Features : KRSN rocks through his emotions on new single “Monster in the Mirror”

KRSN’s new single “Monster in the Mirror” is a testament to several things. It’s a testament to his commitment to authentic songwriting and it’s a testament to his lifelong love of rock music. It’s also a bit of a comeback single since KRSN has not been on stage since 2020 and is returning to it this year.

When speaking on “Monster in the Mirror” KRSN shared how the song was birthed through happenstance and natural methods. He was learning a chord progression from a guitarist friend named Doug South and from the repetition of playing it, he fell in love with it and began writing lyrics to it.

“The song has these darker guitar plucks and as I heard them, I began to just reflect on the self destructive mode I was in at the time,” he said.

The song was written as KRSN reflected on a relationship he had just been in and how he originally had a misguided perspective on other things he was dealing with.

“I was at a point where everything around me was the problem and I wasn’t the problem and nobody could tell me otherwise. I had to look in the mirror and realize I was putting myself in these situations. I was the monster.” he said.

KRSN’s upcoming album, Blissful Mayhem, continues the vulnerability shared in this first single. He wrote the album as he went through the aforementioned ending of a relationship which led him to go through the seven stages of grief. He described the album as a rollercoaster of emotions and also, how it can be an outlet for those who have been through a similar situation.

“As artists, it’s up to us to bring these emotions out of people. We can be that vessel for them and be ‘the let outs’ for them. With this song and album, I want to offer them a moment of reflection where they can look back on their own situations and see if they were in the wrong by looking in the mirror at themselves.” he said.

When speaking with KRSN, he described himself as having a “fast paced soul” which made him gravitate towards rock music naturally.

“There’s nothing like rock and roll to me. Whether it’s contemporary or old school, it’s always been it for me. Over the years with my own music, I’ve dabbled in various sounds through demos and things like that but it’s still always been rock. I love it.” he said.

His father was the catalyst for this, exposing him to legendary bands like Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith and more contemporary celebrated bands like Disturbed.

While rock music has been a constant in KRSN’s life, some things directly connected to it have changed. Back in 2020, he went through several changes both in his personal life and his music career.

“After the shutdowns in 2020, my wife and I had a son. Naturally, that led to me taking a step back from the music. Once I returned to it, I decided to rebrand. My stage name was something different before and my music was more on the softer rock side. This was because, back then, I was mixing, mastering and engineering everything myself from top to bottom. I didn’t have the resources to have live instruments all over the studio and record them with different microphones and all of that.” he said.

Upon rebranding, things completely changed for KRSN. His name was different, the music was different but his authenticity remained. He officially returns to the stage at the end of September and is looking forward to it.

“I’m excited to be putting myself out there in a different light. Being back on stage this time is gonna be the most exciting moment in my life after my son was born. I’ve been putting so much into this album and I’ve hired new band members. So much has been going on in recent times and I’m so amped about it all. I’m going to be performing for 600 people and it’s overwhelming but also reassuring. It tells me that I can rebrand and people are still going to be listening and be interested in hearing what I have for them. It tells me that it all isn’t for nothing.” he said.

Putting in the effort to make music people can connect with is what it all comes down to with KRSN. By creating music that people can feel while they’re listening, KRSN knows his emotions are transferring from the song to the person listening to it.

“Without honesty and emotion you have no connection. Connection and relatability is everything in music. If you’re not making music that people can latch on to, you’re only making music subjective to yourself. If you’re not being passionate and emotional with your music, you can’t expect other people to have a response like that to it.” he said.

KRSN’s song “Monster in the Mirror” is out now on streaming services.

You can catch KRSN’s return to the stage on September 30th at Janus Live in St. Petersburg, Florida.

You can rock along with KRSN by keeping up with him on the following platforms.

Apple Music
Spotify
Instagram
Twitter
TikTok