#K3Motto: “I WILL always believe in myself and celebrate my life and the lives of others. I WILL respect the music and customs of others as long as they are not harmful to anyone. I WILL stand against bullying of any kind and choose love over hate.”
As a part of our series about stars who are making an important social impact, I had the pleasure of interviewing sisters Kaylen (24), Kelsey (22), and Kristen (19) of the K3 Sisters Band.
Described by VARIETY as an “All-Female Band Blowing Up on TikTok”, the K3 SISTERS BAND is a group of three Dallas-born sisters Kaylen (24), Kelsey (22), and Kristen (19) who have struck it big on the platform, amassing over 2.5 MILLION followers and 1 BILLION + views on TikTok! The girls began performing together 14 years ago and write, produce, and perform all of their own music which includes hundreds of original songs. Performing live shows weekly across all of their social channels, they have built a massive judgment-free online community built on inclusivity and respect for all, free from bullying and hate. The independent artists recently released their new hauntingly powerful single Jet Black Hearts,, and plan to release their 14th studio album on December 1st.
Thank you so much for joining us on this interview series. Can you share with us the backstory that led you to this career path?
Kaylen: When we were starting out on this grand adventure of the music world, if you told us that someday we would generate over a billion views worldwide with millions of followers in dozens of countries we would have been amazed and thrilled because that has always been our dream! As the oldest sister at 24, I was the first to “find myself” on stage singing, dancing, acting, and performing on a tiny fiddle to cheering crowds. Both of our parents had jobs creating and delivering stage content for educational and charitable organizations, and as soon as Kelsey, Kristen, and I could perform, we were on stage with them several times a week!
Kelsey: Funny story, but it shows the drive we all had at a young age. I remember Kristen escaping from her stroller and babysitting in the front row at one of our performances before she was “allowed” on stage. She ran up to the stage to try to steal the show to the delight of the crowd. The place exploded as she still had her pacifier in her mouth!
Kristen: Hahaha! So, over the past 14 years, we have developed our skills and felt the positive vibes and roars of crowds in person and online. That kind of feedback really hooked us. We were able to perform hundreds of shows because we were homeschooled and had flexibility. After we all graduated from high school we decided together to develop our entertainment careers and postpone formal education for our specific career and technical education. As a result, we have invented unique studio and broadcasting techniques that nobody else is using.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Kristen: I’ll turn 20 in December, but I will always be the youngest K3 Sister! Some really funny things happened when I was trying to outdo my older sisters. One time I fell asleep on a piano bench in the middle of a concert only to be awoken to sing-a-song. Or there’s the time I decided to give myself a horrible haircut with some art scissors, and then showed up to a rehearsal thinking nobody would notice. Since then I have learned how important it is to listen and learn from hair and beauty experts if you are lucky enough to have them work on you.
Kelsey: I am the lead sound engineer for the band now. One mistake story occurred after we performed the national anthem at a horse racetrack. Their sound system generated a 1–2 second delay echo that we had to ignore while we were singing on camera so later that week we decided to set up our own delay experiment in a huge field. We tried to sing with tall speakers facing us 100 feet away, and to our shock, we could not keep a tune for more than a second or two no matter how hard we tried! The brain just would not allow it! We were cracking up when a coyote showed up to see what was happening and scared us off for good when he came back for a second look. But, this hands-on experiment made us all want to learn more about sound systems and live stage management.
Kaylen: One funny story I remember was when we were experimenting with having fans join us as guests on Instagram during our live-stream concerts. We didn’t realize that once we made the connection the fan had to “hang up” or we couldn’t end the segment. Some fans didn’t want or know how to sign off. It was hilarious!
What would you advise a young person who wants to emulate your success?
Kaylen: We have watched just about every online or TV documentary about singers and bands that we like. Learning how others became successful in the field of your choice can trigger ideas for your particular situation. It also can save you time, because maybe you won’t have to invent the wheel. Don’t be afraid to read detailed books or watch videos about things that interest you. At a young age, you can become an expert quicker than you would ever think.
Kristen: If performing is your goal, I would say don’t be afraid to perform little ditties for your friends, family, school, church, or club whenever you can. That means constantly creating something they will be charmed to hear or watch. Also, sign up for a choir and learn different parts, join an acting troupe, participate in auditions, and attend or sponsor open mics around town.
Kelsey: As you commit to learning to act, sing, write songs, or perform on an instrument keep in mind that the road to success is always longer than you think. Keep practicing for shorter intervals and for a minimum of 4–5 times a week.
Is there a person that made a profound impact on your life? Can you share a story?
Kaylen: As I mentioned earlier, our parents were both in the entertainment and music production fields so they top the list. They invited us to be on stage with them at very young ages, and we didn’t think twice about it. Eventually, we began writing songs on our own after studying the careers of prolific songwriters like Bob Dylan, Neil Young and more recently One Direction, 21 Pilots and Taylor Swift who cautioned us and other up-and-coming artists to keep full control of our master recordings and song/video copyrights.
Kelsey: Armchair sociologists have described K3 Sisters Band fans as a decentralized portable community without the need to travel to physical locations. Or, the K3SB FAM is a growing heterogeneous community of music lovers whose focus on love, acceptance, and tolerance is similar to the Grateful Dead’s Deadheads or BTS’s Army, however, instead of connecting at coliseums they connect online. The views of these thinkers certainly influence our thinking.
How are you using your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share with us the meaningful or exciting causes you’re working on right now?
Kaylen: Over the years we have gladly supported educational charities; fundraiser performances to support food banks, coffee houses, guide dog training, foster care support; Earth Day festivals; “save the park shows”, and free support of Irish and Scottish cultural festivals. However, these days we are shifting our focus onto our K3SB FAM which is short for K3 Sisters Band Family. It is rewarding for us to support and reward those who are supporting and rewarding us. We love showcasing artwork, edits, music and creative efforts of our K3SB FAM during live streams and in special video premieres. We look at our K3SB FAM as a community where our fans can come and be themselves. Whether they are dealing with anxiety, mental health, loneliness, etc — our free online concerts are a safe place for them to feel seen and heard.
Kristen: We created our #K3Motto in 2014, and over the years have increasingly been realizing how much of an impact it is having on individuals and family units around the world. We also have written numerous songs in support of anti-bullying and relationship issues. A week does not go by without us getting direct messages and comments from fans and/or their parents saying how much the band’s motto and our support of the K3SB FAM has meant to them.
#K3Motto: “I WILL always believe in myself and celebrate my life and the lives of others. I WILL respect the music and customs of others as long as they are not harmful to anyone. I WILL stand against bullying of any kind and choose love over hate.”
Kelsey: We are committed to spending time interacting with our fans in online chats, Q&A meetups and interactive commenting in addition to writing them letters of encouragement. These serve to connect us all together before, during and after our online concerts on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube. You see, it’s actually easier for fans to feel a real connection with us online than if they were in a huge concert hall. We give away a lot of our band merch to fans online who cannot afford to buy it. And, we have many fans that send us tips and money to support the printing, shipping, handling and postage of our band giveaways.
Can you share with us a story behind why you chose to take up this particular cause and perhaps a person who was impacted by your cause?
Kaylen: This is a perfect time to mention that in addition to connecting with fans in general, we have made a conscious effort to support certain international fandoms such as Harry Potter, Miraculous Ladybug, Heathers; the latest one being One Piece from Netflix live action series recently released worldwide. We write original songs, skits and artwork that these highly loyal fans love to enjoy in between movie, show and book releases. In the process, we turn on millions of fans to our other content and philosophy of love, acceptance and tolerance. We hear all the time from many different fans that our online community is a welcoming and inviting place where they can really let their hair down and be themselves, free of judgment.
Are there three things or are there things that individuals can do to support you in this effort?
Kristen: Absolutely! As a direct-to-fan operation we depend on hearing from fans at our live-stream concerts and fan mail so that we may comment back to them. We are always tracking the flow of daily visitors to our website k3sistersband.com as well as the countries, age groups and gender mix of all activity on our social media platforms.
Kelsey: The more fans that take advantage of listening to our numerous website playlists the better. We don’t put our original music on Apple or Spotify because we are committed to remaining an “underground” do it yourself brand. We believe artists often get ripped off by streaming services and large record labels in general, so we have modeled our approach in a different way to reach financial success on our own without them for now.
Kaylen: If people can share our content and posts with their friends, family and the public they can make a huge difference in our visibility which leads to greater future success. We are counting on such “organic growth.” Fans wearing our band merchandise in public is also a great help. And, if music journalists and lifestyle reporters will continue writing stories about our approach, and new music video releases and circulate our #K3Motto to their readers it helps.
Why do you think music in particular has the power to create social change and create a positive impact on humanity?
Kelsey: Music has for centuries captured the emotions and fancy of huge populations. But the combination of moving melodies with penetrating lyrics that speak to current issues, concerns, and fears of all of us can create a serious rethinking of a person’s worldview. Our job is to see that we shift the planet back to a more utopian worldview with our lyrics, content, and general brand instead of the current leaning towards dystopian views.
Kaylen: Vibrate Analytics recently reported,“The K3 Sisters Band has won over adoring fans all around the world with their compelling hooks, catchy melodies, and relevant lyrics. They have a talent for writing songs that resonate with their listeners, and their energetic live performances never fail to uplift and enthrall their followers. The K3 Sisters Band is a living example of how pop music has the ability to unite people, generate lifelong memories and speak to the human condition.” This is such an honor and shows that people are seeing the possibilities of social change through our music.
Kristen: Our “original music with a message” has led our fans to follow us into the future which includes trying to change the world for the better. We embrace the fact that some say the K3SB FAM has morphed into a free form unregulated band of world changers mingling together online who have common bonds including being fans of the K3 Sisters.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started”?
- Your success is going to take longer than you think so pace yourself because you will experience many ups and downs over time.
- Don’t let the negativity of family, friends, or social media commenters stop you from developing new and existing skills and dreams.
- As your vocal cords mature your voice will improve, so be careful not to damage your vocal cords by screaming or over-singing.
- If you practice a little bit every day it’s better than rehearsing for a long time once or twice a week.
- Procrastination can rob you of achieving great things, so don’t fail to begin projects and routines as soon as reasonable.
You’re a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Kristen: Wow! That movement for all three of us is wrapped up in spreading our #K3Motto further around the globe. A movement that is not based on political, religious, judgmental, or selfish motivations can lead to a joyful community of music lovers and friends who support each other’s work and leisure views without prejudice.
Can you please give us your favorite life lesson quote? And can you explain how that was relevant in your life?
Kristen: “You cannot underestimate the power of the longevity of a band.” We don’t know who first said this, but we believe it. After 14 years of performing together, we have seen many examples of how we create awesome content fairly effectively and efficiently because of our years of interpersonal and stage experiences.
We are blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
Kristen: Inaki Godoy who plays Luffy on Netflix’s recent One Piece series because he is my age and also in the world of entertainment.
Kelsey: Ashton Irwin of 5 Seconds of Summer because he is also in a band that has grown up with their fans beyond a decade, and has steered their brand in new directions.
Kaylen: Zendaya because, like us, she started with a kid-friendly fan base and has developed new content that appeals to young adults and adults in general. We think acting is in our future too
Thank you so much for these amazing insights. This was so inspiring, and we wish you continued success!
Music Stars Making a Social Impact: Why & How K3 Sisters Are Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.