Interview with Kieran Strange

Alright guys this week I have the queen Stranger herself, Kieran Strange. if you don't know who she is, by the end of this interview, you will. I guarantee that. She is in her words "a girl raised in a pub in England, who moved across the pond to write songs about hot gamer girls, zombies and sleeping in. Geek. Nerd. LARPer. Cosplayer. Slytherin. District 3 Tribute. Autism Aware." Yes she is multi talented, and just all around awesome. so here we go.

ITS - Who have the biggest influence on your life personally and musically?

Kieran - "Well, when I was in high school, I pretty much took all of my dreams of being a rock star and performing music for the rest of my life, and locked it up in a big Pandora's box that I would never dare to open again. I was getting good grades, and I wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer - I didn't want to waste my time dreaming about something that would never come true for me. I didn't have much self-confidence, if any at all. Then I went to see My Chemical Romance in concert, and as I was watching them perform, I realized I couldn't ignore it anymore - I wanted to make music. They were a big influence when I first began to write, as were The Used, Muse, No Doubt, Paramore, and a few other bands. I definitely count David Bowie and Joan Jett as two of my biggest influences as artists. Personally, anyone who is willing to stand up and let their opinions, morals, and beliefs be heard without fear, they inspire me."

ITS - 2013 was a big year for you, you got to tour in Japan. Explain how that was and what your favorite part about it was.

Kieran - "It was BRILLIANT. I don't really have a favourite part! I suppose ending four out of six gigs with an audience-demanded encore was pretty incredible, I don't think I've ever felt so amazing. I went with my two besties, and we stayed in a small two-room (room, not bedroom, haha!) apartment in a very, very traditional and low-tourist area. We wanted to really experience Japanese culture and try our hand at speaking it and really immersing ourselves. So yeah, we got a lot of weird stares, haha! I spoke a lot of Japanese too, I tried really hard to speak as much as I could, especially at the venues. I remember one gig, I was asking the sound guy to give me more vocals in my monitor, and these two adorable girls from the opening band were giggling and I kept hearing the word "kawaii" (cute). The transit system was incredible too, though the trains stopped running so damn early! One night, we missed our last train and had to walk an hour and a half to get home; I was desperate to pee, so we found a Denny's (yes, Denny's) and I begged in broken Japanese to use their toilet. We also got followed by some drunken Japanese businessmen who totally just wanted to party and have a "fekkin' good times!". The venues were great - it was tough singing in places that allowed you to smoke inside though. My second gig, I completely lost my voice, and I had a single day to rest before I had to perform again. I was terrified - I downed so many packets of Vitamin C tablets and they had this amazing hot lemony drink in the vending machines over there, which became a staple too. I was drinking like, six a day! In the end, I started wearing those medical facemasks everywhere I went - it filtered the air a bit and helped my throat stay moist."

ITS - You also were voted as the Female Vocalist of the Year in 2013 by Canadian Beats, and the co-winner through Bare Bones Entertainment. Describe the feeling behind that.

Kieran - "Honestly, just being nominated was a very humbling surprise. I was up against some really incredible artists too, like Lights and Echosmith. The fact that I won proves what a force to be reckoned with the #Strangers can be - this victory was theirs just as much as it was mine, if not more. I owe it to them to make 2014 an even better year than 2013."

ITS - So I like to have a little bit if a fun question in my interviews, if you had one choice of food you could only eat, what would it be and why?

Kieran - "Hmmmm! I have this horrible thing I do where I become obsessed with a food, eat the hell out of it, and then grow bored of it. Same with beverages. I wish I loved Creme Soda as much as I used to. My fridge is currently full of chocolate pudding cups because the store had a sale on - I shit you not, there's like, forty pudding cups in there. It's like that one episode of Scrubs. Right now, I'd say probably chocolate ice cream (because it's always been one of my favourite foods), the cinnastix from Domino's Pizza, or a roast chicken dinner. Mmmmm."

ITS - So coming over from the UK to Vancouver how has that spiked your career?

Kieran - "Moving to Vancouver was where my career really began. I'd visited a few times, and I fell in love with the city. I had friends in Canada so I had people to support me while I was getting my Visa and all of that legal jargon. In England I lived in a small town, so there wasn't really much for me to do in the way of music. I think moving out here was an inevitability for me though, whether I wanted to pursue music or not - or moving somewhere, anyway. I'd always had dreams bigger than the little village I grew up in, and I wanted to follow them no matter what it took."

ITS - What can the strangers expect from you in 2014?

Kieran - "I'm working on a new EP right now. At the end of the month I'm heading down to LA to start songwriting and pre-production at Hell's Half Acre Studio with Steve Kravac (Blink 182, MXPX, Less Than Jake). That's definitely my biggest project at the moment! I'm also looking to tour a bit more across North America, and hopefully further!"


If you want to follow Kieran on social media you can on


Twitter - @kieranstrange
Instagram - @Kieranstrange
Youtube - KieranStrange


get her EP now off bandcamp kieranstrange.bandcamp.com