An Interview With - Caity Baser

Fresh from her BRIT award nomination and with a new mixtape and tour on the horizon, we were fortunate enough last week to interview the breakout star that is Caity Baser! Discussing her writing process, love for the sea, which tracks she's most excited to play live and much more, check out her interview with Felicity!

Hi Caity! Thanks so much for meeting with me today!

"Hi Queen! Thanks for talking with ME today, I’m buzzing."

How are you?

"I’m good thank you but so tired! I’ve been working all week; dance rehearsals, singing

rehearsals, gym, training-"

GYM?! Surely rehearsals counts as ‘gym’?

"I know I call it ‘popstar training’- it’s hard!"

So I’m here today to chat to you about your mixtape that’s coming out soon. I’m very fortunate as I got to listen to it before it’s released- my favourites are ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ and ‘I’ll Be Here For You’; bit of gospel vibes in there is that right?

"Amazing! And yesss!"

‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ is a bit different from your usual vibe, what was the inspiration for this?

"It’s like a different side of me, I definitely have it, if anything it’s one of the bigger sides of me. I like to tackle uncomfortable feelings with anger and sass, and I feel like this time I was like I need to be more real. I’d be lying if I said I’d never been in love or felt feelings for anybody other than "fuck off, I don’t care! I’m hard as fuck" blah blah blah - no I’m not! I’m a simp! When I love somebody I love them so much, so this song is about falling in love with somebody that isn’t good for you, they CLEARLY don’t love you back but you stay because it makes you feel something. It was an awful time! But it’s good to laugh about it. When I made this song it was such a release because it made me feel less insane, I was feeling EVERYTHING."

It’s almost acted like therapy?

"Omg that’s exactly what music is. I was feeling happy, sad, confused, angry all the

time, it was hell, but I think people can relate to that."

So is that your writing process then? As soon as you feel something write it down, or do you start with a melody first for example or would you say the process is quite spontaneous or more planned?

"I don’t really plan anything out. I go into (to the session) and say "this is what’s

happened guys, let’s go’" It’s weird, musicians just know. For example when I’m talking

about an emotion, they will play a piano melody that sounds exactly how I’m feeling, then a

drum beat will come in to match and so on, it’s weird but it works."

And I’m sure other musicians feel the same way too!

"It’s so beautiful, a lovely thing to do, very helpful for my brain!"

I know this is a common question, but I want to ask - was there an inspiration for the whole mixtape, as you have older songs included also. What was the vision behind mixing older songs and newer songs into one piece of art?

"I guess I wanted to put my favourite songs I’ve released in there, that’s why the old

ones are a part of it as I just love them so much, and I think everyone else loves them too.

But the main inspiration for the mixtape is not really knowing what I’m doing."

‘Still Learning!'

"Still learning girl! I’m just figuring out what the fuck life is, there’s so many things I

don’t know the answer to and we should stop putting so much pressure on ourselves and

just let life happen the way that it’s meant to. That’s what I’ve learnt when making this

mixtape, honestly some things are just out of your control- it is what it is!"

I rate it! My all time favourite song of yours is ‘Kiss you’. I don’t know what is about it, but I’m obsessed.

"Omg we love her! Guess what – I’m performing that one on tour and keeping it in the

set!"

That's the best news! Is there a new song that your especially excited to perform live?

"I’m so excited to perform ‘The Plot’ just because it’s so funny to me. You know when

you go on a night out and the next day your catching up with your mates and convincing

them that what you did the night before was totally acceptable? I’ve done that so many times and just say "yeah, its for the plot", it’s apart of your storyline and I just find it hilarious. Venbee and Gracey also wrote that one with me. We’re all best mates and always go out and have a good time."

What can audiences expect from your upcoming shows? Any surprises?

"It’s a complete step up. There’s a set on stage, choreography, MORE ENERGY, hence

why I’m so tired! But it’s going to be worth it so I can perform the shows as best as I can and enjoy them."

Let’s talk about the BRITs - how was it? Is it everything viewers would expect?

"I got absolutely steaming at the BRITs, I had the best time ever. I got to do the carpet

and went with Venbee and Charlotte Plank, it was so good, I felt like a star. We went to the

after parties, got home at around 6am, ordered a chicken wrap and wings from the chicken shop and woke up and felt fresh as fuck! I felt sweet!"

That says to me you had that much of a good night that in the morning you’re still buzzing from it!

"Exactly! It was really good."

So I have a feeling then I may already know the answer to this next question, but do you have a goal in life that you constantly think about, not necessarily in your career, but just something you want to do or achieve?

"I want to swim with whale sharks, turtles, stingrays – I just want to go to the middle

of the sea and become part of it, like when you go to a mates house, meet the family, that’s what I want to do but in the sea!"

Have you ever done anything similar before? Where has this passion come from?

"I’ve always loved the sea. I grew up going to Cornwall quite a lot and I was always in the sea, swimming, surfing, and so on just having the best time. Whenever we would go on

holiday I would spend all my time either in the pool or the sea, I love the water, I’m such a

water baby and find the ocean so cool."

Do you take inspiration from other artists and put your own spin on it, or is it solely

whatever you feel like is exactly what’s in the song?

The way that I perform... so I love Freddie Mercury, Elton John and Dolly Parton, and

when I used to go home after school I would just watch videos of them performing.

Especially Freddie, the way he controls a crowd and the way he performs, I’ve taken a lot of that on board with me. In terms of writing and singing, it’s a mixture of everything and what’s going on in my brain.

Do you play an instrument during the writing process?

"I play the piano, but most the time I just speaking about something that’s going on

then the music just accompanies the story."

So my last question for you, is what message do you hope your fans and listeners take away from the mixtape?

"Nothing is ever that deep. You can’t control everything. All you can do is surround

yourself with people that make you feel good, feel empowered, have fun, and just learn

from everything that you do, whether good or bad, it’ll help you in the long run. It’s all for

the plot!"