Artist Interview: Katie Pederson

Tell us about yourself and your music

I’m a singer-songwriter from Ann Arbor, MI! I’ve been singing and playing as long as I can remember and writing for just about 8 years. My music is piano-pop driven with strong female vocal melodies. I love messing around with different harmonies and most people tell me that I write too many break up songs ?

Talk to us more about your latest release

My latest release was in May of last year and was my first LP entitled, “Loose Ends.” It’s a project that took about 4 years to complete and perfect and I am very happy with how it turned out. SO many people were involved in the making of this album and it was a really special thing for me to see 11 entire songs turn out the way that they had been playing in my head all along.

 

 

What inspired you to write this release?

This release came out of a really transitional period of time in my life. I had just graduated from college and sort of got thrown into the “real world” pretty fast. I was in the process of moving from Indiana to Michigan, I was going through a pretty up and down relationship, and I had some friend and family relationships that were just really difficult to navigate. When I got to Michigan, I had very little money saved and no job prospects, so I ended up living in my brother’s fraternity because the rent was cheap and they let girls live there in the summer. I finally got a job bussing tables, but I was basically miserable in every sense of the word. The only thing that allowed me to process and move on from everything that was happening at the time was to write these songs. It was the most difficult time in my life, and yet the most productive I’ve ever been as a song-writer. I’m happy to say I no longer live in a frat haha.

Any plans to release a video?

I was fortunate enough to be able to collaborate with the Ballet Theatre of Indiana (BTI) for a music video for my song, “Here,” off of the Loose Ends LP. They did the choreography and filming, and I just had to send them a few of the songs off of the album for them to choose from. I couldn’t be more pleased with how it turned out. I lived in Indianapolis for 5 years, so the fact that it’s filmed there was really meaningful to me.

 

 

Any plans to hit the road?

Yes! I have a couple shows coming up in March, one at the Thirsty Scholar in Indianapolis, IN at 8pm on March 3, and one at Brewed Awakenings in Saline, MI on March 4 at 8 pm. I’m also working on some more dates around the country for the summer, so stay tuned!

As an indie artist, how do you brand yourself and your music to stand out from the rest of the artists out there?

You know, this is a hard question to answer because it’s not something that comes naturally to me. Fortunately, I have a lot of wonderfully creative friends who are willing to help me out in terms of design, album art, and marketing on Facebook and Twitter and getting the word out to media outlets. I guess my biggest thing as a writer is just to stay as honest as possible; my favorite artists inspire me because they write from their experiences and they leave nothing out which makes their music that much more relatable. So I suppose that’s the way I approach my brand: with honesty, transparency, and a whole lot of help from my friends.

Who have you been listening to lately?

“Lake Street Dive” has been on repeat for me recently; her voice is so captivating and the melodies and harmonies are too fun. I’ve also been listening to a lot of Lucy Rose. My latest favorite discovery is “The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer.” I could jam out to them all day, and I often do.

Tell us about your passions

Right now I’m completing my Master’s Degree in Speech Pathology to work as a voice therapist. I am a firm believer that there can never be too much music in this world, and my goal as a speech therapist is to help musicians and singers like myself keep up healthy habits, vocal hygiene, and singing techniques in order to avoid conditions like vocal nodules, polyps and granulomas. These are common problems amongst touring musicians who are running on little sleep and giving 110% on stage every night. I want to make sure that they keep making music because the world needs it.

What else is happening next in your world?

I’ll be graduating in April and I am VERY excited to be able to do some touring and play some more shows coming up this summer. School has taken the front seat for awhile, so I’m really looking forward to being able to prioritize writing and playing more. I’m dying to get back into the studio.

Thanks for an awesome interview, Katie!

 

 

Connect with Katie Pederson

Website: http://www.katiepedersonmusic.com

Facebook: https://facebook.com/katiepedersonmusic

Twitter: https://twitter.com/_katiepederson_

YouTube: https://youtube.com/katiepedersonmusic

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/katiepedersonmusic

Genres: Pop, singer-songwriter, Women In Music

Source: ArtistPR Indie Artist Interview