McKayla Prew is a singer, songwriter, and musical performer reigning from Michigan. At a young age, she learned how to play six different instruments and the art of songwriting, all while undergoing extensive vocal training.
Being a frequent winner in music competitions and a featured singer in the Hall of Fame Disney 'Dream, Big Princess' music video, the success that McKayla Prew rakes in is no fluke. Writing from personal experiences, the vulnerability showed through her original creations has her garnering attention on an international level.
In the earnest piano forward ballad of her latest single “Fake Friends,” McKayla Prew taps into an authentic tale of melancholy as she paints a narrative of not fitting in and the struggle to find genuine friends. Teaming up with producer and engineer extraordinaire Chuck Alkazian, the soundscape in this piece prominently relies on impactful percussion, and touching piano progressions that embody the subjects addressed in the mid-tempo “Fake Friends.”
McKayla Prew’s empowering timbres rochet through themes of better days around the corner as the vocal delivery exuded seamlessly matches the words being conveyed. Emphasizing the saddened times where being excluded by people she considered friends took a great toll on her confidence, reiterating this message shows her listeners that they aren’t alone in their journey. There is much to say about the amplified vocal runs emitted as they brilliantly cascade with the build of intensity during the peak moment of this song.
All tying back to the mesmerizing rise of a crescendo that McKayla Prew reaches in her moments of glory, we’re remarkably taken back by the way this composition flows in its entirety. Be prepared to immerse yourselves in the luxurious sound waves of “Fake Friends,” as McKayla Prew continues to establish her name as an emerging artist.
Welcome to BuzzMusic McKayla, and congratulations on the release of “Fake Friends,” McKayla Prew. The message you offer you is extremely powerful. What inspired you to turn this experience into a song?
Thank you! I am so excited to release my first song of many soon to come. I turned this experience of facing hardships with friendships into a self-empowering song. I use songwriting as an outlet to convey my emotions. FAKE FRIENDS is about my junior year of high school when I introduced a girl who was having a hard time with her close friends to a group of my friends. I felt bad that she was being left out of her friend group and invited her to be apart of mine. Slowly and slowly, the tables began to turn. She purposely began to leave me out of the hangouts that they were having in order for her to grow closer to them without me. In the end, I was left with really no one but myself. Seriously… FAKE FRIENDS basically wrote itself. I woke up in the middle of the night at around 2 a.m. knowing I had to write down these lyrics that were stuck in my head. Half asleep, I grabbed my phone from the side of my bed and wrote the entire song in the notes app. The next day when I was actually conscious, I was able to put guitar chords to the lyrics and that was it. I wrote this song in hopes that it will be a comfort for people out there who may be going, or have gone through, similar experiences to mine and know they are not alone.
Being written in your junior year of high school, do you find that this is something that still affects you today? What is your advice to people going through the same situation?
Oh, I 100% still go through similar experiences with friendships that I did during the time I wrote FAKE FRIENDS. I feel like everyone throughout their lives no matter what age you are still face difficulties in friend relationships. Oftentimes I have to remind myself that people change and that sometimes their purpose in your life is transient. Throughout my life, I have found myself striving to be liked by everyone. Ultimately, I have realized that it is impossible to please every single person you come across. You can’t spell friEND without END. The advice I give in Fake Friends is in the end, all you really have is you. The only thing that matters in this life is that you find peace in who YOU are and that YOU like YOU! It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Be your own BFF. With high school coming to an end I feel it only fitting to release this one first at this time of the year. Like an exhale for those who had a hard go of high school with friendships.
What was it like working with Chuck Alkazian at Pearl Studios in order to bring this piece to life?
It was a life-changing experience bringing my songs to life at Pearl Studios with “Uncle” Chuck, he took us in and treated us like family. It is truly a special feeling seeing my words create lyrics from my emotions that I wrote just with a pen, paper, and guitar in my bedroom turn into something so incredible. We worked and laughed together putting layers of instruments and dimension with harmonies together to create some amazing songs. Chuck has worked with so many people in different genres of music that each of my songs has a totally different feel and sound, from pop to rock, to county and America. I can’t wait till you can hear them all. Love and thanks to my true friends Chuck Alkazian and Zach Radcliff for making this dream a reality while teaching me so much in the process.
What can listeners expect from the visual component that you’ll be releasing alongside “Fake Friends?"
With the release of my first single FAKE FRIENDS, there will also be a lyric video that I created, produced, and recorded myself. I spent hours learning how to edit videos to put together the proper visual that I wanted to portray. I like when I hear new songs to be able to sing-a-long with the words. The video setting is actually my high school’s opposing-side bleachers in the stadium. I thought that would be fitting and a great setting to film my video since FAKE FRIENDS is about difficulties faced in high school. The video is directed as if the viewer is turning pages in my diary in which they are able to read about all my emotions that I faced during this experience ….stay to the END to see my lifelong BBF Snowball.