Meet Kala Welcher | Music Curator & Graduate Student

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kala Welcher and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kala, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I am actually still in the process of starting my business but I have began getting my brand out there while also still forming my own brand. I say this because I started curating the K Melodies Playlist at the beginning of the pandemic and it was honestly just to blow off steam as well as give people something to look forward to every week. It soon became something that was in popular demand amongst my peers and social media followers! Once that happened, I knew that I should probably keep it going since I had an active audience looking forward to listening to my crafted music playlist. I then decided to refine my method of rolling out music by posting it on my Instagram story on Sundays (sometimes Mondays lol) and keeping the music roll-outs to 10 songs per week. I of course kept the visual aspect of my music roll-out simply because I loved the aesthetics that it brought to the song clips and I also feel like that is what sets me apart from everyone else that just posts music on their Instagram story. I am also aware that Instagram stories only last 24 hours so I took the initiative to pin my story archives to my profile so that people can always access my new tracks and throwbacks anytime they would like to! This is not only therapeutic for me, but it is also a start into one of my desired career fields which is to become a Music Supervisor for TV shows and movies! I have always wanted to pursue an artistic career since I was in grade school but it wasn’t until I experienced my first semester of college that I realized that I should be taking my desire for art more seriously. I took the first step in doing that by changing my major from Pre-Med Psychology to Journalism with a concentration in Public Relations and I also minored in Entertainment Media Management. I knew that I loved writing and talking and I also knew that I loved music and movies so I tried to see how I could incorporate all of that into one career which is what brought me to the journalism field. Once I graduated from Georgia State University with my undergraduate degree, I realized that there was a term for what I actually wanted to do! The term was “music supervisor” and I was honestly at awe because I had been telling people for years what I would like to do but no one seemed to think that it was a real career so all I would get back in response was “oh that sounds cool,” when in reality I was fishing for what the job title would actually be. I then spoke to one of my career mentors from Pandora Radio to see if she could guide me to the right department of the entertainment industry that I have been longing to be in. She revealed to me that I was describing the role of a music supervisor! After that, I decided to channel my energy into making my dream come true to become a successful music supervisor and overall music curator!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am the curator of a music playlist called K Melodies. This playlist can be streamed on Apple Music and Spotify. What sets my playlist apart from everyone else’s is the visual representation that is attached to my selected music. I utilize Instagram’s story settings to give my audience a 15 second clip of the song while they get to watch the visuals that I pair with the album cover in the background. So for instance, if I had a story post of Ari Lennox’s song “Pop,” I would use a moving background (maybe falling feathers) with a brown hue to them to compliment the shades of beige and gold from her album cover. This would create sort of an ambiance to the song clip which also prompts the listener to watch the entire story to hear the clip. Once the audience witnesses the music roll-out on Instagram, they can go to either Apple Music or Spotify to listen to the full song as well as the rest of the featured music from my postings! I also love the fact that I am introducing a lot of underground artist’s to my audience when I post my music roll-out. This is cool to me because listeners get to hear new music and artists get more exposure! As of now, there are 3 K Melodies playlists. There is the K Melodies (2020), the K Melodies (2021) and the K Melodies Catalog (the combination of songs from both 2020 and 2021 playlists). I split them up like this in case anyone wanted to only hear the newest songs I’ve shared, or just the older songs I’ve shared, or if they’d like to hear all of the songs in one playlist! K Melodies mostly features lo-fi, alternative R&B, soft rock, and chill rap music. This usually provides a relaxed and high vibrational feel when listening to the K Melodies playlist and when the listener watches the visual aspect of it on Instagram, it heightens that experience which is the main goal I want to achieve for my audience.
Curating a playlist was easy at first, mostly because it was initially for me but once I started seeing how other people were waiting to hear more, I did become a little overwhelmed. I was happy that people were listening but I also started to stress a little about small details that probably wouldn’t be a problem to anyone else. I then began to feel the weight of the deadlines that I gave myself to share more music which didn’t really work well with the actual deadlines of my class assignments. This then led me to take a small break from K Melodies so I could get back into my musical groove which has actually helped tremendously! I am now more energized and ready to share even more beautiful music to others!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would first take them out to lunch at Harold’s Chicken and Ice Bar on Edgewood Ave. After that, I would take them to Lenox Square so they could get their cute Atlanta outfits… and maybe see a celebrity between card swipes lol. I would then take them to Ponce City Market to let them experience the Rooftop and play games and drink. Then we would go to the BQE restaurant to support another black business and eat some red velvet chicken & waffles. Once we’re full off waffles, we’ll probably head to 2 Chainz’s Escobar Lounge for a nice vibe and good music. Then we would go to Sivas as a pregame place and then go to U Bar for dancing until they closed. After that we would probably go to Josephine Lounge for some Afro beats. Lastly, we’d be seen at Blu Lagoon Bar and Bistro to eat some African and Caribbean food while we dance to more Afro beats.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to shout out my mother, Debbie Welcher for always pushing me to be the best version of myself. I would like to shout out the rest of my family for always supporting me in everything I do.
I would like to shout out my mentors in the entertainment business, Robyne Gordon and Crystal Gissentanna-Ross, you both are successful black women in this industry and you guys truly help me strive to be the best.
I would like to shout out the CEO of 2Hot Radio, David Joynes aka DJ Outlet, for giving me a chance and hiring me to my first real job in my desired career field.
I would like to shout out my freshman year roommate Kobe Lawson for getting me into the 2Hot Radio internship which led me into my promotion.
I would like to also thank all of my beautiful and talented friends who have uplifted me and held me accountable and inspired me to go out there and reach for the stars!
I genuinely care for all of you and I am so happy that every single one of you have contributed to my life’s story!

Website: KalaWelcher.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kalacharnae/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kalawelcher/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kala_____

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kala.welcher/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkljzPI2fXoBLvVQdf0_MjA

Image Credits
Darrielle McCray, Sam Levine, John Isaac Waters, Naomi Nezianya