Courtesy of Kat QuinnIndie-pop singer/songwriter Kat Quinn is making her mark on the New York City music scene. A Boston area native, she eventually ended up in the Big Apple three years ago, where she found the creative influence she’d hoped for. She is currently based in Astoria, Queens and plays live shows in the city and on Long Island.
There are some musicians whose talent and personality hit you right away, and Kat is definitely one of those people.
She has a mellow sound to her music, as a lot of the indie genre does, and a great voice to compliment that sound. Her music videos also tell a story; it may not be linear or clear-cut like a lot of mainstream music videos are noawadays, but the narrative is there. As I expressed in the interview, “The Girl Who Used To Live Here” left an impact for me, mainly because the setting was so familiar. I’m a New Yorker myself, and we’re actually in the same area of the city, so I immediately connected with the images in the video.
To make things even better, Kat was really open and enthusiastic about discussing her music and what inspires her. Basically, she’s won me over, and I’m sure she’ll do the same to you!
When did you first get involved with music?
“I’ve been doing music unofficially for my whole life. I started playing piano when I was little, and I played the drums. I didn’t start writing songs and singing until college. I started playing guitar at the end of high school, and then in college is when I really started singing and playing songs that I loved, which evolved into playing my own songs.”
So your move to Nashville was because of your interest in music?
“Yeah, I was doing a little bit more of a country thing at the time, or so I thought. So I went there and learned a ton, but I realized that New York was probably a better fit for me.”
What artists first inspired you?
“I love James Taylor and Patty Griffin. With more current artists, I really love Ingrid Michaelson, A Fine Frenzy, Sara Bareilles…the indie singer/songwriters.”
I saw your “The Girl Who Used To Live Here” video, and I love the concept of it so much. What made you choose that?
“Thank you so much! Well, I live in Astoria [Queens], and I was just walking around and wanted to show the path that the girl would have been walking and then her choice to leave at the very end. That was what the concept was, showing the streets that she would have walked everyday and to put it in a more literal ‘used to live here’, as opposed to what the song is about, and then at the end when she chooses to leave–that’s the culmination of it.”
So based on that, how much would you say living here has influenced your music?
“So, so much. I feel like New York has such a strong community here. The music one is what I’ve become a part of, but because it’s such a big city, often times really strong communities form within it to give you that sort of loving feeling that we all want and need. And the music one has been so great–it’s a really accepting and collaborative kind of place, and I feel like that has really been such a huge influence on my writing and my performing; it’s really made all the difference being here.”
What was it like writing and recording the Kind Of Brave EP?
“It was pretty wonderful. I didn’t really sit down to write the EP, it was just the songs that I’ve gathered over the years that I wanted to record. I met my producer, Adam Rhodes, at a show of mine. A mutual friend brought him along to a show, and I was looking to do new recording, and he came onboard. That was a really special collaboration; I think he is such a great musician, and together we really clicked on what we both wanted for the EP, and so we just recorded it in his home studio. It was a great process, and it was nice to do it that way, because we could really live with things and work on things, as opposed to having to go into a studio and kinda crank it out.”
What do you want to accomplish as a singer/songwriter within the next 6 months?
“I would love to have a few more releases. I have an upcoming single and video that should be coming out shortly. I’d really love to get back into the studio and either get another EP or another album in the works, or at least a couple more singles. The songs have been piling up, so I’d love to share those with the world and see where that leads.”
If you could recreate the music video to your favorite song right now, what would it be and why?
“Cool question! ‘What I Wouldn’t Do’ by A Fine Frenzy; there isn’t a video for it already, but I absolutely love this song. I think the lyrics paint such a vivid and colorful picture, I feel like I’m watching a video in my mind when I listen to it. So that’s the song I would choose to create a video for if I could.”
What candy would you say most reflects your personality?
“Well, my first instinct is to go with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, but I think that’s just the candy that I love. I think maybe, like, Skittles. Because it’s got a bunch of different flavors and it’s colorful, and there’s hopefully something in there that you’re gonna like, but you might not like all the flavors.”
Kat’s newest single is “Little Rose”, which you can check out below.
Also be sure to subscribe to her YouTube channel for more music, like her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter, @KatQuinnMusic.
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