28 - Katie Wayne

Giannis Kampiotis
November 25, 2022

Hello music people 👋

Today in the spotlight, Katie Wayne

Coming from Halifax Nova Scotia, she started overdubbing guitar takes on cassettes when she was 12 years old.

Her studio has now evolved, to say at least, and her songs include a variety of gear, from modular synths to theremins 🎶

Read Time: 7 minutes 📰

The Setup

Gear List

This are basically what I use in a session if I’m just having fun.

If I plan on recording a piece I usually cut things down because, well it can become overwhelming.

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Interview

Who are you and what is your relationship with music?

My name is Katie Wayne, I’m from Halifax Nova Scotia and my relationship to music is similar to my relationship with water or air, I honestly don’t think I could live without it.

I started writing music with a guitar when I was 12. Only a few months later I received a Stereo from my aunt which I quickly figured out how to plug my guitar in and record things to cassette tapes. One day in doing so by mistake I overdubbed something and realized that, that was a thing that was possible.

From there on I basically just wanted to write really good songs and hopefully one day be able to play really fun shows.

Fast forward to high school and that’s exactly what was happening. I was lucky enough to play in a really great band and we played a lot of really fun shows. Eventually that band split up and all through my 20’s I spent my time working part time jobs and trying to be as musically active as possible.

A lot of my experiences during that time and friendships I made paved way for future opportunities that I had no clue would happen years later down the line.

Now in my 30’s I’m still writing and playing live music. I’ve had opportunities to work with some really talented people and lucky enough that I can continue doing so.

This is also where I found myself falling in love with synthesizers, specifically modular synthesizers.

What's the one thing in your studio you can't live without?

The one thing I can live without would be a drum machine.

It doesn’t necessarily matter what drum machine it is. As long as I can step program some beats then I’m good to go.

What is the least expensive piece of gear that gave you the most results?

Oh my gosh absolutely the Roland MC-303.

It has its issues so I got it for under $200 but it gets the job done and I can clock to or from my euro rack case. It has multiple drum sounds and effects ( that are all pretty cheesy as hell but that’s why I love it ) and I can step sequence patterns and chain them. That’s all I really want right now. It’s pretty new to my set up but I use it all the time.

What's your process?

My process definitely varies depending on how I’m feeling. I’m not really good at hiding how I feel so as soon as you hear it you kind of know.

It can either start with a drum beat or a melody repeating in my euro rack case, put some bass in there, lead bits, melodies.

I tend to my think of my modular compositions in the same way I would if I was arranging a song for a punk band or something.

MI Peaks or MC303 is the Drummer

Moog Grandmother is the Bass player

Euro rack case is Lead guitar player

Roland JX-8P is Rhythm guitar

Moog Matriarch is the Vocalist

That kind thing.

How would you explain your style?

I guess this is always a difficult question. I’m not sure how to define it because I haven’t necessarily done everything I want to do.

I’ve been thinking about how cool it could be to compose country songs with a modular synthesizer, or dive further into punk music with it.

For now I would say I make queer modular punk music

What’s your biggest struggle?

My biggest struggle honestly would be things like this, self promotion.

I know it’s something I need to work at but is a struggle for me. I’m much better in person, honestly.

Has this journey of building a hardware setup changed the way you think about music or life in general?

It’s evolved the way I think about music and has definitely changed the way I think about life. I don’t want to get too deep into that right now but I will say that is has most definitely changed my life. Not just building a set up but having synthesizers in my life.