Kate Nash

Wed 28th Jul, 2010 in Features

‘Witty’, ‘funny’, ‘British’, ‘feminist’, ‘quirky’, ‘songstress’, ‘pretty’, ‘pop’, ‘young’, ‘cockney’, ‘cute’ and ‘sarcastic’ – labels Kate Nash has fallen victim to perhaps even more times than she’s been compared with Lily Allen.

And while she won’t deny to be any of these things (except maybe another Lily Allen), Nash tells FasterLouder that she is also determined to let people know there’s more to her than the “cheeky, quirky, silly, ditzy girl who runs around and just kind of can’t shut up”.

Kiss That Grrrl, the second single from your latest album, My Best Friend Is You, has just been released. Are you basking in the attention surrounding your new single or is it just like any other week?
I kind of feel like it’s just any other week actually, I’d forgotten that it was coming out until later that night I remembered and I rang my mum and I was like “Just so you know mum my single’s out today so download it” but I’d kind of forgotten so I think there’s always so much going on. I’m doing a lot of touring at the moment to because of the festival season so you kind of forget that all the other stuff goes on at home still carries on, you know what I mean?

You’ve said that you didn’t really think about doing a new album this time around until you’d written about ten songs. Was there much of a culling process? Or did everything you write make it onto the album?
Yeah I think everything I wrote, I think a couple of songs were used for B sides in the end. I think there was probably about five more songs that didn’t go on the album, but it was obvious what was going to be on the album and what wasn’t. Yeah, it felt kind of really natural which is good.

This album, more so than your first, really transcends a few different kinds of distinctive genres, notably the 60’s surf rock vibe in _ Doo-Wah-Doo_ and a 90’s grunge feel in I Just Love You More.
Cool thanks.

Was it confidence or restlessness that prompted you to explore different styles?
I think it’s just how I was feeling at the time and what I wanted to be and where I want to develop and grow and end up as a writer and performer. I put a lot of what I’ve been listening to and tend to kind of just go with how I feel at the time. I think it’s important to be truthful you know.

Do you find that maybe with your first album you were worried about having a sound and you’ve kind of let go of that perhaps with the second album?
No, I don’t think I’ve ever really worried about having a sound, I think that I’ve always kind of said that I’ll change my style of writing music just out of boredom really I think.

Although your lyrics are quite honest, there are still hidden messages. Are you happy for people to take what they want from your lyrics, or do you get offended if people don’t get the themes or story you’re trying to convey?
I really like it when somebody feels the same we as me about it, if somebody really understands what I mean, but I do think music is for the individual and it all means something different to everybody you know, and there’s probably songs that I love and they mean something to me and they don’t mean that in real life but I think it’s important for everybody. I think that’s why music, people love it so much because it can just mean so many different things, you know?

You were recently asked by a music journo why you don’t care about being “sexy” – to which you responded quite negatively to. Why do you think the music industry is so obsessed with females being sexy?
I don’t know why, I think it’s just obvious it will be because it’s like that’s a lot of the time how women have been presented in the media and it’s an easy thing. Sex sells and you know, women have beautiful shaped bodies and sex does sell so I think it goes hand in hand for a lot of pop artists and a lot of people are willing to do that and they want to be seen as a sex symbol. For me I find it insulting so I think it’s kind of sexist to presume that every single female needs to do that, I just don’t think that it’s necessary, I’m a writer and a musician, I’m not a model and I don’t have to be. I shouldn’t be asked questions like that.

Instead it seems you’ve been tagged as ‘quirky’ – as though that’s the alternative to being sexy. How does this term sit with you?
I mean, there’s loads of other descriptions that are probably a lot worse. So it’s not that bad but what annoys me is when I do an interview with somebody and I’ve spent a lot of time with someone and spoken to them quite seriously about a number of subjects and things that they’ve asked me about or that I care about or that have come up and then they write me off as being this kind of cheeky, quirky, silly, ditzy girl who runs around and just kind of can’t shut up and like “na na na na na” like I’m that really dizzy.

I can be dizzy, but I can be smart too and I can talk seriously about things and it does frustrate me sometimes when it’s like well you just were afraid of really writing the truth of what we spoke about or taking it too seriously in case people don’t agree with that or it’s like a touchy subject or something.

So I get frustrated with that because I think it’s a shame you know when I’m talking seriously about these things and they’re not funny and I’m not silly and I’m not stupid, you know I’m like 22 and well-educated and I read and care about things so I think just the fact that somebody’s talking about that should be taken a bit more seriously because so many people don’t.

You’re heading to Australia in a few weeks for Splendour in the Grass and a few of your own sideshows. Have you had a chance to think about what kind of performance you’ll be offering Australian audiences?
I haven’t actually, it will be different though. I’ve been doing a lot of gigs as well as the song-writing and the live show’s developed too so I’m excited to come back I haven’t been for a long time. I think a good live show is always a little bit unexpected and raucous and a bit raw and a bit wilder than what is on the record you know? You never know what’s kind of going to happen.

Everett True, the lead singer of band The Thin Kids who are supporting you during your Australia tour, is quite a controversial figure in the Australian music industry. What led to you choosing his band as your support?
I met him before, we did an interview together in Brighton like a few years ago and he’s obviously quite a well-known character because of Nirvana. My boyfriend [ The Cribs’ Ryan Jarman ] knows him and he’s had him as a support band and he was really nice about some of my music and the new record and stuff so I just thought might as well get him to play because he played with The Cribs a few months back and I just thought it might be fun.

Kate Nash’s Splendour in the Grass sideshows:

Tuesday 3 August – East Brunswick Club, Melbourne
Wednesday 4 August – Corner Hotel, Melbourne (Sold out)
Thursday 5 August – Metro Theatre, Sydney