(July 1, 2008) -
Guess what? As you may have known, we interviewed singer/songwriter Kerli back in November and we just got to chat with her over the phone again! Since we last talked to her, her album and song, "Walking On Air," has received some great buzz! She's such a nice person and really talented musician. She's emerged from Estonia and is pursuing her dreams of making music that will inspire people around the world!

You can check out our past interview with her under the audio stream of our newest interview with her!

(November 15, 2007) - PCM's Kristyn spoke to Kerli in an email interview, a successful pop singer from a small town all the way in Estonia.

Kristyn: Can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself? Where do you pull your inspirations from?

Kerli: I get my inspiration from everywhere. My own life is very inspiring, so is other peoples. I get inspired by the weirdest things.. like some cab driver humming some random melody or someone saying something cool. Everything that moves me, inspires me. I hear music everywhere.

Kristyn: What kind of message can listeners expect from "Love is Dead"? Is there significance behind the title?

Kerli: Well, Love is Dead is an angry song. I was extremely hurt and lonely when I wrote it.
At the beginning, it was meant to be about a relationship, but later on, I started seeing it as a song about the world. There is much anger and pain in this world nowadays. We are very lost and confused. I hope it's gonna change. Love isn't really dead, it just isn't ruling the world right now.

Kristyn: I read that you are from Estonia, how different is music/culture in Estonia, compared with that to the U.S.?

Kerli: Oh, everything is absolutely different in Estonia. I grew up in the city of 5000. It's kinda inside a forest and there's little houses between the trees pretty much. People earn like 500 dollars a month and life is way more simple. I sometimes miss that nature and that safe feeling. However, I never felt like I belonged. I always wanted something more that going to school, getting a job, getting pregnant at 17 and living in your parents apartment until you die.

Kristyn: Who are some of your main influences musically?

Kerli: I can't really say I have any big influences. But I am very receptive, so everything I hear and like, certainly influences me. Most of the time I just trust that sacred place where music comes from and just do what feels right. I never even listened to music until like 5 years ago. My parents never listened to anything while I grew up. I had like one cassette - Bonnie Tyler. And I knew all the songs by heart! I did study lots of classical music since I was 8 years old though. And I've always had amazing people to make music with in my life. From an awesome singing teacher in the kindergarten to my grandfather, who is a composer.

Kristyn: What comes first in the writing process? For example, the hook, lyrics, or melody?

Kerli: It's such a different process every time. I don't have any formula for this. Different things come to me at different times.

Kristyn: You music seems to be categorized as Goth in a lot of places? How do you feel about this categorization? How do you feel about music categories in general?

Kerli: Oh, I would never identify myself. It makes me feel very restricted. I hate feeling restricted. Music is art. It doesn't need explanation. U have to feel it. Like u feel a great painting. I guess people are just not able to receive without over thinking and labeling everything. Call me whatever u want, I don't care.

Kristyn: How do you feel about MySpace as a way to communicate with fans? Do you maintain your own MySpace page?

Kerli: Yes, I maintain my own page and I think it's an amazing place to communicate with fans. Fans are the most important part of what I do. I really appreciate someone taking the time and sending me a letter. I try to read them all and answer, but it's been a bit difficult lately.

Kristyn: Can you tell our readers what you enjoy to do in your spare time when you are not making music?

Kerli: I haven't really had any spare time for a while, but I usually like to just be alone and burn candles and do nothing.

Kristyn: Do you have an U.S touring planned for next year in support of your new album?

Kerli: I don't have anything planned yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna tour next year.

Kristyn: I was checking out the blog section of you MySpace page, and I see your friends are making a movie about "the peace pilgrim" How do you feel about her and the overall cause?

Kerli: Peace Pilgrim was a saint, a messenger, the servant of god. I have much respect to her and to what she did. And I believe this story deserves to be told and people need to hear it.

Kristyn: How do you feel about music downloading/ leaking of unreleased material via the Internet?

Kerli: I get surprised when people are not even aware that free downloads is stealing. You don't go and steal a painting from a painter. Why do u go online and steal music and treat it as if it wasn't someone's hard work and source of income? So there is this reasonable part of me that sees it for what it is and wants to be able to pay her rent. And then there is of course the hippie part that wants to give away all the music for free and doesn't give a tish about anything else than people being able to listen.

Kristyn: Which other artists are you listening to these days?

Kerli: I don't really listen to much music. I prefer silence when I'm not writing.
I have some favorites right now thou. I've been listening to lots of cocteau twins. And Thom Yorke's solo record is really good too. There is so much great music in the world. People play me stuff that I like all the time. But I'm really bad with names so I forget about it quickly.

Kristyn: "Creepy" seems to be a vibe in your music, and mentioned quite a bit in the lyrics to "Walking on Air" and of course "Creepshow"? What is the meaning behind these songs? Do you have a favorite track off "Love is Dead"?

Kerli: Walking on Air is pretty much my story. It's about following your dreams and just going with the flow. All these cats and hats and rocking chairs are from my own life too. I always used to wear hats when I was younger. They were all like ten years old and looked really worn but It kinda became my thing. And I once rescued a homeless cat. I even got some kind of a disease from it. hahaha. Creepshow is about not belonging. Where I come from, being different is not really accepted, we don't even have any other nationalities besides Russians. Everyone is like living in a box. I always felt like I needed more of an open minded environment.
So suddenly I was living in a more creative place but I couldn't really decide if I liked it. And it felt like even more of a creepshow than this little town environment that I wanted to get out of.

Kristyn: Just for fun, please tell our site readers an interesting fact about you that they may not already know?

Kerli: I was the biggest fan of the spice girls when I was younger. Me and my friends had our own spice girls. I was Geri:) I even had a little dress with English flag and massive platform shoes. We coloured our hair with markers and performed shows in my town.

Kristyn: Please feel free to add any additional comment or message you would like to share with our readers!

Kerli: I just wanna tell everyone to follow their dreams and never give up.
It sounds cheesy but it's true. Simple truths are actually the most complicated ones to follow.

Be sure to check out Kerli on MySpace to hear tracks off her up coming CD "Love is Dead"

Audio Streams:
"Walking on Air"
"Love is Dead"