Getting to Know Me
As for a formal introduction, my name is Kalina Scollon. I’m twenty-one years roaming this planet, and have been on a stage since I was five. To be honest, I have quite the musical biography –but I’m not really the long term bragging type. I tend to insist on praise in the moment, and then promptly forget about the “good deed” later…like a puppy. As a result, I have noticed there is much about my musical background my fans, and even friends, don’t know about me. Thusly, to celebrate the relaunch of my website and to welcome new viewers, I would like to start with these four things you may not know about me.
1) Up until the seventh grade I was very into musicals. They were spoon fed to me as a child and consequentially I wandered about singing out every trivial action. I’m guessing that is what led to my mother plopping me in our small town’s non-profit play group to keep me entertained during the summer. By the end of fifth grade, I had my own little number singing and dancing alone on the stage. I played Fizzy in Bugsy Malone Jr…we used water balloons instead of pies like they had in the motion picture.
Dangerous Waters
2) (This is more so for those who are meeting me for the very first time.) I released my first album when I was thirteen and fourteen years old. Thirteen and fourteen because I didn’t formally release the collection of songs as a cohesive album. At the time I was taking guitar lessons from a little studio my dad stumbled upon; he had been visiting a bike shop that shared the building. I had initiated a sudden commitment to the guitar only a few weeks earlier and was attempting to teach myself four hours a day, so my dad convinced my mom lessons were a good idea. Of course, I have a short attention span, so these “guitar lessons” were more so song writing lessons. My instructor Jimmy was kind enough to record my songs and show me what studio life was like. We produced the songs as I wrote them mostly, and decided to cap it after five because…I was writing a lot of songs. Studio time adds up.
But I’ll talk more about that another time…
3) In high school I performed with two bands, the first of which was rather successful. We called ourselves The Ladies and Gentlemen, and consisted of a lead guitarist, a bassist, a drummer, a keyboardist, and I sang lead vocals. We practiced four nights a week and performed at Sunday is Fun-day events, summer live music events, and eventually went on to win our city’s Battle of the Bands. I think it’s safe to say we all greatly underestimated the significance of that award, and frankly all the other gigs we managed to nail down. It was fun until it wasn’t and we all went our separate ways. I admit it was somewhat surreal to see the change over the years. We started our freshman year of high school performing as a group at the talent show, and by our junior year we all had separate acts.
The Ladies and gentlemen the first time we performed together.
4) I attended Eastern New Mexico University to pursue a Bachelors in Music. My primary instrument was the flute, and I minored in Music Technology.
Yeah, I circle it in my head too: how the heck did I not end up in the vocal program?
Although I really loved playing the flute, I don’t think I ever had any intention of becoming a professional flute player. I even chose the college that I did for its flexibility between vocal and instrumental programs. While I was doing very well in my classes and private lessons…there was just something missing. I decided it had to be I wasn’t singing. My last full semester I joined the choir program after failed attempts to take private vocal lessons, but I found I was even less happy. At the end of the day, no matter how majestic, the classical route was not my dream.
So there you have it! These segments, of course, each have their own involved stories that are in themselves a landmark in the history of my path through music. In other words, feel free to request further details should your curiosity be sparked and don’t be surprised if I make specified posts about them anyway! Thank you for spending the time to learn a little bit about me. I hope it provided some insight into my mannerisms as an artist.
Is there anything else you would like to know about my adventure in music? Leave a comment!
