We’ve had the wonderful chance to chat with singer-songwriter/acoustic artist Christina Holmes twice for The Young Folks and each time was just as great as the last. With a new year and her album Stand Up under her belt, Christina is more than ready to take on the new year. The moment you chat with Christina, you vibe with her. You want to applaud her for her fearlessness and her #girlboss spirit. After splitting from her previous record label, Christina realized “a lot of the stuff they were helping me do, I could do myself. I could do with my own intention and my own vibration put into it.” So what happened after that? She created her own label and became in control of her own message.
Check out our interview with Christina Holmes below where we learn what she’s been up to this year, what’s it like hearing the feedback from Stand Up, and where we can hopefully see her label in a few years from now!
The following is an amalgam from two different interviews with Christina Holmes by Ashley Buyalo and Camille Espiritu.
The Young Folks: What have you been up to so far and how have you been conquering 2018 these past few months?
Christina Holmes: I’ve been recording some new music, booking shows for my summer tour, and putting together some exciting new surprises.
The Young Folks: You were heavily promoting Stand Up and I believe I hear you’re already working on your third album! How will the two differ from one another?
Holmes: Yes I am. The two will be similar in sound but the new one will go peeping into my soul than I ever have before. I’m excited to share this new music.
The Young Folks: You’ve mentioned the second album having more of a live sound feel. How did you go about achieving that sound and making sure it sounded the way YOU wanted to sound like?
Holmes: I just went into the studio knowing what I wanted. I didn’t use any software instruments, only live ones. I played pretty much every instrument by myself so I’m able to make it feel the way I wanted. Some of the percussion was as simple as using a shaker or even as little as just clapping.
The Young Folks: Now that Stand Up has had time to circulate the internet and people have had time to give it a listen, how does it feel reading all the feedback?
Holmes: To be honest, it has been incredible to hear what people have had to say about it and hows its healed them. Every [remark] has made me feel [that] I did exactly what I set out to do and I would not change a thing.
The Young Folks: Your songs are moving and empowering. What is one song that has the same effect as you the moment you listen to it?
Holmes: “Always.” The chorus of the song as words my late father wrote in a birthday card for me and it ends with a voicemail he left me. We always wanted to write a song together but never got the chance. So this song was my chance and I know he would be proud of it. It’s hard for me to listen to that song without crying every time.
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The Young Folks: From touring with Nahko to eventually headlining your own tour later this year, what have you learned while being on that tour that you will remember for the future?
Holmes: It reinforced my mission to continue to grow organically as a artist. Touring with such conscience and authentic artists like Nahko and Medicine for the People really showed me that you can achieve anything when you believe in your purpose.
The Young Folks: What is it like for you to be on stage in front of new audiences listening to your music for the first time and seeing you for the first time? How do you hope people see or react to your music?
Holmes: I hope it will make them feel something. Sometimes my songs bring out sad times in people lives and sometimes happy ones but no matter what they feel it always seems to give them healing that they needed. So I hope for healing and a good time!
The Young Folks: Now that you had the control to share the message you want and when you want because of your own label, where did you learn the mechanics behind it all? I know labels are known to put restrictions on artists but did you happen to put any restrictions on yourself while in the process?
Holmes: No restrictions at all. Throwing myself into owning a label was intimidating but I knew it was what I wanted to do for myself and eventually other artists. Whenever I didn’t know how to do something I would figure it out. It was frustrating at times but now I can do things I never thought I would be able to and it all happened because I set my mind to it and did it.
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The Young Folks: To bounce off the previous question, what do you hope to eventually accomplish with your own label in the future, say five years from now?
Holmes: I want it to be a conscious ecosystem of artists who write their own music and have creative freedom to be who they are. Once I have a solid roster of artists I would like to eventually bring the entire label on tour and bring the whole conscious movement on the road.
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