Can you tell us your name, age, hometown and dream?
My name is Katie Quick, I’m 26 years old and I was born and raised in Evergreen Park on the south side of Chicago. My dream since I was a young girl has been to make music, write music about the things that I observe in the world, filter that through a song and share it with as many people as possible.
When did you decide that it was possible to pursue that dream?
I’ve dreamt it my whole life but I had the feeling it was possible three years ago when I first got on stage with a band; I knew this was it. It was just a cover band but it was something about the feeling that I got. I was always shy growing up but once I got up there it felt like home. I knew that I was meant to sing. I ended up writing my first song in November of 2006 with very little guitar skills, just kind of plunking through it. When I started playing my songs for people, their reactions validated for me that I have something to say and that I have a nice way of saying it and putting it into words.
What are some of those messages that you have in your songs?
One song I wrote that is a self-portrait is called “Be the Change.” It summed up my life and my attitude about life. I realized through some experiences in college that if you want something you just have to do it. You have to make that change. I was in a volunteer group in college called Alternative Spring Break, and we traveled around and did volunteer trips and that was our motto, “Be the change.” I realized that if you do things it does make a difference. That song has somehow made its way into a lot of my music. I wrote a song called “Fingertips” for my six-grade students that said you really can have whatever it is that you want. Aside from positive messages though, my music incorporates little glimpses of life here and there that I’ve taken and put into a 3 minute song.
Did you have any mental barriers or any kind of struggles during that period when you were starting to play?
I never could play an instrument so that was a big barrier because I had all these ideas for songs in my head and I didn’t know how to get them out there. I could write the words and I had the melodies in my head and I could see them, but for some reason I couldn’t put the two together. Until I picked up a guitar I couldn’t mesh the two together. So that was a huge barrier, learning to play the guitar. Once I did that things started pouring out of me.
Another barrier was the fact that I was a teacher and I definitely struggled with the idea that teaching is a selfless profession; you have to really put yourself second. I kept asking myself, should I go ahead and pursue this, something that I may never achieve? There is a very limited space for people to be able to share their music. All of those things were struggles for me.
You were starting to play while you were teaching. When did you decide that now you wanted to pursue it full time and not teach anymore?
I didn’t know that I wanted to pursue it full time, it actually happened because of circumstance. While I was teaching a lot came up. My principal was not happy with me and my love of music and that I would use that in the classroom. She didn’t approve of it. She ended up lowering my rating which made no sense because I was volunteering for all these groups and the test scores in my class went up. Logistically, and looking at my relationship to my students, I should have had a top notch rating. I went into my meeting and she told me that music will never pay my bills and that I needed to stay focused on what is important to me. It showed me right there that this person knows nothing about me, and knows nothing about connecting to the kids. It was a big red flag and I thought, it’s now or never. If I stayed I knew that she would look down upon everything that I do and I would just be held back. I really could never deal with someone saying that you can’t do this. I can’t be around those people: negative energy, walk the other way. I knew that I could keep my relationship with the kids strong by e-mailing. I could still do what I want to do and be an example that shows them that they can too, all without being around that kind of negative energy.
What was your feeling then when you stopped teaching?
I was scared; it was very upsetting. I felt at first that I made the wrong decision and that I abandoned the kids. I cried for days. At the beginning of the school year (2008) this year it was very, very hard for me. I would look at letters on my wall that my students had written me, as well as emails that they would write me,”We really miss you! We wish that you were here but we really hope that you are doing well with your music.” That was very difficult. It got easier as I started taking more chances because of the free time that I now had. I decided to do my first solo show, I started playing more music for more people and I started taking more risks musically. As I did that, I realized that I was gaining more strength and confidence and the kids were learning more and more about what I was doing. I was really helping them too at the same time. As the year progressed it got easier.
You were saying that your principal was skeptical and unsupportive. Could you talk about who helped you and who was against it, and how did you deal with that?
Pretty much everybody that I’ve come across has been supportive. My mom and dad have been the biggest support in my life, my mom especially. She really believed in me before I believed in myself. She would hear me singing and she knew; she would push me to sing in front of people and I would get so mad at her. I did a demo when I was 18, some songs on a karaoke tape, and she would play them for people. I was mortified! She pushed me; I needed that. Some might say that that kind of mom is a stage mom but it wasn’t like that. She used to tell me, “Katie, I know you can do it and I know you are mad at me because you are embarrassed and scared, but I’m pushing you through this.” My dad wanted me to take every opportunity that came my way, anything from trying out for student council to going backpacking in Europe. He always said if you want to do it, you do it. The combination of both of them, my dad is a little more modest than my mom, really helped me. Everyone has been so supportive.
So really then it was only your principal who, ironically, was the deciding factor that pushed you out of teaching school and into music?
She was the only one and it was a blessing in disguise. I tried to go to another school and it was a really bad situation. I think things happen in your life and you have to take those things that come to you. I had the episode with my principal and then I was in another school for a week and it was one of those situations out of a movie. It was a horribly, negative environment and there was violence in the school every single day. I felt my life was threatened; it was a nightmare of an experience. I knew then that I can’t do it. I tried it one more time; gave it one more shot. I just knew that life was throwing me signs.
Have you had a change in mindset at how you look at future possibilities?
I don’t think that there is anything that is not possible. To see where I’ve come from, a scared little girl who would sing in her bedroom to Mariah Carey and Wilson Phillips, to where I am now. I always knew that I really wanted it but I was never sure that it would really happen. Of course you want things to just happen for you. I found though that when you take steps forward you can do anything that you want. Now nothing stands in my way at all. When I recorded my album, for example, I played with some of the best musicians in the world. I’m not intimidated by anyone because I’ve realized that in doing this, it’s all about steps. They too at one point did what I am doing.
Can you be more specific about the milestones that you’ve accomplished?
It’s all almost happened in one year which is strange because I’ve been waiting my whole life to have this happen. I played my fist solo show with a guitar. That was a very huge accomplishment for me because I had never touched a guitar until two years ago in October. I did my first demo in Nashville in June of last year. I realized that a lot of people where positively appreciating my music so I recorded an album in March and that has taken off locally. People are responding like you wouldn’t believe. I got to open up for a Grammy nominated artist, Shawn Mullins, at a bar here in Chicago. I won US 99’s talent competition playing “Fingertips,” which I had written for the kids. I was on WGN radio and in the Chicago Tribune as well. I appeared on TV for the “Great American Country Contest.” This has all happened since October. That is why I am totally convinced that if you want something and you listen to your heart and you follow what you really believe in, then things will happen.
Just a quick side question, how do you support yourself? Do you have a steady income?
I do. I feel that you do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do. I’m a fulltime nanny right now during the day. I was working 55 hours a week nannying and then writing, playing shows at night and on the weekends. I have had very little free time. I know some people are irritated by that. My friends and family know though that it is a sacrifice you have to make. I have my college loans and I have to pay my bills. I went to nannying not only because I love kids, but because it allows me time after I’m done, unlike school where you have paperwork and things to do. One day I hope to just live off of music but I know that you can’t do that coming out, no matter how talented you are. People might do this for ten years and still have to have a fulltime job.
How do you perceive society?
I thought about this question. I think some people really understand what is going on. I don’t know if it is because they are old souls or what, but I always felt like I was one of those people; either I’ve been here before or I have a general understanding of how things work. I think there are people who you might consider new souls, people who are going around and taking advantage of everything we have and not appreciating the world around them and their surroundings. I always think it’s up to the older souls and people who have been there and done that, to show people that it’s ok to stop and take a breath and enjoy things around you.
Those people that really take advantage, I feel like they are growing in numbers because of the media who prays on that population of people. They are very highly influenced. It saddens me sometimes because I don’t feel like there is enough hopefulness in the world because everything is materialistic and its image centered. How do you not see that that is not what is important? That is why I feel that it is important as an artist, if you have a message, you have to send it no matter what kind of art you do or who you are, you have to do it. We are in desperate need of some light in this world.
What do you value most?
I value the people around me and the experiences that I have had. My family is so important to me. Everybody that I have come across in my life I know is supposed to be there, like a puzzle piece. I value every past experience that I have ever had, both positive and negative, and I know that it is going to contribute to the future in some way. I am grateful for the people and the support I had growing up. Maybe if I didn’t have that side job I had when I was 15, or the teacher that I had when I was 8, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
What have you learned about life from the transformation that you have gone through over the years?
I learned that fear is the main thing that holds people back and that is what held me back for so long. When I dove head first into whatever it was – even being in a classroom or being on stage – I had to confront it and then I got over it. You realize that it is just a feeling; it’s just an illusion. When you go for it anything is possible. It opens so many doors having a range of experiences. I went from thinking I can’t even sing out of my bedroom to singing on the radio for 38 states and all these countries. There is nothing to be scared of. You are the only person who can hold you back.
Do you have any specific kind of advice that you can share?
I would say find the one thing that scares you the most and do that. I’m noticing that many people like to take the easy way out and they are never very satisfied. That is the reason I wanted to teach inner-city kids because I was petrified of it, but I knew that I had to do it. I kept asking myself, why am I scared, what am I scared of? If you don’t know what you want to do, think about the one thing that you are hesitant about and figure out why. It must be something you really want to do and you’re afraid to mess it up. I would say go for it.
What is the next part of this dream?
I want to keep on doing this. To me it’s small steps. My biggest dream was to play guitar on stage, singing my own songs, which I have done. I’m finding out things I want to do. I didn’t know that I was going to be featured in the Chicago Sun Times; I didn’t expect it. I didn’t expect to make an album. I would love for my songs to be heard by as many people as possible. People criticize radio and I do think it is a lost art form because everything is pumped into the radio; you can’t even control what you listen to anymore. But I do think for what I’m trying to accomplish, which is to inspire others to live out their dreams, I would love for my songs to be on the radio. I also would love to tour, even if it is in my own car. I would love to drive around and play; I don’t care if I have to play in coffee shops all around the country.
How were you able to bring your idea in life (that anything is possible) to the kids that you taught who came from a very different background than you?
My family was steady financially and I got to go on vacations and my life was full of love. The students considered me having to come down to their level. They kept asking me why I was teaching them. I made sure that they understood that we were exactly the same people, only our circumstances were different. It’s so important to make that connection between worlds because we are all so separated. You live here; I live there. You have this much money; I have this much. You were born here and I was born there. There is no connectedness. This country is divided. Where are we going to connect one to another? If people took time to get to know each other, which I really wanted to do with my kids, you will find that people are the same. How can someone like me relate to an inner-city child whose brother got shot last week, who has no father and 30 people living in his 2 bedroom apartment? I will tell you why; we are the same, we all want something deep down and we all have the ability to go for it.
You were able to connect cultures and different types of people with the idea that we all dream about something. What kind of transformation did you see in the kids?
I saw amazing transformation. Kids that were very hardened and closed off, by the end of the year, wanted to be in your good graces because they knew you had something to offer them and they wanted a piece of that. They wanted the love that you were giving them. I had kids crying at the end of the year because they didn’t want to leave. They want a reason not to listen to you because everyone in their life has given them a reason to push away and to run away. I made sure they had no reason for that.
To learn more about Katie and listen to her music, click on the link below:
