Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Tucker.
Katie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am a Songwriter/Musician. I grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where I first fell in love with music. I grew up singing, playing piano and violin, and then moved more into writing songs and composing music as I got older. I started singing since before I can remember, and made up songs early in my childhood about pretty much everything and sang constantly (much to my family’s dismay). Jokes aside, while I didn’t grow up in a musical family, I couldn’t have been more supported by them.
When I was 18, I got accepted into Berklee College of Music. I moved to Boston and had an incredible experience learning, performing and creating with so many talented musicians from all over the world. Many people I work with today I met during those years. It was also in my time at Berklee that I discovered you can actually make a career out of writing songs for other people. Before that, I assumed every band/artist wrote their own songs! So after college, I decided to move to New York City to pursue a career in Songwriting. After a few years in New York City, I took a couple of work trips to LA and absolutely fell in love with it. The sunshine, the mountains, the ocean, and the people drew me in. So in 2017, I made the move and I couldn’t be happier with this decision!
Some other things I love are my friends, my family (especially my three sisters!), traveling, drinking beer, and my Shiba Inu named Leah!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, but it’s been absolutely worth it! Leaving Michigan and being surrounded by crazy talented people at Berklee was definitely an ego check, and it really taught me that talent isn’t the only ticket to success. Hard work and believing in what you bring to the table is crucial.
New York City was the first time I really felt like I was in the real world as an adult, and boy did it treat me that way. I had beautiful highs and not so beautiful lows discovering who I was, what I had to offer, and who was in my corner. But I learned and grew as a person SO MUCH. I worked with some amazing people and had a lot of opportunities as well as people that believed in what I was doing that helped jumpstart my career. It was also where I wrote the song that made me a Double-Platinum Songwriter, which allowed me to invest in my own professional home studio. This was always a dream of mine. NYC was an important chapter in my life.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I am a songwriter that writes for artists as well as television. I would say that I specialize in pop music, but I write different styles depending on the project. I also record demos and arrange vocals. Typically when I work with artists, we have a writing session with a producer and then a recording session where I direct the artist to help them reach their full vocal performance potential, as well as arrange the harmonies. Being a singer myself helps with that. It also allows me to record a “demo” performance of a song before it’s pitched to an artist or company for placement, which helps them hear what a final performance would sound like. Demo or not, I always try to make the vocal performance just as believable as what a final version would sound like with another artist. I sometimes release my own music under the name Atrel or get featured with other artists. But while I love to record and perform, this is more of a fun, passionate outlet for me. Writing for others is what I am really pursuing as a career. I also love how collaborative this field is. I get to work with so many talented people that I also get to call my close friends.
I am really proud of finally setting up my professional home studio. Since then, I’ve been diving into recording, editing and mixing vocals. At first this was daunting, but now the technical side fascinates me. A producer I work with, Moises Zulaica, helped me so much with this. He really is an expert in the sound field. I couldn’t have learned so much so quickly without him! It’s exciting to be in the driver’s seat and harnessing the vocal sound I want in a recording.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I would say that some of my favorite childhood memories in the music realm would have been traveling to other countries thanks to music. One of the places I traveled to was Ghana, where I visited schools and sang and danced with local students. While this trip gave me an amazing experience, it also gave me a real-life worldview. Not everyone grows up with even the basic necessities, yet in these communities where people had so little, there was so much joy. It made me more conscious of what I have and to be truly grateful for it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/katieisatrel
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/atrelofficial
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/atrelofficial
Image Credit:
Alexandra Coppock
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