With cozy love songs, Devin Kennedy finds success in Southeast Asia

Devin Kennedy –CADEN HUSTON

Devin Kennedy is a self-confessed hopeless romantic. His music “absolutely reflects” that.

“If you were to dig through my music, you would see that thread. I’m a hopeless romantic, yes. Or maybe just romantic across the board. I love writing love songs. I think love is the most beautiful thing and if I’m in love, I’m always down to write about it,” he told the Inquirer in a recent virtual interview arranged by Secret Signals.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons that helped endear the rising music artist to his Southeast Asian audience. The region has always had a soft spot for love songs with simple, heartfelt melodies. With the sense of romance, whimsy and cozy his music provides, Devin now finds himself amassing big streaming numbers in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

“I was surprised … Southeast Asia has raised its hand for me, year after year, project after project. There’s so much support and love coming from everywhere out there and I feel that. It’s amazing,” the American singer-songwriter said. “I think that’s especially cool as an independent artist,” he said.

A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Devin is also a producer and multi-instrumentalist who weaves his life experiences in a mesh of pop, R&B and alternative genres. On Spotify, he has 1.87 million monthly listeners. His biggest hits, “Forget About You” and “Something ‘Bout that Feeling,” have been streamed 75 million and 26.7 million times, respectively.

“I don’t go out here, saying, ‘I want to promote in a specific country.’ I want to reach as many people as I can,” he added. “For one area to continuously raise hands for me means we’re all like-minded. We love the same things. I believe there’s something really special about that,” he added.

His second studio album, “In My Imagination,” builds on the sound and success of his previous releases. Described as a “labor of love,” the 10-track record was written in Los Angeles and Nashville, and charts the different kinds and stages of love. “This album is about life’s beauty and tragedy. It’s about the stories we tell ourselves and the profound longing for connection and love,” he said.

Devin Kennedy —CADEN HUSTON

Excerpts from our interview with Devin:

You said you started out with more than 50 songs for the album. How did you trim it down to 10?

It was so hard. I chose to produce the songs that I think were the best-written and had a clear message … I try not to have too many love songs, or too many sad songs. I try to figure out if the songs make sense together in relation to the project. Do they cover the full range of emotions in a relationship?

Tell us about some of the tracks in the album and the process behind them?

“In My Imagination” was one of the first ones that we wrote last August. It felt like it represented what I wanted to do on this album, sound-wise, theme-wise and message-wise. It’s a song for all the hopeless romantics out there. You know how you meet somebody at a coffee shop, and you imagine your whole life with them?

“Falling for You” is about the early stages of a relationship. You know that you really like this person, but you’re also a little scared about not knowing what’s going to happen next.

“Annie” is about how you have to tailor your love for the person you’re loving. Love isn’t one-size-fits-all, you know?

We also have sad songs, like “This is Where I Leave You,” which is about a relationship coming to an end. But still, you find it in yourself to acknowledge that you care for that person.

“What Friends are For” is for a friend of mine who has gone through tough times. It’s about what I believe is the true meaning of friendship. It’s hard to find really good friends these days, so I wanted to contextualize that through a song.

I find your sound romantic, warm and whimsical—like something you would listen to on a rainy day. Did you always intend your music to sound this way?

It just happened. Looking back at the evolution of my sound, it was just me trying to purposefully write songs that felt laid-back, warm and R&B-inspired. From writing what must have been a thousand songs, I found a very specific niche … I’m very happy where I landed artistically. And honestly, that’s the type of music I like to listen to, as well. I’m happy to reach people with it.

Your production is simple and some of your most successful songs are acoustic. Do you think that less is more?

Always. But it took time for me to learn that … There are a lot of people who dress up their music a lot and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s the style of music they want to make. But when I started out trying to zero in on what I wanted my music to sound like, I found that the best thing to do is to take things away.

When I’m producing—I actually call it reducing—and there are four elements in it (guitar, vocals, drums and bass), the best thing I can do is make all those four the best thing they could be. I think that’s the ticket to high-quality music. Don’t stand in the way of a great song. If the universe gives you a good song out of thin air, then all you can do is try not to mess it up.

Have you always wanted to pursue music as a career?

I grew up in a bit of a musical family. My dad had a lot of music playing around and played the guitar around the house and my grandpa was a pianist.

I first picked up the drums. I was trying to start bands and recruit members and write songs and do all those in school. But every bandmate I ever had grew out of it and went to study chemical engineering or something totally different, which is cool.

From the beginning, I knew that this was definitely what I wanted to do. My dream when I was young was to be a rock star. I’m not there yet, but I’m working on it.

The instrument-playing came first before the singing?

I was actually scared to sing in front of audiences. Back when I played drums for bands, I sang maybe one song live and I was really freaked out about it. But later on, as I was writing songs and figuring out how to play them live, I just thought, maybe I should just bite the bullet and start singing. I feel it’s where this is all headed to, anyway. Now I can’t see myself doing anything else.

What were your takeaways from music school?

It depends on what you study but it was really eye-opening in terms of learning what a quality song is, regardless of genre. I didn’t listen to hip-hop or country music before I entered college. They weren’t my thing. But when I got in there, you learn to appreciate everything. It’s not about what you like or what you think you like.

What are the things that you think can only be learned through experience?

Education will get you to the starting line but that alone will not get you further. You know you can get where you want to go, and you could be super well-prepared, but you will not have any idea what’s coming for you in this industry. This industry is crazy! So, the only way you can figure it out is by doing it.

I definitely saw the benefit of having an education. I learned so much from it. But also, when I got into doing this as a career, I realized, “Wow, this is an everyday process.” There’s a learning curve. But I would recommend a formal music education, if it’s in the cards.