foreverend asked: How did you get started with performing. Talent is one thing and being offered gigs and what not is completely different. I sing, quite a bit and I'm trying to learn guitar which isn't going very well, ha. I just wanna network myself and meet other artists and be apart of my local performing community and sing with ya know? You have SO many people to jam sesh with. Did it happen naturally or did you just kinda stumble upon it?
I feel like this could be a long story. Bare with me!!!
Michael Carreon and I had barely met when AJ Rafael wrote “I Just Want You” in 2008. We “slaved” over this entry for the cover contest AJ was holding. AJ and the judges, his choir and Cathy Nguyen, decided on 4 finalists and the public was given the option to judge. After a week or so of voting, Michael and I came out on top :]
Weeks later, Michael and I went up to Cerritos (or something) CHINO [thanks Mel] for a show featuring AJ, Jasmine Rafael, Gabe Bondoc, Cathy Nguyen, Lydia Paek, Randolph Permejo, JR Aquino, Andrew Garcia and more. At that show, AJ gave us the opportunity to sing “I Just Want You” on stage with him. Friendships formed, Michael and I got our feet through the door, and so began the adventures of Kat and Michael. Lol.
Moral of the story, get yourself out there. Enter a contest! Send people videos. Honestly, with as many videos as I get from people saying “PLZ CHECK MEH OUT!”, I don’t watch all of them, but I do check a looot of them out. When I do find something amazing, I put it on Twitter or Facebook or Tumblr and try my best to help a fellow YouTuber out.
Keep at learning that guitar. It’ll help a great deal when you actually get a chance to perform! OH! And local gigs help too :] Michael and I used to do shows for free and ASK to perform in open mics. Haha. Don’t even get me started on the many…many trips north for like $50. Hahaha. Oh man. Good times.
TO AJ, if you ever catch this: Words cannot express how thankful I am that you held that contest. It seriously opened the door to so many amazing opportunities. Thank you, thank you, a million times - THANK YOU!
