Chaz Kiss – PRESHOW RITUALS

In this Preshow Rituals segment, the indie pop artist, Chaz Kiss, reveals what she does before taking the stage. You can check out the rituals, after the break.

Everybody loves Maroon 5. They’re simultaneously everyone’s favorite, and sometimes, least favorite band. I’ll start this story off by saying that I’ve been testing these methods for warming up my voice for over a decade and they have yet to prove me wrong. I sing lead vocals for an alternative rock band, and although they are unconventional, my warm-up secrets are what get me through super long sets of screlting (scream-belting) safely. My warm-up method is typically aligned with being on the way to a gig, and doing my makeup in the car simultaneously – and I am not a doctor, so, do this at your own risk!

The most crucial piece to a perfect warm-up is to pick songs that you know the words to. This way, you’re eliminating any external factors other than pitch and breath. For myself, I have found that ‘Songs About Jane’ by Maroon 5 (one of the best albums of all time) to be the perfect warm-up album. I skip around a bit, but for the most part, it’s easy to sing along with because I know every word.

After you’ve sung along to something like Maroon 5, the next step I take is to sing along to other singers in my genre that I like. For our style, I throw on some Nothing But Thieves and Jeff Buckley; practicing to really good singers; singers with really great pitch. This will ensure that your stylistic nuances are warmed up as well as your pitch and breath.

In my experience, the most difficult part of my warm-up routine is somewhat bothering my bandmates with my loud singing in the car! The sound bounces off the windshield which only makes it louder, and more ear-piercing. And of course, stay hydrated; don’t push your voice to where it hurts whatsoever, and make sure to land on top of the notes without reaching or stretching!

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