Our Interview with Austrian pop singer KTEE
For the international readers of Cogito&Volo, here’s the original version of our interview with Katharina Aigner, also known as KTEE. The Italian version of the text will be published on the 22nd!
Hi KTEE! Nice to meet you and welcome to Cogito&Volo.
We’ve been listening to your discography and adored your songs, from Rock Your Life to your latest release, Trust Issues. When did you start making music? What’s the first song you remember from your childhood?
I have always been singing. When I was a child, I had this bulky old tape recorder and I spent hours recording my voice and analyzing it. I loved singing Celine Dion songs and songs from musicals like Dance of the vampires. It has always made me happy to sing. When I was 8 I learnt how to play the flute, I played it for 9 years and then I stopped to concentrate on singing – and later on writing songs as well.
Are there other artists that inspired you? If you could collab with someone, who would he/she be?
A few years ago I discovered Jessie J and she became a huge idol. Since then I’ve been practicing singing to her songs. I’d also love to collab with her, if there was the chance to!
Whitney Houston has also been an inspiration. Her voice was incredible. It’s a shame that she had to leave this earth at such an early age. I once saw her live and she was stunning.
Imagine having to choose a song to do a cover version of it: which one would you perform and why?
I’d choose one of Jessie J’s songs, not sure which one. Maybe Flashlight or Masterpiece. I love the lyrics of Masterpiece. “I still fall on my face sometimes and I can’t color inside the lines, because I’m perfectly incomplete. I’m still working on my masterpiece”. It means just never give up, and that being imperfect is totally fine.
When I play live, I always cover Taylor Swift’s I Knew You Were Trouble and Ella Eyre’s Ego and I really love both songs and we usually play acoustic versions of them.
You’re also a songwriter: do you want to share something of the creative process with us? How do you choose the themes of your songs? What comes first, the lyrics or the music? 💭
Sometimes it is about one of my own experiences, for example Push and Pull is about my first love experience. But usually we (my songwriting team and I) sit together and just talk about life and then a topic comes up and then we start writing it.
It’s different, sometimes music comes first and then lyrics, but when we write in the team (3 people) usually it’s both at the same time.
How did you live the last two years? Did the pandemic affect your art?
Of course it affected my art, I couldn’t perfom live that much. I lost a piece of my identity, I didn’t feel like a singer anymore. I also lost creativity for a while, it wasn’t great. But I also have another job, so I spent the two years working – And we recorded some songs.
What’s the greatest gift/comment you received from a fan of yours?
I love receiving messages from people who tell me that my songs touched them in some way and I love communicating with them and getting to know the people through my music. Once a girl wrote me that one of my songs got her through a break- up. These things make me happy.
Do you have a favourite Italian singer? Have you ever listened to Italian music? Would you like to greet our audience in some ways?
I have to admit, I don’t know any Italian singers and I don’t listen to Italian music. Do you have suggestions? I would love to hear good Italian music!
To all the Italians reading this: I love your country and I love your pizza and ice cream! I can’t wait to come to Italy soon.
Thank you, KTEE!
KTEE has just released her latest single, Trust Issues: you can listen to her songs on Spotify and get in touch showing her some love on Instagram.
