Meoww!  It’s Melissa K of Black Velvet

Meoww!  It’s Melissa K of Black Velvet

Meet Melissa K – a rapturously talented entertainer (singer / actress / songwriter) – whose band Black Velvet is ready to make music fans absolutely purr with delight within the Los Angeles music scene and beyond.  The live Black Velvet experience is nothing short of a theatrical event, with superbly infectious songs that set the imagination in flight.  Here is a recent interview we conducted with the vibrant Melissa K to find out more about her plans for Black Velvet in this New Year…

What are your impressions of the local Los Angeles music scene and how does Black Velvet fit into the scheme of things?
I love how the LA music scene is a tight-knit, supportive community. Everybody goes to each other’s shows, everybody jams and collaborates, and everybody loves to rock! I like to think that Black Velvet is definitely a positive addition to this crazy, musical jungle that is Los Angeles. We’re animals too; playing to survive, but mostly to have fun! Meoww

Things have been very quiet on the Black Velvet camp as of late.  What are some of your plans for the New Year?
I stepped away for a little bit, but only to come back stronger with more to offer. I have been writing new material and coming up with a fun, new show! Hand-picking some of the best musicians around has been such an honor. I can’t wait to show off their talents at upcoming shows. I hope that the new show and music will leave you wanting more…because there is a lot more to come! Next show is at the Whisky A Go Go on Saturday, February 23rd at 9pm! (It’s one of my favorite places to play in LA)

Select any two Melissa K/Black Velvet songs and what inspired the lyrics.
Thunder is about feeling down and losing hope. Things just don’t seem to go right, or they happen too late, or something out of the blue happens to make you question if bad luck is just your fate. However, sometimes it’s at your lowest point when you realize that you’ve had the strength and power within yourself to bring about change the whole time. Life can feel like a storm, but you are the thunder with the capability to rattle things up! Life can’t bring you down if stormy weather just makes you stronger.

Fight Fire is basically about almost every break up that I’ve ever gone through summed up into one song. I felt like I wasn’t enough and that I needed to fix myself. What did I do wrong? Why didn’t it work? Maybe I’m not pretty enough or didn’t perfectly fit the role that they wanted me to play in their life. I decide to go on a journey to better myself in order to win him back… only, through the process, I do, in fact, better myself. I become happier and realize that I don’t need or want to be with him after all! That’s usually when he comes back around, but I’ve moved on.

What was it like opening for the legendary Missing Persons and did you get to meet or hang out with them at all?
It was so much fun! It’s always inspiring to meet people you look up to and then to see them rock out on the stage you were just on. I also learn interesting, random facts. I’d tell ya, but I don’t want them to stop telling me secrets!

Your guitarist Craig Pirtle is now a member of Dead Girl’s Academy.  Will he also be participating in future Black Velvet projects?
Probably not, since we broke up last year, haha but you never know 😉

You were working on a rock opera called Sorceress.  How is that coming along and what is the story behind it?
My dad wrote a three-song story called Empire years ago; coincidentally, the year that I was born. When I was in high school, we took the concept, revamped it, and called it Sorceress. It became a full-blown rock opera that has since undergone many transformations. It’s a story that has yet to be told and a project that will eventually unfold. I sneak elements of this upcoming project into my shows as teasers. A Sorceress album will be released when you least expect it!

If Black Velvet could open for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why?
Definitely Ghost because of their theatrical element and I love their music (thanks to Tyler Renga for introducing me to their music recently),  Panic! at the Disco because of their pop-rock vibe and incredible show, and Queen because they are Queen.

With your performances being so theatrical, have you ever done any acting or musicals?  If not, is this something you would like to do in the future?
I love acting! I grew up doing plays, films, and musicals. I went to a performing arts magnet high school and majored in Dramatic Arts in college (USC) as well as five other things (six degrees in total and a minor in Business Finance). I was in the west coast premiere of a two person play called Class, written by Charles Evered and have won a few awards for acting. I was also in a short film that earned a spot at the Cannes Film Festival, directed by Lorena Lourenço. Acting is something that I love and take seriously and music has always been in my soul. After rehearsal for a play, I would go perform at a music festival or do a Battle of the Bands competition… sometimes without a band… and win! …I have a need to rock. As for musicals in the future, Sorceress will be relatively theatrical. 😉

What would you like an audience member to remember after witnessing a Melissa K/Black Velvet show for the first time?
I want you to walk away feeling GOOD! I want you to be pumped up for life and ready for the next day! I’d like for our shows to be uplifting and to help put you in the moment. Entertainment is a way to escape reality, but also a way to shape how you see reality. Life is all about perspective and I want to help put you in the right head space to be able to accomplish anything you want!…I also do things like slowly flip backwards over my guitarist or hang upside down off the other. That’s probably memorable. The songs are catchy too! 😉

Any final words of wisdom?
I appreciate you, Ken, for doing this interview and I appreciate whoever took the time to read this and get to know me a little bit! Come to a Black Velvet show!!! You won’t be disappointed.

(Interview by Ken Morton – Photos by Jack Lue)

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