Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith discovered her love for synthesizers while helping her neighbor set up his home studio on Orcas Island. She has since picked up that love and ran with it, producing five full-length albums full of original songs over the past four years.

“Didn’t get into synthesis until after college, when I went back to Orcas,” said Smith. “That was a big foundational moment for where I’m at now. It took me a while to get into a steady path of following my music as a career.”

Smith moved to Orcas with her family when she was 10 years old. She was homeschooled, and when she completed school in 2003, she went to Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass. for music composition, sound engineering and film scoring. Following college, she returned to the island for a few years, working at Myers Creamery and MorningStar Farm.

“It was so dreamy,” said Smith, who moved with her filmmaker husband to California several years ago to pursue their careers. “I didn’t want to leave.”

Smith’s music, described by Rolling Stone as “A shroom-fueled trip through Avatar’s bioluminescent rainforest,” was most recently featured in Google’s tribute to the National Parks Service. On Aug. 25, Google celebrated NPS’ centennial by releasing a series of interactive videos about five national parks. Smith was asked by the company to compose the score for the videos.

“It was such a magical experience,” said Smith. “It was so great to get these folders with tons of footage. It was really easy to get zapped back into that world.”

The future is wide open to Smith who said she wants to eventually do film, television and video game scores. “I just to continue making music and being inspired to make music.”