Kat Hamilton – Singer/ Songwriter/ Recording Artist and Goober. IG @kathamiltonofficial
Kat Hamilton is a singer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. Growing up in the Bay Area, the musician has hopped from city to city, leaving her mark in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, London, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Hamilton cleverly crafts an intimate blend of rock, pop, Americana and emo, establishing an entirely new genre
Interview conducted on September 16, 2020
By Dan Locke
Kat Hamilton announces her debut album, Recovery Songs, due out October 30th. Earlier this year, Hamilton released official singles “Medicine Line” and “Amnesia”, out now on all streaming platforms. Listen to the singles now, and keep an eye out for more news ahead of the release this coming Fall.
What is your upbringing?
Hi! I grew up in Marin County, California. It’s right over the golden gate bridge from San Francisco. As far as what my upbringing was like, it was really lively. My parents were really into building community and making the house a super social space. We used to have my people come live with us for a few months at a time when they needed to escape a bad living situation. Sometimes my friends and my brother’s friends would sleepover for weeks straight. I would often walk into the kitchen in the morning to find five boys sleeping on the living room floor! It was a very chaotic house, sometimes stressful, but full of life and many dogs.
How did you discover music?
I fell in love with music as a very little girl. I would skate around our neighborhood in my barbie skates while making up songs. I even started a pop duo on the schoolyard when I was 8! We were called “leather hearts” and I made up our songs by repurposing backstreet boys’ melodies. I also loved musical movies. I swear my mom has PTSD from how many times my brother and I made her watch Sister Act II. I just had this natural love affair for melodies and lyrics.
How did you start to write music?
“leather hearts” aside, I started writing songs when my brother bought me my first guitar for my 12th birthday. I was always writing poetry and filling my diaries with dramatic professions of love or illegible scribblings of anger. Once I got a guitar, my chance at having a lucrative big-girl career kind of went out the window.
How did you get your first guitar, and do you still have it?
I still have it! it’s my Taylor 100e and it plays like new 16 years later!
What was your first performance like?
I was in choir starting at 7 but all of those shows are a blur. The earliest I can remember was me singing P!nk’s “Most Girls” with two background dancers in a local talent show. I was maybe nine at the time? Anyways “Most Girls” is a total banger.
What makes a good songwriter?
Telling the truth. It’s that simple. You tell the truth as you experience it. If it rhymes, that’s wonderful. Or if it has a hooky melody, all the better. But without the truth, you just haven’t done your job.
What was the title of your first original song off the new record?
If we are talking about the first one, I wrote, then it’s the single I’m about to put out called “Ohio”
Did you record it?
Yep! I recorded my record in two studios: Hallowed halls in Portland, OR and Hall of Justice in Seattle, WA
How did you establish a new genre?
The producer of my record, Allee Futterer, calls it “Cowboy Emo” which is hilarious. But I usually call my stuff “Emo- Americana”. I have an extremely diverse pool of influences. I love Against Me! but I also love Carly Rae Jepson and I’ll never shy away from mixing them together. But I always start arranging a song with the same question “What does the song want?” Anytime I’ve tried to ignore what the song wants and shoehorn it in another genre is backfires. The song will tell you what it wants.
How did you become part of Manic Pixi?
I started that band with the drummer. He and I met in our college poetry club and we both really wanted to make loud as hell, pop-punk. The relationship bloomed from there and we ended up finding the bandmates who could see what we were going for.
How did the band get its name?
Manic pixi was originally called Sugar Bomb, but that name ended up being claimed by another band and was no longer an option. I wrote a list that had at least fifty names on it and would call the guys as I came up with new ones. I could really see an aesthetic for Manic Pixi. I could see a whole story, color scheme, live show. etc. The guys loved it and it ended up working out. Second times the charm!
At what point did you know you need to go on your own (solo)?
It wasn’t exactly a “need”. I had recorded a solo E.P during my Manic Pixi years but I always intended to have my solo work as a side thing. I didn’t like the idea of creating alone and I didn’t really trust in my ability to be compelling on my own. At the time, I thought that I wasn’t good enough for that. A while after the breakup, I started feeling the buzz to create on my own. It took me a while, but I have started to come into my own as musically independent and on my best days, I feel empowered by that.
Tell me ab0ut your debut solo album “Recovery Songs” which comes out on Oct. 30th
It’s my special lil baby. My delicate violet that I watered every day for soooo long. Recovery Songs was born from this deeply broken place and now it feels like a safe place for that pain to live. The album is largely inspired by my time in a relational recovery facility and navigating my new sober life after the fact. On a more universal level, the album is about the surviving. It’s about going to those dark places in yourself and feeling like you’ll never get out. But it’s also about coming out of those dark places stronger. The album sounds like the story to me. The musical landscape of this album has everything to do with my team. Please pause your reading of this interview to follow the following people on social media, without whom, my album wouldn’t have become the beautiful thing it is.
Production and post-pro- Allee Futterer (Producer) @Allee Futterer Ryan Gillygan (mixing engineer) @gillygong, Vira Byramji (engineer) @chikngreeze, Javier Zacharias (editing) @Javier Zacharias, Cooper Stites @cooper.s.engineer (assistant engineer), Mike Vernan Davis (assistant engineer), and Joe La Porta @sterlingsound (mastering)
Guitars- Liv Slingerland @livslingerland, Molly Miller @moodymill and Tomas morello @tmmorello.
Drums- Will Lynch @descendedfrombeans, Jake Reed @jakereedmusic, and Kiel Feher @kielfeher
Trumpet- Niko Gaimo @nikolikesmusic
What is your favorite track on the album?
I used to have a different favorite every day, but it’s been clearer to me recently. It’s Afraid of your Body, no question.
How is this album a kind of recovery for you?
I needed to write it. I needed a safe place for all of that pain to live. Writing these songs helped me show up to a job, or have coffee with a friend. The songs held the hard stuff so I could live my life. The recording process healed something different for me. I came into it, unsure and super insecure about everything, but through making this record, I felt myself get a new kind of confidence.
How do you stay healthy while touring?
It’s hard. I feel like my mental health requires a lot of heavy lifting. I always have a reusable water bottle, make sure I still eat well, and use the healthiest vocal technique I can. Truth be told, I really haven’t toured since going solo. I cancelled my tour this year due to Covid 19 before I got the chance!
What are you feeling about streaming music?
It’s really important. It helps artists connect to new ears in a revolutionary way, compared to the mediums of the past. While I wholeheartedly disagree with how little artists are paid from streams., I have respect for the streaming role in music.
Digital vs. vinyl?
Vinyl if ya got it! I love the crackles.
What are your feelings about the social uprising going on in the United States?
We have a disgraceful excuse of a president. He sets a gross example for his supporters and emboldens racism, sexism, and homophobia. The police haven’t been held accountable by our messed-up system and it’s disgusting. People should be angry. They should be protesting.
What is the mental health situation of the United State? How can the public help the doctors and nurses on the front line?
I also tie this back to our horrible president. He has completely failed the American people. He continues to cut funding for mental health services, especially for LGBTQ individuals and lied to everyone about the deadliness of the coronavirus. At this point, it feels like we are on our own. Our cabinet has failed us and we have to save the world without them. The best way we can help our medical personnel is to wear a mask and respect quarantine. These people are risking their lives to save others and plenty of Americans are mocking their sacrifice by refusing to respect CDC guidelines.
Do you think kids should go back to school this fall?
Hell no.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, and what is the meaning that song means to you?
I’ve been listening to a lot of Sia “Some people have REAL problems” and earlier 2000s indie pop. I’m not sure how much that evokes the past but I go through phases and the early 2000s is where I am right now.
How do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
At this point, live shows as we know it are gone. It’s been hard for me to process because I was on the precipice of designing my solo show. It’s such a huge negative shift in the music energy that I can’t even get my head around it. We have already seen the business in its new form. It’s all digital and social media now. For more old school-types like myself, it’s a huge blow.
I saw a statement you made on Facebook: “That one time, I played a single release show and then immediately, like all shows were cancelled forever.” What were you feeling at that time?
In shock and I still am. I came out of that show feeling so inspired and confident about my artistry and my future. Now the vision of what that looked like is gone. It’s disheartening to say the least.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
I’d love to say I’ve been creating a lot or getting into exercise, but I’ve been spending a lot of time watching Netflix and eating snacks.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
I have been writing a poetry book that I started this year. I was in the slam poetry scene for many years and it’s nice to return to that artform.
95% of people said that they have changed the way they watch television. Which is your favorite streaming channel?
I don’t have a favorite!
Many artists are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. I see you are doing a virtual songwriting workshop. How has that been?
It was fun and nice to revisit my curriculum, but I really feed off in person energy. I haven’t really enjoyed performing or teaching online and it gives me less energy in return. I’m still going to perform online occasionally, but I don’t love it
Tell me about a Bathroom show?
It was good in some ways. I got to connect with my friends and remind myself that my songs matter to people. The bathroom sounds the best on an iPhone if you are singing directly into the phone speaker and not feeding your performance through a DAW with presets
With no real live music (mostly virtual shows) except for things like Drive-In Theater shows with crowds for the past 6 months, what do you think will be the future of music?
Until there’s a vaccine, it’ll be more of what we have right now. IG live, Drive-ins, outdoor distanced stuff etc.
How can bands keep their fans if they cannot play live in front of the fans and sell merch to them at the show?
I like that artists are being more transparent about money. It’s becoming less about the romance of being an artist and more of the job. Venmo is a great tool for monetizing your online efforts with weekly streams. I think “keeping fans” isn’t the right way to see it. I think our primary concern is bringing in enough income to continue making art and fans are a part of that.
Live Nations just started Live Nation from Home? Which are concerts from artist homes. An all-new virtual music hub keeping fans connected to their favorite artists featuring daily live streams, performances, new music, and more. Do you think it will be possible to make a living doing concerts this way?
For now, but I don’t think it can go on forever. Live music is the collective experience of human emotion. Take the My Chemical Romance reunion tour for example. If we watched those concerts online, it would be fun, but it doesn’t compare to screaming next to other crying fans while you witness a band that changed your life.
For smaller bands who do not play large crowds, this is not really an issue. How do you see bands going back to smaller venues and doing things like play for the door, with no guarantees?
I don’t know if we will. I know it’s hard to hear. I think outdoor will be the new model for touring and venues will change how they operate. I can see venues using live streams and charging cover online to see a band play in the venue via those videos.
With Social Distance being the norm. Do you feel that it may be the end of the music fest for the next couple of years?
Oh yes. it would be unethical to hold the traditional music festival right now. I could see something distanced happening, but that distance affects the community feeling of live music, so I’m just not sure.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
I could definitely see a Jem thing happening in the future.
How do you see yourself in the next five years?
I feel like my answers pre-COVID and post-Covid are different. Aside from touring, my hope is to one day pay my bills with the licensing of my songs. My dream is to be like Dan Wilson and write a song like “Closing Time” so that my bills are paid and I can create however I please without money being an obstacle. Beyond music, I’m hoping my girlfriend and I will still be together and have lots of dogs!
Anything you would like to say in closing?
This whole interview has been part of my devious plan to get you to register to vote and to vote this bag of worms out of office. Register to vote at https://vote.gov/
Thank you so much for having me!
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