Pi3rce Like Kylie Interview

Debut EP Influencers

Pop artist, PI3RCE, brings 'cute but psycho' to a new level with her extreme pink aesthetic and futuristic sound. While her music and style may seem frivolous on the outside, there is a deeper meaning behind her brand. PI3RCE's electro-pop music aims to highlight the effect of social media on the world today – for better or worse. Although her aesthetic is bright and bubbly, her over-the-top pink style is her own ironic take on accentuated materialism and femininity. Currently located in Nashville, PI3RCE is gearing up to release her debut EP "Influencers" (2020) – with each single exploring the social commentary surrounding social media. The EP is preceded by her recently released single "Famous," and her forthcoming single "Like Kylie" releasing on October 3rd, 2019. "Famous" is reflective of the pretentious attitudes often associated with influencer culture curated by social numbers, while "Like Kylie" (a nod to Kylie Jenner) is an ode to those who are successful and keep a positive spirit in the face of adversity.

PI3RCE's love of music and the performing arts began at the young age of 2-years old when she enrolled in ballet classes. Born in Hollywood, CA and raised in Lake Wales, FL, PI3RCE took her passion for dance on the road traveling throughout the U.S. to train at multiple international dance companies. In 2015, during a school dance competition, PI3RCE was tragically involved in a life-altering incident on-stage in which she was accidentally kicked in the eye and suffered a brain injury. She spent the next couple of years in-and-out of the hospital examined by one neurologist after the next. The uncertainty of a cure for her brain injury – which caused her constant migraines and vision loss – resulted in side effects of extreme anxiety, depression and panic attacks.

At age 16, PI3RCE launched her own charity selling repurposed vintage clothing and sending 100% of the proceeds to brain cancer patients to cover their medical expenses. Through working on a project to help others, she was able to cope with her own pain. With creativity and a love of music still pumping through her veins, PI3RCE launched her own fashion blog and eventually began writing music as a form of therapy to cope with her brain injury trauma. She hopes to use her ever-growing platform to help raise awareness and funds for Traumatic Brain Injury research, and ultimately find better methods of treating and rehabilitating patients so that they too can live normal, if not exceptional, lives.

PI3RCE still enjoys spending her free time in dance classes, and actively tries to live a healthy lifestyle. She loves to stay in shape with Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai and bodybuilding (weight training). Since battling her brain injury, she has adapted a very clean diet that is sugar-free, dairy-free and gluten-free. As for her fashion influences today, PI3RCE pulls her girly-goth style inspiration from the pink and poised realm of Barbie, the bright colors of Japanese Kawaii 'cuteness culture,' and the eye-catching experimental shapes of avant-garde high fashion. As a style guru, she has collaborated with several fashion and beauty brands such as: Winky Lux cruelty-free cosmetics, Moxie Lash, Shein, Marmalade Nails, Kitsch, Victoria Emerson, Timex, Diff Eyewear, Daniel Wellington, Zaful, etc. She one day hopes to launch her own fashion line of sustainable clothing.

Interview with Pi3rce

Question: What inspired the tracks Famous and Like Kylie?

Pi3rce: My songs Famous and Like Kylie are very girly and vibey pop songs that seem superficial on the surface but have much deeper meanings below. I wrote Famous after being brushed off by many people in the music industry who, though I had more or just as much experience and prestige as they did, thought they were too 'famous' to work with me. I co-wrote it with a great songwriter in Nashville, Lizzie Cates, who had the same experience dealing with people who thought too highly of themselves to work with her even though she is an award winning songwriter. This theme isn't just about the music industry though, and I really wanted it to speak to teens dealing with mean peers in high school. My favorite line is, "I bet you'd sell your soul for a boat and Versace. Did no one tell you kindness is free?" I really hope people see that this line is the main point of the whole song, and that it doesn't matter how much money or how many followers you have. All that matters is how you treat those around you.

My new song Like Kylie comes out in late October and I'm so excited for everyone to hear this track! It's another very upbeat pop song that makes you want to drive along the California Coast in a pink convertible. What most people don't know is that it came out of a time when I fell into a deep depression and was questioning my very existence and purpose in life. This feeling is characterized by the first four lines of the song: "had my first car totaled last week, my bank account is down to three; I've had a serious case of the Mondays for a decade, and none of my followers wanna stay." Basically, I was feeling broke with no car, and as if I had no future or career. Pretty bleak. But in order to keep moving forward, I started looking at the people who had risen to the top of society for inspiration " and in our society, those are Instagram influencers. One of those people is Kylie Jenner, who is the queen of Instagram and rules over her own empire. I told myself that if I kept going and kept on working hard that one day I too could be on top of it all, just "like Kylie."


Question: What do you love about Kylie Jenner?

Pi3rce: I really like how she's a young mom on top of being a business mogul and fashion icon. Family is very important to me and I feel like it's not that common to see young women embracing their careers and family life as well. I'm also so impressed at how she and her family turned a silly viral lip challenge into a billion dollar industry! That takes innovation for sure.


Question: What motivates you most when writing music?

Pi3rce: I think a lot of my earlier music came from divine inspiration. I used to just hear things in my head and write them down quickly before I forgot. Now after years of honing my craft, I often meditate on large abstract concepts, trying to dig to the center of humanity and find the innate universal truths inside of us all.

Question: How has writing music had a therapeutic response on your brain injury trauma?

Pi3rce: My brain injury was such a difficult time for me, and I don't think I would have gotten out of it without music. Since I couldn't go out in the world or be in school or with friends or doing my usual extracurricular, I was confined to my room with nothing but a guitar and my words to work through the pain and loneliness I was going through. I did end up with some amazing songs with daunting and dark lyrics and topics that have pretty much set the tone for who I am as a writer. I think being somewhere so dark and isolated made me able to see into a part of myself and human consciousness I never would have had I not gone through that experience.


Question: Can you tell us about your EP Influencer?

Pi3rce: My new EP "Influencers" is a commentary about how social media is affecting me and the world around me. Influencers discusses both the positives and negatives of 'influencer culture.' I used to be a professional fashion blogger and worked in the world of social marketing for years, so I have seen how social media functions up-close and personal. It really is a complicated issue and I don't think I can take a hard stance on how I feel about social media. There are a lot of wonderful aspects to it that have changed the world for the better. Now you don't have to deal with any gatekeepers and can launch your own empire right from your bedroom. You can also raise money and awareness for amazing causes that help people all over the world. You can also join likeminded groups that help you with what you're going through to bring you out of isolation and loneliness.

But, social media can also make you feel small and insignificant, like your life is meaningless compared to other people's seemingly beautiful perfect lives. I think that aspect of it is really damaging to young people, especially young women. As an artist, I wanted to do my best to capture this moment in time with my art.


Question: Which music/artists are you currently listening to?

Pi3rce: I'm obsessed with Kim Petras and really relate to her over-the-top material girl vibe and music. I'm also inspired by Marina (and the Diamonds) for her iconic take on materialism and femininity, rejecting social norms by exposing them in exaggerated theater. I also love the angsty rocker pop mood of Charlie XCX, and have been listening to a ton of Ava Max and Melanie Martinez lately.


Question: What or who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Pi3rce: I grew up listening to Avril Lavigne, from which I still draw a lot of my punk-girl inspiration. But it was when I started listening to Lorde in high school that I knew I wanted to be a writer. The way she captured the teen experience in such poetic and plain English just hit home for me. I felt like even with all my loneliness, someone out there understood exactly what I was going through. That's what I'd like to do as an artist too – reach into the abyss and pull out the essence of the human experience that we're all going through.

Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Pi3rce: Honestly, I'd love to do a rap collaboration with Doja Cat. She is hilarious, so talented and I think we could make the most ridiculous viral meme song. I think Kim Petras and I could rock one out too. But I'd die to do anything with Lorde, I think I'd be too speechless to sing.


Question: Can you tell us about the charity you started?

Pi3rce: When I was dealing with my brain trauma, I experienced agonising pain on the daily. It was really hard to live like that and I started thinking, "if I'm going through such hell with my injury, what must it be like for people with much more severe cases than mine?" Through my pain, I found the purpose to help others and decided to start my own online charity selling repurposed vintage clothing and donating all the proceeds to cancer patients who needed help with their medical bills. In a year, I had helped three young women pay for chemotherapy and it's still the accomplishment that I'm most proud of today.


Question: What's a typical day like?

Pi3rce: I've been working nonstop; all I do is work, eat and sleep. But now that I'm taking time to focus on music, I am going into the studio to record, going on meetings to strategise our next moves with my release, and doing photo shoots regularly. I write new music almost every day and am always training in the gym. I'm a huge fitness freak and have been bodybuilding for the last year. I love working with weights but I'm starting to get into MMA too by incorporating Jiu Jitsu and MuaThai into my routine as well.


Question: Can you share your socials?

Pi3rce: @pi3rcemusic
@pi3rcemusic
Facebook.com/pi3rcemusicwww.pi3rcemusic.com


Interview by Brooke Hunter