Singer/songwriter/pianist/guitarist (the list is never-ending) Kaitlin Puccio is here today to showcase her lush and poised instrumental sound. Kaitlin Puccio combines contemporary, cinematic, and classic themes and melodies. Kaitlin Puccio crafts her music with such a specific vision in mind. The product always extends itself beyond expectations, and with the pivotal experience Kaitlin Puccio has garnered over the years with her music career, we're hardly surprised.
Graceful piano melodies are what take the spotlight in Kaitlin Puccio's latest track release, "La Cloche En Verre." Part of a three-track EP, "La Cloche En Verre," focuses on simplistic piano orchestrations, honing in on a persistent tempo that adds a mystical tone to the single. There's a more intense performance that occurs midway through the track, and eventually, "La Cloche En Verre" becomes a song of twists and turns.
Listeners may feel the essence of the song and its theme all too prominently near the ending, where Kaitlin Puccio decides to transcend the soundscape into a sharper orchestration. Eventually, "La Cloche En Verre" becomes vehemently impassioned, and Kaitlin Puccio only further proves her versatility as a pianist. All in all, "La Cloche En Verre" surfaced many stimulating sensations amongst listeners, deeming Kaitlin Puccio a skilled instrumental artist.
What was the intrinsic drive behind the creation of "La Cloche En Verre" and what kind of vision propelled the crafting of the single?
“La Cloche En Verre” (“The Bell Jar” in French) is the first track in a three-track single called À Côté Du Paradis (“Next to Paradise”), which I released right after I released my first album, ABYSS. The other two tracks that comprise À Côté Du Paradis are “Fantasmagoria” (Italian: “Phantasmagoria”) and Trois Démons (French: “Three Demons”). Together these tracks make up a trio of piano-focused pieces influenced by classical and cinematic music—likely a result of my background as a filmmaker. À Côté Du Paradis as a whole is a journey into melancholy, offset by the brightness of the piano. “La Cloche En Verre” is the first step in a descent into the coldest corners of our minds. Despite the dark undertones, the music is quite calm, and this juxtaposition may be a bit curious and disconcerting—like melancholy itself.
Compared to other instrumental tracks you've released; how do you feel "La Cloche En Verre" contrasts and/or complements to other subsequent compositions?
“La Cloche En Verre”—and À Côté Du Paradis in general—is more heavily influenced by classical piano pieces than the tracks from ABYSS. While I incorporated piano into ABYSS as well, I also more freely used other instruments and sounds to give the album a more epic, cinematic feel. “La Cloche En Verre” is a bit more serene—a bit blue—while ABYSS is more reddened with intensity. Both have their own stories to tell, and both have a darker, mysterious feel, but after the month-long sprint that was my life while composing and producing ABYSS, I wanted to explore more stripped-down piano while maintaining the understated heaviness that I am able to create with electronic music.
As someone who dabbles in various forms of the arts, would you say that instrumental orchestrations have your heart as a music artist?
I am fortunate that my childhood dabbling has turned into working professionally in several artistic fields, despite the ease with which artists are sometimes labeled as one “type” of the artist or another—e.g., primarily a “singer” or primarily an “actress.” Artists can be malleable, and our creative pursuits don’t need to be disjunctive; I shift comfortably between my roles as actress, model, and musician because I am able to find and use the appropriate medium for whatever story I want to tell at any particular moment. Instrumental compositions are what came to me at this time because the music on its own is a universal language. I think 2020 has left us all—globally—a bit speechless, and I didn’t feel the need to layer lyrics onto these particular compositions. I do, however, also write different types of music, and am currently recording vocals for a new single that will be coming out soon.
Are you hoping to refine your style with time or do you feel that you've found the right kind of approach with your ultimate sound?
I hope that my style will evolve as I evolve and grow as a person. If it doesn’t, I’m probably doing something wrong. As a general principle, as long as I keep writing songs that I actually want to listen to myself, I’ll be satisfied with my sound.
What has been keeping you inspired in 2020?
Nothing inspires quite like a necessity. Working in isolation for the past several months has allowed (or forced) me to become skilled at things I might not normally consider attempting completely on my own—like producing my own music.