Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Cline
Katie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I love creating circuits. In 7th grade, I remember completing a circuit in science class. We had to connect a battery to a lightbulb with wires on a circuit board. I didn’t have a burning bush moment, but I remember enjoying the experience, and that process is the common thread that connects everything that I do or have done as a sound specialist and as an artist devoted to connecting people to themselves and others from a genuine, authentic place.
Early life was really challenging, I witnessed a suicide of a parent on my 15th birthday, and this trauma really impacted me in ways I wasn’t sure I could recover from. Sitting down with sound helped me release some of the trauma stored in my body and subconscious mind and even more importantly, develop an identity outside this traumatic experience and find my joy and authenticity. I fell in love with the practice of creating sound and music and as someone who was truly shut down and terrified to be seen this practice has enabled me to public speak, to release music, and to share this gift and connect with others in a meaningful honest way unencumbered by the heaviness that trauma can sometimes leave us to sort through. The process has taken time but this work has really impacted me in a way meaningful enough for me to pursue full time.
I use a modular synthesizer and some other instruments to facilitate sound baths, to drop into the creative process and to ground others before major events or sessions, This process of connecting to oneself through sound brings forward a really loving form of guidance and connection. I found dropping into this place was yielding a greater sense of confidence, insight and clarity and a deepened sense of discernment helped me heal and unpack some of what I was holding onto in my body.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road to actualizing a vision and calling that didn’t exist in my world at the time of its inception has been anything but smooth… Living an honest life comes with hurdles, especially when the life you try on at first doesn’t fit. There are challenges that come with being authentic, and change has not necessarily been comfortable.
Falling in love with sound and using it as a means to heal myself was not what I expected to make a career out of. Trying to describe what I was discovering in the nascent stages of my journey to people in my life who had no knowledge or experience with music or science was really discouraging at times.
That lack of understanding ended up being a huge blessing in many ways because it tested my dedication, my authenticity, and it forced me to source my sense of accomplishment from the practice rather than any form of external validation at first. At the end of the day what sustained me was the love of my work and all of those bumps and turns make for a unique story that has shaped me into being a capable vessel for sharing what I get to share now.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a sound bath practitioner, sound specialist, live scorer, and music maker. Sound has been a transformational tool in my life for the last 12 years. It’s thrilling to see the practice of sound meditation hit a tipping point into the cultural zeitgeist. I have used sound as a medium in a variety of contexts, from art shows to tactile sound installations, to pre-seminar meditations, to floating sound baths over Coachella weekend. Harnessing the capacity sound and music has for personal wellbeing, coherence, connection and transformation is the great calling in my life. My sound bath is unique, I use a modular synthesizer alongside traditional organic instruments but my experience is very much the adventurer’s event. It’s a unique experience, one you want to bring a friend to and drop all the way in on.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
People are often surprised that I have my Bachelor’s Degree in music production and performance from a university (Catalyst) in Berlin, Germany. I lived in Berlin for 3.5 years to pursue my passion for music and sound creation. It was here that I explored the analogue side of sound synthesis and furthered my interest and research on tuning systems, the capacity of sound for destruction and creation and Afro-futurism. All of these topics inform my work and practice today and helped shape my offerings.
Pricing:
- $300 for travel to private session
- $3,000 corporate events tailored to your company.
- $750 weekend resort soundbaths
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.arressai.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arressai/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Arressai
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/arressai
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6ZTQ8bwnY2aEPV0JhNs9b8?si=fqIp_FENRTK-w38NiIr19w
Image Credits
Photos Courtesy of: Lee Gumbs, John Bilbao, Jaime Duarte
