That was then, this is now: Kelly, 25, and Kamille, 23, live two minutes apart in Los Angeles and perform as Karmina with a band. Their song “Walk You Home” made it onto television’s “The Cleaner,” and their first album “Backwards into Beauty” was released on CBS Records in June 2008.
As their music evolves, they visit the Coastside occasionally, like this weekend when they perform at It’s Italia, owned by Betsy and George del Fierro, parents of Rene.
 Karmina, made up of sisters Kamille, left, and Kelly Rudisill, will return home to the Coastside to perform at It's Italia this weekend. |
“The beautiful thing about the music business is, we keep evolving,” said Kelly by phone from Los Angeles, with her sister on the extension. “It’s analogous to life. It’s a journey, really.”
Growing up in Montara, the sisters loved popular music and songwriting. Kelly leaned toward keyboards, Kamille took to guitar. But music was much more than just a hobby.
Kelly, born in Germany, and Kamille, born in Hawaii, and Montara residents since they were 8 and 10 respectively with parents Robin and Peter, were both drama majors at the San Francisco School of the Arts. They studied for eight years at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, taking in music theory, composition and classical voice training, particularly Kamille.
“If you have a strong classical foundation, you can do virtually anything in music,” said Kelly.
Both graduated with high honors from USC’s Thornton School of Music, and Kelly earned a master’s degree.
Both could have gone in other directions — Kelly was a highly advanced soccer player and Kamille was winning dance competitions and singing classically at music industry events — but they stayed grounded in contemporary adult popular music and songwriting.
Once, the sisters said, they felt pressure to stay within a chosen genre. But when it came to songwriting, they looked instead to giants like the Beatles, who bent rules according to their tastes.
“We try not to let boundaries limit us,” said Kelly. “The old-school thinking is, stick to your genre. But if you expect to make money in the business, you have to reach out and say, ‘I don’t have limits.’”
So, “we write what comes out,” said Kamille simply. “The fun is to design the sound around it, write what the song requires.”
The sisters say their music is maturing, citing their single “Walk You Home,” written for “The Cleaner.” About family issues, it wound up touching listeners for other reasons. It lifted spirits in hard times, as one cancer-stricken fan said.
They recently did a cover of the late Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” Their album met with critical praise: “Led by hit ‘The Kiss,’ this sister duo packs its seasoned-sounding debut with hooks and harmonies. Pure pop perfection!” raved Billboard Chart Manager Gary Trust.
Now the sisters say they will focus on deeper subject matter and on singles. “We try to write each song as if it’s its own single,” said Kamille. “We connect more deeply to people.”
They have help from little sister Petra, now a seventh-grader who plays bass, guitar, violin and piano, and wrote one of the songs on the debut album.
Their It’s Italia gig is part of the del Fierros’ effort to establish live music at the restaurant. Classical guitarists Stevan Pasero and Richard Patterson and harpist Angelica Jenkins are regulars.
The Rudisills look forward to coming back. “It’s like comfort food,” said Kelly. “Montara feels like oatmeal — back to a warm, delicious, good thing where we spent nine years of our life.”
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