Meet Katja

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katja.

Born in Romania and adopted at the age of 3 1/2, KATJA has always had a love for music. Her songs both awaken and empower her listeners through her deep and soulful lyrics and earthy vibes. Her innate ability to authentically express emotions and truth by blending both innocence and wisdom into her songs, allows listeners to join in her storytelling and her journey. KATJA’s haunting voice and powerful messages captivate anyone and everyone who experiences her music.

Initially under the stage name of Katja Lavinia, she has now been officially re-branded as KATJA and travels to and from the Bay Area, CA and Los Angeles, CA regularly. She produces her own work in her self-made music studio in Oakland, performs live with her band, and continues to expand her musical community playing at venues like Hotel Cafe, LA and Hotel Utah, SF.

KATJA is currently recording her new 2020 Album + Single which will be released later this year. Stay tuned! You can view her web page at katja-music.com and find on social media at katja-davis.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Two years, at the age of 30, I left my stable 9pm-5pm job and took a leap of faith and dove headfirst into the wild world of music entertainment. Some have said that I have started this journey too late while others have said this is just a phase. And though I hear what they say, I do not let their words or worry sway me from my musical mission. And even though there are times when I have no clear idea what I’m doing or where I’m going, I feel more rooted in my own self-assurance and more importantly grounded in my innate ability to trust IN the process.

For the past two years, there have been times when I have performed a live show in a room filled at max capacity and other times where I have performed a live show to an empty room with only the sound guy in the corner. I have had times where I have written song after song after song in less than 1 week and other times where it takes me months to simply write 1 song. I’ve also experienced struggles with gaining online media presence and am currently in search of Representation along with networking in general. And while being laser-focused on building my music career, I have also watched friends around me land stable jobs, get married, have babies and settle down.

There are many moving pieces in this music industry so it can be very easy to get distracted, lost in self-doubt and simply unmotivated when the tough simply gets tougher. But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? Right! And with every step I take and every challenge that comes my way, I know that this is all part of the process, which I have total and complete faith in.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am a singer/songwriter. And I play the piano, guitar and am teaching myself the bass.

I am currently working with a brilliant producer, Sam J Garfield (https://soundcloud.com/amarkthe2nd/issues) at ES Audio studio on my Album/Single soon to her released later on this year, 2020. Two other producers the I have proudly worked with are Edin Iris (http://edeniris.com) and Dave Tweedie (https://www.instagram.com/bigbaddaveyt/)

I am most proud of my ability to throw caution to the wind by taking a leap of faith, not giving up and rising to every challenge that comes my way.

Along with my singing/songwriting abilities, I also have my sound healing certificate where I host sound baths, meditations and healing spaces guided by sound, silence, vibrations, rhythms and tones using sound bowls, tuning forks, African drums, and surround sound music that I hand select to best fit the intention of the sound healing session. So I know how to authentically blend healing tones and textures, space and even silence into my songwriting/songs allowing for there to be more volume and depth within each song. I also can write a song on the spot! I have actually done this occasionally when performing a live show where I’ll ask the audience to shout out a topic they want me to sing about and once given a topic, I’ll then write and sing a song right there on stage. It’s a fun way to engage the audience and equally fun and challenging for me!

On a deeper, more emotional level, I feel like I have a reason to be in this specific career. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I started out voiceless and am now singing out loud on stage. Through struggle there is always newfound strength and my only mission in all of this is to offer healing, connection and light to those who seek it Singers like Sia, India Ari, Melissa Etheridge, Mary Chapin Carpenter, to name a few, have greatly been a part of my own journey. So if I can give to others what they have given me, through my voice, lyrics and melodies, then that’s the biggest win for me.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Luck and fate have played a huge role in my life!

Back in the 1980’s, Romania was under strict communist rule that had tanked their economy and caused extreme poverty and desperation among the Romanian people. One of the many restricting laws put in place was making contraception illegal. Families suffering extreme poverty were forced to place their children in orphanages and within a very short amount of time, Romania was covered with orphanages filled with babies and young children who were incredibly malnourished, sick and even dying. But in 1989 the communist leader was executed and by 1990 Romania was set free from communist rule! Once the story broke out, the whole world knew of Romania’s struggle and of all the abandoned orphans waiting to be adopted. Families from Russia, France, America, etc., rushed in to adopt these children and I was one of the lucky orphans who was adopted by an American businesswoman. When I was adopted at 3 1/2 years old, I was 22lbs, had bug-bite scars all over my body, head purposely shaven to illuminate lice infestation and literally had no voice due to lack of communication.

Since being adopted, my life has dramatically changed from night to day! From a very early age, my adoptive mother would sing to me as a way of communication and soon after, we would sing songs together. When I got older, she taught me how to harmonize with songs, placed in me in choir classes and in college she gave me her acoustic guitar which I’ve named after her, “Claudia.” And though my “Claudia guitar” holds a very special place in my heart, piano is my main love. I can spend hours writing and recording songs at the piano and now that music is my career, I do!

As an adult in my early 30’s pursuing a professional career as a singer/songwriter, I am filled with immense gratitude to be so lucky to live a life now where I can live the life I want to live in exactly the way I want to live it!

“Be with you want to be. Do what you want to do. Live the life you love. And love the life you choose.” – KATJA

Contact Info:

• Website: katja-davis.com
• Phone: 650-804-1136
• Email: KatjaMusic111@gmail.com

Image Credit:
https://francesiacuzzi.com for all photos —> Only photos of me playing on stage. 2 yellow pictures that look a bit more “abstract” —> pictures I took & edited myself.

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