Artist Of The Week - Katelyn Rose

Hailing from northern New Jersey, Katelyn Rose's voice has landed her on stages everywhere from NYC to LA, including at such well known spots as Whiskey a Go Go, The Bitter End and The Bowery Poetry Club. Currently Rose is working on a number of projects she hopes to have ready for spring, including an eponymous EP and a one woman burlesque musical, the latter she is keeping under wraps for now. Rose has also been known to pen an article or two, which is why when I sat down with her this week we discussed not just her musical career, but whether or not she keeps that musical career separate from her journalistic endeavors.

Adam Bernard: Let’s start this off with a little bit of background info. How did you first get into music and when did you start singing?
Katelyn Rose: My father always schooled me on musicians from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. I can remember being in the car with my dad listening to 101.1 WCBS FM and he’d ask me, “who sings this and what year is it from?” Sometimes I’d impress him and other times I would be amazed at how much he knew. My grandparents exposed me to big band and the music of the 40’s. I have to admit that that is my favorite music of all time. I could always pick up song from the first time I heard it. Literally, my grandpa would play “Chattanooga Choo Choo” on trips to the Poconos and I could sing it back the next time around. My parents always encouraged me to sing and most of the time would force me to entertain at every holiday, dinner party and family affair. I apologize to those who wanted to go home at midnight. Originally when I started out I sang mostly Broadway tunes. I was never a cooperative student when it came to classical training. I consider myself a pop/R&B singer with a lot of soul. Sometimes going back to those home videos I think to myself, “Uh, I really couldn’t sing,” but for a six year old… yeah, I guess I could.

Adam Bernard: You gotta keep it all in perspective like that. I know at one point you were also part of a duo called JNK Music. Who was your other half with that project?
Katelyn Rose: Joey Martino. He is still my partner on this ambiguous road to stardom. Without Joey I don’t know that I would have ever started writing music. We met at Five Towns College in Long Island. We were always friends, but never really did anything musically together until our sophomore year. We were living in the Hilton Hotel at the time because the dorms weren’t built yet at Five Towns. One day he asked me if I thought I could write lyrics to this rock song he had written and I was kind of unsure. I brought in a huge book into his hotel room of poems, short stories and journal entries from the 8th grade. And he told me “those are your lyrics.” We wrote a song called “Face to Face” and recorded it onto his laptop with a really shitty mic. We recorded a new song almost every week after that, and we’ve never stopped. Joey and I click. I am a very loud and crazy person and Joey is the exact opposite, that’s the beauty of our working relationship. He takes all of my fanatical ideas and lets me throw them onto one of his masterpieces, although he does say “hell no, Kate” when I’m way off base.

Adam Bernard: How does your style differ when working as a part of a duo as opposed to being a soloist?
Katelyn Rose: I don’t know that I consider us a duo, we are more writing partners who record and play together. Joey will always be on my team and lead the band to its full potential. I am a front girl, “the solo artist” if you will. We always marketed ourselves as JNK Music, but now we feel that the best way to approach the industry is with a solo act. He graciously bowed out of the spotlight for business reasons, but he is the heart and soul of this project. Really, I just do what he tells me to do. Ha ha.

Adam Bernard: In addition to your singing talents you have something in common with me, you write. I know a few writers who are trying to be artists. How does networking work for you with that? Do people who know you as a writer express any interest when you tell them you’re also an artist, or are you finding you have to develop two completely different circles of contacts?
Katelyn Rose: Actually, being a writer has opened many doors into the music industry. Publicists, managers, labels, editors and artists know me as Katelyn Nudo the writer and I try to uphold that title when I am doing my journalist work. I feel it is very unprofessional to mention that I am also an artist at the time of an interview, unless of course it comes up. The idea is to become friends with these people and after a few meetings, laughs and networking parties they get to know who I really am. Now it’s not so much “Katelyn Nudo the writer” that I am trying to represent, instead it’s “Katelyn Rose the singer” and I’m anxious to see how the transition will go.

Adam Bernard: Finally, in terms of your own career, what is success and what is failure?
Katelyn Rose: To tell you the truth, I already feel that I am successful. I’ve written and recorded 50 original songs, been published over 100 times, ghostwritten a few novels and screenplays, won some awards and I party like a rock star every weekend with my best friends, but I would feel completely unsuccessful if I allowed myself to stop here. This is but only the prologue to my life. Success is different for everyone. It would be amazing to travel all over the world and sing in every country. I want to be able to put art back into this jaded industry. The only way I can fail now is if I give up everything that I’ve work for and that’s never going to happen. Music is my fiancé. We’ll be married soon enough.

Related Links

MySpace: myspace.com/katelynrosemusic