Alumni Spotlight - Katie Mackie
Katie Mackie is an indie-pop artist hailing from the north east of Scotland who completed her BA Hons in Popular Music during her two years at Perth College UHI. After bursting onto the scene in 2018 as a solo artist, Katie has established herself as a solo performer, playing shows across the country supporting the likes of Lewis Capaldi, Heather Small of M People and Mo Kenny to name a few. As well as being an accomplished solo songwriter, Katie also plays with Glasgow based band 'American Clay’.
Katie released ‘Speak’ as her first single in 2018, and has since released her latest single ‘Glow’ which has received airplay from the BBC as well as being featured in Spotify’s Scotify playlist. Her brand new single ‘Terricot Town’ will come out on the 5th of March.
She explains:
My name is Katie Mackie and I’m a songwriter and music teacher. I completed my HND at North East College in Aberdeen and progressed to achieve my degree at Perth College UHI.
My studies allowed me to follow my passion and do something a bit different from traditional career pathways. I now spend most of my time making music and I regularly play at venues all over Scotland as a solo artist as well as with my band, American Clay. I have supported the likes of Lewis Capaldi, Heather Small of M People and Mo Kenny. I love being able to share my skills by teaching private music lessons and I also now teach music classes at North East Scotland College where I started my college journey.
I chose to study at college as it allowed me to continue to live at home to save money. I had a regular music job in my local area which I wanted to continue doing, College allowed me to balance this. As other opportunities in music opened up to me across Glasgow and Edinburgh, by studying at Perth I was in the perfect location to travel easily all over Scotland. College also came recommended to me by others I knew in the industry, I know a lot of musicians who had studied at Perth and really enjoyed the experience.
During my time at Perth, I’ve been introduced me to a wealth of industry contacts who in turn have provided many opportunities for me during my time of study and beyond. It has also opened the door to my love of teaching, and I love that I am now able to teach at the very same college I studied at myself.
College is a fantastic place to meet people who you will be working alongside within the industry and help you get your foot in the door for lots of wonderful opportunities. It allows you to do something different and lecturers encourage you make your work personal and unique. If I had to sum up my college experience in in 3 words I would say: encouraging, engaging, beneficial!
