More about: Kate Bollinger

With her 2022 EP Look at it in the Light, Virginia, U.S.A. resident Kate Bollinger (of no relation to the champagne) demands to be heard. Airy, folky and jaunty, her indie-folk sounds are somewhere between gentle sincerity and upbeat sarcasm. 

Here, we met with Kate to find out a little more about the spectacular EP Look at it in the Light — her third. 

Gigwise: What does it feel like to have released Look At It In The Light out into the world?

Kate Bollinger: I'm really glad to have it out. I feel proud of these songs and hope that people find their own meaning in them! Since finishing the EP about a year ago, I really haven't listened to the songs, so it's nice to hear them again for the "first time" with everyone else, sort of as a removed listener. 

GW: Can you talk us through the making of the new EP?

KB: The writing process was different for each song on the EP. Some of the songs were written in solitude and others as a complete collaboration with my friends, John (production) and Chris (guitar). Once the songs were written and recorded in at least a rough demo sense, we went to White Star Sound and tracked the songs live as a band over the course of several days. John and I stayed a few extra days at the end to put the finishing touches on everything, play around with different sounds, and re-track certain vocals. On certain songs I would sing a melody for a guitar solo to John and he would help bring it to fruition. We experimented more with things on this project. 

GW: Do you have a favourite song from it?

KB: Currently, my favorite song is the title track, 'Look at it in the Light'. It's one of the songs that still, after a year, feels the most personal to me. I also just like the way it turned out and feel proud of all the little extra guitar melodies and things. 

GW: Does it differ from your previous releases?

KB: Definitely. We had more time to experiment with things and I had a much clearer vision going in. At one point I think my meandering between genres and styles spoke more to an insecurity or uncertainty about what I wanted to sound like, but now it speaks more to an unwillingness to be pigeonholed and make only one type of song. I think this release jumps around more confidently than my past projects. 

GW: What was it like making music in lockdown – how different has it been this time around?

KB: My last EP, 'A word becomes a sound' was made at the very beginning of the pandemic, so I think by this time around we were all used to it (for better and for worse) and knew how to manage. 

GW: You come from a musical family – do you think your family or childhood have influenced the music you make now and if so, how?

KB: Yes, I think my childhood has a lot to do with it. I have two older brothers who were constantly making music and playing in bands when I was young. My mom is also a musician, so she was always very supportive of my interest in songwriting, but never put any sort of pressure on me to pursue music. In my dad's car, we had an ongoing rotation of CDs that we would listen to. In my mom's car, we had a completely different and much more pop-leaning rotation of CDs. In my oldest brother's car, I was introduced to whatever he was listening to at the time. I have memories of hearing Ziggy Stardust for the first time, No Doubt, Shonen Knife — it was just a really big blend of everyone's tastes. My middle brother played a lot of jazz around the house at one point... and then on the school bus I was finding out about Avril Lavigne, Jojo, and Taylor Swift. I like so many different genres and I think that's allowed me to write without any pre-conceived end goal for the song I'm writing.

GW: What would you want to be doing if you weren’t making music?

KB: When I was little, I would always say that I either wanted to be a singer, a writer, or an actress (haha) and I always held onto those things, but at a certain point they didn't feel practical anymore. I really wasn't heartbroken over it, I just knew I would need to do something else too to make money. In high school I thought I might want to be a social worker, early in college I was in the poetry program before switching to film and I thought I might do something with that. I don't know what I would do now, but I think I would try to find something in a creative field and not so self-focused as music. 

GW: Do you think studying cinematography has influenced your music, and if so how?

KB: I think a lot of the films I was exposed to in school have influenced my visual style a lot. I still reference certain films like Possibly in Michigan by Cecelia Condit and Daisies by Věra Chytilová all the time when I'm dreaming up music video ideas. 

GW: Can you talk us through your songwriting process?

KB: This isn't always the case anymore now that I have more of a writing practice, but back when I was newer to writing songs I would just write when I felt like something was about to pour out of me. It would sort of just come to me like pieces of a puzzle: the melody with certain syllables in certain places which would eventually turn to words. Sometimes it was a really perfect, serendipitous thing because a word that I didn't even know the meaning of would come to mind in the melody and then it would end up meaning exactly what I needed it to. Now it's a little bit different, because I write more often than just when I'm really inspired or processing something in my life. It's a little bit more of a guided version of that process now. 

GW: From where do you take lyrical inspiration?

KB: Things that happen in my life and my subconscious. I think I'm so much more well spoken in song, so it's really cathartic to be able to express myself through my lyrics. 

GW: There’s a real jazz influence in your work – where does this come from?

KB: I've been asked this a lot and I don't really know the answer. One of my brothers was really into jazz for a while, so it was around early on, but I'm not sure that's it. I liked Regina Spektor when I was in middle school and I think her rhythmic phrasing influenced me a lot. When I put a band together, the players were all jazz musicians and I continued to find my sound with them. I'm kind of a sponge I guess in the way that I've picked up lots of different things from various times in my life and they've all led me to sound the way that I do now.  

GW: You’ve been compared to the likes of Feist and Maggie Rogers, but who would be your dream musical collaboration or support slot?

KB: That's very flattering — they're both amazing. Feist has been a big influence of mine since I was little, so that would be a dream come true. I would love to support someone like Jessica Pratt, Weyes Blood, Wilco, Loving, Dirty Projectors... I would also love to tour with someone like Dan Reeder, or... a far, far off dream of mine is to work with Taeko Onuki in some way. As much as I would love to support and tour with artists that are doing something similar to me, I think there's something to be said for a really eclectic bill too. 

GW: What was it like to support the likes of Faye Webster and Real Estate?

KB: It still hasn't really sunken in! I don't think it will for a while. I felt so lucky to be on both tours and see their shows every night. 

GW: Who are your biggest musical inspirations, and who are you listening to at the moment?

KB: Feist, The Extraordinaires, Gwen Stefani, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, early Of Montreal. Recently I've been listening to Françoise Hardy and Elyse Weinberg. 

GW: How did it feel to be sampled by Kanye (on 'Donda')?

KB: Also has not sunken in! I still can't believe that he's ever even heard my song. 

GW: Are you excited to come over to Europe and the UK on tour this year?

KB: Yes! It's always been a dream of mine to go to Europe and the UK, so I'm really looking forward to it. 

GW: What can we expect from you going forward – is there an album on the horizon?

KB: Yes, there is! I'm in the process of writing an album, which has no set end date at the moment, but I'll be very excited to share it when the time comes.

Look at it in the Light is out now. 

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More about: Kate Bollinger