CATTY is Healing Out of Spite and getting what she deserves

Healing is hard. Healing while also making some serious pop bangers? That's even harder. But if there's one thing about rising indie-pop darling CATTY...she loves a challenge.

Today sees the out-and-proud firebrand - who hails from North Wales - release her debut solo EP, Healing Out Of Spite, a collection of songs that chart CATTY's journey from an intense break-up (who hasn't had a Vegas wedding cancelled at the last minute? No? Just us?) and the hard-won work of making your way back to yourself. 

As such, the EP is filled to the brim with kinetic moments of unbridled rage (the acidic pop-punk rager I Wish I Gave You Hell), ominous goth-pop (I Dated A Monster) and, finally, acceptance (the shimmering title track, filled with shades of Carly Rae Jepsen meeting MUNA at a lesbian bar). 

But this is not the end, this is merely the beginning of something. Meeting up with CATTY in London in the last days of the dying summer sun, we have a wide-reaching conversation about the limitations imposed on her as an independent pop artist working to make ends meet, her place in the music industry as an out and proud queer woman and what it takes to heal...out of spite.

"Everything does happen for a reason," CATTY says. "Some of those reasons are f*cking embarrassing... canceled Vegas wedding? Embarrassing! Being dropped by a major? Embarrassing! But I wrote the best music of my life about it.

Hello CATTY, or should we say, shw mae! How are we feeling?

Hello baby! I am so happy to be here with you. 

Your debut solo EP Healing Out Of Spite is out now. It's been a long time coming!

It's been such a long time coming! But that's me trying to gather the funds, because no-one else would give it to me...sorry about that. I am 27. Some nepotism would help!

For the last year, you've been riding the crest of a wave that's about to break - this has been in the works for 2 years, how does it feel?

It feels great! This is the music I was always supposed to be making and it feels like everything that's happened in my life has lead up to this debut EP. I have lived kind of a silly life to make it happen...but this just means everything that has happened has paid off! 

The title track is that rare pop song with a brand new perspective on the fallout of a relationship, how did you come up with it?

I wrote it with Barney [producer Barnes Noble) and Dani [Sylvia], my absolute dream team. I was in the car with Danni and I was talking about the music industry; how I feel like I'm good enough to do this, but nobody else does. It was so frustrating, but I knew I had to do it by myself. I will f*cking die trying. 

The song is about that; relationships, the music industry...I am healing, but I am doing it purely out of spite. I want everyone who ever said 'she's not good enough' [to eat their words].

You signed a record deal when you were still a teenager as a member of the band, Dusky Grey, but you've started your solo career in your 20s entirely independent. How has that experience been?

I genuinely think if I'd made it between the ages of 18 - 25, it would have been a nightmare. I didn't have the confidence to be who I was until then. Listen, women get better with age but the music industry [idolises youth]. I have really come into myself, and this EP is genuinely just an extension of me. 

Because I'm doing this independently, if I do sign [a record deal] then that means they're signing me for who I am, and they're not going to change me. I've already been dropped. I've already done the hard work!

You are an unapologetically lesbian pop star, making unapologetically queer pop music in 2024, too

It is honestly just second nature to me. I'm just writing about my life, the same as any straight artist would. My music is gay because I'm gay. Especially now when we're in the middle of a lesbian renaissance, it feels like my music's doing what it needs to do at the right time.

I've had these songs for years, and no-one's given a shit because nobody has made it as a lesbian pop star before me.

I'm so sorry we failed you, Hayley Kiyoko

Sorry, Hayley! But genuinely, it was slim pickings. There were so little out, lesbian artists and now we're seeing this huge influx of them. That's only a good thing for me. I am so proud to be a lesbian. I feel like I talk about it all the time, but I'm just talking about my life!

I feel like everyone [in the industry] tries to pit artists against each other, but all the other gay women making pop music are my friends; NXDIA, Cat Burns, Beth McCarthy, we're all kii-kii'ing at the pub. There's no competition there at all.

This entire EP is also based around your Vegas wedding, which was cancelled when that relationship ended. Very sad for you but also...iconic, in a way

So much of this EP is me saying the things I wish I'd said at the time. I handled it with grace. A bit too much grace! I wish I'd had a bit more of a backbone, that's what I Wish I Gave You Hell and Actress are about.

But honestly? If everything that happened happened again...I would handle it the same way. But I would say "what you did was terrible...but good luck babe. Good luck, babe! You have to live with you. Luckily, I don't."

We need to get you engaged again for a second EP, right?

The problem is, I've had the best year of my life. Not just professionally but personally too. What do I write about now?! Maybe I'll take submissions.

One of the most special things about your artist project is the fan base you've managed to cultivate - they are so passionate and engaged, and made up of mostly other queer women too

That's my coven. That's literally my coven. I ride for them. I feel so lucky to have them, and they are so respectful, they know what my boundaries are. They are just great people. 

You literally made headlines up and down the country this summer when you got to support Stevie Nicks at BST Hyde Park - you even made BBC Wales!

Do you think Derek the Weatherman knows who I am? That was so funny, because every headline was like "Waitress sells herself like a dog..." but I literally said that to press. It came out of my own mouth! 

I was actually rejected three times, but each time I was like...no. No! She's been my hero for 13 years, I have always seen myself in Stevie Nicks. Even my manager, we've done a lot of things that have probably been a reach...but we both knew. I was going to get it. I had to get it. I voicenoted the booking agent for BST Hyde Park and finally booked it. I knew!

You're already writing new music - what can we expect?

I will always do some form of pop-rock. I am such a pop songwriter, so pop driven, but I've always loved rock all my life. This EP was always going to be more rock influenced just because it was so angry...but next time, we're going to up the theatrics. Hopefully make some visuals and really step it up.

How would you describe CATTY, the artist, in three words?

That's such a good question. Trying. Her. Best.

CATTY's debut solo EP Healing Out Of Spite is out now. She plays Lafayette November 4.