Kara Square
| Kara Square | |
| mindmapthat | |
 Kara Square | |
| Location | Columbus, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Active since | June 2010 |
| Role | Singer-songwriter, ccMixter admin |
| Genres | Folk pop, singer-songwriter, ukulele, sound healing |
| Instruments | Voice, ukulele, flute, tuning forks |
| Remixes uploaded | 113 |
| Remixed by others | 1,340+ times |
| Aliases | |
| Thinkroot Energy | Sound healing |
| Kara Square and Piero Peluche | Folk pop rock collaboration |
| Team Smile and Nod | Former electro folk band |
| Laughter Yoga Together | Laughter Yoga music and videos |
| Ukuambient | Psybient/ambient ukulele |
| Square Pulse | Game music |
| Links | |
| ccMixter | mindmapthat |
| Label | Thinkroot Records |
| Bandcamp | karasquare |
Kara Square is a ukulele-playing singer-songwriter, ccMixter admin, and founder of Thinkroot Records. She joined ccMixter in June 2010 under the username mindmapthat and was invited to become a platform admin in August 2011.
Background
Kara originally joined ccMixter under the name "Mind Map That" as an outlet for comedic songs that didn't fit her band Team Smile and Nod. She quickly embraced Creative Commons licensing and became deeply involved in the community. She describes herself as "a ukulele slinging, songwriting, and singing music maker."
She currently operates under these creative aliases:
- Kara Square — Her primary folk pop / singer-songwriter identity
- Kara Square and Piero Peluche — Folk pop rock collaboration
- Thinkroot Energy — Sound healing meditation music and video using tuning forks and brainwave entrainment
Musical Style
Kara's music is anchored by her signature ukulele playing and vocals, spanning folk pop, acoustic indie, psybient, electronic, and even comedic/quirky songwriting. Her 2018 album Ukulele Glue was described as "a rip-roaring sonic demonstration of the versatility of the ukulele," with community remixes spanning indie rock, metal, folk, world, reggae, and electronic styles.
Recommended Tracks
- All Life Is Love — Heart warming vocals and ukulele
- We Can Have It All — Uplifting vocals, ukulele and udu
- A Heart With Your Name On It — Vocal and ukulele love song
- Focus on Love — Expressive vocal and ukulele piece
- He Follows — Powerful political vocal and ukulele track
- Hanging Eleven — Comedic surf rock remix of Blue Wave Theory
- Ukulele Vs. Kazoo and Whistle, Too — Ukulele instrumental
- The Great Ukulele Space Spar — A fan favorite
- Too Depressed for the Ukulele — Ukulele rock anthem featuring Jack Burgess (vocals and bass) and a vocal chorus including TheDICE, Mary Burgess, Shannon Root Lee, Rob Walker, Nealbot, Speck, SackJo22, Moira Waugh, and Snowflake
Albums
- Look Both Ways Before You Die (2008), Mourning Time (2011), Dust from the Stars (2021) — Collaborations with Rich Ratvasky as Team Smile and Nod
- Love Songs for Everyone but Especially Uke (2013) — First Solo Album
- Square Meter (2014) and Roses & Thorns (2020) — Collaborations with Italian musician Piero Peluche
- Ukulele Duels (2015) — Solo Album of Ukulele Instrumentals
- 1-Up for 8-Bit (2017) — Solo Album of Game Music as Square Pulse
- Ukulele Glue (2018, ccMixter) — 17-track collaborative remix album featuring remixes by spinningmerkaba, Stefan Kartenberg, Unreal_DM, Airtone, Piero Peluche, and many others
Notable Achievement
Her collaboration with Turkish musician Murat Ses on "Endless Dance" (2015) won Akademia and Global Music Awards and charted on Billboard Magazine in 2016.