Written By: Jayme Face

Kyla Carter is a busy, young woman from voicing CJ Suki on Trollstopia and Trolls: The Beat Goes On to releasing original music to even hosting a podcast called Kyla’s Corner. We caught up with her on all of that and more.

upfrontNY: Can you tell us about Trollstopia and Trolls: The Beat Goes On and your character CJ Suki?

Kyla Carter: Yeah, Trolls: The Beat Goes On and Trollstopia are spinoff series of the original movie Trolls. My character CJ is DJ Suki’s niece. CJ is a spitfire hip-hopper who plays the turntables and sings. She’s so cool and so sweet and she loves her aunt DJ. All she wants is her aunt DJ to be happy.

 

upfrontNY: You are a performer in so many ways singing, modeling, acting in TV and Broadway; how is voicing a cartoon character different from your other projects?

Kyla Carter: It’s really different, but I really like it though because there really is no pressure on you to nail it perfectly which is great. I always get in trouble because I’m always moving my hands. I’m moving around a little bit because I treat voice acting like I would treat stage acting which is very animated and lively. To have to get emotions out just through your voice constantly it’s like ‘Kyla, stop moving around!’ which is absolutely hilarious to me. They differ a lot but I like to find connections between them because it makes everything easier across the board.

 

upfrontNY: You’ve released the song Because You’re You from season 4, but you are also an original singer/songwriter so how does your original music differ from that of your character?

Kyla Carter: They actually don’t differ that much. DreamWorks wrote Because You’re You for me. When I got the job, I was so excited that I would be singing DreamWorks’s original song as CJ. I think that is what sealed the deal for me at the end. I was like ‘Ahh, I’m going to sing my own songs.’ I think that is really what inspired me to write my own music. The messages that I write very much go with Because You’re You. My new single that I just released, Average Puzzle Piece is the exact same message which is also absolutely insane to me because I didn’t even intentionally write the same message, but they go so perfect together which is just great.

 

upfrontNY: You’ve always been busy performing, sometimes even on the road; how do you juggle work, school, and being a kid?

Kyla Carter: That’s very hard to do. My parents are my biggest supporters and my life is basically scheduled down to the minute. I make sure that I have time for myself because I feel that that is most important. I like to have time for me to be able to write down thoughts and collect myself after a long day. So, really making sure one you have time for yourself, two you’re not overworking yourself (which I’ve done a bunch of times and know when it’s getting a little crazy because I love to pack my schedule with everything) and three just make sure everything you’re doing is something that you love to do. I found that if I don’t want to do something I immediately cut it out from my life because why waste time doing it. It’s really just scheduling and time management.

 

upfrontNY: So, what do you like to do when you do give yourself that free time?

Kyla Carter: I really like drawing and I like writing. I actually started journaling this year. That’s a new thing that I started to do and I get a lot of inspiration from that. I also just write songs. I’ll do a bunch of random things like fishing and bike riding which where I’m from is a big thing like fishing and surfing because I come from a beach town. Everything is going on boats or driving around so I do a bunch of that stuff too.

 

upfrontNY: Since you are a New York native what is something you love or miss when you’re not home?

Kyla Carter: I miss New York all the time. I mean New York is just different. I’ve traveled the country; I’ve almost been to every single state. I love that there’s each little specific thing about every state, but New York in general I love how fast paced it is here. I love the beaches like being right close to the beach where you can drive there whenever you want. Being close to the biggest city in the world, I mean the skyscrapers are just absolutely insane. Definitely the fast paced and go getter attitude that we New Yorkers have is my favorite thing ever.

 

upfrontNY: You also have a podcast called Kyla’s Corner, can you tell us more about that?

Kyla Carter: Kyla’s Corner is about being positive and bringing positive messages into people’s lives and really bringing light to topics I think are important. I think I’ve done about 40 episodes now since last April which is absolutely insane too. The podcast is to inspire people to work on themselves and to really think about others around them and not only themselves and to bring light into other people’s lives as well as their own.

 

upfrontNY: What’s something you do to stay positive when you’re feeling down?

Kyla Carter: Music again, music is such a big part of my life so when I’m feeling down I will actually put on Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles. I’ll just rock out to that song because that’s such a happy song. I love listening to happy music especially when I’m feeling down or I’ll just consult in someone. I would say my mom is my therapist all the time because whenever I have a problem or I’m feeling down she’s the first person I go to. So really, finding support from others around me and find support in music and other people’s creations really helps me too.

 

upfrontNY: Can you tell us more about your music?

Kyla Carter: Average Puzzle Piece the new single that I wrote is about being okay standing out in a crowd and being comfortable in your own skin. The way that Average Puzzle Piece came along is I look at the world as a big puzzle and everybody is their own puzzle piece. They’re kind of forced to fit in a way that society thinks you should. I’ve always had trouble growing up being able to fit in so when writing this song, I really wanted to spread the message that it’s okay being who you are and it’s okay to stand out. You’re not going to be what somebody wants you to be or what anybody wants you to be. I think that relates to Trolls because the song Because You’re You is CJ talking about how her aunt is perfect and she doesn’t need to be whatever a spider wrangler in the show, but how she should stick to her own talents by mixing music. I think that’s one how it relates and two the message to spread. I’m a teenage girl and a lot of teenage girls, especially girls, feel the same way I do so I’m letting them know that I feel this way too. We can work on ourselves and overall be our happiest and best self is another thing that I wanted to spread.

upfrontNY: Do you have any plans for an album?

Kyla Carter: I’m going to be releasing a new single in about two months which is very exciting. I would love to release an album one day, but the idea of releasing an album kind of scares me because there are so many wonderful albums out there. I think I would need to establish myself a little bit more in the music industry to release an album. In 2021 I am going to be releasing so many singles. I’m so excited!

 

Favorite Fast 5

Favorite song to perform: July by Noah Cyrus

Favorite musical: Wicked

Favorite actress: Kristen Chenoweth

Favorite food: Sushi

Favorite TV Show: Julie and the Phantoms, there’s so many- Stranger Things– I can never pick one solid thing!

 

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