Canadian singer Kiesza is returning to Chicago for Northalsted’s Market Days this summer. This pop artist with a penchant for electronic music has new material for the massive crowds at the upcoming half-mile-long street festival on August 9.
Her track “Hideaway” debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart in 2014 and her career took off. Her first album, Sound of a Woman, sold over a million copies and her second endeavor, Dancing and Crying: Vol. 1, reached number one on the US Dance Airplay Chart.
Slightly over a year later, Dancing and Crying: Vol. 2 came out on July 25, 2025, and has led to upcoming tour dates. Her new record is tailor-made for the queer community, thanks to fierce tracks like “Runway” and “So Erotic.”
Kiesza reminisced on the phone about her accomplishments and focused on the future of her multi-album project.
Windy City Times: Hi, Kiesza. When was the last time you were in Chicago?
Kiesza: Physically, I was there this year because I work with a neuro-optometrist there who is unbelievable, but performing, the last time was in 2015 with Betty Who.
WCT: Are you based out of New York?
K: I used to be based there, but now I am in Toronto. I have free healthcare in Canada, so after my head injury, I moved back. I also wanted to be closer to family and it’s easy to travel to other places from there.
WCT: You grew up in Calgary and were in the arts. What musical instruments do you play?
K: I play piano, ukulele, guitar, flute and the djembe. I used to be a tall ship sailor and I learned to play the drums on the boat. The djembe is more like a passion instrument than something I have mastered! [laughs]
WCT: Do you have a favorite musical?
K:Little Shop of Horrors is my favorite. I was in Annie. I also like Wicked, Phantom of the Opera and Come from Away. I wrote a musical, but I haven’t put it out yet.
WCT: Do you have a favorite song that you have written for someone else?
K: I like the song I did for Jennifer Hudson, “Go All Night.” I can sing soulfully and I was impressed with my demo, but when she sent it back after singing it, I was beat!
WCT: How do you conserve your voice to hit your high notes?
K: My voice is high already and it vibrates at the top faster than my vocal cords. This causes friction and it wears down faster. If I do a live show and I overdo the high notes, then that part of my voice will go out on me. I am more aware of my high notes and how much I am on the road these days. I will lower the songs, but I love to hit those danger notes. I learned the hard way to keep it lower.
WCT: Speaking of a lower range, how did Peaches wind up on the new album?
K: I slid into her DMs. It was almost like online dating. I didn’t expect her to get back to me because she is an icon, but she wrote back pretty fast. She asked a few questions and it turned out she was magically in town visiting her mom. I told her to come to the studio and she did.
I write with the energy of the person in the room, but this was an unusual case where I already had a beat to present to her. She really liked it and it became “So Erotic.”
She works fast. She may have sang it twice and was done.
WCT: Are you going to perform “Runaway” at Market Days?
K: Yes and Jaylen Brown, who is on the song, will be performing it with me live. I had written it differently and something about it wasn’t working, so I threw it away. I wanted to still use the beat and I was in the studio with Jaylen, who is a dancer and now a songwriter. He’s a superstar and we made the track together very quickly.
I love it when my art inspires others and that is the ultimate compliment.
WCT: You released a birthday song the same day as Jennifer Lopez. Yours was called “It’s My Birthday,” and her song is titled “Birthday.”
K: I didn’t know that. Are they going to compare our birthday songs together?
WCT: No, they are nothing alike.
K: I wrote a song for J Lo called “Feel the Light” for the movie Home. It was about aliens invading the Earth. I wrote the lyrics and the song plays at the end of the film. She sang it at her Vegas show and I didn’t expect that when I went to see her perform there.
WCT: You and I have the same birthday on January 16.
K: We have to celebrate our birthdays together! FKA Twigs and Dian Fossey, who is not with us anymore. Skrillex is the 15th and Calvin Harris is the 17th. That week is a good one for creatives who have birthdays. Capricorns are not playing!
WCT: When did you realize “Hideaway” would be a hit?
K: It was before it was out. I didn’t know, but I suspected it would be big when it went viral through Gmail. Producers were sending it around and the unlisted link had thousands of streams.
I had some preparation, but nothing prepared me for the millions of video views. I am very grateful.
WCT: I heard you broke a rib while making the video.
K: Yes, I fractured a rib. It was the worst and I was in pain when I was breathing. In the moment I felt something was wrong when it happened, but the adrenaline was flowing in my body, so I didn’t feel the pain fully until after my system had calmed down. I woke up unable to move. If I had been immobilized on the set, we would have had to shut the whole thing down, but fate was on my side.
WCT: You had a foot injury that derailed your ballet career and, more recently, a car accident. Do we need to wrap you in bubble wrap for Market Days?
K: Possibly! As a teenager, I was a risk-taker. I would go sailing when the water was frozen or I would hike in the woods for 12 days. I was a wild one. I have been able to channel all of that energy into my music.
WCT: Why did you change the lettering of your real name of Kiesa to your artist name?
K: When I was 12, my brother added a Y into his name. I was his competitive little sister and I one-upped him and added a Z into mine.
I am sure I annoyed him when we were growing up. I once beat him in a bike race and he got really mad. I was going so hard and had to win.
WCT: That’s why you are such a daredevil and get hurt all the time. Don’t do any stage diving at Market Days.
K: I double-crowd surfed with Barns Courtney in Toronto one time. He’s a great singer and my friend. I was waiting on the side and waiting for the moment he was going to crowd surf. I ran onto the stage and you can see a video online of the security guard chasing me. I grabbed a mic and we sang a song while we double crowd surfed.
I later thought about how it was dangerous and, after a head injury, I shouldn’t do this anymore, but I was happy I did it and survived!
WCT: What does it mean to you to perform for the LGBTQ+ community at this major street festival?
K: It’s the community I identify the most with because it’s all about self-expression and accepting yourself for who you are. I think many people struggle with accepting themselves and this community is all about embracing that.
The queer community has influenced the entire world by being brave and not letting others tell them who to love. When society doesn’t accept a person, then that can make someone self-sabotage, so self-love is an important part of the process.
I have so many friends who still haven’t come out to their whole family. That’s heartbreaking to me. How can someone not accept their child for who they are?
When I was coming up in the music scene, the queer spaces let me come in and perform. I was supported and the community helped me. Without any hesitation, they were always there for me.
My best friend is a trans woman and things have gotten so much harder for the trans community. Now more than ever, we need to speak out and stand up for rights. We should also check in on our friends often to see if they are okay.
WCT: Are you continuing the tour after Market Days?
K: Yes, it’s worked out well that it aligned with my tour. We are passing through in cute little venues and then playing at this outdoor festival. I love both. I get to interact with my fans in a big open space and then in the intimate venues, we are all breathing the same air. Doing both on the tour is very exciting!
WCT: Are you working on Dancing and Crying: Vol. 3 now?
K: Yes, volumes three and four at the same time. It’s like when someone works on movie sequels all at once. If I write one song and it doesn’t fit on the volume I am making, then I will move it to the other record.
Volume three keeps changing. At first, it was Americana mixed with house music and folk. Volume two just dropped with dark, sexy house music and it changed the vibe of the other volumes. The folk songs were supposed to be scattered among the different albums, but now they have been honed into a sound. There is one song guaranteed to blow everyone’s minds and I am ready for it to come out!
See Kiesza’s set on Saturday, Aug. 9 at 6 p.m. on the Addison Stage. For more information about the Midwest’s biggest street festival, visit northalsted.com and click over to kiesza.com for more on this dynamic performer.