ME: this is a question I ask all the girls in London; how did you find it initially pushing yourself into the music scene here?
CATHY JAIN: Well initially my first song was played on local radio when I was just fifteen. I didn't write it with the intention to actually do anything with it and after that I had to travel into London for meetings and I would get asked if I have a lawyer, if I have this, if I have that. I was a child! It was definitely hard at first, but I'm finding it easier now.
M: I have to do a bit of social stalking for this job and saw you had a very purple aesthetic on insta. what drove you away from that?
CJ: *she laughs* When I started out with music it was more sort of lofi and then it went into this like teenage dream aesthetic which I wanted to be super purple and pink so I went with that kind of theme for a while, but now I'm out of it and my new music will be aligned with my aesthetic now.
M: do you believe aesthetic is important to an artist these days?
CJ: Yes, I do think so, especially for me, and especially in this day age where social media is the first thing we look at. I know a lot of people who are into the whole natural only thing but for me I think it's super important, it's just hard being a small artist because I want to go as far out with it as like Grimes for example.
M: You have a whole line up of festivals and shows coming up. How have you found those so far?
CJ: So fun! I haven't been able to do any for a while since I threw myself into my studies but it's been amazing. It's definitely different to your own stand off gigs, there's a bit more pressure and they're used by artists to network a lot, but the response from crowds at the moment has been amazing.
M: Which one are you most excited for that's coming up?
CJ: I think TRNSMT! It's my first proper Scottish festival and there are so many artists performing there that I can't wait to see live like ashnikko. It's so exciting!
M: You were on bbc introducing, you’re playing broadmasters, these are achievements so many small musicians would die to achieve, how has it felt to do so?
CJ: My first ever gig was actually at Latitude; which is crazy. I look back at some of these things and think about how much I'd change how I handled it or went about things; I was so young and things felt so rushed and not put together even though it all went so well. But now, with things like broadmasters coming up, I feel so much more prepared and because of that I feel even more excited.
M: You have almost 10k listeners a month which is crazy! How has it felt to reach so many people?
CJ: I try not to focus on numbers because they fluctuate so much, when something does well it's in the tens of thousands and when that dies down it goes to only a couple thousand, etc. But the idea that so many people are listening to things I'm creating and loving it just as much as me is so magical. Someone came up to me at a gig and they said they didn't know who I was but they had listened to one of my songs for such a long time and it was one of their favourites. That's such a unique experience and special feeling.
M: Can we look forward to any new music soon?
CJ: Yes, there's a lot coming. I'm not sure exactly when but something definitely this year; I've been working on a lot!
M: A lot of the covers of your releases are drawings and that kind of vibe. Do u draw them? Come up with them?
CJ: Well actually what I would do is take a picture of myself in a pose or something and send it off to my friend so she could draw an outline of it since she's a really good artist. But I don't think I'll be sticking to that for much longer, I think I've grown since then and my music is changing a bit.
M: I like to end on a fun one; if anyone could draw your covers who would it be?
CJ: Ooooh! I really love ancient Chinese art so I think a piece like that would be an absolute dream for an album cover.
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