Hi Katie! Congratulations on your debut album “Home”. How does it feel to finally release it, and what led you to choose your own newly founded label, Feed The Void, for the release?
Thanks! It’s great to finally release an album, I’ve been a musician from a young age and been in multiple bands but I’ve never released an album before so it’s exciting to finally have a full length album out.
The concept of ‘home’ is central to your album. What inspired you to delve into this theme?
The vocal lines were all subconsciously based upon a theme of leaving, returning or travelling away from home. I imagine the fact that I was in the process of relocating from the UK to The Netherlands had a lot to do with that so I decided to really delve into the meaning of ‘home’ with the entire album. I always thought it was important for an album to have a theme and some kind of humanity behind it, rather than being 11 club slammers all put together without much thought or meaning. The club slammers will come on my next EPs 😉
You mentioned that home can mean many things. Can you share more about your personal interpretation of ‘home’?
I guess for me it means wherever I have the time and space to create music as that’s my truest form of expression and always has been. ‘Wherever I lay my drum machine” if you will. Ha.
How did your move from the UK to the Netherlands influence the creation of this album? How has your experience living in the Netherlands influenced your music?
It had an absolutely enormous impact. I lived in London for over 13 years, quite effortless going from job to job (jobs that most of the time I was overqualified for but were easy to do on the side of making music, DJing and playing in bands) as I knew a lot of people but because of Brexit, when I moved here I had to really push myself to the best of my ability (as a ‘highly skilled migrant’) and I’ve had to really pursue the label and put a lot of time, love, attention and to be transparent, money into it. I had some free time earlier this year when I was in between job contracts (my ‘other job’ is managing and curating venues) so I put in the hours locked in my apartment for two months, and the album was conceived.
Which artists have inspired you the most in your musical journey, and how have they influenced the sound of “Home”?
Well, this one’s a tricky one. Whilst the album is most sonically linked to Electro, there’s so many influences in there. I think you can still see my punk spirit shine through in its own way via the vocals and guitar hooks. I guess you could describe it as Electro but with a dark edgy-ness to it so artists like Helena Hauff, The Exaltics, LFT. and DJ Stingray played their part but there’s also a soft, melancholiness in there that’s reminiscent of artists like Radioactive Man.
Your album features a variety of genres, from Bass and Breaks to Electro and IDM – quite different to what you used to do. How did you decide on this eclectic mix?
I guess these genres are what I’ve been into the most recently. Before I was making slightly more down tempo, linear stuff but in terms of what I was playing out, it wasn’t really matching up as my DJs sets are usually quite high energy and featured a lot of breaks and bass heavy sounds so I feel like I’ve finally reached a sound of the music I want to make and I’ve managed to get a bit of an dark-wave EBM/twist on these genres still.
What software and hardware did you use in the production of “Home”, and how did they contribute to shaping the album’s sound?
Over the past couple of years I’ve switched my Roland based set up for Elektron hardware. Machines like the Digitakt and the Octatrack have allowed me not only experiment more with broken rhythms but to manipulate samples and bass patterns in a really exciting and unique way.
Let’s talk about some specific tracks. Can you tell us more about the process of putting together the track “Prelude” which features vocal clips of people describing what ‘home’ means to them?
I reached out to a few friends to try to describe in a few words what ‘home’ means to them. It’s a difficult thing to describe in just a few words so I was interested to see what people would come back to me with.
The track “Devil’s Dance” explores themes of desire and temptation. What was your approach to capturing these emotions in the music?
I guess that track has quite a sinister sound to it anyway, before I even added the vocals to it. It’s a track about how bad habits can often bring a sense of ‘home’
The track “There’s No Place Like Home” has been described as a journey. Can you elaborate on the inspiration behind this song?
I think in terms of the intensity and all of the segments of the song (including the big, I guess almost dubstep inspired half tempo breakdowns) make it quite a ride.
Can you describe the journey and themes explored in the track “True Peace Found Her In The End”?
This one was the final track I think I finished from the album and was made in its entirety in about a day and half. I wanted to make a heartfelt, spacious track to conclude the album. I kind fo envision someone leaving earth, going on an intergalactic voyage to find their true calling in life and then returning with a new sense of clarity. Perhaps that’s maybe how I see my time spent in London; a journey of learning, love, pain, struggle and also a hell of a lot of fun, before moving to The Netherlands and living alone for the first time in my life (because Rotterdam is still considerably cheaper than London) and having the space to really think straight and focus on what I want in life rather than constantly feeling like a hamster in a wheel.
How has your experience living in the Netherlands influenced your music?
Enormously. Musically, it’s a beautiful match. The Dutch West Coast Electro sound has also definitely played its part in shaping the sound of this record (so artists like I-F and DJ Overdose). I’ve also been able to see some great Electro sets by DJs like Serge (who runs Clone) and Afra. There’s some great Bass and Breaks music here too; my friends Gamma Intel and Identified Patient are putting out some great stuff on their label Nerve Collect, my friend Kessler is putting out killer music and putting on some events here in Rotterdam under his label Elicit and my friend Alberta Balsam just launched her new label Terra Atomika which I’m sure is also going to be amazing. There’s also Operator Radio here too which always has a wonderful weekly program. People are constantly doing cool and inspiring stuff here that’s less focused on making money and more about creating something exciting and authentic to their tastes. I feel like I spend my weekends surrounded by fellow artists that are making similar music (and they’ve all made me feel so welcome here) rather than constantly feeling like an outsider as the music scene in London is a lot more commercial and there’s less of a scene for these kind of sounds in general, especially when your music is on the underground and experimental side of things.
What do you hope listeners take away from your album?
The idea that Electro / Bass / Breaks can have some emotion behind it.
What’s next for you after the release of “Home”?
I have a single coming out on a small Rotterdam based FLINTA* label called Epiphany. I’m also working on my next EP (which will be more club orientated) and I am very very excited to share some remixes of some tracks from the album from some absolute legends of the game. All will be revealed soon.
