KALEE KITCHENS
KEVIAN KRAEMER
When Kevian Kraemer graduated from Manasquan High School in June, he left with not only a high school diploma but also a major label recording contract. This fall, instead of cramming or partying like his peers, the talented 18-year-old is embarking on a national tour to promote his first single for Elektra Records, “Dopamine” (see video below).
“I started playing drums when I was really young and then, after a few years, realized that guitar was my favorite,” said Kraemer. By 16, he was working as a session player in Asbury Park studios, performing at block parties, and taking lessons at Lakehouse Music Academy. Eventually he added piano, saxophone, bass and ukulele to his repertoire.
At first, his love of music shared time with sports like soccer and wrestling, as well as surfing whenever he could. But by the middle of his high school years, he came to realize that what he really wanted was, as he puts it, “to do artistry.”
“So I started writing and got a computer, and started self-producing my own stuff about a year and a half before getting picked up by my management company, Pala Management in Los Angeles,” Kraemer said. “Since then, I’ve just been working on getting more connections, meeting other writers, making friends with other musicians, and just running around and playing shows, which is all a lot of fun.”
Thanks to his management team, his early self-released singles were picked up for distribution by Elektra, but his real reach came from social media. “It’s funny, I started posting videos of myself playing covers when I was just 12 or 13, but I never took it seriously and I wasn’t even on TikTok, I just used Instagram,” Kraemer said. “Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t throw myself all over the Internet, because, really, what can you really do at 12?”
Kraemer only came to embrace social media after Izzy Lamberti, who he knew from Lakehouse, started blowing up on TikTok. “That inspired me to start doing TikTok, and that led to a really surprising lot of followers,” Kraemer said. He soon graduated from posting acoustic covers to his original material, so that when he released his first EP, Seventeen, earlier this year, a worldwide audience was awaiting.
“Attention,” the first single from the EP, has already garnered more than 7 million global streams. These days, he is posting several times a day, winning new fans and followers. And why not? Like Shawn Mendes before him, Kraemer has youthful good looks and winning charm, and his personable lyrics seem designed to create a bond with listeners. His creamy vocals sail effortlessly into sweet falsetto, and his nimble acoustic guitar playing offers melody and intricacy.
“My biggest influence was just watching all the Asbury bands around me grind it out, but I grew up listening to The Strokes: For me, The Strokes were everything,” Kraemer said. “When I was younger, I heard a lot of pop and R&B from my siblings, so like Frank Ocean, Chance the Rapper … those were big for me, melodically. But then I started loving bands like The Strokes, Backseat Lovers. I went through a huge Pink Floyd thing. And then Rex Orange County, that English guy. He’s absolutely amazing.”
With his independent releases already being distributed by Elektra, the jump to signing an album deal with the label evolved organically, Kraemer said. “The independent thing was working fine for me, but once I got the distribution deal, I met everybody at the label and really liked them. Elektra has kind of an independent label mindset, in the sense that they allow total creativity, but they have major label resources. So we ended up releasing the Seventeen EP through them and that song ‘Attention’ just really blew up, and so we were talking to a bunch of different labels. I wanted to sign with a major but obviously I’m never going to even consider a deal where I’m not 100 percent in control. And I really do think Elektra has the most faith in me, so I am more than happy here.”
Kraemer is currently opening shows for Landon Conrath. They will be at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn, Oct. 3; visit babysallright.com.
He plans to continue releasing singles for the rest of 2024, with a debut full-length planned for some time in 2025. For information, visit keviankraemer.com.
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