Kael Alden has just release his debut album Saturated Highs, and it deserves an awful lot of credit. What the American songwriter/producer was able to create was a story told from start to finish, which started back in Colorado as a kid listening to music on a Gameboy. We caught up with him to find out more about what makes him the artist he is today.
If you were to describe your music to a stranger, what would you say? Usually when talking about my music with total strangers I have to over-simplify it. I might say something like "it's RnB, but with more synthesizers." However, if a stranger shows they have a little more musical vocabulary I'd go deeper and explain how I love to blend elements of soul, synthwave, trip hop, RnB, lofi, pop, and all things vibey.
What is the message, if any, that you would like to get across with your sound? If there's any message regarding my overall sound it would simply be, "if it feels good, it is good." I know it probably works against me to straddle so many musical genres, and by refusing to "pick a lane" it might be harder to fit into Spotify algorithms, etc... But ultimately I don't care, I just wanna make music that feels good.
If your music was a colour, what would it be and why? Deep dark blue... Probably because I tend to be most productive at night and into the early hours of the morning.
What artist has influenced your songwriting the most? I'd say James Blake. He taught me the ways of blending soul with other genres.
Where would be your dream place to play a gig? I grew up in Denver, CO right near Red Rocks Amphitheater. I always used to bring my guitar up there and sit on the stage, just day dreaming about playing there someday. That's a bucket-list item for sure.
If you could write a song with anyone, alive or not, who would it be? I currently live just down the street from Post Malone. It probably sounds dumb, but I sometimes fantasize about bumping into him at the grocery store or something and casually hitting him up to hang in the studio and just see what happens.
What can we expect from you creatively in the next year? I'm already well on my way to my next album. I'm cooking up some collabs with rappers and other soul artists that I think are really going to take this to the next level. And I'm also hoping to start performing live more. I've been tinkering on the side, making some custom stage lighting effects. I'm a bit of a nerd at heart, so of course I had to learn how to design circuits and code my own DIY lights. It's been a ton of work, and admittedly a distraction from the music, but I plan to use it all with my live show once I'm ready to take it all on stage.
Where can we find you? Most days you'll find me right here in my studio in Salt Lake City. And if I'm out, I'm probably camping with the wife and kids, or skiing, or chillin at a lake in the mountains. Of course, that's only when I'm not waiting at the grocery store to stalk Post Malone ;