KHAMARI INTERVIEW: With intimate lyricism, modern R&B stylings, classic soul undertones, and hints of alt-rock, Khamari is known for standout tracks like ‘Doctor, My Eyes‘ and ‘These Four Walls‘.
The Boston-born, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter continues to push the boundaries of next-gen R&B with a perspective and emotional depth that resonates across audiences. His upcoming album, ‘To Dry A Tear‘ – set to drop August 22nd – marks an exciting new chapter in his evolving journey.
What five words define your sound?
Musical, Organic, Progressive, Guitar, Poetic.
Tell me something unique about your creative process
Every song looks different, in the sense that no process for any song is the same ever. Every time I sit down to write something I never know what to expect about how the finished product is going to come about.
Which song of yours would you like people to hear first?
Probably ‘These Four Walls’, for me it’s one of those tracks that, as an artist you set out to do certain things and you almost rarely ever achieve all of those things at the same time and I think ‘These Four Walls’ was one of the songs that I came closest to achieving all that I was trying to achieve. And overall, it’s a good testament to what my other music kind of sounds like and who I am as an artist.
What inspired you to make that song?
At the time I was going through Covid and we all were learning to deal with new social norms – this was also when I decided to move to LA and chose to pursue music full time as a job. So this song sort of describes the life I was living at the time.
What’s the most vulnerable you’ve allowed yourself to be when writing/making music?
I feel like every time I sit down to write music, I have to be equally as vulnerable. Like at least for the stuff that comes out. There’s a lot of reasons why some music might not come out, because it may not feel as vulnerable. The ones that aren’t vulnerable are the ones that don’t come out.
What’s the best/worst experience you’ve had on stage?
The best experience I’ve had on stage is probably the surprising level of support I received from the first few festivals I played at. It was really interesting to see, almost like a physical manifestation because guests can choose to be at so many stages during a festival but they chose to be at mine and the turnout was overwhelming especially for having just started out. I’m not sure if I have a worst experience yet!
What is your favourite song to perform?
‘These Four Walls’ or the version of ‘On My Way’ that I did on tour. They’re both just musically interesting to me. It was a remix of ‘On My Way’ and ‘Maria Maria’. Keeping myself interested musically while on tour and performing is important.
Which artist/song/album made you want to make music?
I think I’d have to go with Stevie Wonder as far as an artist…. Y’know I studied classical music so back then I’m not sure if there was any one specific album. I could probably choose one now but music is always something that I’ve turned to as an avenue to express myself. It’s difficult to choose just one piece of music.
What’s the meaning behind your name?
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it! Using my own name just felt natural and like the right way to go because I’m telling MY story through MY music.
If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing instead?
That’s a tough one… probably something music adjacent, like helping other artists find themselves like A&R or something.
What’s success to you?
Success is being able to do what you want, when you want without the fear of consequences. Being able to express yourself in any way you want. Being able to creatively have a level of respect to do certain things in different types of fields y’know, building up a wealth of knowledge that you can afford to do whatever it is you feel inspired to do at the time.
What moment in your life/career forced you to change direction?
Sometimes you encounter an artist or a show that serves as a reminder or listen to an album of like “this is what it’s supposed to be like.” Like going to a McGee show or maybe a Kendrick album will drop and it’s like “woah, this is what it’s supposed to feel like.” There are moments of re-navigation that have just naturally happened over time.
Where can people keep in touch with you?
I try to keep my internet usage to a minimum but my shows have definitely been the space where I connect most with my fans!
Photo by Shamaal Bloodman
