Join us as we get to know Katanak, a Brisbane artist who’s just delivered his first ever solo single ‘Life’.
He’s a big fan of The 1975 and he’s brought together elements of their music and ’90s pop in his premiere track.
But there’s much more than The 1975 to the Katanak story, so scratch the surface a little and get to know him in our latest feature.
01. Name : Katanak.
02. Where are you based? Brisbane.
03. How did you get your start in music? After high school I was drumming in a grunge band called Bixby Canyon but I also really wanted to try a different musical direction. I’d written some songs over the time so I formed KB Theory with my mates and that has then led me on to my solo project Katanak.
04. Give us five words to best describe you as an artist. Fresh, youthful, groovy, relatable and vibrant.
05. Tell us a little bit about your sound and how it developed. I’m going to say indie pop/alt pop/pop but others may describe me differently. I developed this sound over about two years, just writing something everyday until I started to work out what I liked and what was working for me.
I definitely didn’t start out with any natural songwriting talent and everything I’ve learnt is from pure trial and error. My influence is very The 1975 with that early ’90s pop vibe but I want to be something entirely my own and I think I’ve achieved that. Basically I want to write music that people can dance and sing along to.
06. What’s your earliest musical memory? I just remember music always being a part of my life. I was already doing guitar lessons at school but it was a family wedding when I was about 10 that did it.
My dad’s band was playing and they got me up on stage to play the shaker and I just remember dancing around and playing air guitar. Life changing stuff right there. I was sold!
07. Who have been your musical influences? The 1975 have been the strongest influence on my songwriting. I came across their self titled album and from that point I’ve been in love with everything they’ve done.
I’m also digging Two Door Cinema Club, The Wombats, The Jungle Giants and Hatchie. My musical tastes are pretty eclectic so this was a hard question as I grew up listening to music from the 60’s to now.
08. What are your favourite songs of all time? ‘Robbers’ and ‘Sex’ by The 1975 and ‘Fall Your Way’ by Pete Murray.
09. Where’s your favourite place to listen to music? I love listening to music on the bus. It’s like a whole different experience because you’re really confined from dancing and singing out loud, so you really just listen to the song for what it is and I enjoy that kind of appreciation.
10. Who are your go-to artists when you’re feeling : Happy? Sad? Introspective? Exhausted? My favourite artists that can change my mood are The 1975, The Wombats and Two Door Cinema Club. The 1975 have a song for any mood and they own my heart honestly.
11. What was the first album you ever bought? Avenged Sevenfold’s ‘Diamonds In The Rough’.
12. Give us a little fun fact about yourself that people might not know. Might not be a fun fact but I’m able to play six instruments and I wrote, played and recorded all the instruments on my EP!
13. What would your chosen career be if music wasn’t an option? Wow, is that an option? Life without music, no way. I would definitely be somewhere in the music industry but just not on the stage.
14. What’s the best advice you’ve been given in your career? Two bits of advice really have served me well. Definitely networking. You’ve got to form relationships with people so when you need advice you can go to them. Also, you can’t please everyone, so write for yourself and write what gives you the biggest sense of accomplishment.
15. What’s been the highlight of your musical journey so far? Before I had my band I supported Pete Murray and Garret Kato acoustically at Nightquarter, Gold Coast and the Kingscliff Hotel. It was a super surreal experience to be playing to thousands of people, when you’re an absolute nobody so I’m grateful for the opportunity. I came off the stage and people actually came up to me and patted me on the back. Couldn’t wipe the smile off my face!
16. What’s been the strangest experience you’ve had in the business? Not the strangest experience, but it’s up there for experiences. We were booked on a local festival and as stupid as it sounds we didn’t check the backline details. The band on before us had a drumkit and when they finished they started packing it up. WTF!
Luckily the drummer had the kit in his car from a gig the night before and we all had to hotfoot it to his car about a K away and carry the damn thing back. We got organized in time but it was close. Disaster averted.
17. If you could trade places with any artist in the world right now, who would it be? I would trade places with Matty Healy just because I love his energy and charisma and I’d love to know what it would feel like to be in his shoes playing to hundreds of thousands of people, plus The 1975 is my favourite band.
18. Tell us about your latest release. I’m releasing my debut single under Katanak called ‘Life’ on September 16 and I couldn’t be more excited to put it out there in the world. In short, Life’s not black and white and ‘Life’ is about that. You can find it on all platforms like Spotify so make sure you chuck it in your playlist cause it’s something special.
19. What do your future plans involve? I’ve got three more songs mastered and ready so looking at my next single releasing around February and an EP after that. I want to start touring in 2020 and have more people discover me! I’ve never been more excited for anything in my life.
20. Where can our audience catch you live? I’ve got a couple of gigs going on. Get down and see me at;
October 03 : Brisbane (Empire Hotel)
October 17 : Brisbane (Ric’s Bar)
Also working on a November date for Tomcat, so like my Facebook page and follow me on Spotify to find out more about what I’m up to.
WEBSITE : Still working on this one!
FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/Katanakmusic/
INSTAGRAM : https://www.instagram.com/katanakmusic/
SPOTIFY: http://bit.ly/KatanakSpotify
SOUNDCLOUD : https://soundcloud.com/katanakmusic
YOUTUBE : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdHBS_W55oVVOLQ-nGcgE0Q
LINKTREE : https://linktr.ee/katanakmusic
Australia's first stop for pop!