SEDRIC PERRY & K.ZIA INTERVIEW: VIPER PRESENTS [FEATURE]

SEDRIC PERRY & K.ZIA INTERVIEW: Earlier this year, R&B superstars Sedric Perry and K.ZIA joined forces for a new musical project called ‘Twin Flame’. We spoke to the pair about their sound and collaboration. Get familiar…

What five words define your sound?

K.ZIA: Ethereal, Soulful, Harmonic, Emotive, Authentic.

Tell me something unique about your creative process

K.ZIA: We’re two best friends who have been telling our love story through melodies and poetry. Every time we step into the studio, it feels like a portal opens and we get to tap into something beyond ourselves effortlessly.

Which song of yours would you like people to hear first? 

Sedric: ‘Blessing’. It’s the first song we ever released.

What inspired you to make that song?

Sedric: I was in a new relationship, signed my first publishing deal and had just met K.ZIA. Everything was going really well for me, so I started it with a guitarist friend to encourage myself to surrender to the moment and stop trying to control everything. Sure enough, that day K.ZIA called me and said she wanted to make a song with a bit of a Daniel Caesar vibe, and I said I might have the perfect thing. We met up and she did her thing on it and we went back and forth, and ‘Blessing’ was born.

What’s the most vulnerable you’ve allowed yourself to be when writing/making music?

K.ZIA: I’m a very sensitive and emotional person, and I think one of my biggest strengths when performing live is allowing myself to be fully vulnerable and share that side of me. I don’t hold back, I’m naked on stage, and I think people really see, feel and relate to what I’m saying because of that. But to reach that level of openness in performance, I have to be just as raw and honest when creating the music. If I don’t give 100% of myself in the process, I can’t expect to deliver that truth when I sing it live.

What’s the best/worst experience you’ve had on stage?

Sedric: Mine happened last month, actually. I must’ve eaten something bad because all morning I was spilling from both ends. I could barely make it to the stage for the first song. I was seeing double and I’m having to belt these big Rock songs and do the choreography to my own songs. It was pure torture. But we made it to the end without incident. 

What is your favourite song to perform?

Sedric: Probably ‘Deliver’. Most of our songs are emotional and low tempo, but this is one we can really let out our silly sides and give the audience something a bit different than the usual.

K.ZIA: Or ‘Blessing’, somehow singing that song just feels like home and a feeling of coming full circle.

Which artist/song/album made you want to make music?

K.ZIA: My mom, Zap Mama is my first inspiration. I am extremely lucky to have an incredible woman and creative person such as her, to call mom and mentor. But the will to make music has actually always been there… it’s part of my core. 

What’s the meaning behind your name Twin Flame?

Sedric: We have a dope connection. It’s some kind of soul tie where we have parallel experiences even though we’re very different people. It kind of helps us accelerate when we’re together and can learn from each other. 

If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing instead?

Sedric: Probably being a lawyer. I love to argue.

K.ZIA: Him and I both.

What’s success to you?

Sedric: For me it’s a feeling. When your passion, work, and results all line up and you get this overwhelming sense of gratitude. It’s that for me.

What moment in your life/career forced you to change direction?

K.ZIA: I’ve moved a lot throughout my life and every environment has shaped and influenced me and my music in profound ways. Life’s lessons have forged me into the artist and woman I am today, but music and art have always been my true direction. That being said, the industry itself has changed drastically. Especially after COVID. There’s less money in entertainment and fast consumerism has shifted the focus to numbers, short-form content and quantity over quality. For a while, I found myself adapting to that, being more conscious of algorithms and trends forgetting what my heart loved to do.. But now, I’m reclaiming my artistry. The EP with Sedric comes from the heart and that’s what i want to continue doing. I’m going back to creating what truly moves me, without compromise.

Where can people keep in touch with you?

Preferably at shows and real life. But on the socials it’s @sedricperry and @kzia.world.