Although they just celebrated 13 years together as life partners, the music duo of Clay and Kelsy blossomed in 2021, having been named one of Shazam’s “Top Movers.” Each having their own love for music at a young age, they eventually found their true voice in the music world as a unit. Producing from the comfort of their own home, Clay and Kelsy pull inspiration from life experiences they share and continuously craft electro-pop art.
Clay and Kelsy’s sultry, symphonic rendition of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ “Three Little Birds” topped the Apple Music soundtrack charts, amassing over 478,000 organic streams on Spotify. This track was recently featured in Apple TV’s award-winning series, The Morning Show. As music artists, producers, and instrument designers founding CKI, a queer woman-owned software instrument company, partnered with notable industry powerhouse Native Instruments, their innovative take on the industry as female forward powerhouses is unstoppable.
How did you decide to make music together after being in each other’s life for so long already?
Clay: We’ve always done something musical from the start of us being together. And we finally reached a point where we were both ready to have a music group with us being the lead artists.
Kelsy: I think Clay fell in love with me after she heard me sing. I also remember going into her bedroom and seeing what was really the start of our studio now and I just never wanted to leave. About a year into our relationship Clay got accepted into a music technology school in The Netherlands. Everyone always asked “How can we stay away for so long” and I realized how set I was on being with her. We have just always had each other’s back and held our dreams at the highest priority.
Why is the record called I Am?
Clay: “I Am” is Act 1, in a deep story about transformation.
This EP is dark, written from a place in our lives that was faced with relentless emotional abuse. It embraces the power of self-love and the strength that comes from choosing yourself.
It’s not about forgetting, it’s not about forgiving, it’s about owning your pain. To be willing and somehow still able to accept what you cannot change, and gain the wisdom to take control back of your life.
Kelsy: This is the first EP in a three-part series and consists of five songs (Insecure, You Hurt Me, I Miss You, Memories of Me, I Am). These songs will take you on a journey about self-destruction, broken relationships, reinventing oneself, and the hurt and anger that comes from it.
“Memories of Me” is all about self-development. What prompted you to write it?
Clay: I didn’t think this song would be anything more than a voice memo on my phone. I had experienced a close family friend in the process of closing their house, and seeing all the unfinished projects and talking about painful memories really hit me. It reflected back into how much I had been holding myself back as a now proud and beautiful trans woman, and realizing how easy it is to push things out of your head. Memories can be bittersweet.
What is the process of creating music between the two of you? How is a song of yours born?
Clay: The starting place can come from anywhere and from either of us, there is no set point. Sometimes it starts with a melody or a lyric, but once we feel something we have to see it through to the end.
Kelsy: Memories of me, was recorded how Clay’s original voice memo was, an endless loop with her exact lyrics and melody — and if only she would ever let me share it cause it’s so cute and so vulnerable.
But sometimes it’s like that, the song just pours out of you and it’s those moments where you are thankful you captured it.
The recording process is either an evolved idea from that spark, or an attempt to not lose what that original magic was in that first recording. It’s a balance with production because you are trying to keep that sacred thing safe and not coated in really heavy makeup.
Tell us about CKI. What is it and did you want to create it?
Clay: Clay and Kelsy Instruments is our cute little software company! We started CKI during the pandemic when all our sessions had stopped. I always wanted to build musical instruments and went to school in that field. As a producer, I have had ideas for plug-ins that I wanted to use during sessions. When we had a lot of extra time on our hands, we built the Osc Collection as a series of VST synthesizers that could be used from mainstream productions to film scores.
Kelsy: This was something I thought we would always do, cause there really aren’t many women or queer representation in the VST world. The pandemic really gave us the opportunity to create something out of nothing. I’m really proud of what we were able to accomplish, and we have more to come down the line.
What does being queer entrepreneurs and artists mean to you?
Kelsy: It’s still a new feeling for me to feel openly proud to be queer. Growing up in a conservative family my recent openness with myself has led me to see what was in my music all this time. I think in an industry where it is very male dominant, to be a queer woman makes me feel a sense of pride and joy I’ve never felt before. What we are doing is really important and a force of nature. I’m here for it, and excited to face whatever challenges that continue to come our way.
Clay: Being transgender and queer is my superpower! Everything that it took to get to this point has taken so much, but has been worth every day of struggle. My art is just a way to express and support as many people as we can, like other artists have given me through their own journey.
