In conversation with Karin Ann

Words by Martyna Rozenbajgier

For Karin Ann, Orion began with a little uncertainty. Her first feature film would not only introduce her to acting, but would also ask her to create music for a story that she was simultaneously becoming part of. She would play Morgan, work alongside actors she had grown up watching, and write songs inspired by the characters and world of the film. It was, understandably, a lot to take on at once.

“I was really scared to say yes,” Karin admits. “I was like, oh, what if nothing comes to me? And what if I’ll have to force it? And if I force stuff, it’s never good.”

That fear, however, didn’t last long. As she began preparing for Morgan and immersing herself in the world of Orion, the music started to come naturally. “When I was preparing to shoot and I kind of started to immerse myself in it, and I started to do character work for my character, and I really just started to be a part of that world and kind of feel the world come alive, I felt really inspired,” she says. In the end, she wrote “almost, if not all” of the songs before she had even arrived on set.

It was the kind of project Karin was drawn to from the beginning. What appealed to her about Orion was its focus on its characters and story rather than something that could simply play in the background. “I love projects that are character-driven and story-driven,” she says. “Anything that makes you put down your phone when you’re watching it, I love projects like that.”

She also saw something in the film beyond its plot. For Karin, Orion offered a chance to explore “humanity and people and different people’s perspectives,” while giving the audience a story that requires them to actually pay attention. The songs became another layer of that storytelling, each connected either to a particular character’s point of view or to something happening within the film.

That connection is particularly important in “Born to Be,” the song that marked Karin’s first musical release connected to Orion. She is careful not to give away too much about its meaning, but the central idea is something she believes extends beyond the movie itself.

“It’s essentially that you shouldn’t really infringe on other people’s freedom,” she explains. “You should kind of, you know, live and let live.”

If the music allowed Karin to explore the story from the inside, acting required her to take an even bigger step into it. When she was offered the role of Morgan, excitement came with a healthy amount of nerves.

“It was the first feature film that I also got to act in,” she says. “And it’s scary to be stepping onto set and also working with actors that I grew up loving and respecting.”

The people around her helped ease that pressure. Karin says the team made it clear from the beginning that they believed in her and wanted her there, while also allowing her to contribute creatively. If she felt Morgan wouldn’t say or do something in a particular scene, she could speak up.

“They were all very open and collaborative,” she says. “So it made it a very, very good first experience.”

Morgan was also far removed from Karin herself. “She’s very different to me,” she says. “I never even thought that I could play somebody like her.”

That difference turned out to be part of what made the role so freeing. Acting, for Karin, is an opportunity to step outside herself and experience lives that aren’t her own. “Sometimes you play characters that are very similar to you, and sometimes you play characters that are completely different,” she says. “You have to make all characters feel like a real person. You have to kind of really dig deep and build them from the ground up.”

Eventually, she stopped overthinking it.

“It was really freeing in a way,” she says. “Scary, but also, you know, like, once you let yourself go there and once you really just say, fuck it, we ball.”

That willingness to let go seems to have become an important part of Karin’s relationship with acting. She has always wanted to pursue both music and acting, and Orion gave her the opportunity to experience the two at the same time.

“I always wanted to do both,” she says. “I always wanted to do music and acting.”

Now, she hopes acting will become a bigger part of her career. That doesn’t mean leaving music behind – in fact, she is already working on new material – but she would like to explore the opportunities she hasn’t had as much access to yet.

“I’m not quitting music. I’m not,” she makes clear. “But it’s definitely something I would wanna focus on a little bit more.”

For her, the two worlds aren’t as separate as they might initially seem. “Something that I love about both music and acting is the human element of it,” she says, describing both as ways of bringing people together through different experiences, feelings and relatability.

That same philosophy shaped the music for Orion. Karin was determined not to become a different artist simply because she was writing for a film. “I was very adamant about the fact that I’m not gonna change myself as an artist for the project,” she says. “If you have a specific genre in mind or a specific vision in mind that doesn’t fit with me as an artist, then you should look elsewhere.”

Instead, the filmmakers trusted her. She was able to experiment with more atmospheric, almost sci-fi sounds while keeping the music recognisably hers. “I still think I kept it very, very authentic to me as an artist,” she says, describing the EP as part of the transition between her debut album and the direction she is moving towards now.

The songs themselves carry different memories for her. “Nothing but a Ghost” is a personal hidden gem, while “I Can’t Trust Your Eyes” has a particularly strong connection to a scene she watched being filmed.

“I watched that scene being filmed and, you know, just seeing that scene be brought to life, it just really clicks for me,” she says. “I think it really encapsulates that scene.”

Then there is “Too Late to Turn Back Now,” a song that existed long before Orion. Karin originally wrote it five or six years ago, but when she began working on the film, she realised its melody could belong in this new world. Almost everything else changed.

“Only the melody is kind of the same,” she says. “I have a completely different connection to that song.”

Part of that new connection comes from Morgan. The song is partially written from her character’s perspective, giving Karin another way to explore thoughts that the audience doesn’t necessarily hear directly in the film.

Asked what Morgan herself would listen to, Karin immediately points toward that song, although she also has another choice in mind. “I also think that she would like ‘Nothing Better,’ honestly,” she says, because of the character’s realisation about “who she is in the world that she’s living in and what part she plays in it.”

Perhaps most intriguingly, Karin suggests that Morgan may come to realise “that she doesn’t have as much autonomy of her life as she thought.”

There is still plenty Karin can’t talk about. She hints at another movie she filmed last year. There is also another project she has been working on for around a year and a half – something she says is unlike anything she has done before.

“I’m always working on something,” she says. “Music, acting stuff, secret projects.”

The secrecy might be the hardest part. “When I’m really excited about something, it’s really hard to keep quiet about it as well.”

It is a problem she jokes about having in common with Tom Holland, known for occasionally revealing more than he should. “One day, I’ll just spoil something huge and get crucified.”

For now, though, Orion is the project that brings everything together: the acting Karin has always wanted to explore, the music she continues to build, and a story that gave her the chance to create from somewhere completely different.

And after spending so much of the conversation talking about characters, music, freedom and new beginnings, there was only one question left – one that felt particularly appropriate for StarFreak.

Are you a star or freak?

“Probably a star.”

And honestly? We completely agree. Karin Ann is a star.

Photo by Yasmine Kateb