ShockHound

Interview by Tom Lanham
 
A recording artist, so the saying goes, has their entire life to conceive a dazzling debut disc, but only a few harried months to come up with a suitably impressive follow-up. The corollary to this theory, of course, being the dreaded “sophomore slump,” wherein the artist’s rushed second album fails miserably and knocks them off the charts forever.
     Kate Nash, however, will not be going along with the program. The British folk-popper took her sweet time one-upping her brilliant ’08 bow Made Of Bricks with the effervescent new My Best Friend Is You. Nimbly produced by ex-Suede guitarist Bernard Butler (who also helmed Rockferry, Duffy’s retro-soul breakthrough), My Best Friend Is You ranges from ‘60s girl-group pop (“Do Wah Doo”) through experiments in punk (“I Just Love You More”), beatnik spoken-word (“Mansion Song”), and even deceptively chirpy rundowns of everything she loathes (“I Hate Seagulls”), the set is a rock-solid stunner, a truly inspired work that’s brimming with quirky melodies and snarky lyrical wordplay.  
        “I think there’s so much pressure on a performer making a second album, and I’m aware of that,” the 22 year-old Nash tells ShockHound. “But I ignored it as much as I could. And my label (Fiction) said ‘Take as much time as you need — the important thing is for you to be creative and happy, so do whatever you need to do.’ So because of that, I wrote an album almost accidentally. I didn’t even have to think, ‘Uh-oh — this is my second album.’ And I feel good about it, I feel confident.” She pauses, perhaps to cross her fingers or knock a little wood. “I’m nervous about the record, I’ll admit. But in all the right ways!”
 
SHOCKHOUND: You’ve been dating Ryan Jarman from the Cribs. I heard you were part of an all-star band at his brother Gary’s wedding in Portland, with Stephen Malkmus and Johnny Marr.
 
KATE NASH: Yes, I was. And I love Portland. Oh my God — that giant bookshop! And it’s just amazing to be in a place that feels like it’s supporting independent businesses and creativity and young people. Everywhere you go there, it feels so organic and wholesome, but without being annoying and horrible. The city genuinely cares about god things, I think, especially when it comes to food.
 
SHOCKHOUND: Has your diet changed?
 
NASH: My diet has actually changed. I’m a really annoying person now, one of those people I never thought I’d be. Because I’m allergic to wheat and dairy, and I’m a vegetarian. But my favorite food is still cheeseburgers, which is really bad. But I do feel healthier, and I don’t get any weird wheat/dairy infections, so that’s good, too.
 
SHOCKHOUND: In recent photos, you’re pictured with a giant lop-eared house rabbit. Is that yours?
 
NASH: Yeah! Her name is Fluffy, and Ryan got her for me for my birthday. And oh, my God, she is sooo cute. Fluffy’s like a little dog — she’s really friendly, and she’s got so much personality, it’s amazing. She does chew on the wires at home, but she was with me in the studio and she was really good; she just ran up and down the desk and even slept on it for ages. And she uses a litter tray. My sister is sitting her at the moment, but I’m gonna take her on tour with me. Fluffy won’t be able to fly to America, of course, but I’m gonna take her to Europe and all around the UK.
 
SHOCKHOUND: Ryan supposedly just moved from Leeds to London.
 
NASH: Yeah — we live together! We’ve got a really nice flat. There’s a basement and we have a studio set up downstairs. And it’s really nice to have your own space, your own place to chill out. We’re renting it now, but we’re in the middle of buying it, as well. And it’s also really nice to be around someone who can relate to your work and what you go through. You’ve got to be able to talk to your partner about what you’re doing, and it’s nice that we can give advice to each other. If anything is stressing me out, I can go, “I’m not sure about this — what do you think?” And you can tell each other these things and play each other new stuff.

SHOCKHOUND: Are you a stay-at-home couple?
 
NASH: I am not a fan of the red carpet. We don’t even have carpet in our home, actually — it’s all wood floors, which are really nice. But we’re all about staying in. I think when you [each] travel so much, you just wanna hang out together when you finally do get together, and you appreciate being able to just sit at home. And we have people over, as well, and that’s nice — you don’t have to worry about being in some annoying public place. It’s your own place, with only your friends around.
 


SHOCKHOUND: And Ryan introduced you to Bernard Butler, right?
 
NASH: Yes, and I love Bernard. Bernard is wicked! He’s such a non-bullshit guy — he’s funny, he’s down-to-earth, he’s a real person. And Ryan really encouraged me to meet him, and I’m so glad I did, because I really loved working with him and I think we made a good record together. The album works. It really works. And it’s such a big deal, making your second album, so you really need to pick the right person, somebody who understands you and what you do and what you want. And he really did, so I’m incredibly relieved.
 
SHOCKHOUND: Lyrically, you spend much of this record observing other women. And you don’t seem to like what you see.
 
NASH: Well, “Mansion Song” is the obvious one. And I think with that, I needed to cleanse myself of some kind of anger and aggression. I’m a very sensitive person, and I take everything really seriously. So I get really heartbroken when other people don’t feel the same. I feel like there are a lot of girls out there with low self-esteem that use sex as something to make themselves feel better, so a lot of girls pay the cost by just being seen as jokes. You can go and fuck around all you want. But it’s not gonna make you feel good about yourself.
 
SHOCKHOUND: It seems like “You Were So Far Away” might’ve been inspired by The Lovely Bones.
 
NASH: Well, it was inspired by a book, but not that book. It’s a book called Fiction by Japanese female authors, and there was one story called “Piss,” and it was about a prostitute and it’s pretty depressing. And there was one guy who used to come to her, a client, and all he wanted to do was see her piss, and he would drink her piss. So she felt safe around him, because she didn’t have to have sex with him or anything — that’s all he wanted from her. So the song was inspired by that story.
 
SHOCKHOUND: One of your most interesting qualities is that you’ll pretty much speak — or write — anything that’s on your mind.
 
NASH: Well, I guess I do. But I’ve never really had the brain that stops you from not protecting yourself — I’ve always had my heart on my sleeve, I’ve always been opinionated and told everybody how I feel. But I can’t think of any other way to live; you’ll never experience anything if you protect yourself all the time, you know? I think you should take risks and just…just speak.
 
SHOCKHOUND: And you easily put yourself in the mindset of other women.
 
NASH: Well, I like writing stories. And I don’t need to have experienced something to understand it, which is weird. But I think I’ve always felt like that; I’ve always been good at making things up and trying to have an understanding. It probably has a lot to do with the way my mom brought me up. She’s a very practical woman, and she’s a nurse who works in these insane situations. So she’s always been a very strong person, and growing up she always challenged us. We’d say, “Oh, this bit, blah, blah, blah,” and she’d say “Really? Why? Think about it for awhile.” She’d argue with us and make us non-biased about things. And when I’m writing, I think that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m not so good at it in real life — but when I’m writing, I’m much better.
 
SHOCKHOUND: Since your songs are so observational, how do you still observe people now that you’re so easily recognized?
 
NASH: I dunno. I don’t do the whole celebrity thing — I have no interest in it. And I think that if I did, I wouldn’t be able to write, because I wouldn’t have anything interesting to say. Because celebrity is such a dull life. But living normally, and having time off so I can really work and watch films and hang out with my friends and talk about their lives and have experiences in my own life — that’s the only way I can really write. I’ve always said that I wanted to be private and protect myself and never ruin my life by suddenly becoming this weird, famous person. It scares me, it freaks me out. So that’s gotta be my priority all the time, really — to just concentrate on music and writing, on the gigs and my live show. So even though I have to deal with it at some points because it’s a certain aspect of my job, I stay away from stardom in general. I don’t ever wanna become a part of it.
 
SHOCKHOUND: Well, you’ve certainly stayed busy. You helped form the Featured Artists Coalition with Billy Bragg and Dave Rowntree, worked with abused women at the Wish Centre, and took part in V-Day, to help end violence against women. Oh yeah — and you also play bass in a punk band, the Receeders!
 
NASH: Yeah! I love being in the Receeders. It’s a band with me and Brett Alaimo — he’s also a solo artist and the best singer around. We’ve been friends for a while, so I asked him to join my band, and he did. Then when we went on tour, he kept joking around about forming a band called the Receeders ‘cause he had a receding hairline. So I innocently asked, “Can I join?” And he said, “Okay…if you really have to.” So now it’s so much fun, ‘cause we’re three people who just really love each other and really get on and have a good time. And I have to admit — it’s just really fun to play bass in a punk band!

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