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TapDetroit Internet Radio Detroit Style
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[powerpress]
What type of music? It’s really difficult to put myself into any one genre. Even my producer, Kevin Holevar has told me he doesn’t know how to explain my sound to people. You’ll find arabic influences, reggae, rock, r&b. But overall, my sound is very unique to me.
When did you first start?I’ve been singing since I was elementary school aged and writing my own songs and melodies for almost as long. It wasn’t until the last couple years that I decided to actually do something with that. Before it was just what I did to stay sane, and now it’s becoming more of a career option for me.
Why did you decide to start it? I never really decided. It wasn’t really a choice. It’s just who I am. It’s what I’ve always done. As a kid I was in my room writing songs and singing them, it was just how I functioned and something I did daily growing up. Now it just do it in a studio instead, ha!
Are you a solo Artist or part of group? I am currently a solo artist, but I love collaborating and I’ve been lucky to have been featured on songs with the likes of John Johnson aka Refugeezus and Warren Walker aka Complxx, and maybe a few others that haven’t been released yet…
What name do you go by? iLL Gato
How did you come up with the name? Everybody always called me Kat or some variation thereof. Some people called me “cat” in different languages as a play on my name and Gato just felt comfortable on and stuck. For awhile my handle online was El Gato and people were calling me “El” and I thought well if they’re going to call me that rather than Gato I’d rather it be “iLL” and so iLL Gato happened.
Who do you like to collaborate with? I dig being in studio with Refugeezus, Complxx, Four Unique Mindz. I was working with Nikki Holland for a little while and it was such a trip. She’s just such a sweetheart and so incredibly talented. I love just collaborating on my own stuff with my producer, Kevin Holevar is such a godsend for me. He has taken so many of my ideas and turned them into so much more than I could’ve ever imagined. He’s such a talented musician and understands the music industry so well, it’s a blast recording with him. I obviously love collaborating with Dope. A lot of features I’ve done were for artists or groups I wasn’t personally familiar with. I became friends with a lot of the guys from working with them, but Dope and I have actually been good friends for years. He’s literally like family. We kick it with eachother’s parents and shit, so working with him is such a cool thing. It’s an honor, because I respect him so much as an artist, but at the same time it’s like quality family time lol. I love it.
Where do you play? I used to do a lot of open mic’s and now I’m getting more into booking actual shows. My most recent show was at the Ritz in Warren. I’m hoping to book a lot of stuff in Detroit and branch out a little more to the west side.
When are your upcoming shows? For information on upcoming shows you should definitely follow my facebook. All info is fed through there pertaining to shows, song releases, etc.