We were lucky to catch up with Katera recently and have shared our conversation below.

Katera, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I grew up just outside of Columbia, SC and always thought I’d move to Atlanta after high school. But I ended up going to college at the University of South Carolina, got a full-time job, and never made the move… until now.

May will make one year since I finally took the leap and moved to Atlanta. In my head, it still sounds a little wild—moving here in my mid/late 30s—but I knew I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t at least try. It’s been a pretty interesting year. The transition had its bumps, but honestly… I’m really glad I did it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Like a lot of artists, I grew up singing in church. I was pretty active as a kid—I played a lot of sports and at one point I wanted to play basketball professionally. But being a singer was always my other dream.

I used to write songs in my bedroom and record myself on cassette tapes. I’d even record music videos and then play them back to learn the choreography. I took piano lessons when I was younger, and in my senior year of high school, my parents bought me a keyboard with a workstation. That’s when I really started learning how to produce, and honestly, that’s the year I got tunnel vision about doing music for real.

Since then, I’ve had some pretty cool moments—over 300k streams on one song, charting on the iTunes R&B/Soul charts, and performing on numerous stages. Writing and releasing music is hands down one of my favorite things to do. I really take pride in creating songs that are catchy and relatable.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me the most rewarding aspect of being an artist has been people relating to my songs. It’s comforting knowing that someone else “gets it.” Also, just writing songs from scratch and seeing them turn into a music that’s available everywhere is very rewarding. It’s nice to know that when I’m long gone, my music will still be here.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I’m always on the internet researching things and studying successful independent artists. Brandman Sean/No Labels Necessary has some great video resources on youtube covering multiple aspects of the music industry. Advice from one of their videos is what helped me get my first viral tiktok/instagram post which grew my social media following tremendously.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kateramusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baddiewiththegray
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kateraonthemic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/kateraonthemic

Image Credits

Rod King