Katy Cappella Artist Interview: Pop Star Katy Cappella Returns Home Taking The Stage By Storm In Concert With Good Fortune Behind Her
October/20/2012 05:54 PM
Artist Interview: Pop Star Katy Cappella Returns Home Taking The Stage By Storm In Concert With Good Fortune Behind Her
Rock Star Music News
By Nicole Hanratty
October 20, 2012
@LOARS_Music
INTERVIEW ★ Concerts ★ KATY CAPPELLA ★ Pop
If they didn’t see her coming, they should have. Katy Cappella, formerly a Chesapeake employee, helped the Fortune Magazine Top 100 Company win the 2010 Battle Of The Corporate Bands as the lead vocalist of Chesapeake's Shale Play at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and herself took home the Steve Eck Memorial Best Vocalist Award. She returned home to Oklahoma this weekend to headline her former employer's annual concert--headlined last year by Cheryl Crow.
Having recently released her first album, “Turn The World Around,” Katy Cappella is taking the pop music world by storm with her soulful voice. The YouTube music videos of Katy’s live performances are turning heads and gaining her new fans everyday.
Mariah Carey Lyrics - Emotions - Best of My Love cover by Katy Cappella on YouTube Music Videos
So who is Katy Cappella? Nicole Hanratty, editor of Life of a Rock Star, travelled to Phoenix, Arizona to interview Katy and spend some real time with both Katy and her super producer Wade Martin. After a gorgeous day of wake boarding out on Canyon Lake and a red carpet evening at Phoenix Fashion Week supporting emerging designer Suzanne Lay, [see Phoenix Fashion Week in TIME magazine] Katy Cappella opened up over a late night dinner about what it took to over come her worst enemy—practicality—to take a leap of faith and follow her voice.
On stage, Katy Cappella is a super star of the epic Beyoncé kind. At home, Katy is a small town genuine girl who values friends, family, morals and wants to “Turn The World Around” with her songs. Get to know the heart behind the soul…
Interview Location: The Talking Stick Resort, Phoenix Arizona
Date: October 6, 2012
Nicole: Honestly, Katy, we talked about so many artists yesterday on the boat. I can’t remember which ones you LOVE and were inspirational to you and which ones you were just able to pull out of thin air when we were playing “spin the playlist and name that artist!” By the way, I’m still impressed by your Cascada pull.
Katy: (Laughs) Mariah Carey…she just stands out from everybody ever. Her range is ridiculous. I think she’s in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the largest range of anybody. It’s somebody I grew up kind of aspiring to sing like but you knew you couldn’t, you know, anatomically nothing you can ever do to achieve her range. I do have a wide range but not Mariah Carey-like. And…I love Brian McKnight. Loved him. Brian McKnight and Whitney Houston. I feel like people say those people all the time but they’re such great singers you can’t help it…
Nicole: Did you grow up listening to them?
Katy: Oh, yeah. Mariah Carey was one of my first CDs. I would try and sing every note until I got it the way she did it.
Nicole: You knew you wanted to be a singer way back?
Katy: Oh, yeah. I loved singing. My mom and dad both sing. My mom plays the piano in church and they would sing duets in church, my mom and dad together. We always grew up appreciating music. Then I went to OU on a singing scholarship and after that though I was just like, “What am I going to do?” I thought there was no way I could make a career out of this. I got caught up in this fear…you know like you’re afraid? I got kind of trapped in “Oklahoma thinking” …you should go make money and do whatever is safe. That culture of go to college, you do a job that you may or may not like but it’s going to make money. And that’s really good.
Nicole: Was that family pressure too, or is that just you think society in general?
Katy: My oldest sister, she’s an engineer, her husband’s an engineer. My mom is a teacher so she really pushed education a lot. You grow up and make good grades. You go to school so you can get a good job, and I did. But its like something wasn’t right… I grew up with so much music around me and I finally thought, “I love this. Why would I not do something with it?” I just felt that at some point as though I kind of just gave up on it and caved into the pressures of society. Not necessarily all society but the mainstream America, do what you’re supposed to do.
Nicole: Did you keep singing while you were working?
Katy: Random stuff. Like people’s weddings, wherever I could. I wasn’t trying to go professional or anything. The thing is I would always succeed even when it was for fun. I did a contest at the fair while I was working. My friends were like, “You just go up there and do whatever.” It was like 10 days worth of people that they had come and sing Karaoke. I don’t even know how many people did it, hundreds of people and I won the whole thing and won a trip to Cancun. That’s a stupid thing but its like little things here or there. Everybody would be like, “Why are you not singing? Why are you not doing this?” I’m like, “Who’s going to be able to make a career out of it?” Then I won the Fortune Magazine competition.
Nicole: Tell me about that.
Katy: Where I used to work was this huge natural gas and oil company called Chesapeake and every year they rank high as one of Fortune’s best companies to work for list. It’s an amazing company to work for. That’s where I worked when Fortune Magazine reached out to all their companies that usually get ranked the top companies to work for. Fortune Magazine put on this competition…because Fortune, their whole thought is if you let employees have a creative outlet then it’s better for work and better for employees. Anyway, Chesapeake got a band together and made me the lead singer just through people talking saying, “Oh, I know she sings.” We submitted our CD to them. You had to make a CD of four songs. We did that and we made it to the semi-finals, which were in Vegas. We went to Vegas and you had to make the top four bands. We made the top four bands in Vegas. Then you go to the finals at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. When we got to Cleveland we won the whole competition. They do individual awards and they named me the best singer out of everybody. I was like, “Oh, my gosh. Why am I not doing this?”
Nicole: Who was involved in the judging?
Katy: The judges were Liberty DiVitto, he is Billy Joel’s drummer. Allen Parsons, he’s the producer for Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” album, the one with the triangle and the rainbow. He produced that album. Then there was a music magazine editor. The judges were people that know what they’re talking about. Then Fortune Magazine called me to interview me after we won. They were like, “We’re doing a spread in the December Fortune so we need to get you to give us some quotes.” Then after we talked the reporter said, “I just want you to know that Liberty told me that if you would have pursued music you would have done really, really well.” I was like, “Oh, my gosh.” It was kind of like a blow to me. If I would have? Was it just too late now? Am I not allowed to do that anymore? And that’s when I finally said, “I will regret this for the rest of my life if I don’t pursue this.” ...I was really happy there but something in me wasn’t right.
*Within three month of pushing on new doors, Katy Cappella was discovered by a chain of coincidences that took fate by the wheel.
Watch "The Discovery of Katy Cappella" on YouTube Music Videos:
Nicole: What are your goals for your music?
Katy: This is a cool thing, this girl emailed me on Facebook, that I went to college with and I really didn’t even talk to her that much at college. We had some of the same classes so I knew who she was but she friended me on Facebook and after my album came out which was probably in August she messaged me and she was like, “I just want you to know that I had the most terrible week. Then I listened to your music and it totally changed my mood.” That’s what I want to do for people. I’m not trying to be the biggest star ever or anything but I want the world to hear my music and have the opportunity to take it in like that girl did where it changes their whole spirit to something positive.
Nicole: So what was the first song you wrote?
Nicole: I don’t think you should discount that you picked that subject matter and went to that first because you wanted to heal yourself and get it off your chest. There’s a big association there for you associating music with healing which is why you’ve said you want people to listen to your music.
Katy: That is a good point. I’ve never realized it but that’s true.
Nicole: I think music is very healing. It’s amazing to me what you see with the power of music. Physically it’s healing, emotionally…there’s no question that there are songs that take someone and totally change their mood, elevate their spirit.
Katy: I think that it physically changes people…music changes your mood instantly. It is literally just healing for your soul. You can heal.
Nicole: Speaking of healing, is there a charity that’s important to you?
Katy: A charity that I’ve given to and would like to continue to [support] is called Compassion. You can pick an orphan from wherever you want to pick. This little girl that I sponsored she’s in this very high AIDS populated area in Africa, in Ghana.
Nicole: That’s a huge issue right now.
Katy: Yeah. They provide them free education, they teach them English and they write to you in English. If you want to take a trip to go see them you can do it. It’s not just feeding them but giving them a real chance, what the rest of the world already has.
With her first album recently released, big things are on the horizon for Katy Cappella and returning to Chesapeake Energy Friday night to headline their annual concert was a huge hometown return for her. She signed autographs, posed for photos with fans and rocked a packed house of over 800 people. When I contacted Katy the morning after to congratulate her on an amazing performance she said, “It felt so good!” And just like that her music had a boomerang effect. She sings to make others feel good and in turn she feels good. It's all part of Katy Cappella's mission to "Turn The World Around."
Click here to read more about Katy or visit her website: www.KatyCappella.com
Visit Compassion and Sponsor A Child Today
Follow @KatyCappella on Twitter
Follow @WadeMartinSP on Twitter
Follow @Compassion on Twitter
Download “All I Need (Acoustic)” from Katy Cappella’s “Turn the World Around” album (released June 26, 2012) on iTunes here.
MORE ON KATY CAPPELLA:
by Katy Cappella
SONG OF THE WEEK
August 16, 2012
When we have a song playing on repeat, we know our final decision has been made. Life of a Rock Star’s Song of the Week goes to breakout artist Katy Cappella’s “All I Need (Acoustic)”.
Katy Cappella’s voice is “play that again” good, combining smooth and powerful in a compelling way. The deep emotion in “All I Need” will haunt you. Katy Cappella’s vocals are both dramatic and enigmatic. She is the next big thing. READ MORE: Song of the Week: Katy Cappella "All I Need (Acoustic)"
CHARITY BUZZ:
Local Phoenix Celebrity Races For The Cure
October 14, 2012
POP STAR KATY CAPPELLA JOINS SUSAN G. KOMEN’S “RACE FOR THE CURE”
Phoenix, AZ – October 14, 2012 – Pop Star sensation Katy Cappella joined The Susan G. Komen “Race For The Cure” in Phoenix, Arizona this morning. Saying after the race, “It is perfect weather for a run!” READ MORE: POP STAR KATY CAPPELLA JOINS SUSAN G. KOMEN’S “RACE FOR THE CURE”
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