A Conversation with Marielle Kraft

Change is hard. We've all experienced it at one point or another. But when you bet on yourself, it's so rewarding to see your success pay off.

Marielle Kraft bet on herself when she left her full-time teaching job to pursue music full time pre-Covid.

Now, after wrapping up her spring tour, she prepares for her debut album, an accompanying tour, and taking the stage at one of the biggest music festivals in the country.

I sat down with Kraft earlier this week to discuss her journey, representation as a queer artist, High School Musical, her inspirations, and even got the scoop on when to expect the debut album to drop.

Enjoy.

This interview has been edited for brevity.

Michael Waterloo: Welcome back to the Walking Bucket. I'm Michael Waterloo, and I'm joined this week by a special guest: Singer, songwriter, and all-around good person, Marielle Kraft. Marielle, how are you doing?

Marielle Kraft: Thank you. I'm good. Nice to meet you.

MW: Yes. Nice to meet you, too. Thanks for chatting with me today, and I just want to get right into it. You released a new song about, what, 3 or 4 weeks ago called, "What do I do with Happy?" And when you listen to it, there's a pop-up that says, "The first single of the new era is here." What is that new Marielle Kraft era?

MK: Oh, good eye. Yes, I'm excited. I've been working on a full-length project–my first one–for about two years now, and this is the year all of it's finally coming out. So "What do I do with Happy?" is the first single, and many more are on the way.

MW: And with that, there was a lot of build up to it, and the marketing was just fantastic. A lot of ice cream. We saw Jeni's ice cream in Nashville and a Street Team approach. What was the idea behind that and the response to it?

MK: Thank you! We wanted to start a conversation around the song. Since it's my first new release in almost two years, I really wanted this one to feel different. I wanted it to feel intentional. I wanted to involve more people instead of it just being me on my indie team. And so, the song, to me, feels like ice cream in the summer that's melting all over you. It's so delicious and so fun but also has that tension of trying to figure out how to allow joy into your life. Sometimes, that can be messy. So, we just sort of leaned into this idea of ice cream and melting ice cream being the aesthetic.

Since Jeni's is the best ice cream and it started here in Nashville, we used that as the meeting point for my Nashville Street Team to hear the single for the first time and hang up some Street Team posters around town to promote it. It's just been really fun to get to approach this on a really grassroots level this time.

MW: It's been talked about a lot how you shifted from teaching full time to pursuing music. What advice would you have to other people who are kind of looking to pivot in their careers, but they might just be a little nervous to do so?

MK: Rightfully so. It's really scary to leave the comfort of a salary, community, and benefits. For me, it was what did I wake up thinking about? And what did I go to sleep thinking about? And all of my brain energy outside of the classroom was unintentionally, honestly, spent on music. What song am I going to write? When am I going to tour there? How am I going to get, you know, this person to write with me, whatever. And it just sort of became so consuming that it was starting to do a disservice to the job I was actually getting paid for.

I kind of made the mental decision, in like the spring of my last school year, that I'm going to finish out this school year so strong and be super present and, like, crush this job as a middle school English teacher. Then that summer, I was going to give it one year of doing music full time. I had enough saved up that I could probably float through a year. And I never went back to teaching.

For me, it was like doing the mental math of where does my mind go to without me even trying, and how much mental energy am I spending there. And is that worth taking the leap if it's where my body and brain are already wanting to go?

MW: You seem to really embrace the part of creating content as an artist in 2025. One thing that really made me laugh was the piece you did about being able to see the names of the playlists that people add your songs to. The "Gay Ass Songs to Piss Off Your Homophobic Parents" cracked me up. How important is that content creation to an artist who's growing their fanbase and connecting to their fans?

MK: It's just what the music industry is right now. I mean, we can go back and forth all day about artists shouldn't be content creators, it should be music creators, blah, blah, blah. But the reality is, if you're an independent artist without a team of people doing it for you, you have to be that team, at least in the beginning.

And for me, I had to learn a lot. I didn't go to school for marketing. I'm not a graphic designer. I don't come up with those ideas immediately, but with just watching some of my favorite artists do their content creation, you pluck ideas that you feel might work for your brand.

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And one of those was the playlist idea. I was like, 'Wait, this is something that could show, you know, a little bit of personality,' but mostly be a work that's already done for me. I'm in the work smarter, not harder camp. And so, I'm like, OK, Spotify already releases this to artists. I just have to go through and just scan quickly, pick a couple fun ones, and just show the public.

There's so much that most of the objective public doesn't see about what goes in behind the scenes for an indie artist career. And for me, if I'm like, 'OK, I'm already in the studio making these mix notes, let me just record it really fast and just put it up,' it's not me coming up with some crazy idea. It's showing behind the curtain of something I'm already doing.

MW: You are an artist who does show a lot of yourself to your fans. Your openness about coming out, embracing your true self, the queer love story that you have, and of course, your song, "I Kissed A Boy." Has it helped your fans be more comfortable in being their true selves from meet and greets?

MK: Definitely, and that's been such a gift. It took me, transparently, many years to come out through my music and into the public. Even though, yes, it's 2025, there' still so much internal conflict for some of us. A lot of strength and bravery that it takes to be who we are, especially when we grow up in households that maybe don't expose us to those kinds of colors of the community.

And that was me in the Christian household that I grew up in. I didn't have that language. I didn't have that exposure. So, coming out and kind of sharing my story and being more transparent in my music and being like, 'I'm figuring it out, too', and I found my person, but that doesn't mean that I'm still not discovering sides of myself has really opened the conversation with my audience.

So often, at shows, people will share their coming out story with me at the merch table, or they'll bring their partner to the show be like, 'This love song is so us' and 'We want to tell you about our story.' That, to me, is the whole point of this all. If we get to be perfect strangers but have this genuine connection through a story that was mine that I shared that's now ours, that's the whole reason that I'm telling the story and doing it. I'm so grateful. People trust me with their stories, and I will always hold them with care.

MW: We see that connection that you have with your fans. On your birthday recently, fans were sharing pictures and memories of you from your shows. Was that something as a young fan yourself, whenever you saw different artist, you wanted to meet them and give that experience to your fans?

MK: I try to really engage with my fans as if we're real people with a real friendship, you know? Of course, sometimes that comes with limitations. I'm only one person, but I feel like my favorite artists when I was following them as they grew, I had a chance to meet a few of them. The ones that I remember the most are the ones that just treated me like we were pals, you know? They'd ask me about my day, not just wait for me to praise them.

That to me felt so real. It made me want to be an artist even more because I want to emulate that attitude. So many of us are in this late 20s to early 30s phase of trying to settle into our adult life, find out person, coming out of a hard heartbreak. I'm like that too, you know? It makes it easy to relate. There's no facade. I just happen to be putting out music.

MW: It's hard to keep secret for so long, but you announced that you'll be playing Summerfest this summer in Milwaukee, Wisc. What was your reaction to hearing that?

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MK: I was elated. I've been wanting to play some major festivals for a while. I've been doing minor festivals, regional festivals, Prides, of course, and some of those are major, but that major festival circuit with Bonnaroo, Coachella, and Summerfest, you look at the lineups and you see all of your favorite artists will be there.

Hozier, Natasha Bedingfield, James Taylor: These artists that have created me as an artist are going to be playing the same weekend that I am. So, it feels really, really cool. Especially this year when I'm releasing my debut album, this is the year I want to get out in front of the most people and push that momentum. It feels like it's aligning that way. My band is coming, so I'm sure we'll pull out some matching outfits and make a statement.

MW: Who is the one artist that you want to make sure you're there to watch as a fan?

MK: Natasha Bedingfield, 100 percent. 'Unwritten' was a song that I covered on my last tour, and that song has been iconic in my life. I remember when it came out in 2004, and it was my favorite song. I've never seen her perform live, so I will absolutely be front row for Natasha. I also want to see Hozier, since I've never seen him, and with the Hozier yell trend going around, I think it's going to be slammed.

One of my favorite artists, her name is Betty Who, is on my stage right after me.

MW: You were teasing a new album dropping this year, yes?

MK: We haven't officially announced it yet, but I can give you the exclusive. My first full-length debut album is coming out this fall. We are on track for September, so that should be really exciting. There will be more singles that come out leading up to it, and then it'll be a whole album drop.

We're not bringing anything in from the past eras, so I'm excited for a whole clean slate along with an album tour across the country. I'm really excited because I feel like I've been building this up and holding the secret for two years, so it's time to go.

MW: OK, Marielle, let's get into the rapid-fire round.

Rapid Fire

We hear Taylor Swift, Maisie Peters, Colbie Caillat a lot with comparisons and inspirations, but who is an artist that may surprise people that's an inspiration to you?

MK: Oh, great question. Right now, I've been really into this artist coming out of the UK called Rachel Chinouriri. She's like this kind of indie pop kind of rock artist. So, I've been channeling some of that intense energy in this new album.

MW: We know about your crush whenever you were a kid. Troy Bolton from High School Musical. Are the High School Musical dances and songs still ingrained in your head?

MK: We're all in this together. Absolutely, like, 100%. I knew that entire soundtrack front to back. I could probably repeat it back to you without watching it.

MW: We are soaring. We are flying, and we are going to keep flying through these questions here. Who is your dream collaboration?

MK: It's probably ambitious to say Taylor Swift, but she's the top of the mountain. Right under that would be Kelsea Ballerini. I think she's unbelievable. Maren Morris, too. I'd love to write with them, most specifically.

MW: Where did the name Butter come from for your dog?

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MK: Great question. I was a stick of butter for Halloween in 2021. I needed a last-minute costume, and I just ordered one of those full-body suits. My wife (musician Kate Yeager) and I were going back through our memories trying to think of names for our dog that were special to us. That year, she was peanut and I was butter, so we thought, 'OK, do we name him peanut butter? No, butter is even cuter.' So, we just ended up naming him that, and he's the color of butter, so it worked out.

MW: What is your dream venue to play at?

MK: Red Rocks in Colorado. Easily. I would literally cry. I will cry, one day, when I play there.

MW: Whenever you're on a long road trip or flight, what are you listening to?

MK: This last year, it's been all of the demos of this album. It's been listening through with no distractions and seeing how I feel as I listen and then reordering them and doing it again.

That's how I've been creating the track list for my album is exclusively on planes when I'm not with anyone else and not chatting. I feel like it's a very pure way of making this track list. Hopefully you all feel the same when you listen this fall.

MW: We can't wait to check it out. Marielle, thank you for joining us, and congrats on all of your success and upcoming success.

MK: Thanks for having me, I appreciate it.

MW: We'll see you next time. I love you awesome nerds.