{"id":2374,"date":"2021-02-16T16:56:45","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T16:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/?post_type=interview&p=2374"},"modified":"2021-02-16T16:57:21","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T16:57:21","slug":"marisa-kolka","status":"publish","type":"interview","link":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/interview\/marisa-kolka\/","title":{"rendered":"Marisa Kolka"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Where are you based?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Kansas City, Missouri<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where do you work? What do you do?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m the Communications Manager for Folk Alliance International<\/a>, a 32-year old arts nonprofit that works to preserve, present, and promote folk music globally. We host an annual folk music industry conference that brings over 3,000 people from all over the world under one roof. We also work on year-round advocacy efforts for the folk community, prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout all our programs. The past year has forced us to adjust our usual plans and create more digital offerings than we\u2019ve ever had before, which has allowed us to reach audiences we wouldn\u2019t have been able to in-person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also present the International Folk Music Awards (IFMAs) each year, which honor industry leaders, legends, unsung heroes, and rising talent in the folk community. The award show will be virtual this year (of course), happening on Sunday, February 21 as part of the Folk Unlocked Virtual Conference. I\u2019m really excited about the nominees this year! You can check out the list here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are you listening to?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m the kind of person who fixates on songs or albums and binges the heck out of them for months, so it would be dishonest for me to neglect mentioning that Glass Animals\u2019 latest album, \u201cDreamland\u201d, has been taking up a LOT of space for me musically for the last six months. Seriously, it\u2019s kind of embarrassing how much I listen to that album. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I just started listening to Adia Victoria<\/a>, and she\u2019s incredible (she\u2019s also nominated for Song of the Year at the International Folk Music Awards!). I love the dark moody vibes of her songs, and she isn\u2019t afraid to sing about things that make folks uncomfortable. I am ALL about Black women in roots music. The more, the better. When I first started working in the folk community, I felt somewhat out of place as a Black woman, but seeing artists like Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, Yola, Kaia Kater\u2026 it really opened my eyes to what folk truly is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also love YEBBA, Kuinka, SZA, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Lula Wiles, Lizzo, Billie Eilish, ROSAL\u00cdA, Sam Smith, Darlingside\u2026 I\u2019m a bit all over the place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you discover new music?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of my favorite places to pick up new songs is through TV shows, actually. I know I\u2019m going to love a song if I hear 15 seconds of it in a scene and immediately have to ask Siri what\u2019s playing! I\u2019ve also discovered some good songs from Apple Fitness+ workouts, so that\u2019s been fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other than that, one of my biggest music discovery sessions is always at the annual Folk Alliance International conference. I\u2019m lucky that my job requires me to go around and document everything happening on social media, so I happily get to sit in on a ton of showcases and pick up on new artists to add to my playlists. I think one of my favorite discoveries from a past conference is Rosier, a Qu\u00e9bec folk trad group that sings primarily in French. I don\u2019t speak French AT all, but I was immediately hooked on their music when I popped into their showcase one night in a tiny hotel room in Montreal and they\u2019ve been a regular in my music rotation ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the kinda cool music discoveries that happen at Folk Alliance. You never know what you\u2019re going to stumble on, and you\u2019ll find music from pockets of the world that you\u2019ve never even heard of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I know I\u2019m going to love a song if I hear 15 seconds of it in a scene and immediately have to ask Siri what\u2019s playing!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What formats do you usually listen to? LP, CD, Cassette, Digital, Streaming Services? Why?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Honestly, I\u2019m a Spotify junkie. I\u2019m aware of what that means for artists, though, so I always buy merch, CDs, or vinyl whenever I can. I\u2019m probably one of the few people left with a CD player in their car, so I\u2019ve been re-building my CD collection over the past few years! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I like Spotify because it\u2019s a way to discover new music I never would\u2019ve even known about. Those damn algorithms just work<\/em>. Plus, the user interface is nice. I\u2019m an Apple girl through and through, but I made the switch from Apple Music a few years ago and haven\u2019t looked back since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where do you do most of your music listening?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Well, thanks to the pandemic, I\u2019ve been working from home since March of last year. My favorite part about that is I can now blast my music on my speakers all day long! I\u2019m probably listening to music for at least six out of the eight hours I work every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also like to listen to music while going on long walks or knitting. That\u2019s when I can actually clear my mind and just listen to the music, rather than having it as background noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you find and listen to pre-release music?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Normally, it would be through album release shows locally. But of course, that isn\u2019t happening right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are your frustrations with listening to music digitally? Any benefits?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I love being able to listen to music wherever I am. I have an endless amount of songs available at my fingertips\u2026 which doesn\u2019t come without problems. There is SO much music out there that I want to listen to, and there just isn\u2019t enough time to ever get through it all! I guess that\u2019s a good problem to have, but as someone who listens to a lot of different genres, it can be pretty annoying. I\u2019m always falling behind on the latest music in some genre because I\u2019ve only had time to focus on another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There is SO much music out there that I want to listen to, and there just isn\u2019t enough time to ever get through it all!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

How do you keep track of everything you are listening to?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ugh, I struggle with this so hard. I have a pretty diverse list of playlists based on genres, moods, dates, etc. If I discover a new song that fits into a specific genre playlist, that\u2019s an easy add. Over the last couple of years, though, I started creating playlists for each year, which are mostly full of songs that I \u201cdiscovered\u201d that year (discovered being a loose term, it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean the song was released that year). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I just made a playlist for my favorite cover songs, and one for songs that I just\u2026 enjoy singing (to myself, alone, in my apartment). I try to create as many categories as possible so that I have a playlist for every mood\/activity, but I also don\u2019t like having too<\/em> many playlists, so I go back and delete old ones that I don\u2019t listen to often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do use the favorite feature on Spotify, but I usually never go back and look at my favorited songs anyway because it\u2019s waaaay too overwhelming. So I definitely do end up losing some songs that I really like, which is super annoying!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Do you tip other people off to new music? How?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Eh. I have a couple of friends that I send recommendations to (and they send me stuff, too!) because we have similar tastes, but I often find that the stuff I REALLY want to share, my friends wouldn\u2019t really be into anyway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did make a playlist of all women artists (or women-led groups) that I passed around to some folks who did end up enjoying it. I wouldn\u2019t say I\u2019m much of a curator, though. I mostly just keep it all to myself!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anything you want to \u201cpromote\u201d?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This year, FAI is hosting a digital version of our annual conference, called Folk Unlocked<\/a>. We are SO stoked about it. Seriously, the panel offerings are amazing and we have tons of artists from around the globe showcasing (like more than 500)! When COVID hit, it was a really scary time for us because we had no idea what the future held. We\u2019re a non-profit, so the funds certainly aren\u2019t endless, and we had to take a huge financial hit by canceling our in-person conference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m really proud of the work our team has done to bring our conference to the digital world, and the bonus is that registration is pay-what-you-can. This means that folks who\u2019ve never been able to attend FAI because of financial restraints can come see what it\u2019s all about in a way that\u2019s affordable for them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"template":"","tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMarisa Kolka: Interview - #HowWeListen from Byta<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Marisa Kolka of Folk Alliance International shares how she finds and experiences music in a digital age. Recommends: Adia Victoria, Rosier\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/interview\/marisa-kolka\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Marisa Kolka: Interview - #HowWeListen from Byta\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Marisa Kolka of Folk Alliance International shares how she finds and experiences music in a digital age. Recommends: Adia Victoria, Rosier\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/interview\/marisa-kolka\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"#HowWeListen from Byta\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/BytaLtd\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-16T16:57:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/marisa-kolka-hero.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"690\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/marisa-kolka-hero.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BytaLtd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/interview\/marisa-kolka\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/interview\/marisa-kolka\/\",\"name\":\"Marisa Kolka: Interview - #HowWeListen from Byta\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-16T16:56:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-16T16:57:21+00:00\",\"description\":\"Marisa Kolka of Folk Alliance International shares how she finds and experiences music in a digital age. Recommends: Adia Victoria, Rosier\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/interview\/marisa-kolka\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/interview\/marisa-kolka\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/interview\/marisa-kolka\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Interviews\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/interviews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Marisa Kolka\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/\",\"name\":\"#HowWeListen from Byta\",\"description\":\"Music Interviews & Music Industry Events\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Marisa Kolka: Interview - #HowWeListen from Byta","description":"Marisa Kolka of Folk Alliance International shares how she finds and experiences music in a digital age. Recommends: Adia Victoria, Rosier","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/interview\/marisa-kolka\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Marisa Kolka: Interview - #HowWeListen from Byta","og_description":"Marisa Kolka of Folk Alliance International shares how she finds and experiences music in a digital age. Recommends: Adia Victoria, Rosier","og_url":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/interview\/marisa-kolka\/","og_site_name":"#HowWeListen from Byta","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/BytaLtd","article_modified_time":"2021-02-16T16:57:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":690,"height":550,"url":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/marisa-kolka-hero.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/marisa-kolka-hero.png","twitter_site":"@BytaLtd","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/interview\/marisa-kolka\/","url":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/interview\/marisa-kolka\/","name":"Marisa Kolka: Interview - #HowWeListen from Byta","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-02-16T16:56:45+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-16T16:57:21+00:00","description":"Marisa Kolka of Folk Alliance International shares how she finds and experiences music in a digital age. Recommends: Adia Victoria, Rosier","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/interview\/marisa-kolka\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/interview\/marisa-kolka\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/interview\/marisa-kolka\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Interviews","item":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/interviews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Marisa Kolka"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/#website","url":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/","name":"#HowWeListen from Byta","description":"Music Interviews & Music Industry Events","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/interview\/2374"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/interview"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/interview"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/interview\/2374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2383,"href":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/interview\/2374\/revisions\/2383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}