Interview with Kathie Touin [kathietouin] on Whohub

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What do you do? What is your musical specialty?

I am a keyboardist, singer, songwriter, producer, arranger, engineer and occasional bass player and amateur percussionist. I'm doing my best to become a competent guitar player. I began as a classical piano player, had a brief foray into jazz, played in several Progressive Rock-type bands, then went solo and got into songwriting.

Do you work alone or in a group? If in a group, who are the others you work with?

At the moment I'm working by myself, doing everything on my recordings except mastering. Sometimes I think I ought to work with a producer, but I have such a clear idea of my songs in my head I'm a bit nervous of how it would be to bring someone else in. I might have to try it one of these days.

Is there a web address where one can listen, see, or read some of your work?

Yes! Please visit www.kathietouin.com where you can find information about me and my music, listen to clips of the songs and buy CDs. You can read my blog there, and there is lots of fun stuff on the website to explore. I'm also on MySpace at www.myspace.com/kathietouin.

Please list any awards, competitions, or other acknowledgments you would like to mention.

I've had some lovely press, and really touching comments from people who enjoy my music, which is fantastic.

Please list discography in which you have participated.

Soliloquy (out of print)(1994) - my first album. Solo classical piano music.

Christmas (2001) - an instrumental album of Christmas music recorded on keyboards and guitars.

Butterfly Bones (2005) - my first all original album of my own songs, recorded in London, England.

Soliloquy Deluxe (2007) - a re-mastered, re-packaged deluxe edition of my first album, Soliloquy, with bonus tracks including Keith Emerson's A Blade of Grass.

There will be a new album out this year (2009), as yet untitled. Watch this space!

How did you begin making music? Who introduced you?

We had a piano, a lovely old player piano, when I was young. My mother was taking lessons when I was six or seven. I climbed up on the bench next to her to see what she was doing. She showed me how the finger numbers corresponded to what she was playing and where to put my hands. I seemed to have figured it out quite quickly as she quit taking lessons and signed me up for them. I studied with my first teacher for eight years and owe her a real debt of gratitude.

What was your musical education?

I studied privately from the age of seven. I spent two years at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and received a certificate. Later I studied improvisation with Patrick Moraz (formerly of the Moody Blues and Yes) and the Taubman Technique with Joan Harrison in Seattle.

When did you realise that making music could be a way of life for you?

It's funny how a lot of musicians seem to have a sort of epiphany where they decide 'this is what I want to do'. Mine was in my Films and Lit class in 9th grade at Simi Valley High School in California. It was the last day of school and we could watch any video we wanted. Someone brought in a video of Rush's Exit Stage Left concert. I was mesmorised. I loved the lights and smoke, the audience, the sheer power the band seemed to have. I was hooked. I didn't know what to do with this, as I had never been in a band. But I got a keyboard and an amp with financial help from my grandmother, joined a band and muddled through. About six months later I was listening to the King Biscuit Flower Hour (I've given away my age now for sure) which was broadcasting a recording of an Emerson, Lake & Palmer concert. Hearing Keith Emerson's solo piano bit on Take a Pebble floored me - I'd never heard anything like it. It opened up new realms of possibilities for me as a keyboardist. That was when I began to figure out my own musical direction.

What is your creative process?

I always write lyrics first, if I'm writing songs. I then try to find chord progressions and a structure that reflect the mood of the lyrics. I'll then work out a melody, and usually put down a piano and vocal demo of the song. When it comes to recording it fully, I'll usually start with either a piano track or a rhythm track, and then flesh it out with other parts, always trying to keep the mood of the song uppermost. The words are important to me, and the music is a way of helping to get them across.

If I'm writing piano music, I'll usually come up with a phrase that I like and then develop it from there. I don't usually here the completed thing in my head, but have to work towards it a bit at a time.

When do you have your most lucid moments, in the morning or night?

In as much as I'm ever 'lucid', I'd have to say nighttime generally. I'm definitely an owl and it takes me awhile to fully wake up in the morning. Coffee generally helps.

Have you ever awoken with a melody created from your dreams?

Yes, but they never seem to amount to much. I've woken up with lyrics, song titles and album titles, and they always seem much more brilliant in my dreams than when I'm awake. I'm still hoping I might have a Paul McCartney/Yesterday moment, though.

How do you know when a song is finished or needs no more changes?

Ah, the million dollar question. I think most musicians are like artists - the trick is truly knowing when to stop. I like to think I have an idea when something's done. Usually it's when I can't hear any more parts to it in my head, and it flows easily to listen to it. If something jumps out or is distracting, I think it still needs fixing.

How did you discover your creative territory? How would you describe it?

I like this question. My creative territory seems to be writing words and music that are thoughtful and expressive. I can't write for other people, so I write for myself and happily others seem to enjoy it. I'd love to make enough money doing my music for it to support itself, and hope that in that sense it's 'commercial' but don't really have any idea how to write a commercial song.

I originally just wanted to be a keyboard player in a band playing interesting, challenging music. But I developed problems with my left hand, which were later diagnosed as a focal dystonia, and it meant that I couldn't play as well as I wanted to. I started focusing more on songwriting as an alternative means of expressing myself. I started writing lyrics and songs in high school, but never intended to be a singer. I started singing just because there was no one else around to sing my songs for me at the time.

Recording my own music has helped me learn the technical challenges of engineering, recording and mixing, and has helped me branch out to different instruments. I add live percussion parts to my work, and now am learning to play guitar, bass and whistles, which should expand the palette of sounds on the new CD.

It's one of those situations where something truly awful and irreconcilable (my dystonia) pushed me into a direction I might not have explored, and I'm pleased with the results.

What part of your job is your least favourite?

The business-y bits. I enjoy doing promotion and interviews, but the routine stuff of taxes, rights and general admin can seem a bit boring sometimes. But then I remember how lucky I am to be doing it and that usually cheers me up.

How often do you practice?

In a perfect week, five days a week. I try to practice guitar for half an hour a day. I do half an hour of Slow Practice Therapy at the piano for my dystonia, then about half an hour or so of fun stuff, such as pieces I'm trying to learn. Some days it's more, some less, but I do try to play a bit every weekday. I need to spend more time on vocal practice, which is something I'm working on at the time of writing this.

How do you feel right before going out on stage?

I don't play live any more because of the dystonia. But when I did, I did feel nervous, but I always tried to channel the nervousness into energy I could use playing. There's nothing like the rush of playing a really good gig and getting a big round of applause for it.

Which musicians or groups have been inspiring to your career?

My first big influence (we're talking around age eight) was the Beatles. They are still first and foremost to me: song structure, lyrics, arrangements, production, harmonies... They had everything and I still use things I've learned from them.

The two biggest influences on me as a developing musician were Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Rush. Neil Peart of Rush was my first inspiration as a lyricist. I loved that he took time over his lyrics and that they were intelligent and clever. I learned to enjoy word play from him.

Keith Emerson, as I mentioned before, was the first person I heard that really knocked my socks off as a musician. He's been an unending source of inspiration to me over many years now. Now matter how depressed or frustrated I get, listening to him play always revives me. The power and ferocity of his playing is matched by a delicacy and yearning that really affects me.

As a songwriter I was first really inspired by Sarah Maclachlan, whose work I love for it's dense textures and airy vocals. I also love Oasis's Noel Gallagher for well put together songs.

List three songs that are key to your life.

1) Limelight by Rush
2) Karn Evil 9 by ELP
3) I am the Walrus by the Beatles

What should be done to stop piracy?

It's difficult, isn't it? I think the Music Industry really needs to get with the times and sort itself out. There is so much potential out there, but at the moment it all seems to be artist or fan-driven. If the Industry could find a way of making use of all this potential and connecting with it in a creative way, piracy would probably just disappear on its own. There is obviously a need that it is filling, and the Industry as a whole needs to find a way to fill that need that is good for the artists and their supporters, as well as the Industry.

What type of music do you detest?

These kind of questions make me squirm. I'm always quick to say there isn't really bad music, just music I don't like. But I'm not sure I'm being honest about that.

I don't like punk. I find the whole mentality behind it offensive. I don't like New Age because it's boring and nauseating. I'm not a big fan of 'acid' jazz. Or anything that noodles on too much.

What time did you get up this morning?

How do you sell yourself? What has been your experience with record companies and representatives?

I am marketed through my website, CD Baby, Amazon.com, MySpace, my blog and Twitter. I do radio interviews and some press. I have a distribution deal with Proper Distribution, but we still have to do the marketing.

I haven't actually had much contact with record companies and representatives because I consciously haven't gone that route. In the past I've had mixed experiences with them. One promotions guy that helped me out for awhile was brilliant. Others have been less so.

What other things have you done to make a living?

I sometimes edit code for the BBC's Programme Information website, but not very often. I taught piano for sixteen years. I've been a Personal and Team Assistant at the BBC, a recording engineer, assistant to the director of a small independent music label, a file clerk, a secretary, a data entry person, a temp, a nursery manager (as in plants, not kiddies), worked at a record store (yes, 'record' not CD) and was an usher at Symphony Hall in Boston.

My two shortest-lived jobs were three days as a sales person at a piano store (I kept hiding in the back playing the Hammond B3 they had so we reached a mutual understanding that I was never, ever going to sell a piano), and a record one day at a local music store. They wanted me to play cheesy tunes on a cheesy keyboard out front. I couldn't play the stuff they wanted me to play, for reasons of personal respect. When I told them I was leaving, the owner said I'd never get anywhere in music. That shop went out of business nearly 20 years ago. Yet here I am, making albums. Hmmm.

Have you ever played on the street or in the subway? How much did you collect each day?

No, it's just too damn hard to get the piano back up the stairs.

Who would you play with, without a doubt?

Alan White of Yes still owes me a jam session.

Keith Emerson, Steve Hackett, Noel Gallagher, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page, Ann and Nancy Wilson, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Nicks.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the business?

Take every opportunity - you never know where it might lead.

Be humble, but assertive.

Play with everyone you can. You'll learn something from all of them.

Be nice, help people when you can. You never know when that person might be able to return the favour.

Whatever scares you the most - do it.

Always ask yourself what you will gain if you proceed with something, and what you could lose if you don't.

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