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Music

Scrapbook: King avriel Flips Through Her Old Photo Albums

Avriel charts her style evolution, from tomboy to model to minimalist, and talks growing up in the industry.

King avriel's take on alt-R&B is one part academic, one part straight pop, and one part young adult novel fodder. Her songs are like academic papers, heavily annotated with themes of female empowerment, gender politics, and how we interact in a post-social media world–things she's gleaned from her years spent as a child actress and, more recently, her post as a TA at UCLA. But the heavy topics she explores don't come at the cost of putting out a slinky jam. Today avriel released her debut album Thesis. To celebrate, we asked her to flip through her old albums and talk about her style evolution, from tomboy child actress to model to minimalist.

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My sister was in the industry long before I was. I started acting at like two years old, so it wasn’t a conscious decision I made. I think my sister’s agent just saw the potential for me to have a career because I was a pretty happy toddler and could speak well and take direction really young. She was right. I ended up joining SAG before I got to elementary school, and was pretty successful until my first growth spurt as a preteen.

Love the face paint and the shirt I got from a book fair.

Playing dress up with my brother. My parents tried to encourage creativity as much as possible, so face paint, costumes, and photo shoots were a regular thing at my house.

Elementary school when I was on Mad TV. I was cast as Debra Wilson’s daughter in an episode. I don’t remember much from that job except that I was really stoked to not have to go to school. That was definitely during my tomboy phase as a kid when I wore a ton of flannel, overalls, and hooded t-shirts. (I guess fashion really is cyclical, huh?) I grew out of my tomboy phase probably around fifth or sixth grade when I started to feel like I had to compete with the popular girls for attention from boys. That’s really sad now that I think about it…I’m glad I grew out of feeling that kind of pressure.

That was also right after I cut my own bangs with kiddie scissors in the school bathroom. I got in so much trouble for that…I was always getting in trouble for altering my appearance without consulting anyone.

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When I used to dress up as Scary Spice and sing Spice Girls Songs at Karaoke (bell bottoms/platform sketchers/etc). The Spice Girls were my gateway drug to feminism. Looking back on it, it is so amazing that they were empowering little girls to be badasses and take control of their lives, relationships, and futures. I always got compared to Scary Spice too because of my hair so I had a special connection to her since there weren’t many women in pop culture who looked like me.

When I first started, I loved it. It was fast-paced and it was good money for a minimal amount of work. I had just gotten my license and I was getting paid to get made up and walk in front of people for like ten minutes. It was great, because I was working a lot as soon as I joined my agency. It just got old really fast. It’s a pretty intense industry and I think my time as a model taught me the value of my intellect and my voice. You never realize how important it is to be heard, until everyone views you as an object. I’m glad I did it though, because it made me grow up really fast.

Sixteen when all I listened to was Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles. At that time, I really identified with the experimentation they were doing. They knew the technique and were clearly conventionally talented but they gave no fucks about following rules. I think Lennon's writing really had an impact on me too. He was layering tons of meaning into his songs, and they were all so poetic but easy to understand. I’ve always loved the social climate of the 60s too, from the hippies to the civil rights activists, something about that era makes me really nostalgic. Everyone had such a passion for fucking things up and challenging the status quo.

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Sixteen when I opened for Lupe on a college tour (still on the flower/hippie stuff). A friend of mine, who was booking Lupe for a show at UC Berkeley, asked me to come be the opener. This was years ago—I was a teenager, but it was really fun and the biggest crowd I had played for up until then!

Around the same time, I was cast as a love interest in one of Pharrell’s music videos. We spent a few hours shooting in the Supreme store on Fairfax, and I remember he was kind of hitting on me in between takes. He asked how old I was, and I didn’t want to lie, so I told him I was 16 and it definitely freaked him out. I almost got kicked off set because I made him so uncomfortable! [Laughs.] But I stayed really professional, and after we wrapped the shoot he was nice about it. A couple years after that he pulled me up on stage to dance with him when he opened for Kanye at the Staples Center.

Twenty-two when I started working on Thesis in Brooklyn. I’m definitely a minimalist. I’m also a bit lazy and just go with what's comfortable, so that probably explains my tendency to throw on sneakers and baggy tees most days. I’ve started to branch out a little lately, combining designer pieces with street wear, and I like to keep my outfits monochromatic these days. But for me, the music is most important—the story, the narrative. I’m tired of being pegged as the pretty girl, and I’m not all that interested in people looking at me. I know the visual is important in music, so if they’re going to look, I want people to see an authentic version of me. I feel like artists can get caught up in presenting this constructed image of themselves that may be really artistic, but puts up a shield between them and their fans. I want my fans to intimately know me so I keep it simple.

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king avriel

King avriel now, shot by Soraya Zaman. Marissa is currently listening to King avriel's Thesis on repeat. She's on Twitter - @marissagmuller.

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Want more King avriel? Check these out.

Meet King avriel: The Girl Who's Set on Changing The Game

Watch King avriel's "Freedom"

King Avriel - "Caricatures" (Official Video)