Something pretty incredible happened when I removed “fear” from my creative process. I was finally comfortable channeling the one thing I know for sure makes me distinct from the endless sea of artists out there.
The thing that I’ve tried my whole life to distance myself from… my story. I have a hard time speaking openly about it, but if you listen to the songs, you’ll get a pretty clear idea of what that story entails.
For a long time I thought I was the odd-man out; that my past separated me from the rest of the world. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned the opposite to be true. Oppressive people want you to believe you’re alone so secrets remain kept, and they can continue to oppress you, and others.
But over the years I have met so many people who share my story, who long for the same things, are fighting to heal the same wounds, and see the world just as I do. I wrote these songs to honor our stories, and to offer hope for anyone still in the thick of theirs; that God can transform any tragedy into something beautiful!
When I started this project, I wrote every day for three months. Every time I sat down at the piano to write, I made the decision to be honest.
There isn’t a song on “How We Really Feel” that didn’t leave me emotionally exhausted. Every song started with a concept, and then I would find piano parts I felt sounded like the emotion in the lyrics. It was a rough going at first… because I had only just started playing piano. I had lots of experience writing, but always with someone else on guitar, driving the musical standpoint. I knew though… if I really wanted my story and identity to come through my music, I’d have to muscle up and learn to write and play piano on my own.
Passion and lots of practice made the process second nature to me pretty quickly. Once the writing part wrapped, it was go time.
It requires a lot of talented people’s hands to make a great record. Having a front row seat hearing my piano vocal work tapes transform into full tracks was humbling, and left me in awe of how talented studio musicians are! My husband Eric Torres produced the EP.
He knew exactly which musicians to call that would give us the feel we wanted, he knew which recording studio’s acoustics would serve us best, and everything in-between.
Having a producer you can really trust to drive your vision home makes all the difference in the world!
My dream has always been to make a living making music. I am a wife and a mother, and that dream now comes in third behind the people I love.
But I believe it is possible to keep them as my top priority and have the desires of my heart fulfilled! The music industry has changed dramatically, and getting your music heard is easier than ever.
I’m grateful to be in a position to share my songs and my story, and I’m excited to see what the future holds!
Links
WEBSITE: www.kellytorresmusic.com
INSTAGRAM:instagram.com/kellytorresmusic
