Kelsey from Wild Child and Sir Woman speaks with KGNU’s DJ Jules. Kelsey discusses the recent release of “Heaven”, Sir Woman’s new album, and how her two projects express different musical identities. She also mentions her excitement about her North America tour with Wild Child (Interview date: 10/30/2024)
DJ Jules: All right, KGNU cuties, it’s your girl DJ Jules back on the mic. And like I told you just three minutes ago, I have the honor and pleasure of doing an interview with Kelsey from Sir Woman and Wild Child. Kelsey, are you there?
Wild Child (Kelsey): I’m here.
DJ Jules: Hey girl. Thanks for being here today. How are you doing?
Wild Child (Kelsey): I’m doing so good. I’m about to stand in line to vote.
DJ Jules: Yes. Go mama. I love it. Get out and vote. Thank you. Besides going to vote, you must be super slammed and busy because Friday kicks off a whirlwind adventure for your month of November. What’s taking place?
Wild Child (Kelsey): Friday, we start a national tour with Wild Child. We start in Denver, I believe, at the Gothic Theater, which I’m very excited for because it’s a really cool room. We’re going to go all the way up the West Coast to Vancouver and then back down again. So if you’re anywhere on the west side of the country, we’re probably coming your way.
DJ Jules: That’s amazing. Wild Child and Sir Woman, in the last year and a half, we’ve been fortunate to have a handful of appearances by you. It’s so great to have you back again.
Wild Child (Kelsey): It’s one of my favorite cities to go to, actually. I love the whole state you’re in. We play a lot of festivals out there, too.
DJ Jules: Yeah, I know. In August, Sir Woman, y’all did Folks Fest, right?
Wild Child (Kelsey): We did.
DJ Jules: That’s beautiful. Is there anywhere on this leg of the tour that you’re about to embark on besides Colorado that you’re really excited to get back to?
Wild Child (Kelsey): Canada. Vancouver is really cool. Also, the Pacific Northwest in the fall. We live in Texas, so we don’t really get seasons. I’m pretty excited to experience different weather.
DJ Jules: Absolutely. It’s good for the soul to have different weather out there. And you’ve been so busy. On Friday, Sir Woman just released a new album, Heaven. How’s that feel for you?
Wild Child (Kelsey): Yeah, it feels amazing. I just got back two days ago from the Sir Woman Tour. I’ve been switching my mindset from Sir Woman to Wild Child, which is like becoming a little bit of a different character. But it felt really good. I’ve been sitting on two new Sir Woman albums for a year. So now that I get to start leaking things I’m really excited.
DJ Jules: Oh man, that just got me so pumped right over here at the station. I cannot wait to see what you share with us. So you brought this up just now and I was going to touch on it. You have Wild Child and you have Sir Woman. What are these different projects to you? How do they speak to you and tap into different versions of who you are personally or musically? Or are they one and the same for you?
Wild Child (Kelsey): I think Wild Child’s definitely more folk. Like, sweet Americana folk indie rock kind of vibe. I grew up playing fiddle in Texas in the folk world and all of that. It’s sweet. It’s very sweet. And Alexander – I have a co-writer in Wild Child, so it’s always been like boy girl storytelling, a lot of break up songs about relationships and love. I started writing all that music when I was a teenager and in my early 20s. Definitely stays in that realm. And it’s sweet. I love it.
And then Sir Woman. As much as I grew up in the folk world, I never actually listened to it. I’ve always been more of a gospel, R&B, funk and soul fan as a consumer. So I knew that I wanted to eventually write music that would fall in the category of something that I listen to on a daily basis. You can’t really do that in a folk ukulele band. I was like, I’m gonna have to figure something else out. And also, I want to know what just Kelsey sounds like if I don’t have a co-write. I want to write more songs that are about self love and growing as a human being. As I get older, I just have other things that I want to talk about musically that don’t really fit in this Wild Child world, so I just made up a whole new person. And I would definitely say Sir Woman is more who I am as a human being. I get to be a little more free with my language because I’m not, quite literally, putting words in someone else’s mouth, like writing lyrics for someone else to sing. I get to really just say whatever I want. I get to be a little funnier and a little more sarcastic, but still uplifting and positive and a lot of it’s about love.
DJ Jules: It absolutely is. Even that post you shared about the new track, “Heaven”, and about having to do a hard thing when you’re putting your love first and your own self worth first. It’s all about love, even in those hard moments.
Wild Child (Kelsey): Yes it really is. Also learning that it doesn’t matter how much you love that person, sometimes you can’t love them to their face. You have to love them from afar, and that’s just how it is, and it’s such a hard thing to do. It took me until I hit 30 to even begin to think about that option, but because it was such a revelation for me, it was helpful for me to write about it. Cause I know it’s difficult for all of us to let people go that we know are not taking care of our hearts.
DJ Jules: Yep. It’s hard to always put your own heart first. But hey, it means we’re growing when we do that. So look at us.
Wild Child (Kelsey): There you go.
DJ Jules: Exactly. Since you have these two different projects that beautifully speak to you, but have different aspects of you, I want to know, who would you like to collab with on Wild Child? What would be your next one or your dream one on Wild Child to collab with? Or your dream one for Sir Woman? Because I know you’ve been doing a lot lately with other people as well.
Wild Child (Kelsey): I have. I’ll say dream collaboration for Wild Child… Nathaniel Raitliff, I think. And he’s a dear friend of mine, I was in a band with him before. I think a co-write with him, a song with him for Wild Child would be so special. Because he also fits in that middle ground of, he loves soul, and he loves funk, and he loves R&B, but he makes Americana and folk music, and you can hear it.
DJ Jules: Yep.
Wild Child (Kelsey): So I think that would be a really special thing to do. For Sir Woman right now, top of my list is Brittany Howard. She is like another Sir Woman in my brain. We played the Newport Folk Festival this year and we played the after party. And it was my job to get all these guest singers to come up and sing with my band. At one point I got Brittany Howard up there and I just stepped off stage. I couldn’t even sing harmonies. I was like, I just want to watch Brittany Howard be Sir Woman and feel my heart explode.
DJ Jules: Oh, what a beautiful moment.
Wild Child (Kelsey): Oh, it was a dream come true. So those two are probably top of my list right now.
DJ Jules: I love it. I just want to pick your brain, who are you currently listening to when you’re walking around, doing your thing and living your life? What’s playing on your radio?
Wild Child (Kelsey): I am so old when it comes to music. I don’t listen to anything that came out post 80s, really. I rely on my band members to tell me what’s new and what’s coming. But I found a new band for the first time in years that I’m obsessed with, Peter Cat Recording Co.
DJ Jules: Oh, girl, I just played “Memory Box”, the 8 minute track, and it flies by. You’re just swaying and grooving.
Wild Child (Kelsey): It really is so rare for me to hear new music that attaches itself to me like that. But the first song I heard was “A Beautiful Life”. I immediately just stopped in my tracks. I have to listen to this whole album right now, and I listened to it three times in a row. They happened to be touring through Austin, where I live, so I went to go see the live show. I was like, it’s so exciting to hear music that sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard before. Because we’ve been making music for so long and dealing with the same vocabulary and the same Scales, so there’s only so many combinations and inspirations you can pull from. They’re just doing something really special. It’s very inspiring.
DJ Jules: They’re doing something super special. Beyond just the music they’re making, It’s that confidence that oozes off the stage with each hip sway and shake and look. Oh my gosh, I’m in love. Stop it.
Wild Child (Kelsey): I know, I’m so in my head sometimes on stage, like where do I put my hands, what am i wearing, what am I doing, this is crazy. Anyone can get in their heads if a couple hundred people are just staring at them. You’re gonna check yourself a little bit, but it was almost like he couldn’t care less if there was an audience in the room or not. He was just smoking and swaying and singing his songs. Like, you guys can listen, but you don’t have to. We’re just going to be playing here anyways. It was such a cool energy. I was like, man, I wish I was that cool. I care. I really want people to listen.
DJ Jules: Oh dude, when you’re on stage, trust me. Last time I saw you, I was like, I wish I was that cool. So you’re rocking it. You’re holding down the confidence as he is. Just different hip sways and side to side.
Wild Child (Kelsey): There you go.
DJ Jules: Kelsey, thank you so much. Again, KGNU listeners, if you’re just tuning in, that was Kelsey from Wild Child and y’all. What an honor. What a pleasure. Thanks so much, Kelsey.
Wild Child (Kelsey): Thank you. Have a good one.
