The ineffable butterflies of first love, falling for someone, and total infatuation are one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-lifetime. As Halsey once said, ‘butterflies are like warning signs.’ After it all comes crashing down due to toxic patterns and a lack of respect for one another, the first break-up hits harder than anything. Sprinkled with a pinch of denial and hints of hope, ‘bittersweet heartbreak‘ is your newest pop-rock ballad to add to your playlist.
Meet Karin Ann, Slovakia’s fiercest rockstar, breaking boundaries and reaching people beyond her wildest imagination and the mega-talent behind ‘bittersweet heartbreak.’ Listening to Karin Ann’s hits ‘if i fall for You,’ ‘winter song’, and ‘sociopathic,’ there is an undeniable natural talent that pulls a listener in and creates a lyrically cinematic experience.
Karin Ann speaks to a fellow Slovak as she prepares her move to LA. The trajectory of the only 20-year-old is striking and quite deserving of her demeanor. Making it out of closed communities of Slovakia to the outside world, Karin Ann aims to bring more equality and mental health awareness.
Similar to ‘bittersweet heartbreak,’ Karin Ann ethereally packages her inner turmoil into relatable ear-worms with grunge twists that carry the UNF of an idol. Also an outspoken advocate of the LGBTQIA+ community and minority rights, Karin Ann talks to Noctis about her beginnings, a story behind ‘bittersweet heartbreak,’ and her involvement with Amnesty International.
I went through your Instagram and you travel a lot, what do you prefer more – LA vs New York vs London?
Personally I really love London, I think New York is similar to London too, but every place has it’s positives and negatives.
When travelling, what do you miss the most about home?
My mom and my dogs haha
How is this year going for you? What is keeping you busy?
I’m working on a bunch of new music! people definitely have a lot to look forward to!
You wrote your first song when you were 14 years old, what was it about?
I don’t even remember haha, i’m pretty sure it was something silly tho
How did you get into songwriting in the first place?
I feel like a broken record when it comes to this question haha, I’m gonna make a very long story short tho.
I was in art school and drawing and painting were my main ways of expressing myself but I got injured and I couldn’t draw anymore due to the injury which eventually led into me writing my first song.
What do you think was the key to your success outside of your home country?
I have no clue honestly, I mean it definitely helped to sing in English and be fluent in English, but outside of that I think it was a combination of hard work and luck.
When starting out and you were building a team around you, what was important to you?
I try to have as many women on my team as possible, but other than that I try to have people around me that really respect my vision and add to it instead of trying to change it or mold it in some way.
Could you tell us more about the stunning music video for ‘if I fall for you’? Where did you film it, who did you work with etc?
I’m glad you like it 🙂 I worked with the directing dup Tusk and we shot it in LA.
It was a really incredible process tho, from starting to work with them till the end I felt like they really respected my vision and were excited by what I wanted and it was a very very collaborative process and we all just worked towards the best possible results. I think we just really clicked.
What inspired your new single ‘bittersweet heartbreak’?
I had this best friend a few years back, fun fact there’s more than this song about them. I was really into this person and eventually we actually got together for a while, but it really wasn’t working, it was a very unhealthy environment. There was a lack of effort from this person’s side and we both had things that we needed to heal from.
Eventually we broke up, and for a while I thought we’d stay friends, but unfortunately that didn’t work out either. For a long time after that I was in denial about being into this person or about the fact that I lost someone important to me.
Once I accepted what happened I realized I lost my best friend but also a person that I was in love with, a person that was my first love.
Once some time passed I realized that even tho I missed this person, it was in fact for the better that we went our separate ways, and who knows maybe eventually we’ll be able to be in each others lives in some way, but for now it’s kind of a bittersweet moment of being glad that you’re apart but also understanding that in the toxicity there were some good moments and it’s ok to miss those.
You are the first Slovak artist to feature on a giant billboard in New York’s Times Square part of Spotify’s 2021 EQUAL campaign. Were you able to grasp this at all? How did you feel when you found out the news?
I think it still didn’t fully sink in. I am super grateful for it and it’s an amazing achievement but it’s definitely hard to grasp haha.
That had to be a big milestone for you. What are some of your other career dreams?
I think I already achieved a lot of them, and in general even tho I have big dreams like probably any artist, I try to set small goals for myself so I don’t get lost in it all. Currently my next goal is to make my debut album.
What would you like to achieve on a personal level?
I think the same things as any other person. Happiness and being content with myself 🙂
For your first solo gig at the end of 2021, you were supported by Amnesty International. You donated all earnings back into their initiative to support their human rights work. Could you share how you got involved with them and where your passion for activism stems from?
I think what Amnesty International is doing to help minorities is really special. I asked my management to see if we can help them in any way and it was right around the time we first started talking about my show so it kind of came around naturally. I am really grateful they wanted to work with me just as much as I wanted to work with them.
As to where my passion comes from, long story short, I grew up in a very close minded country and community and I never fit in myself because the society we live in is in favor of white cis straight men, and I am not that, so I think what I do just naturally evolved over time, especially when able to see other communities where things are much more equal, tho unfortunately there’s currently no place on earth where everyone is completely equal.
If you could make one album in a different genre, which one would you like to try?
I never like to be stagnant in what I do so I always explore different musical genres and mixing different musical elements, however I do think that there’s a genre I’ll never delve into but it would be actually super sick and that’s metal haha. I think it would be sick to make a metal record 😀
What is next for you?
I take it one step at a time so we will see, but I’m definitely planning on releasing some songs and hopefully play some shows 🙂
Follow Karin Ann On Instagram
Photographer: SaraShots
Words: Karolina Kramplova