Congratulations on your new album, PROOF OF LIFE, it’s great! When and how did your interest in music start?

Thank you! Well, music has always been a huge part of my life, ever since I was a toddler bouncing to Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA in my cot!! It’s always moved me; whether it’s to tears of sadness or joy, or just to get up and dance! I remember listening to John Lennon, and Elvis and people like that when I was a little kid, on my tape player, and being fascinated by them, their music, and their stories. In regards to singing; my mum said I sung before I could talk! So I think this was always something I was going to do.

At what point did you feel that you wanted to take up the precarious life of a professional musician, and what support/encouragement did you receive from family and friends (if any)?

I think deep down it’s what I’ve always wanted to do, and there were many seeds of inspiration planted when I was growing up, but I didn’t have the confidence or the belief to commit to it until I was about 20/21. Before that I was doing music, but I didn’t really have focus or commitment. It wasn’t until my second gap year when I joined a blues band that something clicked for me. We rehearsed for 9 months and did like 2 gigs, but after the second one, one of my sisters came up to me and said “Kate you have to do this. And you should really do your own songs.” And I got it. I felt it too. I then joined a now friend of mine’s song-writing group, and started writing more and more. I then decided to put on my own gig at Bristol Folk House; which went well, and from that I got a manager, started playing lots, and I’ve been doing this thing ever since! My family and friends were, and continue to be, amazing. I chose to leave my Psychology degree at Sussex 6 months in because I was juggling the two things and it was clear it was the wrong time to be there. I was burning out striving to do well at both things; and not that happy! So I chose music. They were great they just said “go for it, you can go back to uni in 20 years time!” So there it was. Bloody scary, but I’m so glad I made that choice.

Who are your primary influences and why?

So many it’s hard to say… Elvis, Tracy Chapman, Joni Mitchell, John Martyn, Joan Armatrading, Annie Lennox….the list goes on! I love so many artists, and feel I’ve been influenced by a wide variety of people. I love artists who sing with passion and emotion, and have quite ‘full-bodied’ voices. I love song-writers whose songs are really authentic, and that really come from the heart and soul. I also love music which makes you wanna move! I’ve often imagined what people might think I listen to when they listen to my music, and if they think perhaps I listen to lots of fairly melancholy music!! I wouldn’t blame them for thinking that!! But I love funk, soul, trip-hop…anything that makes me feel good!

Were you always going to be a singer/songwriter?

Yes

I’m interested in your objectives/ambitions. For example, do you want to be signed to a label or wish to tread an independent path?

I don’t really think in terms of signings etc. I don’t really mind how I ‘make it’ as long as I work with people with integrity and who I get along with, and who have a love of music….and to sell some records too - that’d be nice haha!! The big thing I think about at the moment is having my songs used for TV and film, I’d love that. So that’s where I’m going to put a lot of my attention. I’d also like to do different styles. The folk thing was really by accident, and I think inspired by playing the guitar in the way I like to for writing songs. But when I’m pottering about at home it’s always a kind of soul/blues/gospel thing that comes out…. so I’d like to do some more of that too. There’s so much I wanna do. I am stubbornly independent though, so my own label is the most likely route I’ll take… unless something so good I just can’t turn down comes along of course!!

Your voice is very distinctive. Is this something you worked on or is it natural?

Thank you. It’s natural in that I just found it one day! But it’s progressed, and deepened over the past few years, through using it in the way I do. I didn’t always sing so deeply, I was more of a ‘middle of my range’ singer. It was the blues band I was in that brought out the low stuff!

Becoming a musician usually requires sacrifices. What sacrifices have you made, if any?

Sleep and sanity!! Haha. It does indeed. I don’t think you even realise what you‘re sacrificing at the time though. It’s only when you get asked a question like this that you think “oh yeah, I’m putting aside a lot for this”. Recreation and sleep I would say. I’d like more time with my family and friends, than I have been spending recently because of finishing and releasing the album etc. Sometimes I think “I’m 25 I should just be focussing on fun and not worrying about things!”, but if you really believe in what you’re doing, you have to go for it.

Every song on your album is great. Tell me how the writing process works for you…

Wow thank you that’s lovely to hear. It’s always quite ‘organic’. Many of my songs have come out when I’ve been in pain about something, and the only solace was to pick up my guitar and start playing and singing. And that’s just it. Just letting whatever wants to come out, come out. Rarely do I sit down to write a song ‘on purpose’, I like it to happen naturally.

Personal relationships seem to be the main theme of the album. Is there a polemical or social side to your music which we haven’t heard yet?

Funnily enough there is on the album. But you have to read into the lyrics a bit more ‘cos it’s not obvious! Some of the songs are very much inspired by society, and written for others to think about, for their own lives. I tend to write in a way that anyone can relate to their own life, their own thoughts and feelings about the world, so that one song for that one person could be completely different for another person. So it’s for each and every person if you see what I mean. I also try to use my experience to be useful. If I can write one line that someone will go “oh gosh yeah, that’s it, that’s just what I needed to hear” then the whole thing is worth it for me.