Alexa: [00:00:00] Singers, do you ever feel unworthy of calling yourself an artist? And singing teachers, do you know the truly positive impact that you can have on such a singer? Well, we are back with another Student Spotlight, this time chatting with Kristina Mann, whose singing lessons with Hannah Smikle of Vocal Performance Coaching helped her to take her singing seriously and enabled her to call herself an artist. 

 Kristina Mann, just before we came on, we were talking about your music and an album that you wrote called gold and considering genre. And you said, I just sometimes don't know how to describe myself in a genre. And then we went down the rabbit hole of, do we need to do that as artists? Can we not evolve with ourselves through the decades to go with the flow and test the boundaries of genre? 

So I'm not going to ask you what genre you feel you fit in. Thank you. [00:01:00] Instead, I'm going to ask you to describe the different parts of your profile as a vocalist and the influences that have been brought to your music over the years and understand your aesthetic a bit more.  

Kristina: Ah, that's a great question. 

Thank you. I have a very Passionate heart about being very soulful and real. So I think there's an element definitely of soul that comes through with what I'm singing about, with what I'm writing about my voice is something that I've had to really make peace with and understand its tone. I don't feel like it's a typical voice. 

And the journey really throughout my exploration of my sound has been, okay, we've got some soul going on. What's my voice sound like without me having to try to be a singer? Does that make sense? So my sound I feel is still evolving. So the first album, as you said, Gold, was very [00:02:00] It was studio based, it was a great exploration of figuring out what sounds the ideas that I had on my, you know, my voice recorder to then what would happen in the studio and then going around and actually touring those as like backing tracks. 

It was an amazing experience to, to do that. And they were very electronic in their ways, but each one was so very different. And so I had a lot of spoken word on there, which Before that, prior to that, I'd never realized I was a spoken word artist. And that was something that I'll probably talk about later about in the make space making space for some kind of creativity, which really helped me develop these unknown gifts that I had. 

So I put this spoken word onto the album. And so that became part of it. And so I'm like, okay, so my genre then is something to do with rhythm because I love rhythm. It's now something to do with electronic and then it's soulful. And then it's, it's got, uh, I like to call one of the songs, the weeper, you know, where you [00:03:00] just want to make people weep. 

And so it's like this whole combination on this one album. And that was five years ago. And now I'm onto a new sound where I'm using a vocal looper. And again, this is where it's like, okay, it even sounds different now because things are so much stripped back. It literally is my pure vocal. And if I'm honest, that's pretty vulnerable. 

So it's always evolving. So yeah, if anybody's listening to this and they hear my stuff, they can like write in and tell me what my genre is, if they want to.  

Alexa: And who have you been influenced by over the years? Who do you love listening to yourself?  

Kristina: I just love the big female voices. I love Emeli Sandé in her content. 

People have said that I sound, or my sound or style is like an Imogen Heap. I do love a vocoder. Um, and really the depth of, um, India Arie. I don't know if it, that was me listening to her [00:04:00] as I was growing up, but I just loved there was an element of real, like, groundedness and earthiness about her life. It wasn't just, pop love songs. I don't think I'm a pop person. I think I'm a life storytelling person. , I, I mean, I love listening to, you know, to like the Whitney Houston's and the, I don't know, the Mariah Carey's, like I, I can admire them, but that is not my, my voice. That is not my style. 

My riffs are not my forte. I have to really work at them, especially in my lessons. To be able to hit and place notes, but then it's figuring out then what really my voice is able to do and to, yeah to kind of concentrate on that without comparing myself to these other voices that I could think, oh yeah, they're amazing and they're inspirational, but also like, okay, But what is, what is it that I have to bring? 

Alexa: What was your first memory of singing?  

Kristina: Oh, my first memory. Now this is like where you're like, well, I've been singing forever. [00:05:00] But I do feel like I've just had this performance head on me. And singing, I do remember being asked to sing It was once in Royal David's City, at, it was actually when I was at secondary school. 

And I remember singing that in, like, the back of a church hall where we had the school assembly. And there was, there was just something every time I sang. I felt this is me, like this is what I'm born to do even at such a young age. And even like through some times of like understanding that I love singing, but I'm also, I was very creative as well, so I had other things going on and I was a dancer and, um, I suppose anything creative I just wanted to get my hands on. 

But what, But in that kind of journey, when people are maybe saying things that really stick to you, as in, oh maybe you're just more of a dancer than a singer, and honestly that was cut deep, and you're like, [00:06:00] but I can honestly say that like, you know, through, through those kind of things, situations that there was just something in me that just knew that I was supposed to write, knew that I was supposed to sing, and nothing was going to stop me. 

It was like just biding time of going, okay, you, you can say that and you can think that and maybe that will be my season for that moment. But actually, like, I know there's something in this. So I would, yeah, I felt encouraged the fact that that was there. Without even when it was trying to be knocked. 

Does that make sense?  

Alexa: Yeah, totally. Totally. It's almost like it just doesn't, it just bounces off sometimes in terms of well, okay, that was a hurtful comment, but nothing's gonna actually stop me doing it because it feels like a fundamental part of my being. Exactly. So it's like someone saying, I don't want you to have a nose anymore. 

Well, sorry about that, if my nose offends you, but isn't there?  

Kristina: Yeah, and I'm going to breathe through it, thanks.  

Alexa: Yeah, yeah, sorry about that. You've dabbled in performance [00:07:00] and music then all your life, and you even worked with a charity doing music, and it was only really in 2016, I think you mentioned, that you actually started to take this a bit more seriously. 

So can you take us on that journey from you dabbling to you then actually putting a serious hat on?  

Kristina: Yes, I will. I had already had my life planned out and set out and I was, going to get my degree and join the police or something like that. Um, but really it was a gap year that turned into six years. 

Uh, where I worked for a charity and it was actually a charity that went into schools, took religious education, uh, lessons, but use music as a way to communicate things. So I was in a pop band, um, which is very unlike me, but very, um, or just where I needed to start. And so there was dancing involved and singing involved, and that was for a good, like three or four years. 

And then the charity itself kind of evolved and I took a step back from singing. I was more involved in the dancing and the choreography, [00:08:00] but all the way through that, I was like practicing my poetry and because I'd written when I was younger and I like started writing and, and even see, I can't even believe that I, I did this, but like my friend had a little studio set up in their basement and I'm Singing there, you know, while he's got things drying everywhere and he's in his living quarters, but I'm now I've got this EP and the first EP that I ever wrote was called the beauty of imperfection. 

And it was, it was just five tracks, really rough, but they were just my exploration, the first, probably the first exploration of what it was to write about these things I was experiencing. Um, this is like late twenties. Sorry, late teens, early twenties. Um, you know, you're exploring life and things are happening. 

And, um, so that was my exploration. And then I ended up going to uni as a mature student around my mid twenties to do interior design. And that kind of opened up a different path of what [00:09:00] I did for my job. But the music stayed with me, um, kind of on the back burner, um, and I think this is where the, the whole idea of, of make space, I call it make space and maybe it will become a thing, uh, came into play, um, it's, it's like the idea of if you make space, then you can make space. 

It will be filled. Like I tend to make space in the gigs that I host. Like I love space. I don't just want to rush through songs. And one of the greatest things that I love is actually to be spontaneous and in the moment, see what can come up because that's where. You can connect with the audience and there's like, I don't know, just that you're on the edge of the seat of like, ah, will I be able to say things and sing things that are going to resonate? 

You know when musicians like jam together? Like, I love that. Um, so the idea really came in, yeah, 2016. I was like, I'm going to dedicate a Friday where [00:10:00] I want to explore what's already in me. It was, it wasn't like I needed to go out and search for it, it, and I had, this might sound random, but I felt like I could picture myself on top of a, like a hill, and, and as it zoomed out, and I was sat on this, like, well of gold, and It was like, not that I had to go out and search for it, I just had to dig for it. 

So I was like, okay, what's inside of me? Oh, I'm a spoken word artist. Well, never knew that. Oh, well, I'm writing and I'm singing and, and I love the kind of electronic sound. I did not know that that was in there. And it was this exploration, which I, I would advocate everybody goes on, whether it's music or any kind of creative stuff. 

just to allow yourself to express and to search what's already inside and it kind of became then the beginnings of the album, um, of gold and just one of the random thing that happened was as soon as I made that space Things happened, like as soon as I took that, [00:11:00] that step forward and I had a couple who I never, I never met before and they came up to me, um, in a meeting that I was at. 

And they was like, it sounds really random, but our daughter's getting married in Australia in six weeks. Would you write a song for her? And I'm like, that's crazy. So there's things that came up from that time. Um, that then I was like. Okay, this is the album. This is where I've got to go. I've got to take this more seriously. 

Alexa: Yeah. You and I both are fans and follow Inspired to Write, Amy McNee, who's an author who advocates for the importance of art, prioritizing art. I love what she stands for. If you don't follow her already, please go and look at her stuff because it's so great. I remember when I finished university, I went and worked at a headquarters, had absolutely no interest in gaming. 

at all. It was just one of those filler jobs. And I thought this isn't serving me. [00:12:00] I, I'm, you know, I'm only my early twenties. I did a degree in theater for a reason. I should be at auditioning. So I just quit that job because I thought, no, this is not going to be it. I was trying to make time for it as you, as you mentioned. 

And there's been other times in my life where I have. quit things to then go and actually pursue something that meant more to me. That can be really difficult to do, to actually make the time for our art and the things that we feel really speak to us, whether that's because of financial burdens or family time or whatever that might be. 

How would you advise artists like yourself to make time, for you it was making time on the Friday, how can we find time to actually commit to our art amongst the busyness of life?  

Kristina: I think just because we enjoy it doesn't mean it's naturally gonna happen and we put it to the top of the priority list, especially when it's creative, we [00:13:00] can just really easily just write it off, excuse the pun, I like it, but it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, You've got to know in yourself that that is actually a value of yours, because if you don't value it, you won't put the time to it. 

And so I think as my value of it, of my singing, of my writing increased, I was like, no, this has now got to come to the top of the priority list. I will put other things aside because this now is taking the center stage. Um, and it can only be, I mean, everybody will have a different set of circumstances in life and will be busy. 

motherhood or crazy jobs or like lots of things. What the decision is always ours of what we do with our time. Um, and that's not to get on anyone, but like, even if it's just an hour a day, um, I've been part of a write club actually, that's really helped me, me do my writing. And we were [00:14:00] encouraged in that to just do morning pages, um, which is just like three pages, just write anything down. 

It doesn't even need to make sense. Just get your pen moving. Um, so it could just be that simple, you know, wake up in the morning and you've got 15 minutes and you're like, okay, I can just, I can just start writing. And it's those kinds of simpler things that maybe could be seen as making space that maybe, you know, the luxury of a whole day is, is luxury. 

I can, I appreciate that. But the, the small amounts that can add up during that time, um, which is where the, The, the singing lessons actually came into it because I was taking my voice seriously. I was like, I have to prioritize this. I can't just rest on my, Oh yeah, I'm just a singer. It was like, no, in that moment, in that, in that timeframe, I was, I need to invest in this because I see the importance of it, which is then where I approached Hannah actually. 

Um, and been with her ever since.  

Alexa: [00:15:00] Before you started working with Hannah Smikle at Vocal Performance Coaching, who we've had the pleasure of having on the podcast a couple of times before, and she's a firm friend of ours. We're big fans of Hannah. What were you actually looking for in a singing teacher? 

Kristina: Um, I had had a couple of singing teachers before I met Hannah. Um, and at that time it was the speech level singing was the, the kind of popular, uh, thing that I actually found really helpful for my voice to, to take away the added pressure that I seem to put on a voice where a voice could just be beautiful and it's own without having to try. 

So I think I was looking for, um, a teacher who knew about the, my voice as in the physically what I could do, uh, how it could expand, how it could be healthy. Um, but also I think this is the most important is the trust and the relationship [00:16:00] that I needed to have because it, it, it is such a vulnerable thing. 

I, whether you've been singing for, I don't know, one day or 10 years, it's still a vulnerable thing because. And this is one thing she taught me, you know, your, your vocal, your vocal carries your identity, it's your vocal identity. Nobody has a vocal identity like you, like your voice carries so much. And so I think in meeting Hannah and knowing that she, she just got, um, just started to teach again, I was like, this, this has to be like, I don't know where the synergy lies. 

So it was, It was a case of looking at what I'd had before, knowing that I'd, I'd really benefited from that. I have, you know, after having a break, it was like, okay, this opportunity has come up now. I need to run with this. Basically chased her down.  

Alexa: Yeah. Where did you find her?  

Kristina: Well, we, we'd known each other. 

Um, we went to church, the same church together. Um, and [00:17:00] we used to do a lot of singing. a lot of singing up front, which, which is great because in that context, like, you know, it, it, it wasn't necessarily with an organ or anything. It was a big live band. It was, you know, it was, it was like live music every Sunday. 

Um, but with that, there was such a shift from them doing a lot of singing in that arena to then becoming an artist, you know, there was such a and that. You know, in meeting Hannah, in, in working with her, like, she's constantly needed to remind me that I'm not, yes, I have this ability to sing in church and, and, you know, kind of almost not be the center of attention and kind of direct it elsewhere, which is rightly so. 

Being an artist is something else. It's like, you have the stage, you have the voice, you are the I don't know, you, you are the one who is captivating and, and to make the most of, of what that is. So I [00:18:00] think it's taken me, um, a number of years to be able to, to flip into that mindset that it's actually okay to really develop and become the fullness of who you are, um, in my vocal ability and the way that I would express myself and the way that I move. 

I mean, I'm a natural mover. I'm like, my hands are all over the place, but even on stage, It's being comfortable with who I am as an artist and like she's been pivotal in that journey. Absolutely.  

Alexa: Yeah. You mentioned there about how it took you a number of years to get to that place, and we can often see it in lessons that there can be like a frustration or some fear or some co confidence issues. 

So how did you work with Hannah to get to the place where you're at now? What were the strategies that Hannah was putting in place? What were the lessons like in order for you to continue through maybe those vulnerable moments and confidence drops [00:19:00] to get to you as the artist now?  

Kristina: I think the, this has happened over years, and I think it's needed to with me of building trust of having her check in with me at the beginning. 

Because there's been some times, and I did take a break of lessons over COVID. It was a very, very dark time, probably for many people. But as a creative person, when one part of you kind of is dying, a lot of other things die as well. And so my vocal ability and just how I could express myself kind of, it felt like it all dried up. 

And so coming back to continuing having lessons with her and already having that history, And her belief in what she'd seen me do beforehand and it was just, it was probably the mix of confidence [00:20:00] that she would say the things that she would say the things that she would challenge me with and kind of go no you've got this it was It was the way that she had such attention to detail because she knew me, but she knew my voice, she cared about my voice. 

Um, and also she shares this ability to kind of just pull out the best in you. Um, from a, probably from a very practical, physical point of view, she'd be able to give me exercises that I would be able to do where I'm like, I'm not, I'm not able to sing this. Like, I don't know how my voice can reach that or can without blasting it. 

Like, how do we do it? And she would give me these warmups to do. Um, and then like all of a sudden at the end of the lesson, I'm able to sing it without like, Adding anything to it. It was just like a pure sound that came out. And so, yeah, it was a combination of checking in. I mean, she's had me doing some wonderful things. 

I've been, you know, dipping down [00:21:00] to get some high notes. I've been rolling my neck. Um, I've been walking around to be honest with me. They're just, it's the greatest thing is distraction. Cause if I think about it too much. It loses the beauty of it. So if I'm distracted and I'm just rolling my head like this and I'm walking around with my swag on and, and things like the purest sound comes out and what else has she had me do? 

Lie down on the floor, you know, I'm looking in the mirror. Like there's just been a lot of different things. Oh, singing, singing through straws, warming up through straws. Now we're not on straws anymore. So, but I still love the straw. And so there's been so much, like, throughout the years that's really helped my vocal confidence. 

Um, yeah, she's, she's seen me in some good states and, and some bad states and managed to help me get through the lesson.  

Alexa: Yeah. It's one thing, isn't it? Going to a singing lesson and think, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go and learn a little something and then not expecting to be there, like, on all fours with your tongue out, um, making a [00:22:00] moo sound. 

It's, it is quite interesting. Yeah.  

Kristina: It's interesting and do you know what? It's a, it's a beautiful form of therapy. I never have learned so much about myself than in a singing lesson. Like that has been what I've discovered about my fears, about the bad habits I have because I'm afraid. Um, and I'll just tell you now, I'll be open. 

Um, I just pull back on some, like, big loud notes. I can't, I, I've, I struggle with landing it. I struggle with being able to place it, so I'll pull back, um, maybe into my head voice, but I just pull back and, I like, and she knows, and I know, when we're doing it. So, you know, those little, Things that have been habits, she will help me work through them, continue to work through them, so that they don't just become, I go to it automatically, like I'm aware of it, and then what can I do to correct it and change it. 

So it's definitely improved my sound.  

Alexa: So what sort of [00:23:00] exercises or sounds is Hannah implementing there for you to feel less hesitant or like you can continue in the sound that you intended?  

Kristina: Yeah, it's, it's mainly the confidence of being able to push the sound to the end and being able to just stop it without holding back. 

And so Even, even getting to the sounds, like we will go through my music and it's funny because I'm literally writing notes for me that makes sense to me, won't make sense to anybody else of, of how I would even, if I start a sentence or a line with I, I, rather than coming in really heavy, I would, I would change it to like an, an a sound or something that would, um, allow me to place it into pitch it without, now bear with me, my glottal onset, so. 

I have very strong ones and sometimes it's not helpful. So it's like the things that she takes me through to be able to soften getting into the note, but then also the confidence to finish the [00:24:00] note and be able to just stop it. Like, I need both.  

Alexa: It's interesting that you mentioned that the sessions are like therapy, and that you said something helpful is the check in at the beginning that Hannah does. 

And we had our first student spotlight with one of my students, Jackie Price, and she mentioned the same thing. It feels a little bit like therapy, and the check in at the beginning is really instrumental to higher lessons. A lot of sessions start like that. So for you, why is that an important element for the singing teacher to be like, Hey, how's How's it been going the last couple of weeks or so? 

Kristina: Because there's been times when I've actually not been able to sing because all of the emotion I've been carrying has just been carried here. Um, and on a couple of occasions, I've probably not even sang. I've just been in the space because I've not been able to release the tension, um, in it, in, in being able to, to sing out. 

And so, you know, all of the, the things [00:25:00] that we were experiencing throughout the week through years, like. It can carry, it can carry in certain places. And for me, it's either in my shoulders or in my vocal cords. And so that check in is vital for her and for me, because we both know where each other are at. 

Um, so if, if it's been particularly. tense or feels particularly tight, she'll get me to loosen up and, you know, we'll do some stretches or we'll, we'll get my mind off the, the thing that is, has really been holding me. Um, so I just, I feel like it's, it's paramount to knowing where I'm at and that she knows where I'm at. 

And, um, it's so sensitive, the voice to be able to carry. Those emotions. And I have found as soon as I have released that my sound comes back, it's not, you know, like when you try to speak and you're on the verge of tears, like it, it just doesn't happen. And it's like that with my voice. So if I can, um, offload that [00:26:00] in some warmup or some other way, even just, even just having a conversation with somebody who is a vocalist, who knows what it's like to, to perform, who knows what it's like to get people's feedback and. 

Good and bad, like, It's that in itself is being understood. And so even that is just calming to be able to then release that. So you can actually give the purest, the purest sound.  

Alexa: Once you've checked in and you've done your warmup, what tends to be the path the lesson takes and what really works for you as the learner? 

Kristina: Yeah, it's, um, it has been a case of looking at songs that I want to look at if I'm going to be performing or. A new song I've, I've written. So for example, the, the clip, um, open hands, it's only a short clip, but that was something that I brought to one of my lessons and I'd, I'd recorded it on my phone. It was a very quick, I have a melody. 

I have some [00:27:00] words and I'm singing it. And I was going to the studio the following day. And so I brought it to my lesson and. It ended up that we changed the key of it, you know, to be able to fit me to be able to go, okay, no, this sounds better in this. So we would look at any song that I needed to look at. 

Um, and then we would obviously have a warm up. Um, so she knows what's coming up, um, of how to warm up different parts of my voice. So if the song involved very, you know, kind of a high range or a chest range, she would warm up those kinds of areas of my voice. Checking in with my voice as well. Have I been ill? 

Um, what kind of state is it? Has it been in? Have I, have I pushed it too much? Um, have I been warming up and looking after it? So it's those kinds of things that then the warmup happens that intercede my voice, and then we would get onto to going through the song and working on parts. [00:28:00] We would do the whole song, but working on parts then that really just need some attention and some, even just like things like pronunciation and how, and being, being a Northerner, I tend to have a very dull sound. 

Um, or not dull, but the way that my placement is, or it can be very nasally. And so it's, it's, it's understanding how I can change even a vowel sound, um, to make the sound actually more open. Um, so yeah, that's, that's, that's tends to be how a lesson, um, would operate.  

Alexa: What hasn't worked for you as a learner in the past? 

Is, is there anything that you've come across that vocally maybe a visual doesn't work for you or actually demonstration would be better? Have you come across any of those things in your learning? Um, Hannah tends to be really good.  

Kristina: So, uh, nothing that would stand out, um, I think standing in front of a mirror. 

It was probably the hardest thing to do [00:29:00] because you're literally looking at yourself and I'm realizing everything I do without, I'm not conscious of, and so it's my left shoulder that goes up all the time. And so, so really it was helpful having the mirror. Nothing comes to mind with anything that hasn't worked, but she has a way of being able to describe things that I, if I can imagine it. 

then I can put myself in her shoes as she's singing it. It's very helpful as well, sometimes she sings it as, as it has been and as it would be. So that's really helpful, because I can go, okay, yeah, that's what I was doing. And, um, And then she's just changed that and I can hear that in her voice, so, and that tends to work, um, more often than not. 

Alexa: Yeah, so she gives you like a before and after of what  

Kristina: Yeah.  

Alexa: So you've got an audible clue to go with.  

Kristina: Yeah.  

Alexa: Yeah, [00:30:00] great. Between lessons, is there anything that you expect from your singing teacher to be doing?  

Kristina: I probably haven't expected it, but she's done it anyway.  

Alexa: Bloody hell, Hannah, you need to make some mistakes. 

You're making the rest of us look bad.  

Kristina: Honestly, she just does it. Um, so for example, I messaged her after a crazy weekend of singing too much and like lost my voice. And she was like, are you doing your steaming? Are you doing gentle warmups? Like when's your next like time for singing? And I'm like, oh, thanks, Hannah. 

Um, So she will, and that doesn't happen all the time, but like, I know that when I, um, when I need to check in with her, if, if, if I have really overdone it, um, she'll give me these snips of, of, of information that just help, uh, yeah, with the restoration of my silly decisions.  

Alexa: With your time working with Hannah, have you noticed that you've [00:31:00] changed anything in terms of how you prep or cool down or the approaches to live performance? 

Kristina: Yes. Um, she is an advocate for warming up and taking yourself seriously and professional, you know, as a professional. And so I think I did very quick warmups in the past, whereas now I'm like, these are crucial to my sound and, um, what I'm going to be able to, to actually perform. So I think there's been a big improvement of, um, The increase of value that I have my voice has also then increased the discipline that I need and, and, you know, want to want to put in in warming up and cooling down. 

And I think on another level as well it's, it's more a case of. feeling more confident. Um, so I put myself out there more. So there's, there's things that have changed physically, but then also like, as a person, um, taking [00:32:00] more, taking more risks and taking more opportunities and putting myself out there. So, which is why this gig that I'm hosting in a few weeks time, um, is so important. 

It was really like a challenge that came from her to go, so what are you going to do between now and the end of the year, Tina? I was like, a gig? So from, from very, um, practical, uh, ways to very, um, yeah, for my voice, but also for, for how I portray myself and put myself forward. She, she's really helped with that. 

Alexa: Can you tell us a little bit more about the, the challenging element? Because. As singing teachers, we do want to do that in terms of, you know, meet the singer where they're at, but also help them progress in many different areas. Sometimes that is by challenging with questions or, or challenging even some of their limiting beliefs, helping them reframe. 

So what's helped you and what's, what strategies have helped you in terms of [00:33:00] being challenged by the teacher? What did you need?  

Kristina: Yeah, I, I think I needed goals or things to, to happen between our meeting times. That's been really helpful so that there was things that I could actually concentrate on or implement. 

So, and because we have a very, you know, a good friendship as well, she can. She can say some, some good things and I will listen. Um, you know, so, okay. So the next time we meet the night, will you have a venue booked? And I'm like, sure. Um, but it's, it's, it's practical challenges as well. Like having the goals. 

to be able to do, um, when, whilst I'm not seeing her. Um, and then, yeah, I think just the, the encouragement that she gives, uh, in the lesson as well, uh, it's just been really paramount to, to making these decisions and, and moving it forward.  

Alexa: I also like the way she, you've relayed that and the way that she says it to you in terms of, by the next [00:34:00] time you meet, will you have that done? 

Rather than, Between now and then try to do this because that word try, I mean, it's been brought up and when I say it sometimes to other like coaches that I'm working with, it might be like, oh, not try because try gives you almost the permission not to do it. So yeah, I like, I like the way that you've relayed her saying it to you. 

And why do you continue singing lessons? What's the benefit for you as the artist? And how long a lesson do you have? Um,  

Kristina: I have an hour lesson. I have them once every month. Um, I used to have them more regularly. Um, and there was a period of time over COVID where I didn't have them at all. And I think I started back having them a couple of years ago now. 

Um, Because my, my flow was coming back and my creativity was coming back and I was seeing the importance again of being able to sing, good to sing healthily. And because I had a real, you know, a friendship with Hannah and I was able to [00:35:00] trust her, it just felt like the obvious choice to, to start investing again in this voice that I'd Um, was carrying a lot of emotion, um, and be able to kind of dispense that and, and, and lo like offload that in lessons. 

So, my, my times coming back to Hannah and, you know, a couple of years ago was really me just getting used to singing again and, and, and enjoying the sound and just singing without, without. performing without anything. It was just like getting back to that joy. Um, but in that journey, we're now like, okay, flow is coming back and life is coming back and songs are happening. 

And all of that stuff that happened a number of years ago over COVID has fueled the next album. So, um, you know, I'm grateful now. I probably couldn't have said that a few years ago, but it's, it's rich material that she has helped me cultivate and [00:36:00] I don't like the word package up, but it's because it's not just my vocal. 

It's everything that I am as an artist. Like her being able to point things out to me in the lesson, which I found invaluable, you know, the way that I would even decorate a space or what the space would look like, how I would dress, um, like constantly reminding me of those things that are bigger than what I've been seeing. 

And so. I have the history of how much, I suppose, maturing, I would say, of my voice has happened over the last few years that I'm like, I can't stop this now, especially when it seems to, When I said before about, you know, taking it more seriously, it's like, now I'm definitely taking it more seriously now, you know? 

No, it's like, when you've not had something that you love and you cannot make it come alive and you're literally waiting and hoping and praying [00:37:00] that life will come back to that creative part of you, that felt so integral to you. Now that's back, I'm like, I don't want to let that go. Um, and so, yeah, she's, she has to be part of that journey. 

She hasn't got a choice now.  

Alexa: Yeah. Sorry, Hannah, you're locked in. Love it. For you then, how would you pinpoint the, maybe the top three qualities that you would say singing teachers would need in order to work with somebody like yourself?  

Kristina: Top three qualities would be, um, the awareness of their student of where they were at, um, the ability to have the, uh, the knowledge about the physical aspects of the voice and being able to work from a health related point of view. 

Um, and it's really valuable that she has experience singing, um, and gigging, and [00:38:00] looking after her voice. And so that's been really helpful for me to be able to soundboard of somebody who's already got that experience and can give me some tips and tricks. And so I think those, those are the three that I would, that come to my mind straight away. 

Alexa: So tell us about you, Kristina Mann, artist, what's coming up, you've got your gig in a few weeks, we're currently at the very beginning of November recording this. So your gig is at the end of November?  

Kristina: Yeah, it's on the 23rd of November, which is exactly five years to the date of me doing my first album launch of the album Gold, and so it feels very timely to be having it. 

So  

Alexa: timely,  

Kristina: yeah! Yeah! This is obviously going to be a different gig in the fact that it will just be me with my vocal looper rather than having a big live band, which I absolutely love to. Um, so really the, the last season has been me developing and [00:39:00] taking some of these ideas of these songs, I would say songs through the valleys, if you want to call them like that, but songs that have been able to get me through some, you know, difficult times and, um, some heavy emotions. 

Whilst also wanting to sing again and wanting to be a common live again. Like the first song that I, I, I, I made up in my looper was called, I just want to sing. I'm like, okay, that's telling your story right now. Um, so really I'm trying to explore. And craft and then music out there that would really connect with people. 

Um, so building up on Instagram and, and, and trying to make relations really. So the idea of hosting the space was I just love, I love having time and space. Um, and so it was just a case of, I don't. I, I need to be able to, to, to do that before the end of the year, um, with the hope of being able [00:40:00] to release some more music. 

Like the, the little, the snip that I sent you, um, was me just practicing and trying some stuff out of little ideas I have. So I haven't got a massive plan to do a whole recorded album until I've had the time to be able to. tour these songs and, and get them out there a bit more before they're really formalized to be able to, to go in. 

But the idea for next year would be to go with a big band and for, for musicians to do what musicians do, because I'm not a professional beatboxer, you see, so I can do what I can do, and I can make a sound. Um, but really it will be my dream. Um, and one of my goals for next year was to, to really make these songs with, uh, with a band and tour them. 

Let's just say I'm going to tour them next year.  

Alexa: Yeah. Brilliant. Well, how can we make sure that we can get tickets to that? Where can we follow you and listen to your music and become fans of you?  

Kristina: [00:41:00] Oh, um, all the major platforms. Uh, yes. Kristina Mann, official. Uh, is my Instagram. So it's Christine with a k, um, MANN official, uh, for the Instagram. 

And there should be a link on there. But basically my gig is on Eventbrite, so you can just Google that, Christine and mom and that will come up. Uh, but those are the, the, the two ways really to be able to find out a bit more about what I'm doing.  

Alexa: Brilliant. Well, Kristina,Mann, thank you so much. Good luck for your gig at the end of the month and it's been a pleasure to chat to you and hear your journey and to know that your singing lessons are instrumental in your time as a performer.  

Kristina: Oh I really appreciate it and I will always say thank you Hannah from [00:42:00] VPC.