Cate Song, an accountant by day and singer/song writer by night, recently had an interview with Konnect Magazine. They go over a lot of topic including her debut in 2007, working with Koo Chung & other musicians, being a Korean-American musician, her goals with music and more. If you’d like to read more about the NY based singer you can either check out the interview in full after the break or head on over to KM.
Q: What are the full names of each band member and where is each person originally from? What does each person do (instrument) on the band?
Well, I am flying solo right now. My name is Cate Song. Sometimes I go by Songbird. I have some fantastic musicians that I play with from time to time, but I’m really trying to hone my piano-based singer/songwriter sound, and I think that is best accomplished right now by just my vocal on piano.Q: When (month/year) did you start to perform?
Technically, I’ve been doing this since April 2007. I played at this cute little cafe in downtown NYC called “Five Points” with my multi-talented friend, Albert Cheung, who is now a full-time photographer. Go figure!Q: How did you get from starting the idea to actually coming up with the CD?
I’ve been wanting to do something with music probably my whole, conscious life. I just didn’t know what I’d do. Growing up I played classical piano, so my dream was to be a concert pianist. Then I started listening to different types of music and fell in love with the singer/songwriter genre as an adult.The desire and heart to create music has always been within me but it took me a long, very long time to actually muster up the courage to actually do something about it. I went the whole safe, secure, steady job route and studied accounting – and that is still my day job to this day. But I do a lot more music now. That’s how I like it. After a lot of nudging and support by friends and family, finally, in late 2007, when I had a handful of songs that I had written, I got in contact with a musician/producer named Koo Chung. And he’s the one who helped me realize my debut album, “Images”. Koo’s one of my favorite singer/songwriters, so it was a real honor to work with him. Then just recently, I worked with another fantastic producer, Kevin Wu, on a shorter interim project called “Inside EP”. So I have 2 albums under my belt now! Crazy!
Q. What is the purpose of you as a singer? What are your goals for you as a singer and performer?
When I started to really think about the role that music has in my life, I recounted how music has shaped who I am through the years. Its most profound impact was the way the lyrics and melodies connected with a deep part of my soul that was unfortunately tainted by life. Music became a cathartic exercise for me. I wrote when I felt that there was no other way to express myself. I sang when I had no voice. It became my main avenue for expression.
My vision for the music that I create is that it would serve that very purpose for someone else. The interesting part about life is that even when we think we’re alone in our experience, when we begin to share that experience with others, we start to see that we are not alone. Though life will never be fully shared or understood, there is a commonality in joy and pain. We connect with each other through the human experience. And thus we can begin to love each other in that identification.My goals are pretty simple. As a musician, my goal is to continue to improve in my art form, in songwriting, playing the piano and singing; to give my listeners the best music that I can possibly make. My goal is to do this full time and have financial sustainability. My goal is also to connect with people on a deeper level, to make them think beyond the surface, ask the hard questions, to make them feel. As a performer, my goal is to be able to give a completely unique experience to the person watching and listening. I want them to walk away from my shows having a sort of magical experience. That’s what I feel when I watch my favorite performers. Magic.
Q: Is the Korean person your primary target or does your audiences go beyond this segment?
My primary market is whoever connects with my style of music. Of course, being Korean-American automatically creates a niche for me with that market. My music, if you listen to it, isn’t “Korean” at all, so I don’t see why non-Koreans would not listen to it. I grew up here in the states and all of my musical influences are American. My music is piano-based pop with a touch of soul, like Sara Bareilles and Alicia Keys at a jam session.Now to break into the mainstream market is a whole different story. There is still a huge barrier for Asian-American artists in this country but I think we are making headway with YouTube and other mass-scale avenues of social networking. I’m not very concerned with that, though. My goal isn’t to be famous or sell millions of albums, though I’m not going to deny that it wouldn’t be nice to have those things Mostly, I want to create good art and be part of a community of great artists who are making music under the radar every day. New York’s a great place for this!
Q: What kind of music did you grow up with?
I grew up listening to a LOT of Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Boyz II Men. It’s the good stuff of the 90s. Then I started listening to more piano-based musicians like Michael W. Smith and Nichole Nordeman. Then a lot of folk and singer/songwriters. So it’s an amalgamation of all of that.Q: What are some challenges you faced on your journey?
So many challenges… as any good journey has. The biggest being my own fears. Once I started to face my fears and overcome them one by one, I’ve been able to go at this thing in freedom. I guess the fears have to do with failure, rejection, approval of others, and other debilitating factors. We have to let go of these things. It is not good for the self! The other main challenge now is to break through the line that separates the amateur from the professional. I would like to do this for a living and I need a serious breakthrough to make that happen. I’m just getting started and finding out it’s much harder than I ever imagined.Q: Do you tour? If so, where have you toured?
No official tours just yet. I’ve been playing in various venues in the tri-state (NY, NJ, PA) and DC areas. There are enough venues in NYC to keep me busy for a lifetime! But that will be something to do in the coming year, though. Thanks for the suggestion.Q: How are you filling a music need in the Korean marketplace? Are Koreans drawn to your kind of music?
This is a great question, and not sure if it’s something I can answer satisfactorily. I can only generalize Korean music because I don’t listen to it. But there seems to be a general lack of singer/songwriters in the mainstream Korean marketplace. That is sad to me. Everything seems very commercialized and popularized by glamour and glitz. Of course, I don’t know much about the other music that probably exists out there, but that is how it’s coming across to me. If what I’m saying is true in any sense, then I definitely feel like I’m filling a gap there of some sort. Granted, I won’t be writing in Korean any time soon. I know Korean-Americans tend to like my music, but not sure if the Koreans in the motherland would. I have heard from some of them, but they’re all family and you know how they are. Only gives compliments.Q: What is it really like song writing and making a CD?
Song writing is the most personal process that I go through in a course of a day. It’s the expression of the stuff that is going on inside my head that I am unable to verbally articulate to another person. I’m an introvert and love to write, so I’m writing all the time. Once I have a structure of lyrics down, then I’ll try to put a melody on top of it. In the beginning I would be okay with the first draft, but as I have grown as a songwriter, I’m finding myself doing a TON of revisions after the first try. I love to find better ways to convey a sentiment – to make it clearer, more emotive, or more poetic. Rhyming dictionaries and the thesaurus are must-haves in the songwriting process.Creating a CD is so much work, like you wouldn’t imagine. There is so much that goes into that final product that’s now intangible! The technicalities of making an album are way beyond me. That’s why I hire producers/engineers who know what they’re doing. It’s painstaking and there is a lot of sacrifices made along the way, depending on time and financial constraints. The final product is something that I’m definitely proud of but if given a chance I’d change again and again. It takes great discipline to be able to put finality to the process. I have to say though, that my favorite part about it is seeing how my little seedlings of songs come to fruition into amazing entities on their own. I could never do that on my own. I also love to see how I’ve progressed as a singer/songwriter between albums. It’s a tangible way to see that I’ve grown as an artist and that is totally gratifying. Then of course, being able to have something to share with people apart from the live show – that is an altogether wonderful benefit of having an album.
How to follow Cate Song:
1. Cate Song Facebook page
2. Cate Song YouTube page
3. Cate Song Twitter
4. Cate Song iTunes Artist Link
5. Cate Song CD
a-Tunes 