It was in elementary school where Kina Grannis found her love for music. She composed and submitted piano compositions to district art competitions and shortly began playing the violin and by age 15, she taught herself the guitar.

After graduating high school she kept the momentum going and started playing shows and by also joining the Songwriters Club at University of Southern California (USC) where she attended. Through the Songwriters Club she got her chance to play her first show at Ground Zero and at Café 84. During her freshman year she continued performing at various open mics and shows.

Two years into her studies at USC staff members of the University’s Thornton School of Music asked her to produce an album in their music and music industry departments – ‘Sincerely, Me.’

By 2006, Kina had recorded and self-released two more albums, ‘One More in the Attic’ and ‘In Memory of the Singing Bridge’. In early 2007 she recorded a song (‘Ours to Keep’) that was written by Rachael Lawrence and Deborah Ellen and was featured regularly on General Hospital.

Later that same year she created her Youtube account in which she began to post various videos of her songs online. The first video she posted, “Message from Your Heart,” was entered into Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest. Throughout the course of the contest she found a power to being online and that people were supporting her for what she did.

As a result of winning, she earned a recording contract with Interscope Records and had her music video played during the commercials of Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008.

It was when she finally meet with Interscope that she noticed they didn’t meet eye to eye. This fact, along with finding a loyal online presence, lead her to decline the offer and return to being an independent artist.

Her album ‘Stairwells’ was released on February 23, 2010 and it included many of her original songs that had already appeared on her Youtube. She toured throughout the 2010, 2011 and 2012 to support the album, including her first shows worldwide in Europe, Asia, and Australia.

In November 2011 she released a stop-motion music video for the single ‘In Your Arms’ which used 288,000 Jelly Belly and was 2 years in the making.

Since then, her songs have been featured on various television shows such as ABC’s General Hospital, MTV’s College Life and the CW’s Gossip Girl.

Her new album ‘Elements’ will be released May 6, 2014 via Kina Grannis Records.

Photography by Melly Lee

Describe your path to becoming a musician. How did you know you wanted to be a musician?

I was drawn to music since before I can remember. I was constantly singing, playing piano, and eventually took up the violin. It wasn’t until high school that I started teaching myself guitar, and that’s when it really clicked. For the first time I was able to combine my love for singing as well as my love for playing instruments and composing, and that changed everything. I think from that point forward I knew it was something I needed in my life forever.

Was creativity a part of your childhood?

Yes, constantly. My mom is a graphic designer, so as kids she had my sisters and me doing crafts all the time. It was amazing.

How did the title for your new album Elements come about?

I was looking over the songs titles one day…The Fire, Dear River, Write It In The Sky, etc, and the word “elements” came to mind. The more I thought about it the more the word resonated with me. Nature and literal elements aside (which I’m already very tied to and inspired by), the idea of the basic elements of life really struck me. To me that’s what this album is all about. Family, love, loss, beginnings and endings, past and future.

What’s the writing process like? Do you write best over a long period of time, or is it something that happens more instantly?

My process goes something like–hold a guitar and hope the songs come to me. I’ve never been able to force a song or even really write with intent. It feels more like finding songs than writing them to me, and it only happens if I create the time and space for them to exist. Once it feels right they just start flowing, and they’re usually complete within an hour or two.

Did the lyrics go through much revision? Is that normal?

I don’t revise my lyrics very often. On occasion I will go back and try to make a point clearer or rewrite a section of lyrics that I feel doesn’t fit, but there’s something about the lyrics that first come to me when I’m writing that just feel right.

What are your feelings about finally releasing this album?

I am beyond excited to finally release Elements. A lot of life has happened to me between making the last album and the new one, and all of that really became part of the music. I let myself go places I was afraid to write about in the past and just tried to get really honest. It was a frightening thing but also really freeing. Musically I’ve also just grown and evolved a lot since the last release and I’m so excited to share the new sound with everyone. I really hope that people can connect to the songs and find some meaning in them.

What do you hope your fans take away from Elements?

Hope, strength, companionship.

How does it feel to know that all of your upcoming shows have sold out?

It feels pretty amazing to know that all the May shows have sold out! It’s been so long since I’ve been on the road and I’m so excited to see everyone and share my new music. So yeah, it just feels really great to know that I’m not the only one who’s excited 🙂

What is your favorite part about the album recording process?

There is a moment when recording a song where all the parts come together just so and I feel like we’ve found what it was meant to be–that moment is the best feeling to me. Each song has its own character to me, and when you start producing a song and adding new layers of instrumentation, you can easily cover up or change that character if you’re not careful, and that’s something I always want to avoid.

From the time you were a part of the Doritos Super Bowl contest you were uploading videos every day, and staying very active on social media sites, which has greatly helped you gain a loyal fanbase. Have you always wanted that connection with your audience to be a big component of you as a musician from the beginning? Do you feel like you need to do it to sustain the interaction with fans? Do you like doing it?

In a way that connection with my audience was why I got hooked in the first place–and this was long before social media. In college, I started doing open mics and coffee shop gigs, and it was those moments after shows when someone would come up to me to tell me how a song moved them, or that they connected to the music in some way that really made me feel like I was doing something meaningful. Nothing is more powerful to me than connecting with a fellow human being. So needless to say, when I started being able to do that on a large scale on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc, it was an incredibly fun and natural transition for me.

What is a non-musical influence that informs your music?

Being alive. I know that may sound a little trite, but that’s really the only thing informing my music. Being alive and feeling and experiencing life as it unfolds.

How does where you live impact your creativity?

Where you live definitely plays a role, but I think what’s even more important is where within your world you find a space for creativity. In college, I found it nearly impossible to write in a dorm room, especially knowing someone was sitting 4 feet behind me trying to study, so I sought out secluded stairwells around campus to write in. These days I’m lucky enough to have a room devoted to music, and that’s helped tremendously. I love having a space I can go that is just for music.

Last question, what/who do you think changed the music industry? Why?

Social media has definitely changed the game. YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc, all these things have opened the gates and allowed everyone a chance at sharing their music and finding a following. In the past, there were big stars on big labels, starving artists busking on the streets (which I’ve done my fair share of), and not THAT much in between. These days, thanks to the internet and social media, there is a middle class of musicians arising. Artists who are self-made and creating on their own terms, and thanks to these new tools, they’re able to find an audience to support them. It’s a pretty incredible thing.