Kal Mara is a singer-songwriter and producer from the greater Salt Lake City area. After releasing just a few singles since 2020, Kal recently released her debut album, CATALYST. The album is a production heavyweight, and one that the team at SLUG was greatly impressed by. In a review of her 2020 single “Middle,” her work was described by SLUG contributing writer Avrey Evans as “just plain sexy.”
In this episode, I sit down with Kal at the SLUG office and have a very vulnerable conversation. She discusses how the writing of CATALYST was sprung on by a series of losses. First, two of her grandparents that she was very close with passed away. Later, she lost multiple friendships that she felt confused by as she stepped further into her queerness for the first time. Plus, Kal discusses her use of alchemy in the making of the album and how it helped her turn some of the grief into self-acceptance.
Another moment that was cut from the episode, but still an interesting viewpoint Kal shared, was her use of writing from ego. She’s refering to lyrics that are written from a standpoint of confidence, and “more proud like, ‘I’m right,’ energy—more like ‘eff off’ energy,” she says. “I’ve always had this shame about writing from ego. I listened to an interview from FLETCHER a while ago and she was talking about how important it is to write from ego, because [it’s] one of the most profound emotions that we experience as humans.” The tip ended up changing her writing style in many ways. She wrote two tracks on the album from an egotistical standpoint—“Blocked” and “I Won’t Tell Your Boyfriend”—and they’re now the most-played songs on the album.
Kal says the ego tip also helped her make it to the other side of some of the grief she experienced. “When I was able to step into that, it does give you a form of confidence that I think is really necessary to really [process] loss,” she says. “But it feels almost more vulnerable than the other tracks do because I think writing from ego exposes you to more potential judgment from others … even though a lot of times, that’s what they relate to the most.”
Overall, Kal relays her relatable story from a place of deep emotional healing. When I ask if she felt she had “arrived,” after the heartbreak, she quickly says “yes.” It wasn’t the answer I was expecting, nor did I foresee her being so confident in it. It was encouraging to hear from someone who felt like they had healed a chapter of their life so fully. Not only that, but she closed it with swooning vocals over a bed of Frank Ocean-like synths and beats. In other words, she made her bed, and now she’s lying in it.
Kal has plans for more releases in the next six months, and expects to be playing the album live soon. For more information, find her online at @kalmaraaa and stream her music wherever you listen. –Mary Culbertson
