Nov
A Woman Inspired
People travel for different reasons and musician Katy Hooper uses her passion for travelling to write songs from the heart and explore new styles of music. Katy speaks about her sense of rootlessness and desire to move with guitar in-hand.
What inspired you to hit the road and start song writing?
Growing up, I was always drawn to people with a good story to tell from some far away country. My parents travelled most of their lives and our house always had one visitor or another from their past wonderings who was passing through our home in Australia, and later our home when we moved back to England. I’d listen to their stories late into the night in our little kitchen while my parents cooked. Every new country I learned about I longed to visit and as soon as I left college I went to Guatemala and travelled north from there up the west coast of the USA to Alaska.
At that age I’d just started playing guitar so I took it with me when I went away. There was so much to see and experience and putting those stories into songs was natural.
Can you tell us about your recent trip to Chile?
The last country I went to was Chile. It was the first trip that I’d gone away with the idea of living in another country rather than just travelling through it. I’d spent some time working a normal job in the UK and did that long enough to know that that wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life. I kind of went to Chile as a conscious decision to spend time with a special friend of mine. As I get older I realise how some people are worth seeking out to get to know more and to learn from them.
I fell in love with the country, had some beautiful experiences that I put to new songs, and grew up a lot.
Has Latin America influenced your style of music?
Not yet. I love the rhythm and want to incorporate it into my own songs but at the moment it still feels out of reach as It’s so different from my usual style.
Are your songs simply a reflection for your love of travel?
No, they’re all my thoughts and feelings rolled into one. Love features quite strongly as after all I don´t know what’s more important than that.
Where will you be travelling to next?
I’d like to return to South America - it’s still in my mind, but I´ve just arrived to the Canary Islands to stay with someone else I wanted to get to know better. A musician who gave me my first banjo about 10 years ago and who lives in the mountains of Gran Canaria. If I can make enough money to get by I’d like to spend some time on this island learning and writing some new songs and learning Spanish. There’s a lot to learn (-:
