At 14 years old, Kaatii—born Anna Katherine—calls the shots. While most young teens spend their free time at the mall, playing video games or watching movies, Kaatii is busy making music that’s featured on the CW33, KXT 91.7 FM, Wish 107.5 LA and a variety of music industry tastemaker publications such as PopMatters, VENTS, Dallas Observer, and Music Connection Magazine. She’s consistently in the studio, writing with artists twice her age, and working on her craft. As collaborator, award-nominated singer-songwriter, Kara Connolly, puts it, “She’s playing the guitar, providing a playlist of reference tracks, selecting sounds, sending mix notes and confirming revisions…Kaatii is the real deal. She’s driving the ship.” When you think of a 14-year-old singer, what typically comes to mind is the Disney Channel—Hannah Montana—not the introspective, fearless, alt-rock, indie-pop artist that she is.
After being exposed to music early in life as her mom would take her and her sister to the opera and her dad would play bands like Muse, Radiohead, The Killers and Rush around the house, it was a family trip to Louisiana that inspired her own interest. Kaatii recounts, “We were with family friends and one of them had an acoustic guitar. I had never seen one before and I was mesmerized. I remember sitting in her lap, watching her play, and pretending I was playing. It was the most amazing thing and one of my most vivid memories. I got my first guitar a week later for my 7th birthday.” Her first gig was at a local coffee house in Dallas, TX not long after. Her first original song was written at 11 and she has continued to write on her own and with others ever since.
Although born and based in Dallas, Kaatii’s love for travel and commitment to her craft has taken her to music hubs throughout the country like Nashville, Los Angeles, and Austin to work with Grammy-nominated songwriters, mixing engineers, mastering pros, acclaimed artists, and producers. Recent trips to Los Angeles resulted in another first for Kaatii—the writing and recording of her very first set of songs for worldwide release. Despite only just beginning to release music this past summer, each of Kaatii’s first three singles have already amassed nearly 100K Spotify streams as she steadily grows a fanbase of supporters. As Unheard Gems puts it, “Emerging artist Kaatii is proving she is wise and talented beyond her years…Her voice has a sort of confidence and clarity that you might expect from a more established artist…Kaatii is guaranteed to be an absolute indie pop powerhouse if she keeps up this kind of work.”
Her latest single, “Dreamland,” arrived March 5th, immerses us in the mesmerizing world of her subconscious and is Kaatii’s most intimate effort yet. Written about a crush who repeatedly showed up in her dreams, Kaatii’s emotionally charged alto, ethereal harmonies and the track’s verbed guitars are reminiscent of critically acclaimed indie stars Angel Olsen, Beabadoobee, and Oscar Lang.
With performances at Dallas hotspots such as Six Flags, Plano Balloon Festival, and the House of Blues, as well as huge online platforms like SCENES Media and Aesthetic Magazine, and a debut E.P. in the works, there is no doubt that Kaatii’s future is bright. Vincent Arrieta of Dallas Observer put it best, “Kaatii is no trend-rider. She’s an artist who’s taking in the sound of now and planning where to take it next.”
We had a chance to talk to Kaatii recently to find out a little more about this young, up and coming artist.
We know that you grew up in a home with a very musical atmosphere. How do you think your parents’ musical taste influenced the music you make?
Kaatii: Though neither of my parents are musicians, they both showed me a diverse world of music from a young age. My Mom would take me to operas, and although I do not sing opera, going to dress rehearsals gave me an early exposure and appreciation for music. On the flip side, my Dad would frequently play Radiohead, the Killers, Muse, Rush, Coldplay, The Stone Roses, and more. Radiohead is a huge one, because I remember dancing with my dad around the living room to their music. I regularly listen to a lot of the stuff my dad played for me back then.
We’ve heard your amazing covers of Des’ree, Phoebe Bridgers, and Hozier. Your voice sometimes reminds us of artists like Avril Lavigne, Hayley Williams, and Taylor Swift. Your influences seem to be very varied, tell us a little about who they are.
I always say I am influenced by everything I listen to (in some sort of way). I can hear some random song and like the hooky guitar or stacked harmonies and take that into my next music session. But my most prominent musical influences right now are Declan McKenna, Oscar Lang, Beabadoobee, and Phoebe Bridgers. Especially with the new stuff I am currently working on, Phoebe Bridgers, Declan McKenna, and Haley Heynderickx come into the mix quite a bit.
At the end of the video of “Afraid of the Dark,” we see you writing in your notebook, next to your acoustic guitar, in the middle of a park and after waking up from a dream. How much does that scene look like your actual songwriting process?
Honestly, that’s pretty similar. Usually I’m with Kara Connolly either inside sprawled across a couch or floor, or outside if it’s nice. It takes 4-7 hours on average to write my songs, and we usually knock out the main stuff in one day. Kara and I just work super well together and I couldn’t ask for a better co-writer.
Your band sounds flawless, tell us about it.
Right now I don’t have an official band, but besides myself I do have session musicians on my tracks. Dan Sadin, the producer of Afraid of the Dark and Dreamland, was also a session musician on both of those tracks and did some killer guitar lines. Though I am also a guitarist, I don’t think I could ever do such a good job on the hooky electric guitar lines Dan put in both tracks, but specifically Dreamland. I also have some super cool drums on both those tracks, all done by Sterling Laws. It was really neat to work with him because, though I am not familiar with the drums, I could try to tell him around what I wanted and he would just get it spot on every time.
Your new single “Dreamland” has very personal and mature lyrics. All your songs go in the same direction. Was it hard for you, at first, to speak so openly about yourself?
Absolutely. It wasn’t necessarily hard to write the lyrics since they came from a very true and open place, but deciding to release it and really being that open about myself and my feelings is something that took me a bit to be okay with. I am still getting more and more comfortable with that, but I know that being more open with my work will not only make it more personal and enjoyable for me, but also will allow my listeners and fans to connect with me more. Plus, writing music is also a great outlet, so writing from the heart is kinda like writing in a diary.
You have a lot of followers on social media from all over the world, including about 400,000 plays on Spotify. Are you ready for fame? How do you imagine it?
Honestly that’s a totally crazy concept for me. I started music for myself and continue to do it because it’s a great way for me to show my true self, speak my mind, and it’s a great outlet, but the fact that people really care about that is mind blowing. I have no idea what “fame” would be like and even imagining it is pretty impossible, but I hope that my music career will continue to be as enjoyable and fun as it is right now.
What do you enjoy the most: composing, recording, or playing in front of the audience?
I love each of those for their own reasons, but I think composing is the most fun for me. When I write a song it is the place where I can truly be the most creative and give everything a go. Besides actually writing the lyrics, my absolute favorite part is crafting harmonies, which seems like a pretty small part of the process, but it’s where I can let go the most and go into music mode. I kinda just let my mind go wild and create. I absolutely love live shows too, but due to covid I obviously haven’t gotten the chance to safely do that in quite a while – I’m excited for a time when we can all go back out and safely watch and create live music again.
In “Swept Up” you talk about not wasting time and about concentrating on what really matters. What are the things that matter most to you in life?
I am very passionate about my friends and family. I don’t really waste my time on the trivial stuff that doesn’t matter as much (detailed in Swept Up), so when something matters to me, it really matters.
Is it difficult to continue your studies while progressing in your musical career?
It isn’t horribly difficult all of the time, but it can get a little overwhelming at specific moments. If it’s a normal week both school wise and music wise I’m pretty fine because I’m good at balancing my work, but when it’s a week of production or a week of exams that’s when it gets particularly tricky.
You’re still very young, but how do you imagine your life ten years from now, both personally and musically?
I have absolutely no idea. The only thing I fully know about my life in the future is that I will continue to do music, because I don’t see myself doing anything other than something musical for my career. Especially since I just got accepted into Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing Arts in Dallas in the guitar program, I am 100% positive music will continue to be a huge part of my life even in 10 years.
What do you think about the current music scene? What do you listen to during this COVID-19 lockdown?
The changes in the music scene have undoubtedly been very drastic and tough on a lot of people. For me, it’s been difficult because of the inability for me to not only perform live, but also go see concerts myself. Something I did very often pre-covid was go to concerts, so not having that has been pretty sad, but obviously safety is way more important. I’m excited for a time where things can get back to normal and people can go to shows like before.
The music I listen to is super varied and often kinda strange compared to the normal music people my age would be listening to. Some of my influences overlap with the music I frequently listen to, but there’s other stuff that I listen to that is completely different than my sound. Some of the more on brand stuff I listen to often is Declan McKenna, Oscar Lang, and Phoebe Bridgers, but the “weirder” stuff (aka not my exact style) can range from Nick Drake to Lemon Demon to Still Woozy. Lately I’ve also been frequenting hyperpop and jazz guitar, so that should give you an idea of how vast my taste is.
Are you writing new music? When will your fans be able to listen to more of your songs?
I am! Kara and I finished writing some new songs and I’m actively working on producing them! They will hopefully turn into an EP later this year, sometime around late summer. It’s super nice to be able to get back to the writing process and I love it every time.
I’m Music Magazine Writer Emiliano Doldan
Download/stream “Dreamland” via Spotify | Apple Music
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