We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Katie Marie. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Katie below.

Katie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I’m a learning junkie. I adore picking up new skills and absorbing information. That being said, I struggled in school due to dyslexia and left at 15, without any academic qualifications. Thankfully, I wasn’t fazed by this at all and couldn’t wait to get out into the real world and make music my full-time thing. I immediately started playing in pubs, clubs, bars and pretty much anywhere that would book me. These gigs weren’t the best by any means, but I finally felt as though I was being true to myself and pursuing a career in music.

The music business and the way it operates has changed so much since I first started. In the early 90s I was promoting my music with a demo-cassette I had put together at home, using a Fostex 4-track tape recorder to layer all the vocals and instrumentation and then bouncing everything down onto one track. I designed my own posters to advertise shows which I would spend all day putting up around town. We didn’t have a computer or printer at home, so I would have to go to the library and use theirs. My dyslexia made this process frustrating, as I often was unaware of how to spell certain words, to the point that even the spell checker had absolutely no idea what I was trying to say. This combined with having to write and send emails would eventually help me with my spelling. I set myself a challenge each time to have less and less squiggly red lines under words. I remember very clearly the first time I had constructed an email and not one single red line came up on the screen, I was so proud of myself.

Having to study music books meant my reading skills improved dramatically. I confessed earlier to being a learning junkie, and because of this I would get through multiple books every month. I went from being scared to open a book, to not being able to get enough. There was a point in my life where you could walk into a music store, and I could tell you about every book in there because I had read them all.

I love being a student and adore conversations with others that help me grow as both a musician and human being. It saddens me that school wasn’t a place where I thrived, and my teachers thought (and had no problem expressing) that I would amount to very little. But looking back, I truly believe I am a much better and more rounded person for all my experiences and the lessons they taught me along the way. I had to figure everything out and make it work, noone was going to come to my rescue or explain stuff to me. I learnt how to be resourceful. I developed a thick skin, but also understood that kindness is a strength. I understand the process because I’ve lived it, not because someone has explained it to me. I value all of this so much and it contributed to making me the person I am today.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’m a producer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter with 30 years of playing, performing, writing and recording experience.

I stumbled into songwriting as an angst-filled teenager and found it to be a wonderful form of expression. Once I caught the writing bug, I began teaching myself how to play multiple instruments (drums, bass guitar, acoustic guitar) in order to be able to record my work. I saved up enough money to buy a 4-track cassette recorder which allowed me to layer 4 individual tracks of vocals or instruments. By today’s standards this does sounds distinctly lame, but back then there were no digital DAWs, and the only other option was a single-track tape machine or paying large amounts of money to record in a professional studio.

Over the years I have been fortunate enough to work with a multitude of incredibly talented artists and bands and have toured extensively in the UK, USA and Europe as both a side musician and solo artist.

The main focus these days is my recording and production work. Being in the studio is most definitely my happy place. I work on full song productions as well as recording individual instruments. I have a home studio for smaller projects, but for the most part I work out of Blue Rock, which is a beautiful location studio on the outskirts of Austin, Texas.

I often work one-on-one with artists and songwriters, where we typically record their parts (vocals / acoustic guitar or piano) and I then layer the other instrumentation. This varies depending on what the song needs, but it can include drums, percussion, bass, acoustic / electric guitars, harmonies and keys. If we need some other instruments such as cello or pedal steel, I can call upon musician friends I know and trust to come in and be part of a project. Because our team is small, we are able to get into a creative flow much quicker and I can create a safe and comfortable environment where the artist is able to express themselves fully.

Part of the reason people gravitate towards me is because of my easy-going disposition, but it’s also because I am one of the few females in the industry doing this type of work. I was shocked (but not surprised) to learn recently that 5% of women in the music industry are producers, and only 2% are engineers. I’m grateful to be part of the change and hope we can get more ladies involved in recording work.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I think there’s definitely a possibility for musicians and creatives to incorporate NFTs into their work, I’m just not entirely sure exactly how that would work for musicians. We are now in an era where people have gotten accustomed to listening to music whenever they like, and they are also used to not having to pay for it, so the main question is; how do we create value? I think NFTs are certainly interesting and offer a lot of potential, but I think it will be a few years before we fully understand how we can make them work to our advantage.

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

These days I read mostly self-help books and there are a few that have been life changing. One I can highly recommend is You Are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero. I did enjoy her previous book You Are a Badass, but my personal struggles revolved around money. I grew up in a household where my parents worked incessantly and were constantly living in large amounts of debt, which in turn created a poverty mindset within me. I didn’t realize how much this dominated my life and affected every decision I made. This book literally changed my life and showed me how to rid myself of the limitations I was putting in place.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.KatieMarieMusician.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/katie_marie_musician
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/funkeegirl
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/katie-marie-musician
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/funkeegirl
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/funkeegirl