Katherine Patino is out of breath and full of adrenaline when she comes off stage after her set at Wicker Park Fest on a late July evening.
She’s just performed songs off her upcoming release, aptly named “My Future,” a collection of wistful vocals, ambient beats and melodic guitar. Her energetic and playful performance channels her Disney pop princess idols Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato, whom she grew up listening to.
GIRL K’S set list next to an electric guitar reverb pedal at Wicker Park Fest in July.
Victor Hilitski/For the Sun-Times
And while she dances across the stage like she owns it before the night’s headliner, alt-rockers Superdrag, the admittedly shy aspiring pop star grapples with a lot of self-doubt. She recently embarked on a new musical road, leaving behind her grungier, thrashier indie rock past and embracing a dreamier, more ambient indie pop sound with her solo project GIRL K.
“It’s always a little nerve-wracking to play [the new] songs because it’s like a shift from my last stuff. I’m always so nervous like ‘Is the crowd going to vibe with this or not?’” Patino said after her Wicker Park gig. She also had a different setup so all she could hear was her voice and instrumentals. “I can’t hear clapping or anything, which makes me more nervous.”
Despite the doubts, Patino, 25, of Hermosa, said she was “put on this planet” to make music, and that has been her North Star since growing up in Southwest suburban Minooka (where she would shadow her older sister, who was always singing). Patino started singing in her high school’s choir and taught herself how to play the ukulele and guitar.
Katherine Patino came up with GIRL K while doodling logos in her high school math class in preparation for an open mic event.
Victor Hilitski/For the Sun-Times
She came up with the GIRL K moniker in her high school math class, while doodling logos. When she did an open mic, someone complimented her on the name and it stuck.
At 19, she moved to Pilsen to be closer to the scene and to continue to perfom in more DIY shows in the city. Patino would later join forces with guitarist Kevin Sheppard, bassist Alex Pieczynski and drummer Tony Mest to form her band through a DIY Chicago Facebook group. The four of them would go on to play gigs all over the city and release two albums, “Sunflower Court” in 2017 and “For Now in 2019″ under the Massachusetts-based Take This to Heart Records label.
While the bandmates contributed to those earlier efforts and performed with her live, GIRL K has always been Patino. In May, she fully embraced her inner indie pop princess with the single “Acidity.”
For Patino, it’s a little scary being a musician reinventing herself in an era when the next big thing is crowned by social media algorithms. TikTok especially has led to the success and virality for many stars such as Chappell Roan, butl media makes or breaks pop stars, and Patino has yet to experience a moment anywhere near Midwest Princess level.
Kevin Sheppard (from left), Katherine Patino and Alex Pieczynsk go through sound check before performing at Wicker Park Fest Chicago in July.
Victor Hilitski/For the Sun-Times
Undaunted, Patino has big dreams for GIRL K despite insurmountable mountains in her path, says Patino, who works as a senior customer experience specialist for a software development company. (She opened for Pom Pom Squad when the Brooklyn indie rock band performed in June at Subterranean.)
“It’s hard to talk to people about the severity of how music and whether I’m going to make it impacts my life,” Patino said. “It’s the thing I thought I was put on the planet to do, so when you are not where you want to be in your head — ‘I’m going to be famous at 16′ — and then, I wasn’t. Those moments where you don’t want to care as much, impacts you.”
Fans are looking forward to this new chapter in Patino’s career.
Kaela McVicker, 30, is a Lincoln Square resident and videographer who has been following GIRL K for two years after being acquaintances with Tony Mest. McVicker looks forward to the potential the new album could have in the coming weeks.
“When I heard [the EP] ‘Girl K Is For The People,’ I listened to it all of the time. It was pop punk and a little grunge. I felt it was something you could thrash to,” McVicker said. “This new stuff is a lot more twinkly and ambient in a way. She’s tapping into those vocal effects and ambient drones, so I love the direction she is going in.”
Mya Shields, a musician who goes by Ovaeas, lives in Los Angeles and is a previous South Shore resident. She hopes to collaborate with GIRL K for her upcoming album and wanted Patino to be one of the featured artists for one of her tracks. For now, she looks forward to how Patino will approach My Future.
“I feel like every time she makes music, she always adds something different. I’m excited to see how she is going to flip it again,” Shields said.
GIRL K’s “My Future” will be available on streaming platforms Aug. 16, with vinyls available for pre-order and an album release show at Sleeping Village on Aug. 22.
