Slumber Party Sessions: Inaugural Show Recap (May 2022)
The Inaugural Slumber Party Sessions, held at Junior High Los Angeles in May 2022, was full of fun, community, and nostalgia. Featuring performances from Sayaka, Kate Grahn, Julia Jade, and Brett Koolik (all the way from Nashville!), people sang along to their favorite covers and discovered their new favorite indie artists. We ran out of hot chocolate—even in the hot LA weather—and folks followed the artists on Spotify in order to be entered in a raffle to win a cozy blanket and a mini waffle maker! At the end of the night, each artist had gained 15 new Spotify follows, and Lexi Cline (an amazing artist) was the recipient of our cozy prizes.
We can’t wait for the next one. You’re always invited!
Keep reading to meet the artists below!
Meet the Artists
Julia Jade
A queer-feminist singer-songwriter who has an opinion on everything. From LA to Boston to Nashville, Julia Jade has brought her penchant for introspective storytelling and songs of social conscience everywhere she’s gone. Jade creates quirky, piano-based indie pop with something for everyone— thought-provoking lyrics for the dreamers and witty/sarcastic one-liners for the skeptics. Her style is most notably equated to those of Dodie, Regina Spektor, Ingrid Michaelson, and Kate Nash. It is nearly impossible not to sing along to this suit-wearing femme who doesn’t take herself too seriously.
Sayaka
Sayaka is a singer songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. With her father and grandfather being successful musicians, she has been surrounded in a musical environment since she was a young child. Sayaka is a current scholarship recipient at Berklee College of Music, where she has been playing with her band and recording new music. Inspired by the likes of Moonchild and Sara Bareilles, Sayaka allows her vulnerability to soar through her honest lyricism and unique arrangements. Sayaka’s ability to create a safe space for her audience through her music makes her unlike any other.
Kate Grahn
When you put together a flash of rebellion, a hint of soul, and a spark of feminism, you get Kate Grahn, an L.A. born-and-raised singer/songwriter & USC Thornton graduate. Whether she’s performing pop/rock or indie-alternative, it is evident that Kate is the spunky, edgy, old-fashioned new voice the world needs. At 22 years old, she grabs the attention of young and old, inspired by a range of artists from Bishop Briggs to Grace Potter to Stevie Nicks.
The themes of Kate's childhood are part of what motivates her passion for issues of today. As the daughter of a single, working mom, she is an artful advocate for women’s empowerment, using her music to protest, encourage and join with others. Her personal story, going through family court at a young age and understanding the challenges of mental health, gave her a taste of what it is like to feel voiceless. Kate aims to inspire others to find theirs. In today's political and social climate it is a question of more than just personal growth, it is a matter of collective survival.
Brett Koolik
As a 14-year-old kid in South Florida, Brett Koolik wrote and self-produced his first song, an early glimpse into the heartfelt storytelling and sophisticated sense of melody that now define his music. Over the coming years, he continued writing and releasing his own material—a self-motivated routine he’s maintained even while keeping up his studies in biomechanical engineering at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University. Despite very little self-promotion on Koolik’s part, songs like his 2017 single “The One I Need” drew attention from such industry heavyweights as Z3N (a producer with Electric Feel Entertainment, whose roster includes Post Malone and Louis Bell) and set in motion what’s sure to be an exciting and enduring career.
Upon heading to college in the music-biz hotbed of Nashville, Koolik balanced his demanding academic schedule with abundant time spent writing and recording at an on-campus studio (an opportunity afforded through his acceptance into Vanderbilt’s ultra-competitive Media Immersion program). Not only essential in honing his musicianship—and his rare ability to handle everything from hip-hop to EDM with equal finesse—that atmosphere of spirited collaboration enabled Koolik to organically assemble a creative team versed in such skills as merch design and social media marketing. During his sophomore year, his relentless dedication paid off when “The One I Need” found its way to a TV star and aspiring pop artist, who soon enlisted Koolik as a collaborator for a duo project set for release in 2021.
In one of his latest undertakings, Koolik has joined forces with Z3N (Lil Wayne, Juice WRLD, Meek Mill, 2 Chainz) and Brett “Beats” Bailey (a co-producer on Nicki Minaj’s gold-certified “Bed” ft. Ariana Grande) and started developing songs to pitch to major pop stars. Having identified Koolik as a budding triple-threat artist/co-writer/producer in the vein of Jack Antonoff or Ryan Tedder, his newfound collaborators have helped to foster his gifts for toplining and production, ultimately accelerating his musical growth and further setting the stage for breakout success as both an artist and behind-the-scenes hitmaker.
