INAST8 are remix and production team - singer Katie Fieldhouse and producer Matthew Lowther inast8music@hotmail.com We write/produce our own music and are also looking to collaborate, and write for others - so If you need a beat, vocals, synths, or a complete backing track, get in touch! Katie Fieldhouse (23) was born in West Bromwich in 1986 to Carol and David Fieldhouse. The youngest of four, their „surprise‟, Katie found herself keeping her Mum and Dad young, knowing exactly what she wanted to do, coupled with a boundless supply of energy. People still ask where she gets her energy from. At the age of five Katie proclaimed that she wanted to go to dance classes. After enquiring at the best dance school in town, „Walsall Academy‟, and discovering that she would be unable to afford the fees, her Mum took her to a newly opened dance school, at Katie‟s school. Sure enough, Katie began to dance, and within a short while she was performing. Her first solo song and tap dance routine was „I Wanna Be Loved By You‟ from „Some Like It Hot‟. The performance was a surprise for Mum. 18 years later and Katie‟s life has been filled with song, dance, music and performance. Having learnt to play both the Piano and Clarinet throughout her childhood and teens, Katie‟s main instrument always remained her voice. Katie‟s opportunities to perform came through school, dance school and amateur dramatics, in the form of choirs, soul bands, shows, concerts and musicals, including principle roles in musicals, and a solo jazz performance at the National Indoor Arena (Birmingham) backed by the Walsall Youth Jazz band. This was in fact where Katie met Matthew, who was the drummer in the band. After moving to, and completing her A Levels at Arthur Terry Performing Arts College, Katie successfully auditioned to read Music Theatre at the University of Central Lancashire. As well as studying composition, voice and devising (amongst other modules), she auditioned and committed to extra opportunities to sing and perform, such as Chamber Choir – which she was a member of for the full, three years, and travelled to France twice, to perform tours, as well as singing at all graduation ceremonies. Katie‟s wealth of choral experience, from an early age, has cemented her passion for harmony and vocal arrangement. Her inclination towards musical theatre has developed her interest and ability in characterisation. Meaning she looks for the drama in a song, and brings it to life. Returning home, Katie began work as a Classroom Support Assistant in the Performing Arts Supported Learning Department at Walsall College (where she met Matthew again, who was starting in the same role) After four months in the job, she applied and was successful in getting the department‟s (Performing Arts) Co-ordinator position, covering maternity leave. After completing the six month post, she began her PGCE and continued lecturing across the school of Supported Learning, a job she finds inspiring and fulfilling. Although along the way, Katie has been encouraged and coached to a certain level, last year she took up private lessons with singing coach and industry professional Sally Rivers, who was instantly convinced of Katie‟s potential, claiming she could put her forward for work straight away. She is reaching the end of her foundation training and is working to master all elements of her voice. Sally has been a massive influence and inspiration. Matthew Robert Lowther (25) was born in Leicester to Kareen and Graham Lowther. With his younger sister, they moved to Walsall when he was three. Matthew showed an interest in music and dance from an early age. He had the biggest flowerpot drum kit in the neighbourhood. At the age of seven Matthew started piano lessons with his father, drumming lessons and also began having subsidised dance classes (because he was a boy and the owner liked him) at the best dance school in town, „Walsall Academy‟. 18 years later and Matthew‟s life has been filled with music, dance, song and performance. Through school, dance school and amateur dramatics, he took the opportunity to play many lead roles in musicals, plays and dances. Alongside this Matthews strength and passion for music grew, leaving school with A Level Music, Grade 8 Piano and Grade 4 Horn, and a wealth of performing experience, including playing keys in a funky house live band that played some gigs in London, and drumming with an indie band, a Ceilidh band, and the Walsall Youth Jazz Orchestra where he met the young singer Katie Fieldhouse. Matthew‟s interest in music production began when he was twelve and experienced his first sequencer, MIDI Orchestrator, bought by his Dad, a Christian song writer. At nineteen he moved to Bath and got a certificate of Higher Education in Creative Music Technology from Bath Spa University. Returning home he began to write music inspired by the new composition elements the course had opened his mind to, and also began drumming in a Smooth Jazz quartet. He began working as a Classroom Support Assistant in the Performing Arts Supported Learning Department at Walsall College (where he met Katie again) and in this role has been given many opportunities to inspire his students‟ interest in music, drama and dance. Alongside this he has just completed a Foundation Degree in Community Health and Social Care, and is continuing on to a third year of study in September. From the Smooth Jazz quartet, Matthew met and became good friends with studio owner M. Pearce who encouraged him to bring his ideas to the studio and work in that environment, building on what he had learnt in Bath, and introducing vocals to his compositions, which included working with local MC Trills. This has become the template for how he and Katie produce their music, writing at home they then take the instrumentation produced into the studio. The melodies and lyrics, written at home, are also taken in, to be recorded. Once happy with the vocals, Matthew mixes and masters with studio sound engineer P. Sheppard. Throughout their lives, Matthew and Katie‟s paths crossed and ran seemingly parallel to each other, without them really getting to know each other. Since starting work in the same institution, they have become a central part of each others‟ lives, and give each other the confidence and drive to aim for success. Working together musically for 18 months, each new project brings new knowledge in the writing and production process. We are developing a great balance between creativity and efficiency - becoming a stronger, song writing partnership that will only continue to get better.