Girl K is for you.
Photo via meltedmagazine.com
In 2017, Kathy Patino sat in her high school math class coming up with a name for her one-woman musical act, Girl K. Five years later, Patino sits in the green room of Sleeping Village speaking with me as front-woman and founder of promising Chicago-based indie pop band, Girl K. “I did an open mic in high school at this place called the Drunken Doughnut,” explains Patino, “when I went to sign up for it, I didn’t want to go by Kathy Patino because I thought that’s so singer-songwriter-y. I wanted it to be cool, so I put Girl K.”
Today, Girl K consists of guitarist and lead singer Kathy Patino, drummer Tony Mest, bassist Alex Pieczynski, and guitarist Kevin Sheppard. Together, they make up a band that comfortably sits at the border between indie pop and indie rock. They’re all matching in solid black as we cram into the small green room around my voice memos app. “I moved to Chicago after releasing an album, Sunflower Court, which was basically just me and this guy in the studio, I didn’t have a band at that point,” Patino goes on to explain how the band members all met on a Chicago Facebook group and have been playing together since 2019. Patino aptly describes the music they make together as “stream of consciousness.” As she says this, she laughs. “Very rarely do I sit down and have a full story, which is something I want to work on because I really like seeing storylines in music.” Patino’s long dark hair is pulled back behind her head. She wears an energetic smile as she tells me about her process. “Usually I just sit down, sometimes it depends, I just need to flesh something out and sing about it, but most of the time when I do that, I’m singing covers of sad songs.”
I ask Patino if songwriting is ever an emotional process for her: “When I go to write music…I start with an instrumental, and from there I get the feel of the song. Sometimes I’ll write random stuff in my notes app and that’s what I use to kind of build from, but most of the time it’s in the moment.” Despite the spontaneity of her lyrical process, Patino’s songs do have a deeper meaning that reveals itself over time. “Later on, sometimes it makes sense as to what I was feeling at that time but at the moment I don’t think I would have.”
Patino writes the songs, then Tony, Alex, and Kevin add their own personal touches. “I feel like I bring all of the experiences that consciously or subconsciously I’ve just had as a whole, and it’s a little cliche to say but I feel like everybody to some degree is a product of the music that they love and listen to,” says Kevin Sheppard. Among the reasons why the band shines is the vast diversity of their influences. Sheppard mentions a childhood love of the Beatles and Johnny Cash, as well as a love for more recent artists like Frank Ocean. As we talk about their inspirations, I hear names like Frank Sinatra, Nirvana, Porches, Big Thief, Taylor Swift, Grouplove, and St. Vincent.
Patino actually reminds me a lot of a young St. Vincent—they share a talent for the electric guitar and a uniquely creative energy. In fact, Patino plays the St. Vincent Signature Music Man electric guitar, the same one St. Vincent has been playing since 2016. “I just want people to feel represented by our music even if they find one track, even if it's a case where an ex showed them a song and they don’t want to listen to it anymore.” The band’s songwriting process is centered around genuine self expression. “I try to be honest.”
When I ask Patino about her cultural background, she describes her experience growing up as a first generation Mexican-American: “It’s definitely something that I have honestly struggled with in the past, you know, what a lot of [first generation Americans] struggle with. The sense of having to assimilate into white culture or American culture because I grew up in a suburban neighborhood, so I wasn’t super exposed to what my culture can bring.” Patino is in the first generation of her Mexican family to be born and raised in the United States. She admits that there’s a certain tension that comes with being a multicultural musician as her Mexican background isn’t incredibly present in her music, “which is sad,” she adds. However, the plight of creative expression in the shoes of a first generation American is complex and multifaceted. “Sometimes in the industry, when you are a person of color, they sort of expect certain things about your music to also be in line with that identity, I guess.” The expression of a nuanced cultural identity in music can often feel like a double-edged sword . “I was like, oh, I can’t do this because I’m Mexican and I didn’t write a song in Spanish. It can sometimes feel that way and it might not even be the case, but I feel like a lot of other people can probably feel that pressure as well.” The words that continue to pop out at me during this conversation are pressure and expectations created by an unchangeable part of herself. “Sometimes it feels like we still can’t win, you know people of color in music because there are so many expectations surrounding it.”
We shift from the discussion of individual identity to the band’s identity. Watching them from the front row of the small club, I was struck by Girl K’s incredible synergy—their live performance projects a very unique sense of cohesion and cooperation. “I feel like [listening to so much music] really affects the way I play because I’m listening to everyone on stage,” says drummer Tony Mest. As Mest makes a point to emphasize the word listening, I see his bandmates doing just that, nodding in agreement. “We’re not perfect, we don’t claim to be, but we kind of lean into that,” he adds. Mest tells me that a large part of their synergy comes from really listening to one another on stage. They can hear each instrument and with it, every mistake: “It’s fun.” As we dive deeper into the topic of imperfections, Sheppard adds that the group hadn’t practiced for this concert at all. To me, this serves as a testament to how naturally these four work together. I would have never guessed.
The band’s approach to imperfection has been a crucial part of their growth as musicians and as a group: “when I first started performing, whenever I messed up, it was like the whole set was ruined, you could see it on my face,” explains Patino. “Now I’m more focused on making our shows fun and energetic. Even if musically, technically, it wasn’t perfect, I want them to at least think ‘that was a good show,’” she adds. The four have formed a tight bond after years of playing together. Patino describes their shows as a “safe space on the stage.”
“All I can say is it's a privilege to do what I want. I feel extremely lucky to be doing the thing, exactly what I want to do. I’m lucky. I’m blessed. Thank y’all for letting me play,” says Mest. The genuine joy that drumming brings him is clear; this isn’t the first time during the interview that he’s made a comment expressing how he lives for his playing. All four of them express an unshakeable passion for music. “If you have the capability of learning an instrument, or have access to an instrument and you wanna do something, and you feel all this doubt that comes with trying to expose yourself—shut up and do it,” adds Sheppard, “It’s a blessing just to be able to do it and find the right people to do it with.” Again, the room nods. I’m witnessing a beautiful moment of shared passion, one that deeply moves me. “My friend Brandon, he and I have been releasing some music and we put in his BandCamp, this tagline DIFY: do it for yourself and I feel like that’s the most important mantra to have when you talk about making art, nobody else really matters,” says Pieczynski.
Girl K is one of Chicago’s most promising groups in the indie rock scene. The way they play mirrors the love and grace with which they talk about their craft. They strive to resonate deeply with their audience by first resonating deeply with themselves and each other. Girl K’s latest album Girl K is for the People is an incredible, synergistic work of indie-pop rock. I am extremely eager to see what this powerful group does next.
Written by Daniela Brigatti
Edited by Sofia Delgado and Caroline Waldmann