Breakout artist Katerina Nicole, who's known for blending deeply personal lyrics with a soul-stirring sound, has been connecting with listeners since releasing her latest single, "What I Know Now." Ahead of the new song and captivating video, she continues to unpack multiple themes of self-discovery and introspection with her upcoming EP, Serene in Violent Oceans, debuting February 21. I had the chance to catch up with Katerina and discuss more about her anticipated new music, and here's what she had to say.
MSM: Hi, thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions for us today.
Katerina: Absolutely! Thanks for having me.
I'll start with an ice breaker question so people can get to know you a little better. Do you have any hobbies or interest outside of music that help inspire your creativity?
Yeah, I would definitely say working with rescue animals is my second greatest love in my life. I spend a lot of my time rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming animals. I absolutely love it.
What's the story behind your latest single, "What I Know Now" and did it inspire any personal experiences?
Yeah, it was one of those tracks that I didn't expect to evolve the way that it did. It's become the most important song, not only for myself but for my producer, my bandmates, and everyone who listened to it. They're like, "This song is fantastic," and it was a song that took a while to get to that point. My producer, Jordan Chase, composed this beautiful song, and we both had different feelings coming up while we were working on this track for about a month and a half. We both had that feeling of melancholy and imposter syndrome, like, "Hey, do we belong, and are we good enough to do this?" I feel that way all the time with music; it's something that I love dearly, and it's everything that I want, but sometimes I get in my head like what I say might not matter. This song really represents that for me, and my producer really related to it as well. He actually wrote the song, and there's nothing that I wanted to change about his lyrics because he just hit it right on the head, and I felt everything. It felt good to record, and I could go on and on. Then when we made the music video, we just put everything together with the visuals. It's a beautiful track; I absolutely love it.
The song carries such an emotional weight- what message are you hoping to convey with it?
I would say I would love it if someone could pick up that feeling of something they love in their life and go for it and follow their path. For me, that was the most important thing I ever did for myself. I'm not half bad at doing a lot of things, and I worked a few different jobs before I really went two feet into music, so you know I would have been ok, but there would have always been that thing in my heart and soul that was begging me to do this. So if anybody grabs that and runs with it or walks or crawls or puts one foot in that direction for themselves, I would be so happy.
The visuals in the video are striking, what was the concept behind it and we're there any key moments or symbols that carry a deeper meaning for you?
Yeah, definitely. My producer, Alex Kouvatsos, really had this vision, and I just let him go with it. It's really about me being worked on with some sort of substance and going in and out of these really lucid dreams. Sometimes I relate to them in real life if I'm really stuck on something or going through something, so there's that really vivid abyss scene. That's when someone's really struggling internally, and it could be not so right in your face, but maybe if you're sleeping or it comes out once in a while. It could really be that thing for you.
Was the process of the video production something that took time or came together pretty quickly?
I believe we had our first meeting about it one month or maybe a month and a half prior, but I think for the timeline it was pretty quick to the time that we actually got it done because my EP has been going on a very short timeline since the first track "Catch My Breath" came out. They were really great to work with and once we got on set that day, actually we did two days on set and everything just went so smoothly. It went by too quickly, by the end of it I was like, "I just want this to continue because I had so much fun."
For your upcoming EP Serene in Violent Oceans, was their a particular emotion or theme you wanted to highlight throughout each song?
Yes, especially with the way that I have them in order on the EP, it's meant to take you on a journey through a storm or turbulent ocean. That kind of goes along side with traumas and feelings, really diving deep and getting to the bottom of yourself so you're not standing in your own way and you can really live and feel everything wholeheartedly. Some of the tracks intertwine, but specifically they do have their own theme.
Was there any unique techniques and sounds you wanted to highlight with this time around that may be similar or different than past releases?
Yeah, I think I've grown so much in this process of making this first EP, and I already have more things to write about and talk about. I feel like I've gotten to a new level in my life and a little bit of confidence in my field now and in what I'm doing. It feels really right to me, so I think going into the next productions and the next tracks, everything that's going to come from this. I think I have a lot more to stand on now, and that feels pretty good.
Now with the new music releasing, what's next musically for you?
I'm already working on EP two right now. My main priority is to really promote this EP and get it out there and have people listen to it. Also perform; that's something I really want to do.
Lastly, what's one thing you hope people remember or take away from you and your music?
That life is a ride, and getting to know yourself is a beautiful thing. If you can really look at yourself honestly and be ok with yourself at the end of the day, I think you're absolutely the most powerful. You can do whatever you want; you can truly be happy.
