INTERVIEW: Kate Nash

After getting turned down for drama school, Kate Nash famously fell down the stairs, broke her foot and, while convalescing, wrote some songs about mouthwash, pumpkin soup, and unfaithful boyfriends. Those bedroom doodles became the soundtrack to the summer of 2007, when her debut album, Made Of Bricks, and its lead single ‘Foundations’ crashed into the charts.

This success led to a Brit award for Best Female Artist and a marathon world tour, which Nash admits she struggled to cope with, precipitating a nervous breakdown. Consequently, she vowed to take a break from music but, before long, she was back at it, sneaking into the studio with Suede’s ex-guitarist and producer, Bernard Butler. The result is My Best Friend Is You, a more eclectic collection than her debut, with a Motown feel to ‘Kiss That Girl’, folky elements on ‘You Were So Far Away’, and the Sonic Youth inspired feedback of ‘I Just Love You More’.

Co-founding punk band the Receeders, inspired by her love of the Buzzcocks, is part of the reason for Nash’s edgier sound. My Best Friend Is You is not only a brazen departure from her debut album, but from the rash of 80s pop influenced, synth based female singer/songwriters like Florence and the Machine, Little Boots, La Roux and Ellie Goulding who’ve commandeered the charts in Nash’s absence. Not that she’s going to surrender her crown without a fight.

How do you feel about all the female singers who’ve suddenly emerged while you’ve been away?

It’s weird, because some of these girls who are coming up are like 23 or 24, which is actually older than me. But even though they’re older, I still feel like I’m the veteran. As for why it’s happening, I think it’s like when the indie scene got massive - major labels picked up on it. That’s what they’ve done with the girls. But ‘female’ is not a genre of music. It’s a gender.

Just how crazy did things get with your first album?

Looking back, it got a bit mental. I didn’t have a day off for nearly two years because there was so much going on. But you get used to it, you’d be surprised how long you can keep going, just on adrenaline. Saying that, I was exhausted by the end, being on the road and living out of a suitcase for so long. There were times where I’d look down at the setlist and think, ‘I can’t believe this is the first song. I’m fucking knackered. How am I going to do the rest?’ It was crazy.

Was there a lot of pressure with your new album, because of the huge success of your debut?

There was pressure, but I tried to ignore it because if you think about it too much it can be something that destroys you and stops you ever wanting to be creative again. It wasn’t a difficult second album though. It was actually quite easy. But I think that’s because I didn’t think about it too much. I only wrote for fun [or] when I wanted to. I literally didn’t think about [doing] an album until I had written 10 songs, which then became the album.

What was it like working with Bernard Butler on My Best Friend Is You?

It was brilliant. I really liked Bernard. I’m so glad I worked with him because he’s a musician, who’s now a producer, so he understands the fear, the stress and the doubt you have when you’re in the studio. He helped me deal with that and just get on with it. But I was worried at first, about people thinking, ‘oh Duffy’s producer is now doing Kate Nash’s record.’ I thought that would be a problem, but it wasn’t at all because we just really understood each other. When I played him the demos I think he knew what I was trying to do and he helped me achieve that.

Your new album is more eclectic and edgier than Made Of Bricks. How come?

I think it’s to do with being a little older and having the experience of doing the first album. Also, with my first album, I was writing it in my bedroom by myself, thinking, ‘right, I’m going to write some fucking songs, because I’m not going to let school tell me I can’t be a creative person, or that I’ll work in a fucking takeaway all my life.’ But now I’m like, ‘ok, I’m a musician and this is what I do.’ So, I’m excited to have a second album - it makes me feel like a real artist. I’m even more excited by the prospect of a third and a fourth album, where I can try out different things, go down different routes. But, right now, this is a good representation of who I am. That’s why there are a couple of raw, more experimental tracks on it.

Is that also why there are songs dealing with some more serious, substantial themes than before?

Yeah, there are a couple of more serious songs on there, like ‘I Have A Secret’, which is about homophobia and ‘Mansion Song’, which is pretty in your face about a few issues like groupies. But it’s not like it’s a political album, because that’d just be fucking boring.

The full interview features in the June/July 2010 issue of Rip It Up with info on her punk band the Receeders and her future plans in New Zealand.