Life & Style

Your Stars: What’s in store for you?

MUSICAL PASSION

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atie Panucci may be young but she has a career in music set in her sights and as she begins work on her fi rst EP, fame may not be so far off. In December last year, Katie was selected as a cast of 26 to tour the United States as part of Glee Australia Talent Development Project and after her return, at age 14, she was inspired to write and perform her own music. “When I got back from America, it inspired me to start writing my own music. I had tried before but it just didn’t seem to work,” she said. Katie has been busily writing songs alongside her two mentors, Natalie and Tanya Carboni, in preparation for the recording of her fi rst album. The actual recording process is due to begin on December 16.

“My style is pop rock, some of it is very up beat but there are a couple of more serious songs,” Katie said. “I hope that people my age will be the ones who mainly listen to it but it is also aimed at people who are younger or older than me.” Katie has been spending around five evenings after school each fortnight working separately with her mentors on developing the songs and album structure. “I’ve been teaching Katie for about a year now and she is one of the people who is easy to teach,” said Natalie. “She is one of those people who is very interested in the arts and you can see that in her work. She is very naturally talented and has a real ear for music. The EP is coming along really

well.” “Working with Katie is like working with someone who has been working in the music industry for as long as I have. She is so young but so motivated,” said Tanya. “People should keep an eye out for Katie in the future. Once the EP is released we will be getting it out especially around the local area.” The budding artist attributes much of her success to her two mentors and is now looking forward to a future in the Australian music industry. “I love music and I would say that it comes easily to me. It would be amazing to be able to do this in the future,” Katie said. - Katherine Tweed

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