Kat Saul - "I’d give my right arm for a tour right now. Shows charge me up."

American singer-songwriter, Kat Saul, is back with a bang with her intoxicating new single 'Monsters'.

All photos by Matt Blum

The 22-year-old singer has always thrived in music and in 'Monsters' we see Kat dive deep into her own paradox of confronting fears of the unknown within life. Speaking about the single, the artist said: "'Monsters' is about mental health and coming of age. I actually came up with the line “What’s been under my bed just moved into my head; I got monsters” in April of 2019." Fast forward to now and the alt-pop artist has bought us a single where we can cry, dance and headbang to it.

With hopping onto the music scene last year with the release of her debut EP '...From Unit 408' to working with industry heavyweights such as John Rausch and Evren Göknar; Kat Saul still has one hell of a future ahead of her.

Luckily Vibez Music was able to ask a couple of questions about her latest single 'Monsters', moving from Nashville to Los Angeles and what's on her bucket list.

First of all, how excited are you for everyone to hear your latest single 'Monsters'?

VERY. It’s long overdue.

What is the meaning behind your latest single, and how did the process go of creating it?

“Monsters” is about mental health and coming of age. I actually came up with the line “What’s been under my bed just moved into my head; I got monsters” in April of 2019. Every time I sat down to write it, I just felt empty. I think I hadn’t fully confronted my issues, so it was hard to find the right words.

Fast forward to March 2020, I’ve just moved to LA, I’m a bit lonely and isolated, and the city is expected to shut down due to COVID. At this point, I’ve been officially diagnosed with anxiety/depression and am in intensive therapy as well. Those lyrics I had written down (almost a year ago at that point) felt more genuine than it ever had. When I went into the room with both the Alex’s (Alex Koste and Alex Venegas), it was so easy to let that concept out finally. We were all immediately on the same page. Even though our fears didn’t look the same, we connected over what was going on in the world and wanting to turn back time. It flowed super easily. The vocals on the record are the demo vocals we recorded in Alex K’s closet that day. I finished out the production with my homie Max Weinik and it was mixed by JJ Corirossi a couple of months later.

Pandemic aside, growing up was pretty crazy. I hope people can timelessly connect to this, despite when it was written.

This is your first single, since 'I Love to Hate You', did you want to release music beforehand or do you feel like you were waiting for the right time?

I actually had a split with my management, in late February, and I had been planning for a March EP. At first glance, that seems like a bad thing, but it’s been awesome. I felt like I had the autonomy to really go in and redo the project- making it exactly what I wanted and not what other voices were telling me was “good”.

Then with COVID, I was hella isolated and used it as an opportunity to go all-in on what I needed to say. The songs I’m working on now are the songs I want to deliver. They mean something. I think I needed to go through all that change (cities, professional team, etc) and take my time to get there.

Recently, you've moved from Nashville to Los Angeles, was there a particular reason why you moved and how has it been since lockdown?

For a few reasons! I have lived in Nashville my whole life up until this point; I had seen the growth in a lot of my friends from going to colleges in different cities. I wanted to be inspired like that and challenge myself. Also, I write for other artists, and so many of my heroes live in LA. The odds of being in those sessions are exponentially higher if I’m here. Sadly, with COVID, there hasn’t been much of physically getting in the studio with anyone or networking- everything is online now. So that’s a huge bummer, but also cool because it’s been an opportunity to deep dive on my art. Can’t say it hasn’t been hella depressing being away from friends and family though.

Personally, what made you pursue music and what were your influences whilst growing up?

Well, for starters, I grew up in Nashville, so I was always singing and dancing. I knew songwriting was a real job because it’s Music City after all. I started writing songs when I was 13 after listening to demos in a middle school carpool with a friend’s dad who was an A&R. I just thought it was the coolest thing. It became an obsession and a bit of a safe haven. I won’t go into details, but I had a bit of a rough go of it growing up.

Music was my escape and my safe place. That’s still true today. When I got into music on my own (and not through my babysitter’s CDs) was when I first got a computer. Pandora was a big thing then, and the stations I had on queue were “Katy Perry Radio”, “M83 Radio” and “The Maine Radio”. I think my style is a big hodgepodge of those genres.

With music evolving so much, who would you say your favourite artist is right now?

Without a doubt, my favourite band for the past few years has been The 1975. Matty Healy makes music that sounds the way I feel. Also, anything Jack Antonoff has been a part of really does it for me (especially Bleachers and Lorde).

You've worked with the likes of John Rausch and Evren Göknar, but what has been your number one experience within the music industry?

It’s hard to say! Obviously, it’s always cool working with dope people, and I’m particularly proud of my cut with Loote right now, but I’d say every time I sit down to write, and REALLY write something genuine and meaningful, it becomes my new number one experience, no matter who it’s with. I’m chasing the art, not the clout.

Finally, what's the bucket list goal for you as an artist?

Would love to play a lil set at the Super Bowl, not like that’s a big deal or anything. Honestly, I just hope live shows come back and are safe again. I’d give my right arm for a tour right now. Shows charge me up.

Don't forget to check out Kat Saul latest single 'Monsters' here.