KATE WALSH INTERVIEW
24-year old Kate’s sudden success seems to have come from nowhere; her album was recorded in very non-commercial surroundings at the home of her producer Tim Bidwell, they even had to use velvet curtains as sound insulation. It’s hardly what many would expect from an album that has reached worldwide recognition.
There is nothing predictable about this gifted songwriter; her poetic songs about broken hearts and boys are conversational and simple. Kate has consciously cut off any outside distractions from the world. She didn’t own an iPod (until iTunes gave her one for reaching number one) and hasn’t switched her television on since last July.
Kate explains: “A lot of the time I just like to sit, or I’ll go for a walk along the beach. The songs tend to come when I have time alone to think.”
It would be fair to say that the album displays a level of maturity beyond Kate’s years. Maybe this can be explained from the heartache that Kate experienced when she was growing up in the tiny fishing village of Burnham-On-Crouch in Essex?
Kate explains: “People could be tough there. If you’re doing something different and you don’t quite fit in, they let you know. There’s always that group that rules the roost, and that want status and popularity whatever lengths they have to go to. That’s what ‘Talk of The Town’ is about; how if you put a foot wrong they condemn you for it.”
Surprisingly for many years Kate didn’t realise she could sing. Originally she wanted to compose music for other people and write film scores. But when she was accepted at the age of 18 by the London College of Music and Media in Ealing to study for a music degree, a random twist of events led her on to defer her entry to college when a friend expressed an interest to produce an album for her.
The rest is history and if the last few months are anything to go by it won’t be long before Kate becomes the talk of the town for all the right reasons.
See also
Kate Walsh Interview 2
Kate Walsh - How to get a hit album on iTunes
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