Introduce yourself and tell us a bit about what you do.
Hello hello! My name is Kymara – I’m a songwriter and performer from the Netherlands, but I live in Brighton. I’ve lived here for six years, almost seven, just doing my music thing.
How have you found being an artist as an international student?
I think being an international student really helped me to become the artist that I am right now. It really shaped me. Moving to a different country and making new friends makes you question a lot. When I am back home with the friends I grew up with, I don’t question as much. When I’m by myself, it’s like, “OK, what do you want to do? What kind of people do I want to surround myself with?” The first couple of years especially felt like a challenge, but they helped me a lot.
What advice would you give someone starting a music career in a new city?
My advice would be to stay as close to yourself as you can be, especially when you’re younger, and you start studying. It’s difficult because you’re still figuring it out, and you might not know exactly who you are, but if something doesn’t feel right or when people don’t feel right, don’t give your precious time to them. At the same time, be open to new experiences, and when people ask you to go for coffee or a drink, don’t overthink it too much – listen to your gut. That really helped me. It means that you are alone more often, but eventually, you will get the people you want to have around you.
You’ve become a bit of a Brighton legend. What’s been your favourite local show?
A Brighton legend! I take that as a huge compliment. Thank you. My favourite show must have been at the Green Door Store, the last one we did. It was over in a second—a room filled with people having so much fun. Sometimes you just feel the energy in the room, and it lifts you and lifts the whole band, which definitely happened there.
What have you been working on lately?
So we’ve been working on a lot of new material, which I find a bit scary because I only started writing like four years ago, and when you start writing, you don’t think about it. You’re just creating something. Now that I’ve got more of an idea of how a song is written, I start overthinking. It can be tricky but also a lot of fun. We have many gigs coming up – we want to go outside of Brighton, do more London shows, and we’ve been to the Netherlands recently, so yeah, it’s shows and writing, shows and writing, shows and writing.
Tell us about some of your favourite spots in Brighton.
My favourite spot in Brighton is the beach!! I don’t have a favourite coffee place. There are so many cute ones. I love a Sunday roast, and there are loads of places for that!
Our Class of ‘23 magazine contains 41 students who deserve a proper shout-out. We’ve seen some of our students make it to Number One in the charts and even onto international award podiums. But success comes in many shapes and sizes, and it’s now time to shine a light on the sheer variety of achievements our students are responsible for, whether they’re on stage or behind the scenes. We’re so proud of their efforts and can’t wait to see what they’ll do next.
