Wednesday 2 July 2014

Movin' On Up: Caitlyn Scarlett

This is the year that "Dub-Pop" reaches mainstream success with US listeners. One of the freshest voices to come out of the scene is Caitlyn Scarlett, an 18 year old from North London. With a killer set of pipes and infectious hooks, Caitlyn Scarlett demands that you keep her tracks on repeat all summer long. Her newest single "If you go" from her debut EP "Jurassic Jukebox & Other Drugs"  is a great jumping off point for this young talent. Ms. Scarlett made some time in her busy schedule to chat with with me this week. More after the jump.





IL: What age did you start singing and what age did you realize "Yeah,​ I am pretty good at this and I would like to do this for a living"? 

CS: Haha, I actually remember this. I was 5 and I grabbed one of the workers at my after school club, pulled them into a bathroom cubicle and made her listen to me sing Christina Aguilera. I was like “How cool is this!”

IL:  What did you listen to growing up and what are you listening to right now? 

CS:  Everything. Seriously - Duran Duran, Michael Jackson, Foo Fighters, Johnny Cash, Eminem. I’m still the same, if it’s good - I’ll jam to it. On my phone playlist, I currently have a lot of Drake, Nirvana, Childish Gambino and James Blake.

IL:  As an artist in the UK ​,​ what kind of challenges do you face when marketing yourself to American ​audiences? 

CS: Well, it’s hard because I love playing live gigs and I know there are a lot of lovely people in the US, who have taken to my music. It’s sometimes frustrating to be so far away. Meetings from US to UK have to be over phone and email, so I spend a lot of hours staring at a screen sometimes.



IL:  Will you be traveling across the pond at all for a US publicity tour? 

CS:  I am going to be in LA this July, and then hopefully New York later. I would definitely love to do a tour at some point... who knows.

IL:  Favorite US City? 

CS:  The only place I’ve been to in America is Florida... does Disney count? :)

IL:  What kind of sounds are you looking to next on future singles and EP's? 

CS:  Well, I really struggle to define my sound genre-wise. I’d say very bassy, full on... could get a little weird. 

IL: So ​,​ if you weren't singing​,​ what would you be doing? 

CS:  I think I’d be an archaeologist. Dinosaurs, mummies, ancient ruins, all that stuff gets my inner nerd very excited.

​IL:  "​Sunset Cigarette​"​ is a pretty stellar cut from your debut, whats the story behind it?





CS:  Thank you, that song is actually the closest to my heart. It’s written about a girl, which tends to shock a lot of people when they find that out. We had a very unusual and special bond, but it ended badly. When we were young, she gave me my first cigarette and that’s an experience you don’t really forget. Similarly to a cigarette, she was exciting at first, but ultimately very unhealthy.

IL:  Biggest pet peeve? 

CS: Slow walkers on the underground, please move!

IL:  Being relatively indie ​,​ do you find that you​'​r ​e​ walking on eggshells because people are watching your steps, or that your able to have artistic freedom? 

CS:  I’m actually very at ease about that sort of thing, I’ve always been obsessed with maintaining my freedom, writing my own music and being myself. If people are watching I’m very glad, but it doesn’t really affect what I create.

IL:  If you could work with anyone in the biz right now ​,​ why would it be James Blake? 

CS:  I think James Blake is ridiculously talented. I love the dark weirdness to his music. I think if the inside of my head had a sound to it, it would probably be one of his songs. I like to think we’d get on really well and make some banging music.

IL:  So ​,​ you already had great success and your singles are doing great on ​S​oundcloud.​ Did you see yourself getting this much buzz so quickly?



CS:  No, honestly. Surprised is an understatement. I was just finishing my last year of college when everything started to go a bit mad and life felt like a dream world. I’m so grateful, though. It’s really rewarding.

IL:  What producers are you working with right now? 

CS:  I’m continuing some work with Ayo Beatz because he is such a babe. There are a couple of pretty exciting names I’m collabing with soon but I don’t think I can mention them just yet, unfortunately... hehe sorry.


You can check out more of Caitlyn Scarlett here:



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