Todd Kessler’s latest album Here Is All We Have is the next chapter in a music career that continues to evolve. Chances are you remember him from his underrated stint on NBC’s The Voice, but he’s been making great, heartfelt music for a long time. And yet he’s still finding new things to do with his sound.

In an interview with TVBrittanyF.com, Todd spoke about the creative process behind Here Is All We Have and the tracks that resonated with him during that journey. He also reflected on what it’s like to be an independent artist these days. Plus, we discuss the memories that he’ll carry with him from making this record—his first in seven years.

Brittany Frederick: First off, when do you decide that you’re ready to release a new album? Is it simply when you have enough material, or what got you to Here Is All We Have?

Todd Kessler: I feel like it has constantly changed as I have been in this business. When I started releasing records, there was no social media. I had an email list. Things were very, very different back then. I can only speak for myself, of course, but I knew I was ready to make a new record when I had enough material. I didn’t have the whole record written yet. But I was like, I’ve got enough material here that is feeling like a cohesive piece of work. And so now I’m ready to build on that. And then once the songs are ready, then it’s time to go in.

Now, if I could have done that two years after my last album came out, I would have loved to have done that. However, COVID happened. Having children happened. The world happened. I did not intend to have a seven and a half-year break between albums, but that’s just how it happened.

In terms of how the industry works right now, I know the more you can release, the better. That’s how it is right now because of streaming and because of social media and people’s shorter attention spans and just the way the algorithms work. If you can release a song every month or every few weeks—the big guns [at] the big record labels, that’s what they’re wanting to do with their artists, releasing lots of singles leading up to the record. After the record, there might be a bonus edition with a few extra songs that didn’t make the first one, and then maybe a couple singles after that. Just constantly building on the momentum from whatever song or single or album had been released previous.

There’s so many different ways to do this thing called music. There’s not necessarily one way. And for me, it really was just sort of logistics, timing, money comes into play because I’m self-funded. So that’s a big part of it as well.

How much has your sound or your approach as a musician evolved since that last album? Do you stick to one process that works for you, or does it change based on where you are now?

It has sort of evolved. This record and my last record, I traveled away from home to make. And the reason I did that was because my 2012 album, two records ago, I made it in my hometown and I lived really close to the studio so I was constantly going in and out of my creative space, which can be a bit jarring to the process. Traveling to record allowed me to rid myself of the distractions, to really focus on the creative process.

The finishing of the project is a little trickier when doing it remotely like that. However, the process of creating an album essentially is going to be the same, whether I travel far from home or I stay close to home… The recording of the rhythm section is going to happen in the room together live, and then we’re going to add different elements here and there before then putting [in] the vocals and all the extra stuff.

You’ve released some singles already, but are there other tracks on Here Is All We Have that stand out to you? What ones would you encourage fans to listen to?

I love [Birdsong] so much. I actually wrote it in 2007, and it just never made a record for whatever reason… This time it fit, and I’m so glad it did. It got a beautiful orchestral arrangement on it, that my producer Hally over in Ireland wrote, and it’s just gorgeous. I don’t think it’s a surprising song for fans of my music, because it’s very much me in terms of the delivery and the style. It’s a quieter song for sure. I really let the music sort of be the leader in that song, as opposed to the lyrics. There’s very few lyrics in it, which is a little different for me too. I can be a bit verbose in my songs.

[A Love to Go After] is about being on the road and just being really tired and weary and not sure about going further, but you constantly keep going despite all of that. That’s very much where my head was when I wrote that song, which I wrote in COVID, when I couldn’t even go out and play shows to begin with. Those would be non-single highlights for me.

Speaking of singles, so how does your promotional plan change in this new era where single releases are more common? What can fans expect from you now that the album is out?

I released a single every five or six weeks leading up to the full album drop. And that is sort of what a lot of artists are doing right now.  The more singles you have, the more stuff you have to promote, more content for the socials.

For me, now that my album is out, I’ve got a live album ready to go.  That’s going to have video and audio. It’ll be on Spotify, it’ll be on YouTube and wherever you find music.  I’ll start releasing some of those songs in the next couple months. I’ve got a big album release show here in my hometown of Chicago at the end of April.

You’ve done the work, the record is out, so what’s going to make you feel like it was a success? Especially with the gap between albums, is it just an accomplishment to have it done, or how do you reflect on it?

I have long let go of the notion that I’m going to become rich and famous for making music. I’m constantly putting myself out there. And so in that regard, I understand that fans may see social media and things and say, oh, he’s doing great. He’s made it. There might be people that think I’m famous, which is fine; that’s great  that they think that. That’s awesome. But no, I long ago gave up the notion that I’m going to make a lot of money doing this.

The accomplishment is just like you said—it is the accomplishment of completing this record, and seeing this idea and this moment in time sort of come to life.  When we make a record, it’s really a snapshot in time. What you are hearing is this snapshot of a moment that happened in a room with these musicians. And the fact that I can get it out to people, and people can hear it from all over the world is the success to me. 

And also, I got to have this incredible experience of going to Ireland, working with some of my musical heroes, namely Graham Hopkins (Glen Hansard, The Swell Season) on Drums and Robbie Malone (David Gray, LiR) on bass. In addition to that I got to work with an amazing producer and artist in his own right, Hally, along with some really incredible musicians in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

And to me, that was it. I like to say, it’s really all about the process.  Because if you can’t love the process of making the record, then what is the final product in the end?  It’s really making it that is the success.

Is there anything that you want to leave audiences with as they sit down with your new music?

I want to champion independent art and independent artists.  There’s so much amazing music out there that might not be in your face like every time you open up social media or Spotify or TikTok, but there’s amazing music out there being made by incredible artists and musicians that don’t get the love that they deserve.  And maybe I’m thinking of myself just a little bit, perhaps. But what I’ll say is if you live in a town and a cool musician or indie band is coming to town and you think they sound kind of cool, go to their show, buy their record, buy their T-shirt.

Go to the stadium show; go see Taylor Swift. It’s all great. However, don’t forget about the little guys.  Don’t forget about the little venues. Venues are having a really hard time right now. Touring as an artist is impossible, and it’s getting really, really tough for the independent venues as well, to host independent artists. So my platform today is support independent artists, support independent venues, and don’t forget about the little guy, because even the Taylor Swifts out there have to start somewhere.

Here Is All We Have by Todd Kessler is now available on Apple Music and other digital retailers. Tickets to Todd’s album release concert at Evanston SPACE are on sale here. Photo Credit: Cory Dewald/Courtesy of Todd Kessler.

Listen to some of Todd’s new songs (and some of his favorite music!) in his Spotify playlist below:

Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.