By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
On Sept. 20, 17-year-old singer-songwriter Livia McKee released her second EP, “E-Phase.”
The soulful musician has summered in Cazenovia for her entire life.
McKee, whose father is enlisted in the Army, recently returned to the United States from Germany, where she and her family lived for a year.
She currently attends Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland.
Before moving to Germany, McKee attended the prestigious Duke Ellington School of Performing Arts in Washington D.C.
In July 2018, McKee released her debut EP, “Freshman Year,” which explores themes of peer pressure, relationships, unrequited love and self-discovery through two original songs, “Party” and “Revolver Gun,” and an acoustic track.
“Freshman Year” was co-produced by two-time Grammy nominated producer and songwriter James McKinney and award-winning producer and engineer Jeff Gruber of Blue House Productions.
McKee’s latest release, “E Phase,” features three new tracks — “2007 Britney,” “The Moon” and “Friends Are Supposed to Do.”
While McKee describes her first EP as “straight pop,” her latest release leans more toward “alternative pop or alternative indie.”
“With this EP I tried to make all of the songs different — with different messages and vibes,” McKee said. “I challenged myself to not just write love songs . . . I think the topics are a little deeper and more relatable . . . Before, I was really focused on just the lyrics, but this time I tried to focus on making every part of each song interesting and dynamic — with lots of chord changes — and on making every word meaningful and each line count.”
Her latest work was co-produced by Ryan Egan, a singer and musician from NYC.
According to McKee, “2007 Britney” is a song about anger and a direct reference to Britney Spears’ highly publicized breakdown in 2007.
“I thought it would be would interesting to [explore] a well-known event in [history] as an example of anger,” McKee said. “2007 Britney is such a well-known pop icon [moment] that everyone knows and can relate to.”
McKee wrote “Friends Are Supposed to Do” to express the detachment she felt from her close friends after switching schools and while living far away in Germany.
“It’s [been] really hard to keep in touch with the friends that I’ve made everywhere, and that upset me a little bit,” she said. “I wanted to write a song about how I wished they would call me [or reach out] more . . . there has to be effort on both sides.”
“The Moon” is a reflection of McKee’s fondness for Halloween, witches and enchantment.
“Singing about the moon and casting a spell on someone is close to my heart because that’s something that I am very interested in,” McKee said. “I just thought it was something fun to write a song about.”
According to McKee, “E-Phase” refers to the grade she was in at her German school.
“After ninth grade, I released ‘Freshman Year’ and after tenth grade, I released ‘E-Phase,’” she said.
McKee plans to release an EP documenting her junior year and senior year, as well. By the time she graduates high school, she hopes to have enough material to release her first full album.
The singer-songwriter’s musical influences include Amy Winehouse, Alessia Cara, Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran, as well as the South Korean boy band BTS.
“Even though I don’t understand Korean, I really like BTS,” McKee said. “When you read the translations and when they talk about their music, they seem really passionate and their lyrics are very meaningful. I think that’s really cool.”
In the past year, she has also gotten more into R&B — the influence of which she anticipates will be heard on her next EP.
McKee has been singing since a very young age and writing music since she was about nine or 10. In middle school, she started joining bands and performing publicly.
According to McKee, her parents have been her biggest supporters from the very beginning, doing everything from buying her first computer and driving her to gigs, to finding people to record her music.
“In the past few years, I’ve slowly taken over, so now it’s kind of more my thing and I just ask for their help every once in a while,” McKee said. “I’m very thankful that they are in my life and that they support me like this.”
The family returns to Cazenovia each summer to be close to McKee’s aunt and grandfather.
McKee has been involved in the Cazenovia Joint Youth Recreation Program as a participant or a junior counselor since she was in kindergarten.
Although she was unable to help out with the program this past summer — having just returned from Germany — she hopes to work with the recreation program in some capacity next year.
McKee’s good friend Sinead Hogan, who attends the Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School in New Jersey, also visits Cazenovia each summer and helps with the rec. program.
“Cazenovia is my favorite place in the entire world,” McKee said. “I wait all year for summertime to come around so I can see [Sinead] and all the other friends I’ve made . . . Just being in the town makes me so happy. There’s the lake and Caz Pizza, which feels so homey, and everyone is friendly and knows each other. It’s just such an awesome place to be, I love it so much, and I wish it was summer already.”
“E Phase” is available for purchase at music.apple.com and available on all streaming platforms.
To learn more about Livia McKee and her music, visit her YouTube channel.
