When we called British singer-songwriter Kate Nash, she was preparing for a flight to Argentina for a festival and club show. Before boarding, she talked about her latest album and keeping busy before she plays The Crocodile on Wednesday, May 15, as part of her Because I am a Girl tour.
What was the
Girl Talk
writing process like? It was quite like purging everything that I was going through. It was quite thoughtless, in a way, because it was very guttural and instinctual. I feel like I had so much experience playing live and thinking about music that I really know how to create the songs that I want to create now.
Do you usually write so thoughtlessly? It’s been totally different than how I’ve ever written, and I think it has to do with age and experience…I think when you go through a difficult time sometimes, you lose a lot of stuff and you have that nothing-to-lose attitude. Even though there’s all that pain and anger in it, I still think it’s a fun album.
You’re in a couple of upcoming movies (
Greetings From Tim Buckley
,
Powder Room
). How did those roles come about? I studied theater in college and always wanted to do it again. An acting manager in L.A. started representing me, and I auditioned and got the parts.
Was it difficult to step into each role? It was definitely scary, but that’s good because it keeps my creative brain fresh. I like having new things to dive into that I’m not sure about because I find it thrilling and inspiring.
A fan asked why it’s important for you to respond to fans on Twitter. I want to be approachable, and I love my fans so much because they really support and understand me. These people are the reason that I’m here and especially not having a record label to support me now…I want to make them feel as appreciated as I possibly can.
Is it intimidating to be an independent artist? I think intimidating is the wrong word; it can be difficult. A label is a cohesive machine, and I don’t have a cohesive machine. I have lots of little things going on, and I’m still trying to pull a string around everything. It’s liberating and empowering because I’m making it happen on my own terms. You have to go with the flow and see what happens. I think it’s going to be alright.
What does the rest of 2013 look like? I like to have a lot of different things to delve into, almost take on too much so I’m constantly busy. I don’t like relaxing; I’m not very good at it. I function better as a human when I’m busy, almost a bit stressed…
Any creative job is quite anxiety-inducing. You need to keep busy so you don’t worry about what you’re not doing. I find myself thinking forward quite a lot so having something to focus on each day is quite nice. It’s relaxing in some weird way. Even responding to fans, it’s like “I’ve achieved something today!”
