”, like you are in a crowded bar and everybody is screaming along. I changed this a little to more melodic harmonies, even though I also have a few rough singing lines in there to try to give it that natural feel.
The tattoos display in the video come from people in my network. I just asked on Facebook “could people please send me pictures of their tattoos” and within a few hours I had received around 85 pictures. I tried to puzzle them together in a way that they would make sense with the lyrics. Some people told me the stories of their tattoos as well, which I took in consideration while assembling them.
What’s next for Vocal Life of a Kelly in the months to come? What do you dream about?
In general, we plan a few months ahead. At the moment I am working on a lot of duets with friends that are singers themselves and people that contacted me online asking to collaborate. Apart from it being fun, I hope that way we can help each other grow.
Furthermore, I am working on this big project with my friend Chayenne de Theije that will probably go on for a while. Every few months we will do 2 villain/hero covers of Disney songs. Chayenne works as a party princess (which is someone who does child entertainment dressed up as a character from a movie). She has been doing that for around 5 years now, but she also has a musical background. So, we are trying to combine our strengths in this project and make something interesting out of it. My YouTube channel keeps me busy and to maybe it will get people to notice me a bit more. I love to create; not doing anything until the next opportunity passes by would make me very unhappy. So there are no very fixed goals or dreams really, I’ll just stay busy and see what life has in store.
Okay... reaching the goal of 1K subscribers at some point would be very cool at some point!
K.T. Hi Elise! I’m from the Netherlands actually! Specifically, from the South-West part. I grew up living in a small village. I already started singing when I was 14. At that point, it was mostly jamming with some classmates during recess, forgetting to eat because we had so much fun doing it. It became almost a daily activity. My music teacher heard us and brought me in contact with a singing teacher, and that’s kinda where it all started. Apart from singing I would also draw and write a lot.
Who where your favorite bands? Inspirations in music as well as literature maybe?
My first big inspirator was actually Amy Lee from Evanescence. They, and similar bands like for example Nightwish, were the bridge for me that got me to listen metal music. But I really looked up to Amy back then. Her style and the way she sang. I have been singing a lot of her songs during my teens and shaped my singing style into a similar way because of that. With the years my taste in music got only louder and I started listening to more kinds of metal than just melodic and symphonic. Right now, I listen to a very wide variety of music, from singer songwriters to sludge metal bands like Amenra.
What brought you to music?
I have always loved singing. I would sing along with movies as a little kid and do full performances in the living room for my parents, ha-ha. But the one who really saw talent in me for the first time was actually my music teacher at school. He connected me to the vocal teacher who taught me the basics and who really tried to push me to do something out of my skills. From that moment on, my parents became supporters as well. But finding “my place” in the music world was something I had been struggling with was an adolescent. During my teens I would mostly sing pop and pop rock because that was what the people I knew wanted to do mostly, and also what people wanted to hear around me. It was fun but it never felt completely right. I did write a lot of lyrics and poems back than but I was not capable of writing my own music. It took a good while to meet people that could actually write music with a similar music taste.
How would you describe your personal artistic world (color, symbols, make up, …)?
Oh, that is a hard one! I have been in a multitude of bands and projects and every one of them asked for a different take. So, I would wear a different style of clothes and different make-up. For one project, for instance, I wore for example a battle paint on my face and I had this warrior costume whereas for my last band I wore more feminine clothing- (but still dark and cool and such).
With my YouTube channel I change it up for every video. I will try to reference the original band or singer if possible, matching my clothing style slightly to theirs. This can go from “this person wears red in this videoclip so I will put on a red dress” to full costumes and dramatic make-up. We are creating a series of Disney covers for example which will be in complete costume (the first one will be out the 15th of January). But in general, my style is more dark, “gothic” as you wish to call it, and that is something you can still see in every outfit I have worn so far in both my bands and projects as my covers.
You have a great voice, quite deep! What do you like the most about singing?
Since I started singing when I was 14, I have had a good number of lessons over the year from a few different teachers. Till my 18th I mostly learned the basics from a blues singer. She taught me how to breath properly and to clearly speak out my words. Later on, I took more lessons on performing and how to bring over emotions while singing.
Nowadays, I am more focusing on twang and growl, which I feel I am slowly getting better at! I like to be diverse, and to try out a lot. Every style of music, and also every role you play, might ask for a different feel and a different technic. I like to learn and experiment, it keeps things interesting. For example, when I sing in Giotopia, I will play an evil witch, and for me she needs to have this high twang as a voice because it fits her personality. While with my last band I would sing more open and slide my notes a lot more. I do like this diversity, and I also like to challenge myself.
How do you produce your songs? And with whom?
In my bands we had different producers, people that were connected to the project or where in the band themselves. But with my cover channel I work with Gio Smet. Gio creates custom backing tracks for me and will mix and master my vocals once I deliver them to him. He is also the founder of Giotopia, so I work with him for that project as well!
So far you’ve been working on covers, if I am not mistaken. Will you compose and sing your own texts some day?
That indeed is the plan yes. We had just finished an album with my band when I decided to leave. So, I actually have been writing a lot the last year. But these songs I will probably never sing for we left everything behind. At the moment it is mostly figuring out if, how and when I want to “start over” in some way. There are plans together with Gio to write original material, and one song is pretty much finished now in vocals.
I have written some more but I am not sure yet if it is what I would like to release. It’s a very early stage, and we have no real fixed direction yet. So, the answer is yes, but I simply can’t say when exactly.
I love the “Rose Tattoo” cover! How did it go? How did you choose it?
It is funny that this one specifically got picked up so well, for I did not expect that. Overall, the pattern is I will do 1 complex cover, and 1 simple. “Rose tattoo” seemed to fall int eh second category to me, that is a simple video for a small song that I personally feel very connected to because it has pretty strong lyrics and a nice meaning.
I actually teared up once while filming when I was singing the “you’ll always be here with me, even if you’re gone” lines because suddenly the meaning of that line hit me. It is a pretty emotional song when you listen to what they are actually singing. The original song has a lot of “crowd singing”, like you are in a crowded bar and everybody is screaming along. I changed this a little to more melodic harmonies, even though I also have a few rough singing lines in there to try to give it that natural feel.
The tattoos display in the video come from people in my network. I just asked on Facebook “could people please send me pictures of their tattoos” and within a few hours I had received around 85 pictures. I tried to puzzle them together in a way that they would make sense with the lyrics. Some people told me the stories of their tattoos as well, which I took in consideration while assembling them.
What’s next for Vocal Life of a Kelly in the months to come? What do you dream about?
In general, we plan a few months ahead. At the moment I am working on a lot of duets with friends that are singers themselves and people that contacted me online asking to collaborate. Apart from it being fun, I hope that way we can help each other grow.
Furthermore, I am working on this big project with my friend Chayenne de Theije that will probably go on for a while. Every few months we will do 2 villain/hero covers of Disney songs. Chayenne works as a party princess (which is someone who does child entertainment dressed up as a character from a movie). She has been doing that for around 5 years now, but she also has a musical background. So, we are trying to combine our strengths in this project and make something interesting out of it. My YouTube channel keeps me busy and to maybe it will get people to notice me a bit more. I love to create; not doing anything until the next opportunity passes by would make me very unhappy. So there are no very fixed goals or dreams really, I’ll just stay busy and see what life has in store.
Okay... reaching the goal of 1K subscribers at some point would be very cool at some point!