By Charlotte Kyle, Social Media Manager
Katy J Pearson has that quality that all musicians envy in the Spotify era - the ability for a voice to be jawdroppingly, brilliantly better in person. I was also lucky enough to have a chat with Katie after the show, who shared some insights regarding the local music scene she's come to be so well beloved in, as well as some thoughts on her latest album, Someday Now.
Not to say that I didn't adore her music through my £20 pink JBL headphones - I have loved KJP for years, but seeing her live for the first time (after being blue-ballsed by the rain at Forwards Festival this year) was a tantalising experience.
We danced with no abandon, we cooed over her crowd interaction, and our hearts stopped for a second when her clearly-adoring brother appeared on stage to sing the achingly moving 'Return' with her.
I had the privilege of watching what was clearly an extremely special show - Katy joked about how she had once been rejected for a job at SWX (the music venue for the evening) and was now headlining it - but more special than that was the family feeling in the audience.
Being a Bristol girlie (well, raised in the Cotswolds but born in Bristol), you could see how much this headline gig meant to her, and the crowd was full of aunties and screams of 'we love you Katie!'.
As well as the warm reception from the crowd, she also mentioned in our interview how the three thirds of her triplet trio were all in one place for the first time in forever - she told me she couldn’t bear to look over to the side where she knew her family would be, as her mum would inevitably be crying.
Intimate feels like an odd word to explain anything happening between the sticky walls of SWX, but that is truly the only word for the job. Another fan called out to give Pearson his ‘lucky pebble’, which did in fact do the trick of fixing the tuning of her guitar that was thrown off mid-song.
Our conversation was lighthearted and familiar, and there wasn’t an ounce of diva energy in sight as we discussed the gross gatekeep-y nature of modern music scenes, her recent tour with The Last Dinner Party, and which Bristol music venue she would like to be trapped in for the rest of her life.
She said she’d like to be trapped in The Old England, as it was in 2018, 'when it was the epicentre of the Bristol music scene' with campfires outside and lock-ins till 4 AM: 'It was so scrappy but we loved it', she smiled fondly.
She told me how being born from the world of Bristolian music meant so much to her - artists can come out of places other than London, and it does work.
We discussed the fact that more local music scenes offer a type of longevity that can be hard to maintain in the big smoke - 'People know who you are, and that’s why they like you… being a musician in a smaller city creates a sense of community. I just can’t get behind the pretentiousness of certain scenes… it's so stressful!'.
We talked about her recent month of touring around Europe with the renaissance-femininity rock sensation that is The Last Dinner Party, who have recently shaken up the scene with anthems like ‘Nothing Matters’ and their new, richly dramatic rock album ‘Prelude to Ecstasy’.
Katy said, 'They’re just amazing musicians and performers, lovely people. I was really flattered that they were big fans - they’ve been fans since I started out and specifically asked for me to join them on tour, which was so sweet'.
Someday Now is out now, and a veritable cornucopia of ‘staring out a bus window having never gotten over anything in my life’ songs as well as big synthy bangers (we’re talking about you, ‘Maybe’).
The album is quickly becoming an indie-folk staple, full of soft country guitar, haunting vocals, catchy bridges and a toe-tapping rock consistency. Dominated by lyrics, this album will certainly leave you with a few newcomers to your shower singing repertoire.
It is a must-listen for the Mitski, Kate Bush, and Stevie Nicks girlies, and if it's got The Last Dinner Party seal of approval, what more validation could an album need?
Featured Image: Carl DelahuntyWhat is you favourite song off the new album?
