Kenzie Is No Longer 'Biting My Tongue' On Vulnerable Debut Album

Kenzie photo by MOM (@directedbymom)

Kenzie Ziegler has been in the spotlight since she was a little girl, but she's here to tell you that she's all grown up. She entered the entertainment world at just six years old alongside her sister Maddie, The pair were part of an elite dance competition team outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Over a decade removed from that world, Kenzie is now reframing her identity—one that is even more confident, experimental and vulnerable.

The title of her debut album explains it all. Biting My Tongue, released in July, is an autobiography of sorts. Each song reveals layers of Kenzie's personal life as she learns from past mistakes and shapes herself into the woman she's becoming. Here, she dives into the journey of creating the album with EDITION.

I know you started as a dancer, but where did your love for singing first spark?

I grew up just loving music. Ever since I was a really little kid, I would sing around the house. So my mom put me in vocal lessons when I was six, and I think that's really when I wanted to do it seriously. But when I knew that I wanted to do it as a career, I was around 14. It was really early on, but I switched my love from dancing to singing. Of course, I still have a love for dance, but I think music has just been always something that I wanted to do.

Who were some of your inspirations growing up?

I always laugh when I give this answer because it's so random. But I grew up just loving Disney Channel, that's all I watched. I grew up watching Hannah Montana, High School Musical and Camp Rock. I wanted to be Vanessa Hudgens and Miley Cyrus so bad.

Your sophomore album, Phases, was released in 2018. Looking at this new body of work, how do you think you've grown musically since that release?

Oh, I have grown tremendously. I didn't write a single thing on that album. I would go into the room and just sit there because I was so nervous to speak my mind. I thought since I was so young, my thoughts did not matter and I wasn't qualified to be in a room full of professional writers and producers. With this new album, I really put everything I could have into this. I wrote every single song. Every song is so personal to me and I feel all of them so deeply. Sonically, I feel like it's changed tremendously. I'm constantly growing because I am still so young. So it is fun now where I get to find exactly what I want to do and figure out my sound.

I'm wondering if that led to the album title, Biting My Tongue. As you told me, you're now really owning yourself as an artist and being even more confident.

Well, I think what initially sparked [the album title] was when we wrote the title track. It was about how I could never fully view myself around my friends. I had this friend group, where they were just always picture perfect with their hair and makeup done 24/7. We always had to go out and do things. I wanted to just hang out at home and do nothing. I felt like I couldn't be myself around them. Then we were like, ‘Oh, this would be a great title for the album’ because I had been biting my tongue for years and years and finally, I'm letting all these emotions go.

You entered your 20s back in June. I remember when I turned 21 I felt like I was closing a chapter of my girlhood and entering a new phase in my life. And I was questioning things like, “Where do I stand now?” It's like the Britney Spears song, “I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman”. I’m curious to know your experience.

Sometimes I feel older than I am, but sometimes I feel the opposite. And it was really scary for me to let my teenage years go. Because being an adult is super scary. There's so much responsibility that comes with it, but I feel like I have been an adult my whole life, just having to grow up so quickly. So I definitely think I did close the chapter, and it feels really good now. I feel like my life is definitely more put together, even though I just literally aged up one year.

I want to get into some of my favorites on the new album. Of course, I have to start with “Anatomy” because I feel that's the definitive song for you and your fans. You released it about a year ago. It's such a weighty song for you. How do you look at the song now that you're a year removed from it?

When I was initially putting it out, I was super nervous because going through these struggles so young, I was just so scared for people to see me be weak. With social media being such a highlight reel, it's scary to put your personal information on the internet, and you don't really want to be judged by other people. But now that it's been out for a year, I've moved past that. Releasing that song definitely helped me a lot, because I got so much amazing feedback, and everyone was sharing their stories with me. I created a really cool community and I felt not alone at all. Now that it's been a year [since its release], I love the song so much more now. It was so terrifying [at first], but now it's a powerful song for me.

“Face To Face” is one of my favorite songs on the record because it talks about losing authenticity in relationships and setting your boundaries. What I like about Gen Z is you really know the importance of protecting yourself.

Thank you. Yes, that's definitely what that song was about. Especially growing up in this generation, social media is such a big part of everyone's life now. It is so hard to maintain relationships, be confrontational and set boundaries. I had to do that with a lot of my friendships. And sometimes it doesn't go the way that you want it to go. But having those hard conversations is really important. I'm so glad that you love that song, that makes me really happy.

“The Me I Was” has a very rattling production, which immediately grabbed my attention because I am a sucker for melodies.

Oh yes, the whole process of that song was so much fun. I got to work with D Mile, he's a producer that works with so many talented, amazing people. So it was awesome being in the room with him. He helped me step out of my comfort zone, and I think we both did it for each other. In that specific writing session, we all decided that we wanted to just do something super random and just see what happens. And this song came out of it. It was such a fun time. We also got to really highlight one of the problems that I was dealing with. I also wrote it with another girl and guy, and they both related. It was just a really big therapy session. And, of course, the production is just insane. I just can't even believe that's my song.

Kenzie photo by MOM (@directedbymom)

You've stated before that music has been your therapy. Is there anything you've taken away from the recording process?

For sure, this whole album talks about me being a people pleaser most of the songs. I've been trying to not do that as much. It's obviously a hard trait to have and it's hard to get rid of, but I've learned to think about myself more in situations. It's taught me to experiment and step out of the box as well. I mean, every song on that album is different and that's what's so fun about it. With the music that I'm creating after the album, I am still going [in that direction]. You don't necessarily have to be in a box of a genre. I think that's what's so fun about the music industry now. Even with Beyoncé, she did a full country album and it killed. You can do whatever you want now and that's why I love the music industry so much.

Yeah, I agree. And especially since now that you've taken the reins of your creativity in terms of writing, you have even more freedom to play around. Were there any other songs you wanted to talk about?

Oh, that's hard. I think my favorite song on the album would be “Casualty”. It is the last song that I finished on the albummand that's where I'm going more sonically. It's very raw and super authentic. I love a full production, really intense song, but it was fun to write a singer-songwriter, very mellow, stripped down song. I've been doing a lot of that lately, it just feels good to me. I've been working with a lot of new people and I've been having such a good time. But [looking at] the album as a whole, I'm really proud of myself for being so vulnerable, because that is super scary.

I know the album is the focus, but are you looking forward to anything else for the rest of the year?

Yes, I'm actually working on a little bit of tour things which will be super exciting for everyone. But that's that's really all. I'm just excited to write more music and take it on the road. I'm just really excited for this new chapter.