We recently connected with Jenna Kohut and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jenna, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Beginning at just five years old, I wrote an entire neon blue binder worth of songs throughout my childhood. My very first one was titled, “Normal” & it was tremendously bad, but I still remember the chorus as if it were yesterday. During this time I also took private piano & voice instruction, & when my dad gifted me an activity journal that asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my dream was already set in stone. I wrote, “Singer/Songwriter.”

That said, I can pinpoint the exact moment I knew I wanted to chase a creative career professionally to a performance in high school. I was attending an arts academy in the afternoons & Songwriting was offered as an elective. My dear friend Jordan & I signed up for the class & started collaborating on song after song… only to discover that we had quickly become known as the “songwriters” of the school. The first original song I ever performed on stage was called, “Almost Always” & was one we had written together. After singing it for a crowd & hearing their reactions afterwards, I knew I would never find something that fulfills me more than songwriting. I’ll never forget the moment of pure euphoria I felt when a stranger came up to me after the show & asked if she could find my song on iTunes. Then, during our senior year, we were approached by the Dean of the Academy & asked to write & perform an original song for the Graduation Ceremony. After that same rush of bliss hit me while singing my original song for an audience, there was no doubt in my mind — my dream career had been solidified.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a singer/songwriter with degrees in both Songwriting & Performance Poetry from Berklee College of Music. However, my songwriting journey began long before Berklee. After witnessing my decade-long dedication to the craft, my parents gifted me my very first recording session in a professional studio for my 16th birthday. I brought along a band of my instrumentalist friends & we recorded an original song of mine called, “Pinocchio.” I vividly remember being on cloud nine while recording the piano & vocals for a song I had written, & hearing my creation produced at a professional standard ignited a dream I wanted to chase forever. So, when I learned of Berklee’s Songwriting program & realized this was actually a possible career, I set my sights on attending that university & harnessing my craft.

After acceptance into Berklee, I discovered my love for pop music. Over the next four years, I worked diligently to improve my skills — writing & performing an average of three songs per week. Upon graduation, I moved across the country to LA & began chasing my dreams. Catapulting forward to the present, my music has since garnered millions of streams across platforms, cultivated a growing fan family, & I’m lucky enough to confidently identify as a professional singer/songwriter.

I try to set myself apart by fusing an infectious dark pop sound with emotionally raw lyrics that resonate with empaths around the world. I’ve written hundreds of songs throughout my life, but there are a few I credit as career highlights. These are my two original songs, “Space” & “Think About You” — the former being my first song to hit a million streams, & the latter being a finalist in the highly competitive USA Songwriting Competition. Additionally, in August 2023, I was commissioned to co-write & perform the EVO 2023 Tekken championship song, which debuted to over 100,000 people via the Michelob Ultra Arena in Mandalay Bay Las Vegas & livestream. It also charted globally on iTunes! A few other exciting milestones happened recently, including signing numerous songs with music licensing company Glow Music Group & releasing my debut EP — “Attriage” — a collection of four songs.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I will never forget December 4, 2019 — the night I reached my breaking point & called my mom sobbing. I was broke, living in a city 3,000 miles away from everyone I loved, & feeling like my songwriting career was just a pipe dream. I told her I didn’t feel talented enough to deserve my dreams & that I couldn’t keep trying anymore. In that moment, she said, “Don’t ever say that. You can be sad & you can take a break, but I never ever want to hear you say that you are giving up on music. It’s what you are meant to do.” My parents both work in computer science & have always been financially conscious, so hearing my mom tell me to keep chasing a risk instead of falling back on a “plan B” was the blanket of reassurance I needed to keep going. She believed in me when I couldn’t. & she was right, because although my mind wanted to give up, my soul couldn’t live without music. A few hours later, I sat down at my piano & wrote, “Space” — a song about wanting to fly up into space, away from heartbreak & troubles; where the world would seem small enough to twirl on my fingertips. That song changed my life & now has millions of streams across platforms. So, to put it simply, whenever I doubt myself or am tempted to give up, I let go of control & let the universe take over. Every comment or message from a fan telling me how much my music means to them, all the comforting words of encouragement from the people who believe in me… the song I wrote on my most vulnerable night launching my career. It’s those moments that give me the courage to keep going.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

There are so many rewarding aspects to being a creative because this world is overwhelmingly inspirational. Being able to tap into the intangible heartbeat & energy of this universe & transform it into song is proof that magic exists. The art of language — encapsulating infinitely complex emotion in universally understood words — is an extraordinary creation, & working with it every day is a gift I don’t take for granted. That being said, I also think hitting milestones that initially felt like pipe dreams — reaching a million streams on a song, receiving thousands of heartfelt messages from fans, charting globally — are truly rewarding moments, because they allow me to compare my present self to my past self & see all the achievements I’ve worked hard to accomplish that seemed nearly impossible just a few years prior.

Additionally, I think an incredibly fulfilling aspect of being a creative is finding kindred spirits who resonate with my artistic vision, whether it be other musicians, empaths, or fans. Collaborating with producers & other songwriters who speak the same musical language makes extracting how a song sounds in my head & materializing it a transcendental experience.

Chasing a dream can be extremely lonely at times, but it also gives me so much time to discover my inner world & who I am at my core. Becoming my own ecosystem has been crucial to my survival in a creative career. Having the ability to comfort my own mind & not give up on my soul is the reason I’m able to continue forward. I feel lucky to be building an authentic relationship with myself that sticks with me through it all, despite.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kohvt.com/
• Instagram: @kohvtmusic
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@kohvt
• Other: Spotify & Apple Music: køhvt