At the age of three, she was standing on chairs at family dinners, singing Christmas carols and demanding the attention of her audience. By the time she was eight, she was studying Taylor Swift lyrics for hours as she listened to the popstar’s Fearless album on her pink CD player. Johnson also started teaching herself to play guitar, after being introduced to the instrument by her aunty. By age 13, the promising singer/songwriter was penning her own tunes and performing them on guitar, while also teaching herself to play piano. Despite her young age, Johnson says she felt a deep connection to music and loved the way it allowed her to connect to others through storytelling.

But although she possessed plenty of talent and enthusiasm, the road to becoming a musician wasn’t always a smooth one.

Johnson attended Wynyard High School, which at the time had limited musical resources – there was no school band and musical theory wasn’t taught as part of the school’s curriculum.

Living in a regional town, Johnson’s dreams of forging a career as a musician weren’t always well supported, and she felt there were limited opportunities for young people.

Financial struggles meant private singing lessons were not an option for Johnson, and moving away to pursue music was also not financially viable.

But Johnson says these challenges made her more determined to succeed.

“It kind of made me a bit more hungry to find other ways to get there,’’ she says of pursuing a musical career.

“I knew there was something more to see (outside of Tasmania’s North-West).’’

The budding performer largely put music aside while completing years 11 and 12 at Hellyer College to focus on science, because she knew if she studied hard, and got top marks, she could potentially land a scholarship to study interstate – which would ultimately give her access to Melbourne’s thriving music scene and allow her to pursue more musical opportunities, while also completing a science degree.

It was a decision that paid off for Johnson, who moved to Melbourne at 18, after securing a scholarship at the University of Melbourne, where she completed a Bachelor of Science majoring in climate and weather, while at the same time completing a Diploma of Music.

And now, at 23, with her studies complete, the proud palawa woman is making her mark on the music world – Johnson has opened for chart-topping Aussie singer/songwriter Thelma Plum, she has performed with Grammy-winning musician Lucky Oceans, and she has also received some valuable mentorship from award-winning performer Kate Miller-Heidke, while Johnson’s debut single, Sunburn, continues to appear on Triple J and Spotify playlists since its release at the end of 2023.

Meanwhile Johnson released her latest single – Soon – earlier this month, which she wrote and recorded with a producer in London. Johnson has four more singles due for release in 2025 – with plans to release her first EP at the end of this year. The Melbourne-based artist is also playing regular gigs at venues across the city – often with fellow First Nations musician, bassist Davin Ojala – while also working a day job as a sound technician to help fund her musical pursuits and build her skill set within the industry.

It’s a busy time for Johnson – who will also be playing a free Tassie gig on Saturday, April 19 – but she says she couldn’t be happier with the way things are coming together.

“It’s been really nice to surround myself with music,’’ says Johnson, after completing four-and-a-half years of university studies.

“I’ve been working on new music over the course of the last four or five years, but I’ve only just got a chance to get in the studio and record it over the last year. I’m really excited (to be releasing new music) – I’ve been working really hard. My ultimate goal as a musician is to create a sustainable living from touring and performing.’’

Johnson’s studies actually included a six-month student exchange with the University of Birmingham to further develop her vocal technique. This resulted in Johnson spending the first half of last year in London to study, followed by three months of travelling around Europe.

And it was during her time overseas that she decided to broaden her musical knowledge and work with a London-based producer by the name of Lounge, to write and record her new single.

“I wanted to work internationally,’’ she explains.

“We wrote Soon over the course of two days in London … the writing process was incredibly fun … it was a really great experience writing overseas … as I got to know the producer the ideas flowed more easily.’’

“And even though I wrote and recorded it last year I held on to it until I came home... as I wanted to wait to release the song when I was surrounded by my community.’’

Johnson describes Soon as a “pop break-up anthem”, while her previous single, Sunburn, is an indie-rock track that takes listeners through the frustrations of a long-distance relationship, with Johnson describing it as a song with “a bold attitude and edgy guitar riffs paired against high energy vocals and tongue-in-cheek lyrics’’.

Johnson describes her current sound as being “very pop driven” although she is inspired by various musical influences, with her music said to be “blurring the lines between pop, indie and rock” with a strong focus on songwriting.

“I would label my genre as a fusion of indie-pop and indie-folk at the moment,’’ says Johnson, who is also inspired by a lot of rock music.

“My first EP is very lyric-driven – lyrics are at the forefront of my sound, which is very important to me, because storytelling is what inspired me to become a musician.’’

She says it has been rewarding to hear positive feedback from listeners.

“I’m actually a bit overwhelmed by people’s acceptance and willingness to listen to the song,’’ Johnson says of Soon.

“It’s a bit addictive too, once you put a song out – people like parts that you weren’t expecting, or you get feedback you weren’t expecting, and it’s really exciting. It makes you feel as though you have made a real connection with the audience.’’

But of course being a musician is about far more than just making music, as Johnson has quickly discovered, and admits it can get hectic and overwhelming at times.

“Maybe 10 to 20 per cent of the time you’re writing music, but the rest of the time you’re wearing (lots of) different hats – you’re a social media manager, a publicist, a booking agent, a videographer … admin is an insanely good skill to have,’’ she says.

“When it gets really hard, I ground myself and remind myself why I’m doing it. I try to remember when I was younger and all I wanted to do was connect with an audience, and have things they would connect with in my lyrics at a show – and those are the things I’m still striving for today.’’

Johnson also strives to be an advocate for other young Tasmanians from regional communities, particularly Indigenous Tasmanians, and is keen to “make sure young people are okay and are getting the opportunities they deserve to really thrive’’.

She was involved in a number of community projects while living in Tasmania, including a Big hART initiative designed to empower rural women which raised more than $12,000 for women and children experiencing family violence.

In 2021, Johnson was recognised for her community leadership skills and won the Premier’s Young Achiever of the Year Award. In 2022, she was named as Tasmania’s Young Australian of the Year.

She has now stepped away from any official advocacy work to focus on her music, but Johnson says as a young Indigenous woman who remains passionate about music, her home state and the issues that affect regional and Indigenous communities, she will continue to advocate for others through music.

Johnson has fond memories of the people who supported her growing up – from the aunty who taught Johnson her first four guitar chords, to mentors within the local musical theatre productions Johnson performed in, to her “nurturing” and “inspiring” Boat Harbour Primary School music teacher who encouraged her musical aspirations.

And she says it’s so important to have people like that, to look up to and be guided and inspired by.

“Another reason that I’m still chasing my music dream, despite some of the barriers that we face in rural communities, is because I want to inspire other young Indigenous and female songwriters who are facing similar barriers as young people,’’ Johnson says.

“And I want to show them that it’s possible to get to where you want to be, despite this. And I want to get that message out there – to the younger people in Tassie – to dream big, and tell everyone about your goals, and keep working really hard, because it is possible to get there.’’

Kaytlyn Johnson will play two original acoustic sets – solo on guitar – at Penguin Beer Co on Saturday, April 19, starting at 3pm. Entry is free. penguinbeerco.com.au For more details on upcoming gigs and music releases visit kaytlynjohnson.com or follow @kvytlyn on Instagram.

linda.smith@news.com.au