An Interview with Katy J Pearson

Words by Sarah Morrison

There's something special about the city of Bristol as one by one musicians have been emerging from the cracks and gracing us with their presence. Luckily as fate would have it, Katy J Pearson found herself in a new state of exploration and landed a spot within the city. Since then it’s been nothing but upward for the singer as her career has blossomed into the start of something truly magnificent. It’s been a rocky road but with her strong perseverance and fate within her musical abilities, Pearson has finally found her community and footing.

Growing up, you were exposed to a lot of music avenues through family activity. Was it through those experiences that a music direction was carved for you to follow?

Yes absolutely. I grew up listening to the Beatles and the beach boys mostly. But also James Taylor and a lot of Joni Mitchell. So I had a strong staple of influences from a young age!

Your first big musical step was when you signed onto a major label. At that time in your life, what was the appeal of being a part of a team/family to that degree?

I think for me it felt like the next step. I wasn’t planning on uni and had been working on that particular project with my brother for over five years so it felt like the right time to progress. However, in hindsight it was still too early I think... but I learned a lot.

What sort of headspace did writing for a major label put you in? Are the songs you were producing at the time difficult to look back on? 

A pretty stressed headspace. I definitely wasn’t writing for me either.. I kinda lost the reason for why I was doing it to a certain extent. Yeah to be honest I listen back to some of them and I cringe a lot. But you know, it was a different time - I don’t tend to ever listen to anything from then...

You wanted to end the relationship with the label/stop the co-writing sessions and thankfully in the end you ended up being dropped. Although the relationship was rocky emotionally, was it a bit of a mental setback? Did it sit a bit negatively in your head?

Absolutely. It was an extremely hard time. I’d completely lost my confidence and pretty much thought that’s it that was my chance and it didn’t work out so what else shall I do.. also I was mentally very fragile so it did take a while to build myself back up to a point where I even wanted to write music.

Having gone through this with your brother, did it sort of help to have someone at your side experiencing the same type of emotional experience?

It helped so much. We are two of triplets so we are so close anyway. I think for me having someone there through it all validating how shit it could be at times was so important.

Did the music you were listening to or influenced by while trying to create pieces that didn’t connect to your musical soul sort of change when you were parting ways with that period of your life?

Absolutely. I mainly went back to the classics and listened to a lot of folk music and country. Very simple songs which helped a lot.

I know when I’m feeling certain emotions, specific styles of music attach to me more than others.

You ended up moving to Bristol after all this happened and sort of put yourself in isolation. You allowed yourself some much needed time to find your own footing for your true musical approach. Was the search for your voice something hard to find after having to chase for something that wasn’t truly your own?

It certainly took a while. There were some wobbles along the way. But once I was in a routine something clicked and I started writing again and writing things I was excited about.

What has Bristol given you that you don’t think you’d have found in any other city? How has it contributed to the way you write or perform?

There is such a warm and friendly community of creatives here’s. I’ve always felt so loved and supported by everyone and it feels so wonderful to part of such a thriving music scene. It’s definitely given me the confidence I needed.

Now that you have the freedom to write about topics and themes of your own choosing, are things naturally pouring out of you? Has your subconscious been expressing things you might not have realized you had or were feeling?

Yes for sure... but it doesn’t happen all the time. I feel like at the moment it’s such a surreal and strange situation that I’m finding it hard to draw upon just one feeling or emotion when I write, as I’m feeling quite a few at once.

You’ve got this very authentic sweet country gal persona that can be seen through your quirky music video but also the way you perform live. At what point did you start to cultivate the visual aspect to this personality? Were you always attracted to the rhinestone/twangy/southern look you present?

Thank you! Well I’ve always loved denim and rhinestones a lot. But I think the more I got closer to my sound and style the more confident I became with the visual aspect. I think it was from day 1 really I started dressing pretty western on stage but I love it.

You recently released your new single ‘Take Back The Radio.’ With the certain world situation, was this a natural pick for your next release?

Yes definitely! I think right now is a time where there are no rules really so we were like let’s do ‘Take Back The Radio’ next. I’m so glad we released in this time period as it seems to have really connected with people which is so so wonderful.

You had Davey Newington (Boy Azooga) and your flatmate Laurie Nankivell (Squid) get involved by bringing in drums, cornet, and various other textures to the piece. Is it sort of a breath of fresh air to have that community of other Bristol musicians there to get involved and support you in your work? People with similar artistic tastes and styles?

Yes so so much! It was loads of fun and just really exciting to have new faces in the studio with me. They are both so talented so it was a real pleasure to collaborate with them.