The background to interviewing bands / singers whilst on Setting Sun can
often be hard and long and indeed sometimes labourous. I have
generally found sometimes that I may have been buying records
etc by the artists by the artist before I build up the guts to actually
ask them for a interview.
Others like Katja, a young German born but now London based singer songer
comes through a completely different way. I first saw and heard of Katja
when I went down to watch her at a free showcase at a free set of gigs
in Manchester called �In the City� with the plan to watch somebody else
and actually came away probably one of a fan of her music to the artist
I had actually planned to go down and watch.
Where perhaps Katja�s voice was not as smooth or could hit some of the
high notes like some of the other singers, I found in Katja�s songs a
kind of kooky charm almost and a roughness and rawness in it which
perhaps came through more because of her German accent, kept reminding
me more and more of Nico rather than anybody else and perhaps also a
little bit like my pal, Thrill Racer (who I have interviewed
else-where on my website).
Shortly after Katja�s gig finished, I approached her about doing an
interview and after looking at her website some time later, I
eventually approached her through e-mail and it all started from
there. She is currently based in London and is active playing on
the local scene round there at the moment and is (so I believe)
looking for a record deal around there at the moment.
Check out her website for more details in the moment�
Setting Sun: How are things and what's happening at
the moment?
Katja:
This week I have been invited to play at the Daily Mail Ski & Snowboard
show at Olympia by Carling Live. I have also played some local gigs,
made a guest appearance on a radio show and filmed a Sky Digital TV
promo.
I also busked and last week and somebody gave me some flowers and a
� 20 note! My lucky day!
Setting Sun: Now I've seen you play live in Manchester and
have also listened to your mp3s, but as I always say there are people
who clearly don't, so the benefit of those not in the know, can you
introduce yourself, tell us how things started and who fired the
starting pistol etc, etc?
Katja:
Well, I fired the starting pistol, ha, ha (laughs). I left my little village
Called Rengershausen in Germany 6 years ago with a rucksack and
My guitar and with the dream to hit the big time as a Solo Singer in
London.
I couldn't speak any English and started working in a Fruit and Vegetable
shop up in Kilburn/North London. I worked, wrote, practised guitar and
singing and learned my English off the Irish people who I met in the
local pubs.
My first recording was done in Kilburn Tube station with a tape recorder.
However, I needed money and the music didn't pay my rent so I decided
to get into Investments as a bi-lingual speaker. I temped fulltime through all
the major banks and wrote songs after work and at weekends. Most of the
time I took my Guitar to work in Canary Wharf and dashed off straight
after work still in my office skirt and high heels to the open mics.
Promoters got to know me and offered me 30 min. gigs at various venues
and that is how I got started. I invested all my hard earned money in a
demo and recorded it over the weekends. I read the Music Week directory
like the bible and asked anybody I met if they knew a good Manager for
me. I got approached from people who wanted to manage me.
But not the right ones! One evening at a gig, I was plugging away as
Always, somebody said to me "you are so keen and strong-minded I want
to help you, I think I know a guy who could be good for you". After
approx. 8 month I signed my first Management Deal!
Setting Sun: what music are you listening to at the moment
and what are your influences?
Katja:
I am listening to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and Claudia Muzio who
is one of the finest sopranos ever. My influences are definitely Nena
(Being German), U2 (My Irish friends' played it up & down till
I liked it too!) & Billy Joel, Aretha Franklin, David Bowie and of
course Melissa Etheridge.
Setting Sun: I know generally so far, you have been playing
gigs rather than recording (so far) but how does your gigs compare
to your work in the studio? Is there one you prefer over the other?
Katja:
I do like both. I love working in the Studio with a good Producer
and getting the right sound and good vocals down. I am a perfectionist.
It is a fantastic feeling to sit back and listen to your work. Performing is
better than a night with James Dean and a bottle of Champagne. The
audience gives me everything.
Setting Sun: Probably my favourite mp3 of yours on your
website is the track "Dead Man Walking?" What's the story behind
that track etc?
Katja:
It's a comparison of the similarities in people who take to drugs and
Terrorism that are seemingly unaware of manipulation by those
commercial and political forces, which control their lives, until they
self-destruct, and in doing so also destroy the lives of strangers and
those around and close to them.
Setting Sun: what plans do you have for the future -
i.e. touring / recording?
Katja:
I want to have my first single out next year and the Album end
of next year. Afterwards the tour.
Setting Sun: what has been your best / worst experiences
of been a solo singer songwriter / been in band? Been in a Band
myself I've had some fun tales to tell certainly so I could guess you
are the same?
Katja:
I don't have any fun tales regarding bands. I am just a hopeless with
bands. The guys are always broke or unreliable or writing their own
music or want to get paid.. It�s a never-ending story. That's why I don't
have a Band. I don't have the time at the moment to hang around, make
friends and then ask nicely if they want to join the band.
But this is the way it works. You must make friends first. I would
Love a band though... My best experience as singer/songwriter/guitarist
Is when people come up to me after a gig and tell me what they felt
or when promoters or people in the industry open doors for me after
my performance.
My worst experience is when I am not getting paid. You feel like you
are back at zero.
Setting Sun: which are your favourite songs so you have wrote
so far? How do you see your newer material developing?
Katja:
Don't look now, 2wrongs, Dead man Walking are singles. The other songs
Are all good but are more Album tracks. I have 5 new songs and I think all
of them are very, very strong. I am also co-writing with "big" people in the
Industry for other artists at the moment. I have some of my music on film
And also co-writing with an electronic music composer.
You need to use every avenue you can to make your songs heard.
Setting Sun: Have you been to any good gigs lately? What's the
Live scene down like in London nowadays?
Katja:
No, I haven't seen any good gigs. I�ve got a ticket for Muse/Wembley so
hopefully that will be good. The Live scene is alive and kicking but good
songs are missing.
Setting Sun: A couple of lighter questions to finish off with.
If you were not a rock and roll musician, what would be your dream job?
Katja:
I would be a professional painter - painting Landscapes.
Setting Sun: Lastly, something slightly lighter to finish off with...
(Nicked from a pal's Zine almost)"Imagine you were ship wrecked
on a desert Island and could have (Clearly second sight here - lol) the choice
of having 5 records or cds with you with a stereo of course. What would be
your desert island discs?"
