A Chat with Liya K (24.06.26)
With music in her veins, a determination to experience life, and a desire to take us all on this empowering journey, singer-songwriter and influencer Liya K heads to the USA from her native Russia. We speak with Liya K about moving to the USA, her cover of Little Mix, what cultures mean to her, and much more.
OSR: A rather cliché question, but what drew you to music? Why did you choose to pursue a music career?
Liya K: I think I’ve always loved singing. A couple of weeks ago, my dad sent me a video of me as a little kid watching a Russian TV show called Born to Be a Star. I was around six or seven years old, singing along to one of the songs from the show. Later, I went to music school, where I studied piano, music theory, and choir. The school focused heavily on classical music, and honestly, that’s when I almost lost my desire to pursue music altogether. Classical music felt very structured and conservative to me.
Everything changed when I graduated from music school at fourteen. I started watching music videos on MTV and Russian music channels. I remember seeing Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, and Christina Aguilera. When I watched their performances, I saw so much freedom and confidence. That’s what attracted me. I wanted to be that confident, stylish, beautiful, and unapologetically expressive. It wasn’t just about the music. I felt freedom in their voices, in the way they moved, in the way they dressed, in the way they carried themselves. Everything about it felt free.
Looking back, I think I was chasing that freedom of self-expression that I felt was missing during my classical music education. When I was sixteen, I wrote my first instrumental composition, and I’d say that’s where everything really began.
OSR: You are originally from Russia, but chose to move to the USA. Why the move? Also, how have the different cultures influenced you as a musician and as a person?
Liya K: I’ve always dreamed of living in the United States. Let’s start there.
The first time I ever wrote about it was back in 2012. I sent a message to my friend on VKontakte, a Russian social media platform, saying something along the lines of, “I’m going to live in New York one day. Do you plan on coming to the U.S.?” Honestly, I think every relationship I had started with me asking whether the guy wanted to move to the U.S. someday. *laughs*
There were many reasons I was so drawn to the U.S. One of them was that I grew up watching Nickelodeon, and so many of my favorite shows were filmed in Los Angeles. I was fascinated by the idea of living somewhere without snow. I hate cold weather, which is ironic because I was born in the Ural region of Russia, where winters are very long and very cold. Every time I walked to school in -30°C weather, I promised myself that one day I’d live somewhere warm.
Then, when I was sixteen, I discovered jazz and completely fell in love with it. What frustrated me was that almost nobody around me understood or appreciated jazz. There were a few people who were interested in it, but very few. It often felt like I was alone with this passion and had nobody to talk to about it. I understood that this music came from a different culture, and growing up in a small Russian town, it simply wasn’t something most people were exposed to. From that point on, I mostly listened to American music, watched American movies, and immersed myself in American culture.
So yes, moving to the U.S. was always my dream. The challenge was that I had absolutely no idea how I could make it happen. Nobody in my family or social circle had ever been to the U.S., so it felt almost impossible. Then I met my husband. One of the first things I told him was that I wanted to live in the United States. Instead of dismissing it, he encouraged me and told me it was possible. Two years later, we were here.
As for how different cultures have influenced me as a musician, I think that’s something we’ll continue to discover over time. But they’ve definitely influenced me as a person. I feel like I have a much broader and more open-minded perspective because I grew up surrounded by different cultures. My father is Georgian, so I was exposed to more than one cultural identity from an early age. It challenged a lot of assumptions and ways of thinking that people can develop when they spend their entire lives in one environment. I remember hearing my father speak Georgian with relatives on the phone, and even little things like that made me curious about the world beyond my hometown. Later, I lived in different parts of Russia, travelled when I could, and eventually moved to the United States.
All of those experiences taught me to see things from different perspectives. I’m incredibly grateful for my roots because they made me who I am today. In fact, if I hadn’t grown up in a small town in Russia, I might not have been so determined to build the life I wanted.
OSR: You are documenting your journey to the USA on your YouTube. Why did you choose to create these videos, and has this helped you grow as a person and musician?
Liya K: These days, I share most of my journey on Instagram rather than YouTube. I’d say that when you’re chasing big goals, it’s easy to overlook your smaller victories. You become so focused on where you’re trying to go that you forget to acknowledge how far you’ve already come. By documenting my journey through my series Becoming Liya K, I get to remind myself of everything I’ve already accomplished. It helps me appreciate the small steps, the small wins, and the progress that often goes unnoticed. More than anything, it’s helped me psychologically. It keeps me from minimizing my own journey and reminds me that growth happens one step at a time.
OSR: What does music mean to you?
Liya K: To me, music is freedom. It’s self-expression. It’s the ability to be completely yourself. Honestly, I don’t know if I can explain what music means to me because it feels less like something I do and more like a part of who I am. It’s as much a part of me as an arm or a leg. There were times when I tried to ignore that part of myself and focus on other things, but it only led to emotional burnout. It’s like having a left arm and deciding not to use it because developing strength and coordination takes effort. You can pretend it doesn’t exist, but it’s still there. That’s how music feels to me. It’s simply a part of me, a part of my identity, and a part of how I experience the world.
OSR: You released your Russian-language debut single in 2023. Why the break in releasing music?
Liya K: Looks like you’ve done your research! *laughs*
There were a few reasons. The first was that after releasing my debut single, I realized that only my friends were listening to it. I quickly understood that releasing music doesn’t make much sense if you don’t have an audience yet. So I decided to pause and focus on building my social media presence first. Then, in 2024, I moved to the United States and started creating content in English. That’s when I began building an English-speaking audience from scratch.
The second reason was more personal. I’ve always been drawn to freedom of expression. The songs I wanted to write felt much freer and more open than what was generally accepted in the environment where I grew up. There was a constant creative conflict. The artist I wanted to be didn’t really fit the culture I was surrounded by. My first U.S. performances are coming up next week, and all of the songs are in English. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been finishing lyrics, rewriting songs, and translating some of my older material.
When I looked at the final setlist, everything suddenly clicked. I realized that I wouldn’t feel comfortable performing many of these songs in Russian. Not because there’s anything wrong with the language, but because the ideas, emotions, and level of freedom in those songs wouldn’t really be accepted in the environment where I was raised. For that audience, it would simply feel like too much freedom. That’s when I finally understood why I stopped releasing music for a while. The music I wanted to create didn’t fit the market I was in, and at the time, I had no idea how to reach the audience I actually wanted to create for. So instead, I decided to build that audience first.
In 2024, I moved to the United States and started creating content in English from scratch. Over the next two years, I built an English-speaking audience of more than 60,000 followers. Looking back, I think that was the right decision.
OSR: A few months ago, you released a YouTube cover of Little Mix’s ‘Little Me’. What made you choose this song, and can we expect more covers in the future?
Liya K: In that video, I was trying to show the internal conflict that I think every person experiences. It’s the conflict between two versions of yourself. One version is insecure, afraid to take risks, afraid to make a move, afraid to step into the unknown. The other version is confident, brave, and already living in the reality you dream about. It’s the version of you that already believes everything is possible and is trying to encourage the fearful version to keep going.
For me, this is a constant internal conversation. I often come up with a new idea or a big goal, and then immediately start asking myself: Can I really do this? Am I aiming too high? And if it is possible, how am I supposed to get there? Most of the time, when you’re at the beginning of your journey, and your goals are much bigger than your current reality, you simply don’t know how you’re going to make them happen. You don’t have a plan. You don’t have the answers. For me, the hardest part has always been believing anyway. Believing even when I have absolutely no idea how I’ll get from where I am today to where I want to be. That’s what this song means to me.
As for whether people can expect more covers in the future, I honestly don’t know. We’ll see where the journey takes me. Right now, I’m preparing for my first performances in Los Angeles featuring my original music, and I’m incredibly excited about that. Performing your own songs is a completely different experience. You know how every line was born. You know the story behind every lyric. You know exactly what you had to go through for those words to exist. There’s something very special about that.
Ultimately, I want to focus on my original music and continue growing as a songwriter. My goal is to perform my songs all across the United States, gain confidence in myself as a songwriter, and begin releasing English-language music later this year. That’s where my focus is right now.
OSR: How would you describe yourself as a person and musician?
Liya K: I would describe myself as a very sensitive person. I feel things deeply, and I tend to take things to heart. I’m very aware of people’s energy, emotions, and intentions. Sometimes that’s a huge advantage, and sometimes it can be challenging. I’ve spent my entire life learning how to take risks, and interestingly, most of the biggest rewards in my life came from the moments when I was willing to do something scary. The most important decisions I’ve ever made were all risky decisions. And I’m grateful to myself for making them. That’s actually what many of my songs are about. They’re about following your heart, enjoying the present moment, showing the world who you really are, and not being afraid to be yourself.
I can honestly say that most of the lessons I’ve learned and experiences I’ve lived through eventually find their way into my music. That’s how my songs are born. Each song becomes a small story inspired by something I’ve experienced, learned, or felt along the way.
OSR: If you could speak to your younger self, what advice would you give little Liya K?
Liya K: Believe in your path. Find a way to get to the United States as early as possible, because that’s where you’ll finally feel at home and where creating will start to feel effortless.
Learn English.
Don’t let other people tell you who you are. Trust your own story more than anyone else’s opinion. Don’t wait for approval before making decisions. Trust your thoughts. Trust your feelings. Trust your intuition. And remember that just because something seems impossible doesn’t mean it is.
OSR: What can we expect from you in the future?
Liya K: Definitely more live performances in Los Angeles and New York featuring my original music. You can expect new music releases, music videos, and hopefully albums in the future. My goal is to keep growing as an artist, perform across the United States, and build a career that allows me to share my music with as many people as possible. I want my songs to make people feel alive. I want people to feel freedom, energy, confidence, and excitement about life when they listen to my music. And of course, I’d love to see my music reach bigger audiences. Like any artist, I dream of performing for thousands of people, seeing my songs connect with listeners around the world, and building something that lasts. Right now, I’m focused on taking one step at a time and enjoying the journey.
OSR: Do you have a message for our readers?
Liya K: Only you truly know who you are. Don’t let other people define you, limit you, or convince you to become a smaller version of yourself. Trust your heart, trust your instincts, and trust your journey. And no matter what anyone says, don’t let anyone dim your light.
Many thanks to Liya K for speaking with us. Find out more about Liya K on her Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Spotify.
