Katy Deitz didn’t intend to make music; she “fell into it.”
A full-time employee at Trader Joe’s, Deitz had little experience singing and producing her own music. This changed nearly four years ago, when a coworker invited Deitz to play music with him.
Though the band they formed eventually went separate ways, Deitz continued solo with her music career, writing her own music and playing shows in the Gainesville area. She is planning to release her first EP later this month.
The EP, titled “Temporary Clouds” consists of four tracks. Deitz, who wrote the music, collaborated with her friend and fellow Gainesville musician Robert Edmondson, to mix guitar, vocals and add the instrumentation that brings the EP together.
The EP features a predominantly somber, pensive tone and explores a period of emotional hardship in Deitz’s life.
The titular track "Temporary Clouds" was written after Deitz recognized that adversity can be like a cloud hanging over your head: devastating, but short-lived.
Deitz wrote the song as a reminder that this kind of hardship will not last forever.
“Eventually it will go and float to another group of people,” Deitz said, “Which is also unfortunate, but that’s kind of how life is.”
Deitz considers many of the songs personal. In “My Past Rolling Down,” Deitz describes the way that she has always acted as a person, constantly struggling to push herself to overcome obstacles of the past.
Raised outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in a home where her mother was sick much of the time, she internalized a lot of her emotions. This often left her feeling isolated from those she depended on most.
It was this experience growing up that often turned Deitz toward poetry and music, and inspired her to share her work with others.
“I think that’s what’s so powerful about music,” Deitz said, “It creates a community, it creates a family through a fanbase… [Even] if you’re not feeling like you have someone to turn to, it doesn't mean that those people don't exist.”
One song that Deitz gravitates towards is “Bristle Cone Trees.” While the other three tracks are melancholic in sound, “Bristle Cone Trees” is lighter and romantic.
“It’s talking about having a connection with someone,” Deitz said. “It might be hard sometimes, but ultimately you just want to stay close to that person; you want your roots, your foundations, to stay together.”
Deitz said music taught her that you don’t have to be an extroverted person to share parts of oneself with others, and she hopes to share that with others who might be looking for the same outlet.
“Music teaches us truths about ourselves,” Deitz said. “I think everybody that has an interest in music should do it, even if it’s just for themselves in their bedroom, because that’s where I started out.”
Deitz (left) and her partner during the recording process of "Temporary Clouds".
Deitz's first EP, "Temporary Clouds", is a four-track album that reflects on times of hardships and reminds audiences that the bad things in life won't last forever.
