We recently connected with Kaylin Heydenburg and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kaylin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
I know it may sound cliché, as it’s possibly self aggrandizing to say this, but Von Kaiser is the most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on. I entered this project thinking that it would be fun and a way to use my musical talents doing something that I’d never done before, never realizing the impact that we would have on other REAL people.
I’ve always wanted to participate in something interesting and different that could touch other people’s lives, and after a few years working on this project with David (Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Production), I was able to finally experience that “fulfilled” feeling that people talk about working so hard to find.
When fans write to us telling us that the one thing that got them through the last couple of years (due to Covid, etc.) was OUR MUSIC, or that the one thing that got them through the death of a loved one, or the one thing that got them through a terrible breakup or divorce was OUR MUSIC, it’s an amazing and humbling feeling that really makes me think about why I’m here working on making music with Von Kaiser.
Sometimes life gets in the way of being really able to express ourselves. Sometimes our own self-doubt gets in the way of putting our creative work out into the world, for fear of ridicule or disappointing family, friends, or even our fans. Hearing even one person tell us about how our music saved their life is so powerful; but then when we hear it again and again – there’s nothing that compares to it.
Kaylin, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Von Kaiser was formed in Grand Rapids, MI on the back of a rock band that had started to fizzle. We had recently been looking for a change and synths had always been in our previous music, so it was a natural evolution to Synthwave.
Since 2018 and up until the release of our penultimate album “Animals” in 2021, we’d been constantly in the studio writing, Since then, We decided that we wanted to focus more on the production aspect of creating music, and in finding our own sound without forcing ourselves to fit into the Synthwave genre. We decided that if it took us a bit more time to put out more music, we were fine with that. We realized that even though we had always released both an album and an EP each year since VK inception, we already had 61 songs for our listeners to enjoy, and that we could give ourselves a slight pause to feel proud of what we’d already created. Since the release of our latest album “The End Is The Beginning” (November of 2022), we have taken a small hiatus from writing, in which time we’ve been gearing up to play Neon Retro Fest in Tampa, Florida this April.
Our discography includes:
Dead by Dawn – Single – 2018
Landline – Album – 2019
Deanna – Single – 2019
Glossy – EP – 2019
Silent Christmas Night – Single – 2019
Ghosts of Miami – Album – 2020
Valley of Dying Stars – Single – 2020
Echos – EP – 2020
Animals – Album – 2021
The End Is The Beginning – Album – 2022
There is a thin line between what is and isn’t “Synthwave”. We are sure that some of what we are doing might push past the scope, but we like to believe our vibe is collectively still 80’s sounding and influenced. We think the future is taking new sounds and bending them to make the music that would have been made if 80’s synth pop was allowed to keep evolving and didn’t get killed by grunge and other forms of EDM.
One thing that sets us apart from other Synthwave/ Synthpop is the content of our lyrics. We’ve had several fans personally write to us, telling us that what they love about our music is that the lyrics feel personal and relevant, while also somehow including references to futuristic ideas like being Cryogenically transported to another time, or uploading consciousness to a massive server. Being able to move between what is current and tangible to something that is only imagined is really important to us and makes us stand out a little.
Something that many of our fans don’t realize is that we do EVERYTHING, meaning we write, play, sing, produce and mix our own music. We also create much of our own artwork, and handle the production, sale, and shipping of our own merch. We don’t source anything out except for our album mastering, which has been done by Steve Gilson at Gem City Mastering.
We are currently streaming on all streaming services (Spotify, Amazon music, YouTube Music, Pandora, Apple Music, etc) and you can find merch at our website www.vonkaiser.com.
You can also purchase digital copies of our music at vonkaiser.bandcamp.com.
Socials:
Facebook: @vonkaisermusic
Instagram: @vonkaiserband
Twitter: @VonKaiserMusic
Tiktok: @vonkaiserband
YouTube: @vonkaiser4990
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
We were really looking forward to 2020. Our monthly listener count was rising. We had just been booked on a large Retro Festival called Neon RetroFest (Rescheduled to this April 14-16, as mentioned previously) and we were really excited about the strides we were making. We had several shows booked and were ready for the year to kick off.
But then… Covid hit. All of our plans dissipated into the ether and we watched our touring dreams fade with them. We struggled with whether we would continue on as Von Kaiser. Since we work for the same company and were seeing each other at work throughout the shut downs, we figured it would be alright to keep working together on “studio days” after the first 2 weeks of lockdown. We continued to meet 3 nights a week, despite not knowing when the world would open up again, or if anyone would care about us after we watched our trajectory head steadily downwards. LOTS of music was finished (Ghosts of Miami) and started being written during this time, as we weren’t working for live performances.
Many artists were performing livestreams, and we decided to give it our best college try, not realizing that by using our set up as it was (with about $10k in midi -controlled lights, our instruments, and our tracks running on the same computer and using the same wifi as our livestream equipment) that the quality of the stream would not be at the level that we desired. We lived and we learned, and it was quite defeating for us.
We felt like our best chance at success was dashed. And yet, we continued on, and we’re still here. We’re finally playing the festival that we knew would put us in front of new faces, and we’re super excited to finally get the resolution that we worked so hard for during the last few years.
Since then, BECAUSE of the time we were forced to spend inside, we have been able to really focus on our live presentation, allowing us to better portray our music with the stage show, and focus on the important aspects of our performance. We really feel that our show has only become better because of the trials of the last couple of years.
We also spent more time in the studio, finding our true sound and what we want to give to our fans. Without this time, we wouldn’t be who we are now, and we’re grateful for the metamorphosis that occurred because of it.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
SHARE! A lot of people don’t realize the power that their shares have. If you like an artist’s work, share it! If you like a band’s song, use it in your reels/ TikToks! Every share helps us so much.
Another HUGE way to help an artist is to support them by purchasing merch -whether that’s a T-shirt to show your love for your favorite band, or a digital download of a track. In order for an artist to make $1 on Spotify, you’ll need to stream their music about 229 times. On Amazon Music, you’ll need to stream it 249 times to reach $1. Purchasing a digital song for $1 on Bandcamp.com is worth SO much more to the artist than if you were to stream it, and it is definitely appreciated!
The biggest and best way to support an artist is to support them on services like Patreon. We have funded a few T-shirt orders just from the money we make from Patreon every month. Many artists throw in special perks for their patrons to make it worth your while!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.vonkaiser.com
- Instagram: @vonkaiserband
- Facebook: @VonKaiserMusic
- Twitter: @VonKaiserMusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vonkaiser4990
- Other: Bandcamp for digital downloads: vonkaiser.bandcamp.com Patreon to support us as artists: Patreon.com/vonkaiser TikTok: @VonKaiserBand Our Linktree to see where we will be playing and any updates: linktr.ee/vonkaisermusic
Image Credits
Smrcina Photography + Studio