SCOTT KATSURA grew up in Hawaii on the island of Oahu before he relocated to New Jersey to become housemates with Evelyn “Champagne” King - the legendary funky soul singer, “Shame” disco-diva and Scott’s close personal friend. With classical voice training from famous vocal coaches like Kenny Hicks, or the late Thurman Bailey, Scott was inspired to pursue a more calculated music career on Broadway, but instead, he kept following his passion as a pop singer. Eventually, Scott decided it was in his best interest to live directly in the pulse of the music business, so he moved into Manhattan and continued to pursue his lifelong dream of working in the recording industry. Living in the heartbeat of the Empire State, Scott found many golden opportunities of improving his skills as a pop vocalist, songwriter and music industry colleague. His first venture was networking his way into Prime Cuts Studio in Times Square, and collaborating with Mark Kamins, the veteran record producer that is most known for discovering Madonna. It was Mark that first placed Scott onto the ‘music industry’ map by producing his first pop/dance CD album titled, “Eruption”. Tracks like “Penetration” received great praise from prominent music critics like Larry Flick of Billboard Magazine who wrote, “Katsura has a fine voice and writes great pop tunes.” “Eruption” went on to create mass hysteria on dance floors everywhere, both domestically and international. With Mark’s professional guidance, Scott gained much recognition and momentum not only as an artist, but as a competitive songwriter in the mainstream as well. Throughout the years, Scott has seasoned his musical craft and honed his lyrical skills as he continued to release more CD albums. “Supernatural” followed - his second CD with an adult contemporary/pop flavor. The album was produced by Grammy recipient Cynthia Daniels, and Tony “Thunder” Smith, whose notoriety most derives from being the core drummer for Lou Reed. The title-track “Supernatural” scored Scott a number one single in the U.K for four consecutive weeks – as recognized with Firewall Records on the ‘Global Internet Chart’. Latin-freestyle legend and producer Mickey Garcia of MicMac and 21st Century Records, and club dance producer/DJ Giuseppe D. of Hothead Productions used their funky beats to produce Scott’s club/dance/pop CD, “Family Jewel”, his third worldwide release. Scott made his mark with many club-goers as they pounded on dance floors with tracks like “Love & Sex”, “Single Tonight”, “Partygirl” and “Best Day Of My Life”. For Scott, the party was over on 9/11. As a resident of Manhattan for over a decade, Scott was directly affected by the devastation and up-close events of September 11th, 2001. On that gruesome day, he lost many friends, acquaintances and business colleagues. Unable to shake his severe depression, Scott abruptly vanished from the music scene altogether, and was rarely seen at his apartment in the city anymore. Scott found himself hibernating in his New Jersey home for the following three years – secure with his two cats, gardening, nature and home entertainment. Spending more time alone than ever, Scott realized how much he missed his comfort, security, family and life in the tropical islands of Hawaii. Even more, Scott was overwhelmed with feelings of longing for what he loved to do the most - his music, singing and songwriting. Soon, he began composing songs for what would become his fourth CD, “Aloha Miles Away”.
Unwilling to compromise, Scott took drastic measures upon re-entering his music career. He took a shot at producing himself for the very first time. Scott decided to change his professional name from Scott Allan (middle name) to Scott Katsura (sir name). He was committed and diligent of implementing his Hawaiian island roots into his professional work as never before. In Scott’s own words, “The world knew me as Scott Allan, the slick and provocative artist from the Big Apple, but this time, I’m going to show them Scott Katsura, just the simple and ordinary guy from the Big Pineapple with so much aloha to give!” Scott did succeed in creating a musical montage representing his Hawaiian culture in contemporary form, and delivered his deep feelings of sharing the ‘spirit of aloha’, both in his personal lifestyle and public arena. Scott collaborated selectively with people who shared the same passion for “Aloha Miles Away”, musical theatre singer/composer David Velarde and Grammy nominated jazz pianist/composer Martin Bejerano. "Aloha Miles Away" is garnered as the winner of 'Pop Album of the Year' at the 2005 Hawaii Music Awards. Scott's current CD, "Born This Way", is his fifth international recording. Showing the ability to produce a successful album on “Aloha Miles Away”, once again, Scott has chosen to produce this adult contemporary/pop/dance/rock CD in collaboration with his musical partner, Martin Bejerano. Together, Scott and Martin have delivered “Born This Way” with such jazzy flavor, rich orchestration and catchy vocal arrangements. They have created a lyrically ‘humanistic’ anthem CD that is musically crossing many borders, and reaching out to a vast global demographic of people. In Scott’s liner notes, he summarizes the theme of “Born This Way” with quotes from author Maryanne Williamson, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous. Actually, who are you not to be? We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us, and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” Scott was born multi-cultural, a middle child, the only boy in between two sisters, and left-handed. His father is pure Japanese, while Scott’s mother is of Filipino, Spanish, Hawaiian, Chinese, English, Irish and German descent. For most of his life, Scott was a painfully shy kid who was always determined to overcome his disadvantages of advancing in life - as any full-blooded American would dream to endeavor. For years, Scott has struggled to ‘fit in’, both on stage and off. But today, Scott Katsura is celebrating his uniqueness, the irony of constantly being the outcast, but in harmonious synchronicity, standing out in the crowd to the very same degree. During Scott's vacation time, he spends quality moments with his friends, family and animals. He replenishes in songwriting, and remains driven by supporting various charity events, usually for kids, elders and animals. He most admires individuals who are secure with themselves, and least desires people who mistaken kindness for stupidity. His greatest goal is to help people find the human characteristics that makes us all the same, while maintaining the ability to think, act and speak as unique individuals with their own hearts, minds and talents.
