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Compilation CD

Kate Rowe

Kate Rowe
Picture copyright respected holders.

Interview With Kate Rowe By Chris 9/1/09

Kate Rowe is an amazing singer songwriter from Sydney
I discovered her music online and was hooked. Good interesting lyrics and solid songwriting and vocals.
Her debuit album Simplest Of Things is a must have.
So read and go buy her music folks, it's really good..

Kate Rowe webpage

1. Are you happy how the album turned out?

Yeah, I love the arrangements and the general sound. It was a lot of fun to record.

2. What was the inspiration for the album?

The idea was to make something that sounded fun and happy, and was suitable for all ages, but also contained songs you could really think about in depth.

3. what inspires you when writing music?

I'm intrigued by little details, and how something small and seemingly inconsequential can make a huge difference in someone's life, or represent some much larger thing. I also love fantasy and science fiction, and those two themes often end up finding their way into my subject matter.

4. How has radio helped with your music?

A number of radio stations have been really supportive. Sometimes they'll feature the album for a week, or ring you up to tell you they're featuring it on a program that night.

5. What is it like being an independent artist in Australia?

Sometimes it's like wading through treacle trying to organize gigs and stay motivated on your own. But I'm sure every independent artist out there will agree there are fantastic adventures to be had and truly golden moments: my favorites have included supporting the Kazakhstan Kowgerls in front of a full house at the very gorgeous Adventure Bay Hall on Bruny Island in Tassie (it has a stage shaped like a ship's prow, a ship's wheel and abalone shells covering the stage lights), and performing at the Blue Mountains Music Festival in NSW ... and meeting other songwriters, and getting out there and chatting to people in the audience who want to tell you their stories is always so interesting.

6. How did the recording of the album go? The album features John Stuart on lead guitar, Julia Day on drums and Andrew Ireland on double bass, as well as me on vocals and rhythm guitar. We spent 3 days playing all together in Sound Heaven studios in the Blue Mountains in NSW, kept the double bass and drum tracks, then re-did some of the guitars and the vocals. It was the best fun.

7. Have you been affected with venues hiring DJ's instead of live music?

Not really. I don't do heaps and heaps of gigs, and I guess I'm more of a theater restaurant/cabaret/festival-type act anyway, so it doesn't really affect me.

8. How did you get involved with the Apollo Bay Music Festival.?

I applied for the first time this year and am so excited to have been accepted ... I can't wait!!

9. What do you hope the album will do for your music career?

Basically it's just good to have these songs in concrete form. I just hope it provides entertainment for people.

10. What has been the response like to your music?

People seem to like that I write interesting lyrics, and that I tell unusual and funny stories in my songs. It's been a good response mostly, though a friend did confess recently that he would be happy to go the rest of his life without hearing 'Fred the Dog' ever again ... it tends to go round and round in your head after you've heard it a couple of times (look for the video on YouTube if that sounds appealing, it was filmed at the Casterton Kelpie Muster in South Australia!).

11. Who have you enjoyed playing with the most?

I love the Spooky Men's Chorale, and have supported them at a number of gigs ... it's always fun!

12. How did you get into music?

I studied piano as a kid for ten years, then took up guitar when I was 24 and started writing songs ... inspired greatly by The Waifs who were playing a lot in Sydney at the time. I started performing in Paris a few years later when I was working there as an English teacher.

13. What don't you like about the music industry?

Like I said above, it's challenging being an independent artist, especially financially, but rather than complaining, it's probably more useful in my case just to keep working on songwriting, and performing, and getting gigs, improving all of these things and slowly finding more and more like minds to play to and with. I could go into some long diatribe about the music industry but it would probably just be an excuse to avoid the work. :) What I DO like about it is the chance to experience new and exciting thoughts and ideas ... my own and those of other musicians and audience.