Pop duo Karmin stop by Walmart Soundcheck Risers for an exclusive interview and performance of songs from their debut album ‘Hello’. Karmin is Boston-based duo Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan. The real-life couple met while attending Berklee College of Music in Boston. Their debut album is called ‘Hello’. The pair talked about giving their debut album the ‘Hello’ title, the misperception that they were an overnight success, Amy being a wedding singer before this, having a whirlwind year, the story behind their single ‘Brokenhearted’ and incorporating rap into their music.
On their debut album ‘Hello’, Amy said:
We thought it was a great title for an album because we really wanted to introduce ourselves to the entire world after the whirlwind year that we had. They call us YouTube sensations now but the truth is it was the best platform. There’s like a billion people waiting to see cool videos.
On being labeled an overnight success, Amy said:
We’re like, it was like a year and (Nick) was working in a boxing gym. Not boxing but taking phone calls with the buzzer going off every three minutes every round.
On Amy’s prior job:
I was a wedding singer like Adam Sandler on the weekends. It was just a lot of work. It looks like it was easy, which is great, but I remember when we were excited to have 100 views.
On their busy year, Nick said:
The last 12 months have kind of been pretty ridiculous. We signed to Epic Records and just had our first #1, ‘Brokenhearted’, which was #1 on the Billboard dance charts last week.
On ‘Brokenhearted’, Nick said:
‘Brokenhearted’ is kind of based on when we first met. We were in Boston, it was the beginning of our sophomore year. It was at my friends house. We knew of each other but we hadn’t really had a full conversation yet. We ran into each other, we started talking, and we both got along brilliantly, like it was a too good to be true kind of thing. It’s kind of told from Amy’s perspective the next day kind of waiting for me to call.
Amy then interjected:
But you didn’t call, so I was brokenhearted. I mean, it was crazy, because we came from totally different circles. I was like goody two shoes, he was like a party animal. Jazz, trombone guy. We were shocked that we got along. When he didn’t call the next day I was like, hold on, I always get what I want. What’s going on here.
On rap being a big part of the record, Amy said:
We’re very into the urban sound, so there’s a ton of rapping. We actually asked our fans on the internet how much rap do you want on the album, and they said 50%. We were like, are you sure about that? Growing up in a conservative home in Nebraska, I wasn’t allowed to have CD’s with a parental advisory sticker. It was a bit no-no, but somehow I got a copy of Dr. Dre’s ‘Chronic’ 2001 album, and I was like this is amazing, how do I get myself into this lifestyle. Nowadays, there’s a lot of rap on the radio, and when we were doing the Karmin covers on YouTube, it was only natural that we cover Nicki Minaj, and here was Pitbull, and here was Ludacris, and Chris Brown’s ‘Look at Me Now’ came out, we were like let’s do it.
Check out the interview at soundcheck.walmart.com and check out pictures from their appearance below the cut.
