The Voice – Season 13: Audition Night Four

By starrymag | October 9, 2017

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

 

Q) Karli, congratulations, your song is doing very well on iTunes.

 

Karli Webster:       Thank you so much, it’s crazy.

 

Q) Hey, performance-wise as a singer, I was hoping you could talk a little bit about what you’ve done before The Voice and how much you’ve done.  For instance, there’s a YouTube video out there of you performing as Karli & the Kazoos.

 

Karli Webster:       Yes, so I actually do not have extensive performance experience.  I’ve spent so much of my time being focused only on school and on work.  I’m just a busy body.  And going to school for music has kind of been my direction of like, “Okay, I need to make this my life.”  And then doing The Voice, was kind of having to put school and work on hold.  It was kind of the first opportunity that I really allowed myself to make performance and make my voice my life.  Because prior to that, I was so focused on school and work that performing full-time wasn’t necessarily an option for me.  So yes I have a couple very limited videos out there that I’ve just done with some friends who make films and love doing music.  But outside of that, it’s been very, very local and very small just — the outreach that I’ve had with my music.

 

Q)  So did that make The Voice experience really nerve-wracking for you or how did it feel?

 

Karli Webster:       Absolutely.  Yes, since it was really just kind of the first big thing I’ve allowed myself to do for music.  I feel like it was so incredible everything that happened.  I seriously still can’t comprehend everything that has happened and is continuing to happen.  So yes it made it that much more crazy.

 

Q) Stephan, the coaches mentioned last night, you know, some issues that they saw in your audition. You know, but you have Jennifer who still turned her chair for you.  She saw something in you that, you know, that others do not.  So can you talk about that moment kind of what you thought what all went to your performance and then what it meant to you for Jennifer to turn around?

 

Stephan Marcellus:     So what happened in my performance in the beginning is I couldn’t really hear the note that I started on, so I thought I was wrong and I tried to like fix it.  And, of course, I freaked out in trying to do so, but I had to really like kind of get my footing and just kind of keep powering through.  So when Jennifer turned around first of all I was just completely grateful for it, because she was able to still like see me, which is amazing. I was completely grateful and just super thankful for the fact that I can continue in the competition and actually show and prove myself and that’s pretty much how it felt.

 

Q) Anthony,  I was wondering on what you were thinking, why did you choose the song Redbone which is kind of an unusual song choice to sing?

 

Anthony Alexander:   Well, the reason why I chose Redbone is because Redbone is like — it’s kind of a lot of song that — it’s kind of the song that everybody has been listening to and it’s kind of a big song up there, so I thought like why not do Redbone and add a kind of a twist on it where it’s my own at the same time, since it’s such a very heavy falsetto song.  And, of course, I wanted to show that I can do that song in the falsetto, but also showing more to it, showing how I can change a song.  So that’s pretty much why I chose the Redbone and also why I’m like the younger — young so like of course that’s like my favorite song, so I thought why not go with it, why not go and choose Redbone.

 

Q) Sophia, you mentioned the band No Surrender in your bio clip and you’ve been a member of some other bands as well.  Where do you see The Voice leading you musically?  I mean, is that avenue you want to continue to pursue or do you want to branch off as a solo artist?  What do you see in your musical future?

 

Sophia Bollman:   Yes.  My future beholds a lot of things.  I see myself as a solo artist, but of course, I have a passion for my band.  I have the band No Surrender with Kids Rock Free.  I’m also the lead singer of another band, Detour 91, it’s a blues song band, and my last one is an all original band that we are working to, you know, pursue full-time in tour, and that one is Fourth Glory, it’s still under wrap. We’re really excited about all of the stuff.  I see myself pursuing music full-time.  I’m really passionate about it and I want to start acting as well.  You know, I feel like that would be amazing to see so many different routes in my future, but they all lead back to just being a pure entertainer.

 

 

Q) Anthony, you mentioned in your intro on the show that your dad used to work on The Voice.  Can you talk more about that you visiting the studio during that time and kind of what that whole experience was like back then?

 

Anthony Alexander:   Well, back then like — okay, so what you’re asking is like how it was like being at The Voice as not being a contestant, right?

 

Q)  Yes.

 

Anthony Alexander:   Okay, so yes, well, the way that that felt honestly, it just felt super cool in general just being there just it’s something that a lot of kids, like a lot of my friends haven’t really had experience just being back stage, seeing all of these awesome talent walking back and forth, being back stage seeing a bunch of different personalities and stuff, and it was just really cool, especially seeing them prepare the stage for the singers, and for a lot of the contestants, just seeing a lot of great talent.  I’ve seen a lot of talent.  But my favorite one that I’ve actually seen was Jordan from season — what was that?  I think 12, no, not 12…

 

Q)  Nine.

 

Anthony Alexander:   Maybe 11.  I’m very horrible to seasons, so it’s kind of a surprise.  But yes, it was just awesome being there just not as a contestant.  It was pretty cool and it’s like just being there seeing all that sort of talents is just really cool, and it’s something that I really enjoy doing, just being there regardless if I’m contestant or not.  So it’s just that I’ve been there a lot, so being there, seeing a lot of people kind of feels like family.

 

 

Q) Emily, I was wondering about in the future or as far as your style, do you plan on kind of sticking with that old school jazzy style or do you have some pop inclinations you might pursue?

 

Emily Luther:        Yes, that’s a great question.  So it’s kind of mix between the two which is when I first kind of put myself out there and considered auditioning for The Voice, I knew it would be something unique and not necessarily done before mixing the two together, the pop and jazz, and kind of that old school style. As far as the future is concerned, you know, it’s really up in the air, but – again, just, you know, being an entertainer, I’d love to do television, I’d love to do Broadway, that’s a huge dream of mine, and to ultimately be able to continue making music that affects people in a positive way.

 

 

Q) Karli, what made now the year that you want to try out for The Voice?  What led you to audition now?

 

Karli Webster:       Well, my mom and a lot of my friends have been kind of nagging me to audition for years.  We always watch the show and I always dreamed of being on the blind audition stage and no matter how many times they told me, “Just do it.”  I think I was too afraid.  I’ve had a lot of closed doors in the past which I think is what kept me from pursuing music wholeheartedly.  I was so afraid of facing failure that I just kind of avoided it and I faced a lot of failures too.  So I was very afraid but it was kind of just, “What the heck,” like, “What’s the worst that could happen?”  So I signed up just a week before the open call in Las Vegas and we drove out there and it was a great experience. Totally shocking and I absolutely did not expect any of this to come from that moment.

 

Q) You’ve mentioned that you’ve done so much piano before, at what point did you choose to switch over to singing as a focus?

 

Karli Webster:       Well, I’ve been singing alongside piano my whole life.  But when I was a little girl I dreamed of being a classical pianist and playing like Carnegie Hall and that was kind of my direction.  And then I entered a song writing competition when I was five years old at my elementary school and I wrote my first song and I won first place at my school.  And even then at five years old I kind of realize like, “Wow, I can make something special out of this,” and from that moment on, I continued writing songs.  And my dad has been a big influence for me.  He has been in bands and he sings, and he’s kind of a piano player, a musician singer. So he really inspired me and always sing to me and I would always sing with him. So when I started writing my own music, I started thinking a lot more and I did some musical theater when I was younger.  So singing was introduced very early on just like piano is.

 

Q) Anthony, how did it feel that the coaches comparing your voice to the likes of Michael Jackson and Prince?

 

Anthony Alexander:   Honestly, I thought that’s like the best compliment I’ve ever gotten.  It’s just really cool because I was just — I’m just like a big fan of Michael Jackson and it’s just really great to get that comparison of Michael Jackson and Prince.  I mean, I know they have a lot of people coming up that would sing like, “Oh, this up — like this celebrity — this upcoming singer is like Michael Jackson.” And it’s just me like I’ve never thought to even take Michael Jackson’s place, because Michael Jackson is such a great performer and it’s just that I never thought like anyone could replace Michael Jackson.  And I don’t even think — I still don’t think that now, but being compared to Michael Jackson and Prince is just really — I’m just really honored to be compared to those two.

 

Q) Yes, would you ever consider singing any of their songs on the show?

 

Anthony Alexander:   Yes, I would definitely sing one of their songs for the show.

 

Q) Sophia, what did you think of seeing that video of Gene Simmons before your audition?

 

Sophia Bollman:   Oh, my goodness.  I’m going to take it back a little bit to when I met them in person.  So I was with my band, No Surrender, and being kids at that time, we look up to these rock legends and we’re playing music like them and we’re playing our hearts out. And so just seeing them from a distance, we were – all just fangirling, basically.  I actually had the privilege to sit down and talk to Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.  They let me eat one of their fish tacos at Rock & Brews, the restaurant.  It was probably one of the coolest moments that I’ve ever experienced.  They let me pick their brain and really get to know what it’s like to be a true artist and how to write songs properly. So when I saw the video with Gene Simmons, I freaked out.  I was like, “Oh, goodness, they got this moment.”  I didn’t think he would remember me honestly, but, you know, it was probably one of the greatest experiences to see that I got the cool rocker tongue and everything, you know?  I was blown away.  My mom probably was even more surprised than I was, especially, if you even get to make it that day when I — to truly meet them.  So I think that that was the greatest experience ever.  I really want that video.

 

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*