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Platinum Hit: Exclusive Interview with Karen Waldrup

Posted on 06/14/2011 by Gina in Platinum Hit and Cast Interviews

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Karen Waldrup from Platinum Hit

 

by Gina Scarpa

 

This week on Platinum Hit, the contestants were tasked with writing a song about a road trip. Jackie's group ended up losing the challenge and all fingers pointed to Karen, for her contribution to the lyrics. She was eliminated from the competition and today, spoke to RealityWanted in an exclusive interview about her music and her Platinum Hit experiences.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What was your performance/songwriting background prior to Platinum Hit?
A. Karen: Originally, I'm from New Orleans. I started playing guitar and writing when I was 16. I've always been inspired by country music artists and female artists like Melissa Etheridge, Jewel, and Alanis Morissette. I've written soul/rock music. I've written hundreds of songs in that genre. Platinum Hit was a really great experience because it made me branch out and challenge myself to figure out what I really had inside of me. Before that, I played hundreds of live shows. That's definitely my thing. It takes a lot of nurturing to develop the type of artistry that the 12 of us contestants have.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What made this show stick out to you as the one you should audition for?
A. Karen: To be honest, I just audition for things. I think it's important. In our industry, there's no predicting what's going to work. If there's a songwriting competition online or if I see something, I'll just audition without even thinking about it. A lot of times, it just opens doors. In this specific situation, Platinum Hit really appealed to me because I have no interest in going on a show and singing cover music. It doesn't really excite me to sing cover music. I've been doing it for so long. I like to write my own music. I knew Platinum Hit was definitely something I'd be interested in. We had to write music to audition. It was really exciting. It was like, "Okay, I can do this!"

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What contestants stood out and impressed you?
A. Karen: I think that when it comes to songwriting skills, my favorite contestants were Jackie and Nick. Jackie is an incredible artist. She has a great stage presence. She has a unique thing going for her and she's worked hard on defining what it is that she doe. I think all of us are always trying to develop our stamp. Nick is amazing. He's so young and has so much to learn but he has a lot of raw talent.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: There's been a lot of discussion about Nick this season. People either love him or hate him. What are your feelings about him?
A. Karen: I can see how he would come across to the viewer as a love/hate thing where they love to hate him. He is extremely arrogant. He is everything he was on the show. He wasn't faking that. With that being said, he's a good guy. I can feel Nick and we understand each other. He's not a bad guy. He's just ... difficult sometimes.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Some of your fellow contestants, particularly Jackie this week, took shots at the fact that you write a lot of lyrics in a short amount of time and most of them are unusable. Is your approach to songwriting to get every thought onto paper so you can narrow down what's good and what can be thrown out?
A. Karen: I think the important thing about being a professional songwriter... and I still feel this way... is the more ideas you have, the better ideas you have. If you have one idea and you're married to that idea, then your ideas are not going to grow and be unique. For me, I sit down, when I write, and I've got tons and tons of scribble scratch. Different words, adjectives. My songwriting book at home has a ton of lyrics in it. On this episode specifically, it wasn't that my ideas were bad. I just had a lot of them.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: The judges felt you still have a long way to go when it comes to songwriting. Do you agree with their feedback?
A. Karen: I think the judges said that they thought I had a long way to go with lyrical songwriting. I think my melody structure is good and I'm good at creating hooks. I think that they're correct that, with Platinum Hit, it's about growing as an individual - reading more and having more life experiences. I'm 24 years old. I haven't lived through everything. It was good for me to get advice from them. I was not offended by that at all.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What's next for you?
A. Karen: I have so much going on with my music! It's a little overwhelming sometimes. I have a huge summer tour. I'm playing all over Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky... I just finished playing a show out in Utah. I'm playing out as much as I can. I have a big industry summer showcase June 28th and one of Nashville's largest venues, 12th and Porter. It's a great venue for local artists. We're gonna have record labels and press there. We're gonna be giving out CDs for my new album. I think the ultimate goal, for me, is to get a record deal. We're gathering the best tunes in my catalog, gathering the press, and trying to get Nashville to turn their heads. It'll happen. It's just a matter of me hustling and making sure it really does.

 


Platinum Hit airs Mondays at 10/9c on Bravo.

 

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

 


Follow Karen @karenwaldrup and Gina @ginascarpa


  


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