Kotarah Rivere

Kotarah is a pop and rock artist that is based on Vancouver Island, Canada. She first got her start in music in the plains of Canada. When she turned 16, she left her childhood home and began her new life with her love by the sea in his hometown.

When she moved, she also dove straight into her music career, and began creating the music she wasn't able to create in her hometown.

In our interview, we talked about the inspiration behind her music, how she got started down her artist path, among other beautiful topics.

The Interview

What was the lightning strike moment where you decided you wanted to be a musician? 

I knew from the time I was a child that I wanted to be a popstar as soon as I saw Britney Spears. Music was a safe-haven and a place where I could find freedom in my chaotic childhood.

My desire to pursue music as an adult came when I realized I needed to write in order to be a sane human. I had a reawakening to the beauty of music when I found Banks. I love her authenticity, which is something that's missing from a lot of other music.

I've always been a really emotional, sensitive human, so having someone already in the music field who expressed their emotions in a beautifully powerful way was inspiring to me. 

What would you say is the hardest part of being an artist? 

Just the pursuit itself. The desire to keep going when you have life struggles and don't feel like you're progressing. A large part of the pursuit of music is just putting your head down and doing it, very thankless. You get small wins and those are the things you have to cling to in order to keep going. 

How do you stay authentic to who you are as a musician? 

By experimenting a lot. I figure out what hats I can try on by working with different collaborators. Through experimentation, I discover what works best and what doesn't work best for me. At the end of the day, it comes down to my intuition and what feels right to me.

It's very cliche, but I listen to my heart after the experiments are done and figure out what I want to keep, and what I want to throw out. 

As a rising musician, there's so much pressure on the quality of music you release and how you appear on social media. Is there a song you've written that you feel the most proud of that encompassed all of you as a person, not just an artist? 

There's different facets of me as a musician that I'm proud of. There's a song that's not released yet which I feel is the best at encompassing all of me. For songs that are released already, I have to say, "Check on Everybody (Roan's version)." I love songs soaked in heavy synths and loud drums so that one is particularly vulnerable and fits me as an individual.

"Check on Everybody (Roan's version)" is stripped back and honest about my family life and fears and feeling alone, of being the "cheerleader" friend. During the writing of the song, I wrote a line that talked about my cat and how she might pass before she was supposed to. Before I got the chance to release the song, she passed away. It broke me from the inside out. I turned to a friend for advice because I was unsure of what to do with the song now that the one event I feared had come true.

She told me to write an extended version about the pain of losing her. So that's what I did. It's by far the most vulnerable and raw song I have in my catalogue. But I feel grateful that the world gets to know even a little bit of the love I have for Roan. When I was dealing with her passing, there weren't a lot of songs I found about pet loss.

This song helped fill the void that was missing in that part of music, and it helped me find comfort in the emptiness the passing of Roan left. I know others have already found comfort in it and that means the world to me. 

What is the one piece of information you wish you had known before you set out as a musician? 

No one thing will make your career, you just have to keep going. The career is an accumulation of tough decisions, time-management, and perseverance. The one song that'll make your career is a total myth. 

What's your preferred drink of choice to get you into the creative mood?

I'm quite boring when it comes to drinks in the studio haha so I usually have water, a protein shake, or some kombucha with me.

In closing...

You can follow Kotarah on her social media to stay updated on her upcoming releases and future news! Click the link below to check out her music.

https://linktr.ee/kotarah

Bio

Kotarah is an emerging songstress who resides by the beautiful oceans of Vancouver Island, Canada. With years of cultivating a stunning angelic vocal, learning production and songwriting only made sense.

Now she creates catchy melodies from her bedroom in multiple genres spanning the alternative pop/rock realms.