Today we’d like to introduce you to Micaella Cattani. Micaella is from Quito, Ecuador and is a fourth year at Berklee College of Music. She shares her story with us below.
Micaella, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born in Ecuador’s capital, Quito, in 1997 and have lived there with my twin brother, older brother, and parents since then. Many people say music has always been present in their lives; in my case, I have to say the exact same thing. The only difference is that it was my father’s choice to introduce me to what is now my career.
My dad, Mauricio Cattani, sings and plays guitar, therefore, most of my childhood memories include my dad performing “Las Cuatro y Diez” by Luis Eduardo Aute or “El Niño y el Canario” by Leonardo Favio and me trying to sing along and never really getting it. We still keep this tradition and thankfully now, I can actually sing in tune. I can’t completely remember how loud and high-pitched my voice was but my parents love to tell the story of how it was so bad that the only solution they could find was to take me to vocal lessons so I can learn to control it. If I was not going to stop being loud, at least, I could be loud with a trained voice. This is when Arten’3 came into my life.
Arten’3 is a performance academy in Quito that I would attend after school. While there I had a dance, drama and voice lessons. At the same time, I started with performance, I began taking guitar lessons and I’m extremely glad I did because now the guitar is my faithful companion when I perform. Our specialty, at the academy, was musical theater and because of that, I had the opportunity to perform in incredible stages such as Teatro Sucre and Teatro Bolivar. I felt extremely comfortable on stage and I loved being able to create a different character every time the curtain went up. Apart from the musical theater, we would also get hired to perform at weddings, kids parties, first communions, and even funerals. I was forced to build up the character to be able to act professional no matter what the situation was. Additionally, thanks to Arten’3, I got to perform in a representation of big companies such as Coca-Cola and Royal Caribbean in Ecuador. I was part of the main cast at the academy until I was seventeen.
I continued my studies with the Berklee Kids program at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito where I had private vocal lessons and music theory classes. During those years I got chosen to travel to Peru and Chile to represent my school in SAAC’s (South American Activities Conference) – performing arts festival. Being able to meet students abroad that were as dedicated to music as I wanted to be, was extremely inspiring and led me to seriously consider making music my career. Who would have thought that now I go to college with a couple of guys I met on those trips.
In the summer of 2014, I attended the Berklee College of Music Vocal Summit and Stage Performance Summit and finally decided I couldn’t do anything else that wasn’t music. When I first got to Berklee, I was sure music was an enormous part of my life but I was too scared of the stereotypical image people have of the artist’s life. Once I got to campus, I had a glimpse of what classes were like and got to meet amazing faculties such as Darcel Wilson and Livingston Taylor, which was exactly what I needed to convince myself that Berklee had to be my next step after graduation. I will always thank Darcel for being straightforward with me and telling me that if I was scared of doing what I wanted to do because of what people thought I would never achieve anything.
When I got back to Ecuador, I dedicated my whole senior year to rehearse and get ready for my Berklee audition because it was the only school I was applying to. I was proud and headstrong, so I said to myself that if I was going to do this (apply to a music school) I had to get accepted to Berklee or I was just not good enough. The audition was in Bogota, so I went there with two other friends from home and after a lot of hard work we all got in.
In summer 2015 before leaving for college, I recorded my debut single “Extraña Impaciencia” at the studio Groove Music Factory and saved the song until I was ready to release it and dedicate time to the project which happened a year later in summer 2016. By June, I started working with my promoter, Carlos Velasco, planning out a media tour in different cities in the country and also filmed the official music video of the song with Taita Studio and Verité Films. When we finished with the tour, I had some studio time and recorded my second single “La Verdad” which was released with its official video in summer 2017.
Today, in my fourth year at Berklee College of Music I find myself studying Songwriting and Professional Music with concentrations in the music business, performance and performance studies in Latin music and loving this new phase in my life. During the summer, I had the opportunity to intern with Groovy Baby Music, where they provide research-based music and movement classes, and where I finally immersed myself in what I wish will be my next career step: music therapy.
I believe that being an artist is not just about talent and dedication but also about learning from your environment and the people you meet and that is one of the aspects I love the most about Berklee. Being able to meet people from all around the world and be exposed to music I never thought I would listen to is something I would always be grateful to have the opportunity to be part of.
Has it been a smooth road?
I can’t say it has been a smooth road but I am also aware that I have been very blessed and very lucky. For starters, my parents always supported my dream of being a performer; therefore they were always there to help me develop and complete my projects, which is the hardest part at the beginning. However, it is a difficult career to follow. It is full of sleepless nights at the studio and hard work on the road, which are things the media and fans don’t really see happening when they get the end result. However, this is something every artist and I believe everyone in any career also goes through; no job is easy. In my specific case, I started my career when I was 18 years old and my first song had a very provocative and sensual massage, meaning I got many complaints and criticism. It was tough to try to defend myself, my beliefs and my work just because I wanted to express myself which is something I don’t see happening often with men in the industry. In addition, during interviews, I would get some incredibly inappropriate questions and suggestions because I talked about the topic in my song, which was also tough to handle at that age. To young women who are starting their journey, I would just say: stay strong in what you believe and what you want to do. Don’t let people put you down or tell you what to say or how to act because you are a woman.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am a singer-songwriter, mostly known in Ecuador for my performance. I currently have two singles out and the third one is coming out soon this year. However, I have done a couple other collaborations with several musicians, such as Colombian artist Juan Cerro, which can be found on digital platforms as well.
While in Boston, I try to continue performing mostly at volunteer events with The Movement at Berklee and with the vocal group The Lotus Sound. However, on the side, I apply the business side of my degree by working as a community manager with GroovyBabyMusic.
My future goals include getting a master’s degree in Music Therapy. Therefore, I already started taking my first steps towards that goal by becoming a certified Canta y Baila Conmigo® teacher and will start teaching interactive music and movement parent/children classes at GroovyBabyMusic.
Do you feel like there was something about the experiences you had growing up that played an outsized role in setting you up for success later in life?
I believe that being in the entertainment industry from a young age, definitively helped build my organizational skills and time management skills.
I also believe I already had the discipline and passion that is required to be a professional musician before I even started thinking of music as my career.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mcattani.wixsite.com/mcattani
- Email: mcattanimusic@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcattanimusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mcattanimusic/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcattanimusic1
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8zS9r9i10JYfrsnNDJtJTw?view_as=subscriber
Image Credit:
Andres Proaño, Gabriela Arguello, Katherine L’Heureux, Luis Eduardo Arbito
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