Life & Work with Clara Kay

Today we’d like to introduce you to Clara Kay.

Hi Clara, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
It started when I left the dance. I picked up the violin for a few years during high school, and my teacher was encouraging when it came to me wanting to learn how to compose for my violin and my solos. From there, I got my first MIDI keyboard for Christmas which included a free trial of Bitwig, my only other experience with DAWs being Garageband before this.

Then, I discovered Ableton Live, started my solo project making music for studying, got into a music school for audio production, collaborated with some classmates ultimately ended up with a band, interned for podcast production, and now I’m almost done with school, and looking to continue to be involved in the music industry in more than one way as much as I can!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
For the first half of my childhood, I was planning on becoming a professional ballet dancer. However, the environment I was in at the studio was not the best; dance is expensive and a privileged activity to pursue. So is music, of course, but the accessibility and barrier to entry in dance is much more difficult, and only for a career that might not even last to see your 35th birthday.

So once I left, I thought a lot, and I wanted to find something creative while more sustainable as a lifestyle. I often am an all-or-nothing type of person when it comes to committing to something, and I knew I would have to find something that could become my life just as dance was, but hopefully in a healthier way. What had been with me all along, even during the dance? Music, sound.

I would consider myself a sensitive person, and this is especially a fact when it comes to sound. So I thought, what could be better than a life revolved around music and sound? I haven’t found anything better so far unless you count dance. But I’m trying to find a way to bring that back into my life too now that I’m set on this music journey.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I like to write music, specifically composition, both electronically and acoustically. I’m all about using noise to express myself, so feedback static, and distortion are always welcome in my sonic world. I also make my cover art, which I love because I miss my art classes. I also love photography. I’ve learned how to do it all solo, but I’m always inspired to dip into the worlds of my peers, and sometimes they are the missing piece to my work.

I have solo work: lofi, sampling-inspired music that you can study/space out to. I’m also in a band, Wombat and the Monkeyman, and we are still working on our sound. I’m aiming for a band with a shoegaze-inspired, gothic sound, but I’m not there yet with this one. I’m different because I often find myself self with different musical inspiration compared to my peers.

For example, growing up two of my favorite artists were Moby and The Chemical Brothers. Currently, a few artists I’m currently inspired by include Reiko Kudo, BUCK-TICK, Airiel, and Nujabes.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting.
There is no need to feel rushed, there is no correct age to start anything. If you are feeling drawn toward something so strongly but don’t know where to start, pick something and start chasing. You will probably never know everything that you think you need to know before starting an endeavor, so at some point, the only thing you can do to start is to jump in head first.

I’m only 22, but I feel strongly about this because I remember age being a big concern in dance. Now, I’m even questioning that. The amount of time you have in your childhood and early adulthood to experiment question and fail is invaluable. Being a former dancer, I felt pressure (put on by myself) to be an intermediate musician by the time I was 18. I fixated on if I had started music in time, or if I was late to the party.

But looking back now (also I didn’t reach that goal, what does it even mean), I realized there is always time because there is always something to learn no matter where you are in life. So now I’m going at my own pace, chasing my interests with all of my energy, and welcoming my mistakes as I’ve learned the most from them. One more thing is: to ask questions and allow yourself to be seen – make it happen! In high school, I didn’t want to disrupt anyone and didn’t want to make anyone confused or uncomfortable.

While I still don’t want to do any of those things on purpose, sometimes you just have to butt into the conversation to be seen. The more I ask my questions when I hear someone talking about something I have questions about, the less scary it gets and the more capable I feel. Knowledge is power, and asking someone a question also has the potential of making a new friend or connection with said person. Sometimes you just have to embrace the awkwardness, the misunderstanding, and the rejections to get the answers you need. And I promise such effort is worth it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clararanaway/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarakay/
• SoundCloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/8dWTj
• Other: https://claruin.bandcamp.com/

Image Credits
Dawson and Jason Myers (Memorandum Media)