Kat Ouano Mobley has magical fingers. When she touches the keys, she lights up the room with her undeniable energy and the seemingly effortless way she rocks the ivory. The Wichita, Kansas native's innate talent has taken her all over the world. From playing with her original crew, Crown City Rockers (CCR), to Bay Area underground staple Lyrics Born, she's one of the few females who can boast such a resume. Mobley can now add singer to her list of endeavors with the release of her debut solo album, On The Cusp. The down-tempo, warm electronica vibe permeates the 13-track effort and lets her wispy singing voice shine through, something admittedly difficult for her to do. From the instrumental opener "Climb" to the hauntingly beautiful "Keep Up," the album is a foreign space she occupies well. The mother-to-be took some time to talk about her upbringing, how she met Raashan Ahmad, Headonic and other members of CCR and finally having the courage to sing for other people.
RAPstation (Kyle Eustice): Did you have musical parents or close family members?
Kat Ouano Mobley: I grew up the youngest of six in a very musical family. My mom played piano, my dad played guitar, and they both sang and harmonized together. They introduced all of us kids to all sorts of instruments like the saxophone, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, and there were always guitars around the house ready to pick up and play. I mainly played piano and started getting super serious in the classical piano competitions in Wichita, Kansas.
Who were some of your favorite artists growing up?
It was mainly classic rock and classical for me in the early years; Jimi Hendrix, Chopin, Motley Crue, Mozart, Poison, and Debussy. I loved the complexities and emotion from all the romantic period composers, all the while listening to whatever they were playing on the radio in Wichita. Later in my teens, my guitar teacher gave me two videos that opened up the doors to jazz for me: The World According to John Coltrane and Sun Ra's Space Is The Place. From that point on, I tried to listen to everything possible. I loved the sound of all these jazz and funk songs, but I couldn't figure out how to play them since they weren't written out music notes. It got me started though, trying to figure out how music worked, other than just reading notes on paper. I was obsessed with Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters and improvised music in general. How did they do it? It's been a long journey of trying to flip from just reading notes to playing and understanding the theory behind the music while being honest with the emotion of if. I'm still working on it.
Do you remember the first song you played on the piano? When did you first realize you had a penchant for playing keys?
Nope. My mom tells me I started playing when I was 3 or 4-years-old, trying to imitate my older sister. I remember the first recital I was supposed to play in. It was some kiddie clown song or something, but I was way too nervous to walk up to the piano and play in front of people. I didn't play the song, but I remember that feeling of nerves. I don't ever remember playing the piano being hard. It came easily, and coming from a traditional Filipino family, I always had to play for guests who came over. I didn't realize it could be really fun and interesting until I started diving into jazz.
How did you meet Raashan and other CCR members? What about Lyrics Born?
I got a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston. It was my way out of Wichita. I met Headnodic the first day of school there and we became super close friends. His music collection was a tremendous influence for me. There would always be people freestyling and battling on the slab, this corner by Berklee. Raashan would be there. I think Headnodic convinced Raashan and Moe Pope to start a group and we all started playing together. Max MacVeety also went to Berklee. He played in a ska group then called Big D and the Kids Table. But we'd play with him a lot at our weekly jam session at the Choppin' Block. Woodstock came out from Pasadena, California to visit and stayed with us for a summer. We all gelled as friends and it was fun doing shows as Mission. Nothing had us tied down to stay in Boston so we all packed it up and decided to move to California. Oakland was our destination since Raashan and Woodstock were from Pasadena and didn't want to go back to LA. I'd never been to Oakland and was just up for anything. We left Boston and headed to Cali. The road trip there was an experience in itself, which includes a car wreck, getting split up, some jail time, but that's another story. The Bay Area hip-hop scene was poppin' at that time circa 1998. If you were in the hip-hop scene, you knew everyone else in the scene too. That's probably when I met Lyrics Born, but I didn't play with him until later.
You have played with a lot of hip-hop acts, including Lyrics Born and Crown City Rockers (of course). How does your style gel with that particular genre?
I think being musically rounded with a lot of different influences helps me gel with a lot of different genres. Especially with hip-hop, since a lot of songs use samples from jazz, funk, soul, rock, really everything. It helps to know all different genres and styles. I feel like I'm kind of like a chameleon with music. It helps to know music theory a lot. It's also important to know the feel of the type of music you're playing. One group of notes can be completely different in a different feel with different songs, but they can still be the same group of notes. That's the beauty of music.
What made you want to branch out on your own?
I always tried to produce music on my own, even in Wichita. Being around Headnodic, Raashan, Woodstock, and Max made me really dive into production, too. They're all super producers themselves. I've always wanted to put out my own stuff, but I was really frightened of doing it. It's a scary hump to get over. I put out an all instrumental album first, which opened the door of releasing things on my own. With this album, I got over another mental hump of not being frightened of my own voice.
Tell me about the making of your new album.
My new album, On The Cusp, was an interesting one to make. Most of the songs were made on the fly. I used to do a weekly solo DJ gig at Jupiter in Berkeley. I would bring my keyboards and laptop and make beats on the fly while mixing in other songs to keep it interesting, "Key-J-ing." I would save all my sets and then go back and listen to what was made. If something sounded interesting, I would take it and expand on the ideas and come up with a final production. I think playing in front of anybody makes your mind think in a different way, so a lot of those beats came from a place that I probably wouldn't have been able to come up with in the studio. After compiling a bunch of ideas from those weekly sessions, I whittled the list down to the ones I really liked. I'd listen to them while driving around and would get these melodies in my head, then come home and lay the melodies down. Then the lyrics would come and since I really didn't have enough money to pay singers, I tried to record them myself. To my surprise, my vocals didn't sound so terrible. So that was my hump of getting over, the sound of my recorded voice. The other hump to get over was letting other people listen to it.
You're a fairly new mother. How has that changed your musical style/endeavors, etc?
Oh yeah, I don't have nearly enough time to spend on music as I did before. I find that if I'm making something, I don't have the luxury of second guessing everything I lay down. I have to make decisions faster and trust my instincts more. Time management becomes very important. I've been lucky enough to play with amazing musicians where I am now, since I moved away from the Bay, and I'm super grateful for them and how awesome they are.
What's next?
I'm about to have another baby, so my time management is gonna be all screwy again, but I'll find time to make more albums and be creative. I have to. It's part of my being. If I don't, I'll really go crazy, on top of the craziness of having two kids.
You can see what I'm up to on all these sites:
www.KatO1O.com
www.kato1o.bandcamp.com
www.Facebook.com/KatO1OSound
www.Instagram.com/kato1o
www.Twitter.com/kato1o
Kat Ouano Mobley of Crown City Rockers: The RAPstation Interview
Kat Ouano Mobley has magical fingers. When she touches the keys, she lights up the room with her undeniable energy and the seemingly effortless way she rocks the ivory. The Wichita, Kansas native's innate talent has taken her all over the world. From playing with her original crew, Crown City Rockers (CCR), to Bay Area underground staple Lyrics Born, she's one of the few females who can boast such a resume. Mobley can now add singer to her list of endeavors with the release of her debut solo album, On The Cusp. The down-tempo, warm electronica vibe permeates the 13-track effort and lets her wispy singing voice shine through, something admittedly difficult for her to do. From the instrumental opener "Climb" to the hauntingly beautiful "Keep Up," the album is a foreign space she occupies well. The mother-to-be took some time to talk about her upbringing, how she met Raashan Ahmad, Headonic and other members of CCR and finally having the courage to sing for other people.
RAPstation (Kyle Eustice): Did you have musical parents or close family members?
Kat Ouano Mobley: I grew up the youngest of six in a very musical family. My mom played piano, my dad played guitar, and they both sang and harmonized together. They introduced all of us kids to all sorts of instruments like the saxophone, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, and there were always guitars around the house ready to pick up and play. I mainly played piano and started getting super serious in the classical piano competitions in Wichita, Kansas.
Who were some of your favorite artists growing up?
It was mainly classic rock and classical for me in the early years; Jimi Hendrix, Chopin, Motley Crue, Mozart, Poison, and Debussy. I loved the complexities and emotion from all the romantic period composers, all the while listening to whatever they were playing on the radio in Wichita. Later in my teens, my guitar teacher gave me two videos that opened up the doors to jazz for me: The World According to John Coltrane and Sun Ra's Space Is The Place. From that point on, I tried to listen to everything possible. I loved the sound of all these jazz and funk songs, but I couldn't figure out how to play them since they weren't written out music notes. It got me started though, trying to figure out how music worked, other than just reading notes on paper. I was obsessed with Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters and improvised music in general. How did they do it? It's been a long journey of trying to flip from just reading notes to playing and understanding the theory behind the music while being honest with the emotion of if. I'm still working on it.
Do you remember the first song you played on the piano? When did you first realize you had a penchant for playing keys?
Nope. My mom tells me I started playing when I was 3 or 4-years-old, trying to imitate my older sister. I remember the first recital I was supposed to play in. It was some kiddie clown song or something, but I was way too nervous to walk up to the piano and play in front of people. I didn't play the song, but I remember that feeling of nerves. I don't ever remember playing the piano being hard. It came easily, and coming from a traditional Filipino family, I always had to play for guests who came over. I didn't realize it could be really fun and interesting until I started diving into jazz.
How did you meet Raashan and other CCR members? What about Lyrics Born?
I got a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston. It was my way out of Wichita. I met Headnodic the first day of school there and we became super close friends. His music collection was a tremendous influence for me. There would always be people freestyling and battling on the slab, this corner by Berklee. Raashan would be there. I think Headnodic convinced Raashan and Moe Pope to start a group and we all started playing together. Max MacVeety also went to Berklee. He played in a ska group then called Big D and the Kids Table. But we'd play with him a lot at our weekly jam session at the Choppin' Block. Woodstock came out from Pasadena, California to visit and stayed with us for a summer. We all gelled as friends and it was fun doing shows as Mission. Nothing had us tied down to stay in Boston so we all packed it up and decided to move to California. Oakland was our destination since Raashan and Woodstock were from Pasadena and didn't want to go back to LA. I'd never been to Oakland and was just up for anything. We left Boston and headed to Cali. The road trip there was an experience in itself, which includes a car wreck, getting split up, some jail time, but that's another story. The Bay Area hip-hop scene was poppin' at that time circa 1998. If you were in the hip-hop scene, you knew everyone else in the scene too. That's probably when I met Lyrics Born, but I didn't play with him until later.
You have played with a lot of hip-hop acts, including Lyrics Born and Crown City Rockers (of course). How does your style gel with that particular genre?
I think being musically rounded with a lot of different influences helps me gel with a lot of different genres. Especially with hip-hop, since a lot of songs use samples from jazz, funk, soul, rock, really everything. It helps to know all different genres and styles. I feel like I'm kind of like a chameleon with music. It helps to know music theory a lot. It's also important to know the feel of the type of music you're playing. One group of notes can be completely different in a different feel with different songs, but they can still be the same group of notes. That's the beauty of music.
What made you want to branch out on your own?
I always tried to produce music on my own, even in Wichita. Being around Headnodic, Raashan, Woodstock, and Max made me really dive into production, too. They're all super producers themselves. I've always wanted to put out my own stuff, but I was really frightened of doing it. It's a scary hump to get over. I put out an all instrumental album first, which opened the door of releasing things on my own. With this album, I got over another mental hump of not being frightened of my own voice.
Tell me about the making of your new album.
My new album, On The Cusp, was an interesting one to make. Most of the songs were made on the fly. I used to do a weekly solo DJ gig at Jupiter in Berkeley. I would bring my keyboards and laptop and make beats on the fly while mixing in other songs to keep it interesting, "Key-J-ing." I would save all my sets and then go back and listen to what was made. If something sounded interesting, I would take it and expand on the ideas and come up with a final production. I think playing in front of anybody makes your mind think in a different way, so a lot of those beats came from a place that I probably wouldn't have been able to come up with in the studio. After compiling a bunch of ideas from those weekly sessions, I whittled the list down to the ones I really liked. I'd listen to them while driving around and would get these melodies in my head, then come home and lay the melodies down. Then the lyrics would come and since I really didn't have enough money to pay singers, I tried to record them myself. To my surprise, my vocals didn't sound so terrible. So that was my hump of getting over, the sound of my recorded voice. The other hump to get over was letting other people listen to it.
You're a fairly new mother. How has that changed your musical style/endeavors, etc?
Oh yeah, I don't have nearly enough time to spend on music as I did before. I find that if I'm making something, I don't have the luxury of second guessing everything I lay down. I have to make decisions faster and trust my instincts more. Time management becomes very important. I've been lucky enough to play with amazing musicians where I am now, since I moved away from the Bay, and I'm super grateful for them and how awesome they are.
What's next?
I'm about to have another baby, so my time management is gonna be all screwy again, but I'll find time to make more albums and be creative. I have to. It's part of my being. If I don't, I'll really go crazy, on top of the craziness of having two kids.
You can see what I'm up to on all these sites:
www.KatO1O.com
www.kato1o.bandcamp.com
www.Facebook.com/KatO1OSound
www.Instagram.com/kato1o
www.Twitter.com/kato1o
