Introducing #132 - Cathy Jain
Let us introduce you to emerging lo-fi singer Cathy Jain - who has just released her impressive new single ‘cool kid’ - she took a moment to talk to us about her music.
Hey there Cathy, how are you? So your new track ‘cool kid’ is out now - can you tell us what it is about?
I'm good thanks! Really looking forward to things opening up after a year of mainly studying and working on music from home.
Cool Kid is basically about how the reality of the way people feel is often very different from the image that they project, or the image that other people have of them. In the song, the singer labels herself as 'just a silent pretty girl’ whereas in fact she knows that isn’t true. All of the 4 songs that I have released so far are quite different stylistically but lyrically they all revolve around this theme of image, and what is fake and what is authentic. It's not a particularly new idea but I think it is especially poignant for young people in an age where technology and social media really amplify the role of image in their day to day life and I'm really interested in how that comes out.
This track was recorded in your home bedroom studio - what sort of set up do you have there? Do you find it easier to work there?
"Home bedroom studio" might be a bit of a grand way to describe my set up haha- I have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 which I plug into garageband and I use a Shure SM7B microphone for vocals. I'm learning to use Logic right now but find Garageband a bit easier. Once I have recorded the vocals, guitar and any other bits of instrumentation, I send the files over to the producer (Rob Heron at Cracked Analogue who is based in India) and then we transfer them back and forth until we’re both happy with the result. It's not an easy way to work with time difference and my little brother banging around the house outside my door, but we do our best! I can't wait to get into a studio with another human and work on something together though.
Where are you from? Where do you like to go for adventures?
I was born in Salford but moved to China when I was a few months old and mostly grew up there. We moved to Australia and then back to the UK when I was 14 and now live in Cheshire. It seems such a long time since I've been on an adventure (other than a musical one :)), but I like to be outside with friends whenever possible. I've already got so many plans for when we are allowed out again. I've never really been to a proper gig or festival (except when performing) so that's top of the list, but I also want to do sports and travel with friends within the UK. I also can't wait to go back to China to see my family and eat all of the comfort foods that I grew up with.
What are your key musical influences?
I love listening to Lana Del Rey and Frank Ocean, they’re two of my favourite artists and I get inspired both lyrically and musically by them. I’ve recently also been getting into Men I Trust who I am now completely obsessed with. I’d love to try making that kind of soft funky indie music. Taylor Swift will always be my number one idol though, she was one of the main reasons I decided to pick up a guitar and write songs. Going even further back as a young child I listened to a lot of acoustic music like Nick Drake, John Martyn and Donovan and I think that has influenced the laid back style that I often try to produce too.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never listened to you before?
I've never been good at describing my music but what I hope they would hear would be songs with strong indie-pop melodies that mostly have a laid-back vibe but with surprising R&B and psychedelic sounds thrown in to the mix. Every now and then I can't resist going crazy with my harmonies though and they often add an extra dimension to the songs.