Where to begin with the many artistic talents of musician and producer Kohla? This creative maven has form in the worlds of poetry, fine art, dancing, public speaking and film editing; and all find an outlet in her music.

Born Rachel Alice Johnson, she adopted the stage name Kohla (inspired by charcoal) to match the dark R&B sound of her 2020 debut EP. She has now moved on to a brighter, poppier vibe for her debut album, Romance; moving on and developing is what she does. ‘I’m really precious about time and I always want to be working,’ she says. ‘I beat myself up a bit if I’m not seeing my work progress every day.’

As a child, she was caught up in ballet and street-dance classes, as well as clarinet lessons. ‘I became obsessed with it,’ she says. ‘It was probably the first time I felt I was really good at something.’ For a time she benefited from Edinburgh schools’ free music tuition, but that came to an end when she moved to a fee-paying academy. With no extra money for music lessons, she took up painting instead, going on to graduate from Edinburgh College Of Art.

‘I don’t even have Standard Grade Music,’ she says. ‘I felt more confident doing art; I still paint now but it doesn’t hit me in my core the way that music does. Chords, melodies, lyrics; there’s so many ways that emotion can hit you through music. I find it really similar to painting; it’s about composition and light and dark and colour, but it’s just using my head in a different way.’

Johnson started writing songs in her late teens and even incorporated her own music into her degree show. As an adult, she returned to dance classes and added choreography to her only Kohla show to date, at Edinburgh club Sneaky Pete’s. ‘There’s not many small venues in Scotland that can supply that room to dance; they had to build out the stage.’ 

Like many artists, she used the pandemic shutdown as an opportunity to learn, teaching herself production skills and building a home studio. ‘I didn’t know when the pandemic was going to end but I knew when it did, I would have a completely new batch of skills and I’d be able to give back,’ she says. Johnson is already giving back as founder of Popgirlz, a 200-strong collective of female, non-binary and trans musicians in Scotland, who share support, advice and talents. ‘If one of us does well, we can bring the others along with us,’ she says. ‘I feel that making friendships is so important on the music scene.’

Fellow Popgirlz Siobhan Wilson and Louise Cameron contribute strings to her album and Johnson will be joined by a harpist and violinist when she returns to Sneaky Pete’s to launch Romance. ‘I had the name early on and I built everything around that word. The connections of treating someone well, of respect, is a big theme for the album.’ Unsurprisingly, she’s already made inroads to its follow-up: ‘I’m always trying to better myself and explore.’

Romance is self-released on Friday 8 September and launched at Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Saturday 9 September.