VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Kat Von D Reveals How She Started In Music – Playing Classical As A Kid!

Singer and songwriter Kat Von D, who rose to fame as the star of the reality series L.A. Ink and now has over eight million Instagram followers, is headed out on tour with some new music – though she’s loath to pick a favorite song.

“We start our tour at the end of February,” Von D told uInterview founder Erik Meers exclusively. “We’re doing a full U.S. tour. We take a little break and then scoot on over to Europe and overseas. We’ll be touring the Love Made Me Do It album and pretty excited about that.”

One of the most nerve-wracking elements of putting art into the world is wondering how people will respond to it. Von D said all the songs on her setlist are meaningful to her, but songs she labels as favorites to perform may surprise some fans.

“Since I wrote all the songs, they all have meaning to me that I respond to for different reasons but I think as far as performing them, ‘Fear You,’ is one of those songs that I’ve noticed people like to sing along to a lot and I love anytime you have interaction with people in the crowd,” she said. “It’s always an amazing thing. But you know I love tracks like ‘I Am Nothing’ and ‘Vanish’ even though they’re more melancholy and quiet. Those just pull on my heartstrings a little more than others.”

Though she is less known for her music, Von D was trained in the classical style since she was young.

“I was actually introduced to music at an early age. I’ve been playing classical music since I was five years old,” she said. “I think a lot of people know me from the tattoo world or from the TV shows and stuff but they don’t know that music has always been my first and foremost biggest passion. It’s exciting to finally be able to like make this my main focus and create music and then play it live.”

Von D elaborated on finding her sound – and realizing that it was very different from what people expected of her.

“When I announced that I was coming out with music, a lot of people were assuming that it was going to be something in the world of metal, just because I love metal,” she said, “I’ve been in that scene for a long time but don’t sing that way, so I think I would make a terrible heavy metal singer. Some of my favorite genres of music are really in the post-punk world, so I love bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees, and The Cure and Depeche Mode. I’ve always been a fan of analog synthesizers and nostalgic sounds and so that’s why I chose to go in that direction. Those are some of my favorite sounds and giving it a modern twist, to me, is like the ultimate high.”

Von D’s debut album Love Made Me Do It is available to stream everywhere.