Interview with Kieran Strange

 
Hey people especially Strangers! This is my interview with with Kieran Strange. She talks more about herself, music, and bullying. Check out and enjoy!  

Me : Can you tell me a few things about you?

Kieran : My name is Kieran Strange, and my birthday is August 8th (I'm a Leo - rawr!).  My family are all back in England - there's my mum and step-dad, dad and step-mum, and my younger brother and sister.  I went to school in a small town called Selsey in West Sussex, England (it's a little fishing peninsula), where I grew up.  I have grey-blue eyes, my favourite season is summer, I LOVE cats, and I stand very strongly for anti-bullying and autism/anorexia awareness causes.

Me : And what's your favorite activity?

Kieran : My first and foremost hobby is songwriting, recording, rehearsing, and playing music.  My music is what I spend most of my time doing, as well as hanging out on Twitter and Instagram with my friends and fans.  Other than that, I'm kind of a big nerd.  I LOVE roleplaying - I play things like Dungeons and Dragons, and World of Darkness based dice-chucking LARP games.  I love playing video games and drawing (usually anime and comic-book style) when I have any downtime.  I'm also working on my first novel - a dystopian supernatural thriller. I've been writing stories my whole life, so to actually be working toward something that I can release is an incredible feeling!

Me : Umm more about bully, do you have some words for the victim and for the people who do bully?

Kieran :

To the victim:  I know it might feel like no one understands you, and you have no one you can talk to, but believe me, that isn't the case.  Please reach out - to the suicide hotline (1-800-SUICIDE), to a parent or adult in your life you trust, to your friends, or to an anti-bullying online helpline.  There are people in place now for you to talk to.  I've been there - I was bullied brutally at school, and I understand what it's like to constantly fake sick so that I don't have to go to school and subject myself to their cruelty.  Please, please, PLEASE, believe me when I say - you are NEVER alone.  We're with you.

As for the bullies, I don't think we should hate on them or call them monsters or skewer them for what they do.  I think we should take a long, hard look at them, and try to figure out WHY they take pleasure in tormenting other people.  Bullies are made, not born.  There is a reason they do what they do, and I think we need to stop attempting to hate them in return and should instead pity them.  Adults need to pay more attention to the bullies and figure out what it is that is hurting them, and attempt to help them so that they stop hurting others.

I actually recorded a video blog recently on this subject, you can see it here: 

Me : And now about music, can you play some music instruments?

Kieran : I play the guitar (I prefer the feel of an electric over an acoustic, but can play both) and bass.  I would LOVE to learn to play the drums!

Me : What's your favorite band/singer and your favorite song?

Kieran : Hmm, that's a tough one... I don't really have a favourite band, I like so many.  I'm a big fan of My Chemical Romance, The Used, Muse, Die Mannequin, Skrillex, The New Cities, Bif Naked, GreenDay, Depeche Mode, Taking Back Sunday, AC/DC, Black Veil Brides, VersaEmerge, Fighting For Ithaca, GreenTree... Right now I'm listening to Gangnam Style a lot (ha! It's so addictive!) and I love to download music from Overclocked Remix. There's a cool album called Voices Of The Lifestream, which is remixes of all the Final Fantasy VII music - that rocks.

Me : What's your favorite song to sing on stage?

Kieran : Of my own songs - probably Rock 'N Roleplay Baby, it's just so much fun!  I also wrote a new sort-of cover song called Roll With Swagger, that's brilliant on-stage!  It's got a proper groove to it.  I love covering Song 2 by Blur and Threshold from Scott Pilgrim Vs The World - they're so much fun to rock out to.

Me : What's the best moment on your first tour? 

Kieran : My first "real" tours were British Columbia / Alberta, and California / Texas.  We drove down to Texas and back up again in my manager's Honda Fit - it was a four day trip in the blistering heat!  Anyway, when we were down there, my manager blew a tire and had to pull over for the night.  The next day she took it to an auto mechanic to fix it.  While she was waiting, my friend Kitty who toured with us noticed a little black kitten sitting next to a puddle of oil, trying to get out of the heat.  The mechanic explained that the owner had cats, and that he didn't really take care of them - they were dirty, sick, and not eating properly.  The kitten had to be about five weeks old at the most (according to the vet we took her too), and so Kitty grabbed her and a second one, and we saved them.  We brought them back up across the border to Canada with us, and now they're named Tesla and Bronte, and are our little babies.  I'm so happy, they're such angels.  But because we had them on tour with us, we had to sneak them in and out of motels and keep them in the car with us when we were driving - it was mental!  Every now and then, one of them would take a sh** in the litter box and it stank the WHOLE CAR out, and we would have to pull over.  Sooooo rank! 

Me :  What's the best thing you ever got from being a singer?

Kieran : People contacting me and telling me that my music has helped them through tough times.  I've used music as therapy before, and it's helped me through the hardest days and nights of my life, and I've been so grateful to the musicians whose words have helped heal me.  Knowing that I've been able to give that gift to others... it makes me really emotional, actually.  I've gotten messages from fans before that have brought me to tears.

Me : I wanna know what's your biggest dream and what/who is your inspiration to make your dream comes true?

Kieran : My biggest dream is to continue making music and have the ability to get it to the ears of people who need to hear its message.  To continue to help people as music has helped me.  My inspirations are my friends and family, the people who continue to push me and help me be the best that I can be, and a burning passion and determination to NEVER give up.  That's all you ever need to succeed - determination.

Me :  The last one, What do you want to say to the Strangers? 

Kieran : I love you all.  ALL.  They're wrong, don't change - stay strong, stay strange.

 

Check out her cover with the Strangers of Taylor Swift - Safe and Sound  here :