"Kat Jones"
Interview
Date Published - 6/3/2008
Date Edited - unedited
Interview by: Daryl Green
Kat Jones is a singer/guitar player residing in Nashville, TN. Her songwriting brings us haunting melodies along with maturity in her lyrics and music.
Indie/Rock/Folk
Date Published: 6/3/2008
Edited: unedited
Interviewed By: Daryl Green
NSM
Let’s get to know more about you. What do you do for fun outside of music, what do you do for a living, hobbies, etc?
Kat- Outside of music I spend time with friends, drink wine, write fiction and non-fiction, eat chocolate, cook good food, eat good food, craft and sew, listen to “This American Life” and “Sound Opinions” on my I-pod, and sleep. For work right now I'm doing banquet serving. I owe some money to my manager and am trying to pay him back ASAP (incredibly hard work for lots of money). :-)
NSM
Can you elaborate on your move from California to Nashville?
Kat- Yeah, it's kind of weird. I had a boyfriend in town and moved here to hang out with him. And yes, I said, "had". We broke up - but are still good friends and I have other close friends in town - so for now I have decided to stay because I have a lot of emotional support here. Which I need in order to feel whole.
NSM
You took guitar lessons in 1996, had you ever played the guitar before or was it completely new to you?
Kat- You are not joking about some serious research here. It was completely new to me. I was working in a recording studio at the time and figured I needed to learn theory in order to move forward as an audio engineer and producer. Shortly after that I found out that I NEEDED to make music and so I started performing and gave up the producing side.
NSM
What inspired you to be a musician? More specifically, what inspired you to write and to play the guitar?
Kat- As it turns out - I don't think I can do anything else. Singing and songwriting is in my blood and it's been that way since I was very, very young. Guitar began to pair all of it together and give me a deep outlet to process emotional turmoil.
NSM
I know you say that singing and songwriting has been in your blood since you were young, but were you aware that you were actually good at it before the engineer/producing experience?
Kat- I wasn't aware that I might be good at it until the label I'm on contacted me to be honest... however... I can't do anything else. it's just in me. I don't know how else to describe it.
NSM
Where do you find your inspiration for your songwriting?
Kat- I think most of my inspiration comes from life experience. I see people hurting or I hurt myself and I write as a way of processing it and working the situation out with my hands. I have just started to try to figure out how to process good things as well... but I think it's because those good things often present deep problems and I am trying to process through the package of life.
NSM
What kind of environment do you find brings out the best in your creativity when it comes to writing?
Kat- A quiet home where no one is listening. I am very, very distracted by people around me. I don't know if I've ever written a song while I have been aware of bodies which are awake in the building. Solitude appears to be my greatest inspiration.
NSM
You interned at Wolf Sound Audio Engineering. Your MySpace page mentions you sitting in while musicians were recording. Can you elaborate on this experience and what you learned?
Kat- That was an amazing experience. Peter Wolf (the owner and engineer/ producer) allowed me to sit for hours on end and watch him. But an interesting thing happened... I paid much less attention to what he was doing than to the bands and the way they related to the music and each other. I have books and books of notes on various artists. So I think that Wolfsound had a profound conscious and subconscious effect on me as an artist. I think that I learned a lot of mistakes that musicians make by watching them and I learned how to really hear music - what made a great song and why a lot of music just wasn't very good. What stripped it of its value for other people.
NSM
Shortly after this you performed for the first time in front of 500 people. What was this experience like?
Kat- Absolutely nerve wracking. I do not know how I got through that period at all. I remember shaking and my voice quivering. But I had no idea that I would still be performing 12 years later.
NSM
How would you compare that experience to your performances now?
Kat- I am a much more complete songwriter now. Not to say that I know what I'm doing but rather to say that I can put more of myself into the songs and create more of a story-scape and get my point across better - meander around my ideas less.
NSM
What has been your most memorable moment while touring or performing?
Kat- You know, last year, on a pretty profound anniversary for me, I had a show in my hometown and played a pretty emotional set for me. That one goes up there. The things I remember most clearly were all pretty traumatizing to be honest... like 5 years ago, getting a flat tire in North Carolina and having to apologize profusely for yelling at my guitar player for getting the flat while obeying my stupid instructions and then the same night having a bat fly around on stage while I was sound checking. We played our hearts out and then found out that all the students in the room had a final the next day and that they were being forced by their school to come and see us play (I have no idea why anyone thought that would be a good idea). They couldn't wait to leave and we were all pretty bummed about it. That one probably goes down as the worst show/ day on tour of all time. :-)
NSM
Do you perform with the same musicians or are they different every time?
Kat- Not different every time but rather... often different. :-)
NSM
Name a few of your musical influences as well as why, and how these people have an effect on you and your music.
Kat- Andy Yorke from Unbelievable Truth has had a pretty profound effect on my singing voice and the way that I approach a song.
Madeline L'Engle has led me through how to approach art as a whole in a very deep way.
Fresno, CA has provided a lot of encouragement and a ground by which I can really experiment with sound and various approaches to music. So did Edinburgh, Scotland. Those guys were always routing me on to take big risks.
NSM
Where do you expect to be in 5 years?
Kat- Holy mother I have no idea how to answer this question. I have found that when I grab an expectation for myself that something insane happens to blow me off that course but 5 years from now I hope that I am touring more on an international level and have a few new releases out. Geographically: I have no bloody idea.
NSM
Is there anything you would like to say to the people reading this interview?
Kat- Don't give up. You have no idea what's in store.
Kat Jones Website
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