Kyra Soto is no stranger to performing. Where some shy in front of the lens of a camera or the idea of being perceived, she thrives.

“I grew up within the arts, and I’ve always just loved being in front of cameras.” She immediately recounts the Nickelodeon show iCarly, which served as the OG average-person-to-influencer pipe dream. “I loved that show and messing around in front of a camera, and always pretended to be making, like, iKyras… I think that’s what introduced me [to the arts].” Her parents’ support was thus shown through Soto’s mother making her audition for an arts middle school, an act that Soto at the time remained apprehensive about. If anything, though, that’s where Soto’s story takes off, as she started writing songs around sixth grade. 

From there, the art turned into a means of exercising perfectionism for her. Through high school, and even the quarantine years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Soto juggled online school with self-imposed courses of music and acting. “I would really only be making demos and writing more songs and watching videos on more about music,” she remembered. “Then I discovered the college that I’m at currently, which gave me some sort of security blanket to be like, ‘Okay, I could do this as a career. I could do this as something more.’” And the work paid off; Soto currently attends the Berklee College of Music and is in her sophomore year.

“It’s been interesting because, when you come here,” she continued, “it’s very hard not to compare yourself. Everybody is coming from such different backgrounds.” This sentiment can clearly be seen in the music industry at large, where self-made artists such as Chappell Roan must compete for music connections and financial backing that nepo baby musicians like Gracie Abrams inherit.

For Soto, though, the innate desire to compare and contrast doesn’t make it too far past the initial urge. “Coming from all the art schools I’ve been to,” she said, “I’ve learned to navigate through that lack of confidence and see it as inspiration. I saw so many people from different backgrounds and the amount of things that they were doing, and I was like, ‘I can do that too. If they had the confidence to do that, why can’t I do it?’ Not everything has to be perfect.”

This is where the motivation to officially release her first single blossomed. “In my second semester of being at college, I was like, ‘I’m going to release this song, and I’m going to just try to make it the best that I can and with what I have’… When I got [to college], I learned more of the process of what releasing songs looks like… That’s why I’m really excited for the second release, because I feel like I have a lot under my belt now.” 

Her 2025 debut single, “From Me to You,” is a co-written piece, something that Soto herself harbors mixed feelings about. A slower song that exudes melancholy, “From Me to You” is Soto opening the door to her music career, not without a gentle knock. “When I look back at it now, I almost wish I hadn’t done it as a co-write and I was more sure of what I was feeling,” she admitted. “But I think there is something special and telling about those pieces of ourselves that are in those first drafts and in those versions, because you wrote it down there for a reason.”

When Soto first began writing songs, these first drafts marinated for months, only being completed in chunks at a time. “Jumpin Guns,” her second single to be released on March 27 and produced by Connor Henson, is a product of this process. An upbeat track with an earworm of a hook, “Jumpin Guns” is a replay-worthy example of Soto’s independent voice. 

“It’s the first song I’m putting out that I fully wrote by myself,” she said. “There’s a lot of me within that song, but the whole song is about whether something’s a coincidence or fate or meant to happen, because I believe everything happens for a reason. I wrote that song a really long time ago, again, one of those first-draft kind of things where I was just like, ‘Oh, fuck it. I’m writing this song. Why not?’” 

Where “From Me to You” reflects the angst of maturing as a ballad, “Jumpin Guns” shifts gears by genuinely just having a good time. 

And unintentionally, catchiness is Soto’s signature. “I think it’s funny because people say I come up with really catchy things or creative melodies, but I think it comes from the soul. I don’t know how to explain it.” She proceeds to explain it with incredible self-awareness. “I feel like somebody just takes over my brain and is like, ‘This is what it is.’ …I think you can feel it more in a song when it’s not so technical.” At a school built upon learning the foundations of music, Soto confesses that the balance between emotion and theory can be tricky to navigate. “A regular person isn’t gonna see [the music technicalities]. They’re gonna wanna hear a song and be like, ‘Oh, that sounds nice. I like the way that sounds.’ You know what I mean?” I did know what she meant, all too familiar with how knowing the technicals can often strangulate creativity. “I think about those things when I make songs, but a lot of it comes with what I’m feeling at the time.” 

Soto knows her theory but says that it functions more as a nameplate than content itself. Rather than composing music based on set progressions, her emotions take the reins. “It feels very suffocating to have it be [technically-based],” she explained. “Unless you sit at a piano or a guitar or even just, like, I don’t know, a MIDI or whatever it is, and just play around, I feel like a lot of people can forget that music is play, and you’re supposed to enjoy it. It is nice to have all those extra tools in your back pocket, but that’s the thing: you don’t need to use them.”

Her future plans include everything a musician could want: more music and more shows. For Soto, though, she also hopes to plan a short film for her album. She elaborated, “When I was a kid, I felt very inspired by [Melanie Martinez] when she would talk about directing her own music videos for K-12 (her second album). I would love to have an album with a general theme that tells a story because I think I do have something to tell the world.”

Until then, though, Soto is more than happy to see where this year takes her as she steps further and further out of her comfort zone. “I’m ready to see what doors it opens up for me,” she said. “I’m trying not to think too negatively at all and just be more like, ‘Whatever happens, happens.’ It’s just another piece of art out there for me to show and give to anybody who needs that message or needs that work in their life. And I’m really excited.” 

To solidify the point, she repeated the sentiment, an action akin to the infectious melodies of her songs: “I’m really excited to see where this year takes me.” 

Featured image courtesy of Blosset Visuals | Interviewed on March 2, 2026