Fresh off her first headline show in New York City, talented singer/songwriter Phoebe Katis has just released a new music video for her latest single “Never Be A Cool Girl”. She took an interesting approach in writing the song, compiling the lyrics first and then adding different homegrown percussion instruments to fill out the quirky groove.
As far as some insight into the meaning behind “Never Be A Cool Girl”, she had this to say, “I wanted to voice being over the facade of ‘playing it cool’ during the first stages of a relationship, be that romantic or just meeting people you vibe with.”
Phoebe recently moved from London to Brooklyn, more on that below. She flew to Los Angeles from New York in July to film the video. However, prior to the cross-country trip, the project was mapped out, with the storyline in place and potential locations already chosen. Her father is a director and it’s clear the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Katis’ new album Sweet Reunion is out now just having been released in July. You can follow along on Twitter or Instagram for more updates.
Phoebe Katis Interview
1) We saw that you recently moved from London to Brooklyn. Tell us a bit about how that came about and what it feels like to be an ex-pat in New York City.
It’s definitely been a bumpy last year and a half for everyone! March 2020 I was set to move to the States, & actually made it to LA for 14 hours, before heading home as everything unfolded. I moved out of London over the pandemic, & starting plotting my route back to the US. A window of opportunity came in February 2021 & I jumped at it. I had no idea what the NYC climate was like for working in the music industry post/still in a pandemic, what circles/opportunities might be open but I knew this was a good a time as any, so I made the jump.
It’s actually been a great time to find my feet in a new city whilst it’s been in hibernation, & without being crazy busy; now things are ramping up again I am ready for this new scene & exciting new chapter. Kinda feels like I’m back to leaving University & moving to a new city – new friends, new circles, new hustles, but with a wiser head on my shoulders for sure! I’m excited to see what unfolds, in NYC, also over in LA & Nashville where I try to spend a fair amount of time. I love all three places.
2) What was it like to do a full band show at the Bowery Electric recently, coming out of the restrictive environment we’ve all endured? Do you have more shows planned?
It was my first US headline show & such a joy to play to a new crowd in a new city. I had the best team behind me in terms of band & friends who came down to support; it was an awesome night! Definitely felt good to share this new music with people in person – the whole album was written remotely over 2020 & to see how the songs resonated with people in a live atmosphere was super special.
There’s nothing like it – I’m a stage baby, it’s where the magic is, and not being able to tour & perform was definitely a tough adjustment. But there were also pros to the big pause, & I’m grateful I was in a position to be able to lean into the time we had to learn new skills & write lots of music. The next show is on December 2nd at Rockwood which is definitely gonna be a lot of fun !!
3) Your single “Never Be A Cool Girl” is doing well on Spotify and you have a new video releasing today. What was the inspiration for the song, and how does the video connect with the song, as you seemingly play a variety of characters in the clip.
Woo! “Never Be A Cool Girl” is my go at blending Imogen Heap’s lush vocal arrangement & T Swift’s self-aware down-to-earth lyricism. I am so proud and excited for this track – I wrote and produced it entirely from vocals at first, having a lot of fun layering up different vocal rhythms & textures instead of using instruments; then I added homegrown bedroom pop percussion & groove to bring it into ‘today’s sound’.
I wanted to voice being over the façade of ‘playing it cool’ during the first stages of a relationship, be that romantic or just meeting people you vibe with. It’s something I’ve never been very good at and something that I’m almost always in my head about at some point. I blamed that on naivety and my early 20s but here I am at 28 and yep, I still feel that way, so it’s better to own it rather than shame it right?!
I am so pumped for the “Never Be A Cool Girl” video! My first fully self-produced & directed music video. I recently visited L.A. in July and stayed with a couple of very talented friends, one of whom is Pasha Riger – the man behind the camera. I’ve always loved constructing visual ideas for songs. I guess that partly comes down to my genes – my Dad is a director & passed on that passion for sure.
Prior to the trip I mapped out the storyline, shot list, & potential locations. I had the idea of playing with the ‘voices’ we often have in our heads that make us doubt ourselves, & seem to judge or fall out with other parts of our personality (the ‘play it cool’ voice is for sure one of them!). I’m always battling ‘versions’ of myself inside my own head, & it was a lot of fun to see that narrative take shape to the song that for me is all about throwing those social anxieties to the wind & being true to yourself, however many of you there are.
We then gave ourselves just two days to shoot, edit, and finish the video. It was a crazy fun, slightly haphazard but always creative & spontaneous experience! Pasha & Grace, an amazing sax-singer artist friend who helped out on the shoot, were just awesome. We even last minute piled into a friend of mine’s apartment because it was so gorgeous & picturesque, so I wrote a new scene for part of the song on the fly and we got it done! We’re hoping to shoot some more videos in the future.
4) What are some of your favorite artists, current or from the past? The title track from your album ‘Sweet Reunion’ harkens back to a cool 80’s funk/pop vibe, where did come from?
Ooh, always a tough question to not give a 2-page answer to. As I mentioned above Imogen Heap has always been a huge inspiration & particularly more so on this album with the way I wrote & produced a bunch of the tracks vocally speaking. My go-to references for a lot of my music include Emily King, Lake Street Dive, Kimbra, 1975, more recently Remi Wolf.
I grew up listening to Carole King, Alicia Keys, Eva Cassidy, Aretha Franklin, & a bunch more influences but those gals were my go-to instrumental vocalist idols. As far as Sweet Reunion & a more focused reference – my friend Seth Tackaberry sent me through that track that he built a while back & I wrote the top line (melody & lyrics). I listened to Bill Withers’ album ‘Bout Love on repeat over 2020 and I definitely hear a lot of that album in the production & vocals. Prince was also on firm repeat. Chaka Khan, Isley Brothers, the list goes on & on!
5) Finally what would you like your fans to learn about you that they probably don’t yet know.
Good question! I feel like this is not an unknown fact but – I’m for sure planning on writing a musical at some point. Musical Theatre is a huge part of my background and something that I keep going back to for the sheer joy of singing & to find inspiration. A few ideas have been rolling around for a while and who knows… maybe my next project will be in MT form! Some food-related trivia… I have an ongoing pretty substantial addiction to Marmite… if you know – you know.
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