Behind the Scenes with Bass Legend, Karina Rykman

With her appearances on The Today Show, America’s Got Talent, and most recently, in the 8G Band on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Karina Rykman has become the hottest opening act in live music today. Check out her debut album "JoyRide", and our conversation on opening for her pals, The Disco Biscuits this Spring.

MK - "Your choice of collaborations in your career is very impressive, especially the work you’ve done with Marco Benevento. How did that relationship begin, and what is it about Marco that inspires you musically? Who else would you like to collaborate with in the future?"

KR - "Playing with Marco Benevento was my first 'big gig' - the gig that really kick started everything for me. It happened because Dave Dreiwitz, his former bassist, has been a dear friend and mentor of mine since I was a teenager. Ween reunited in 2016 and Dave couldn't continue doing all the Marco gigs, and he asked Marco if I could fill in for him. Marco said absolutely, blindly, without ever having seen me play, and then what began as filling in for Dreiwitz became full time later on in 2016. I was 22 and still at NYU - crazy times! Playing with Marco is one of my life's greatest joys. He's given me everything, and he's as wonderful a human as he is an absolutely brilliant musician. Who would I like to collaborate with? Bootsy Collins."

MK - "How would you describe your music to a new audience, and what is your personal process in developing and writing songs?"

KR - "I'd say my music is a lot of things, but one thing it isn't is hummus and crackers music. This isn't music for seated audiences. It's dancy rock and roll. It's a party and you're invited." 

"The process changes and songs come about in different ways - but most of them start by sitting with my producer Gabe Monro and creating what we call "seedlings". That's usually an instrumental A section / B section, or a verse and chorus, etc. Then I let those seedlings marinate, put lyrics to the melodies (or I don't, in the case of Plants or any of my instrumentals), bring them to the band, and then let the songs develop and proceed by their own design."

MK - "I was thrilled to see you announced as the opening act for The Disco Biscuits on March 16th at The House of Blues in Boston. How did that come about, and what can fans expect from this fantastic lineup?"

KR - "My dear pals in The Disco Biscuits have had me open many shows last year, as well as taking me and my band to Iceland, and having me sit in with them in New Orleans and Burlington! I've known them for a long time, and I've been seeing their shows since I was 14, long before we were friends. They're the nicest dudes, and it's no secret they are on fire at this particular moment. It's wildly inspiring to watch them - their music is absolutely insane, and I dance like it's 3AM in Ibiza every time. You can expect 45 mins of Rykman to warm your ass up for the B4L party, tree emoji alien emoji tree emoji style."

Karina Rykman opens for The Disco Biscuits on March 16th at the House of Blues in Boston, Massachusetts. Reserve your tickets below and see what the buzz is all about. Additional 2024 Spring/Summer dates for Karina and her band can be found here.