Page 81 - ION Indie Magazine MarchApril 2022

MH: Have your music influences changed from your start in music to now? Who
would you say are your musical influences today?

SK: For the most part I find that my influences continue to be the people I grew up with,
which is actually a large range of artists. I would listen to everything from eighties rock, to
folk, and jazz. The list of artists ranges from people like Stevie Nicks to Lynyrd Skynyrd,
Sarah McLachlan, Metallica, Linda Ronstadt, and Amy Winehouse. I found more recently,
though I tend to lean towards seventy’s classic rock, which is probably the reason I wrote
and recorded a song coming out this summer called '1975.’

MH: A little bird told me (and you mentioned it to me) that one of your biggest idols
is Axl Rose from Guns N' Roses. Tell us about how he changed your life and in what
way.

SK: As I mentioned earlier in this interview, there are two parts to this story. First, when I
discovered the band and saw them for the first time in concert. I knew right then and there
what my life purpose was because I wanted to effect people the same way I was being
affected by my favourite band. Because my parents were against the idea of a career in
the music industry, my plans would be delayed until many years later when again I had a
fire lit under me by the same artist. Meeting Axl Rose at his home in 2015 instigated
everything that has happened until now in my career. It reminded me that what I had felt at
14 years old was as true as ever and that I could only find happiness by pursuing my
dream.

MH: You had mentioned to me in a private email about creating the Love Revolution
Festival and the long-term plan to take it worldwide. Tell us what that is and what
you mean by ‘take it worldwide.’

SK: In 2020, I released a song called 'Love Revolution' and it was inspired by a feeling I
had that the world needed to get back to a state of love. After releasing the song, I wanted
to do something meaningful which would help people understand what the song was talking
about. That's when the idea of a Woodstock-type festival occurred to me. It was in the
middle of the pandemic and pretty much all live shows had been cancelled. Then I read
about drive-in concerts and loved the idea. Within three weeks and the help of many friends
and colleagues, we were able to put on a successful festival. Two months later, the same
festival was organized in Tennessee. In the summer of 2021, we had the Second Annual
Love Revolution Festival take place again in Cavan, Ontario. With the help of my great
friends JP Jones, Brent Clements, Sean Carson, and Steve Oliver, and numerous
volunteers, we hope to continue the tradition of the festival in Ontario and Tennessee,
however, I have visions of taking the festival to every continent across the globe. More than
just a festival, it is the message behind it of 'peace, love, and music' that I would love the
spread.