Introducing Caitlyn Scarlett
On a rainy night in a pub near King's Cross Caitlyn Scarlett takes us through her career so far, talks of her undying love for Kate Bush and how her latest single 'Drama' featuring Mae Muller and Ms. Banks came about.
Photos by Fikayo Adebajo
If a person's success is measured by their list of accolades, then Caitlyn Scarlett is doing pretty damn well. She has half a million monthly streams despite being an unsigned artist, has broken the Shazam record for 'Most Shazammed Song in 24 hours', was poached by Rihanna's team to write for her albums two years in a row, and her latest release is a huge female-power anthem with Ms. Banks and Mae Muller. All of this before the age of twenty four.
I first heard her name about a year ago. Having had become slightly obsessed with a BBC drama called 'Clique', it's erratic, pop-py, hook-y theme tune soon became a catalyst for excitement and suspense week after week once the titles started to roll. "That was just a writing job to begin with. I got told that the same people who did Skins were doing a new show and asked whether I was interested in writing the theme tune. I then got sent the backing track from Segal, (who made the original Skins theme song) which was very cool. When the show was about to come out they had all these teaser clips playing on TV with 'Nightmares' playing in the background. of the trailer". The trailer was seen by millions and so many people tweeted the BBC asking about the song that Caitlyn's team ended up releasing it on it's own. "I went to a Christmas party thrown by that television company and they told me that in the run up to the show they got more tweets asking about the song than they did about the series!"
We go to a nearby pub to escape the hustle and bustle of Friday night Paddington. Having recently given up alcohol for the Christmas period, Caitlyn orders a glass of Fanta and I get myself a guilt-drenched pint... a VERY rock and roll start to the night. "A lot of people may not know that as well as being an artist I am predominantly a writer so I do a lot of jobs for various people and projects... song writing an musical composition." Between sips I try to wrap my head around the idea of spending a chunk of time putting your soul into a song and then simply giving it away to someone else. It seems too difficult to fathom but when questioned Caitlyn explains it with total clarity. "You see, I never stop writing. Being involved in different projects for different people allows me to have so many creative outlets rather than having to make one specific genre all the time. I can make stuff that I would never release myself but am super interested in and want to try out. I'm really happy being behind the scenes on some stuff as well. In regards to choosing what to keep and give away to others, I think it reveals itself pretty quickly. It's a natural process."
"I'm published but not signed. When I have to explain it to family members at Christmas I say "Just imagine that my pen is signed but my face isn't." So I'm published as a writer so that serves me one way but myself as an artist, I'm a free agent. "
When discussing genres and trying to label her sound Caitlyn shares some wisdom. "People get really stressed out about not being able to pigeon hole artists which I don't get. I don't think its necessary. I am so happy that we are finally moving into a genre-less era. With artists like Lil Nas X and Billie Eilish leading the way, they just make the music they want to make and it needs no definition. There's very little left to invent so fusion is becoming the new way and finally we can stop arguing about what something is and just discuss whether it's good or not."
Where does your musical inspiration come from?
I grew up with a real mix of stuff. I feel really lucky for that upbringing. Mum introduced me to the strong female artists like Kate Bush and Erykah Badu and then my grandad started my vinyl collection for me when I was a kid. His house was just a museum of music and had four stories of vinyls so I thank him for a real comprehensive musical education of the past. Then my brother and I would fight over CDs we got for Christmas like early Tyler the Creator, The Gorillaz etc.. and Dad loves the 80's. We go and see a different 80's band every year in December. So far we've had Spandeau Ballet, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Soft Cell, Human League... so there's a bit of all of that.
Tell us about how 'Drama' came together.
It started out as a writing gig for me... at least thats what I thought it was... I've been a fan of Ms. Banks since 'The Coldest Winter Ever' came out. I wrote the chorus for 'Drama' - it's one of those songs that's super simple and hook-y but also lyrically leaves a lot of doors open and has a little bit of sass to it, you know? Well then in the evening she came along, loved the chorus, wrote her first verse and then turned to me and asked whether I wanted to hop in the booth and do my verse, "Yeah we're collaborating!" I was like "... We are?!" Mind-blown. So then I wrote my verse and we had the track sitting in the inbox for a couple of months, unsure where it was going to be released and a bit in limbo. Soon after Mae's label heard it and saw something in it, so were eager to jump on board. We were more than happy and thought it was the perfect atmosphere for a girl power moment and then yeah, the rest is history.. and I found two great friends.
On writing for Rihanna...
Rock Nation requested me personally, (I have no idea how they found me) for the Rihanna camp so did that two years in a row. They like to find up and coming interesting people to work with and squeeze them for the nectar, do you know what I mean? The reason these albums come out so well is that they take a squeeze of individuality and mix it in with another squeeze of the tried & tested formula and then they get that magic. There was one night where along our hallway we had Partynextdoor, me, Skrillex, James Fauntleroy and Shakka. We were all writing for that album. (This was when Caitlyn was twenty-one...)
On breaking the Shazam record for the 'Most Shazammed Song in 24 hours'...
That was pretty cool. All thanks to being on Love Island! It got Shazammed like 50,000 times in that day and as a result it also charted at like number 2 in the club chart, so that's like a nice thing to tell aunties and uncles at Christmas dinner you know? They understand that.
On her dream artist to work with...
I can never meet Kate Bush. She is so perfect to me that I can't get close or I just will get burnt. Lady Gaga is my favourite pop star and I would absolutely kill to work with her. Since the day she came out I've been a huge fan. I think she's probably the only person that I STAN.
On who she is listing to at the moment...
There's someone called Moses Sumney who's like a sort-of "black Radiohead", like a Nina Simone vibe and a Radiohead vibe in one. He is SO cool. I'm also loving Ashnikko who's blowing up at the moment. She's a friend and I'm just having a great time watching her rise up to fame and getting everything she deserves.
What's next up for Caitlyn Scarlett in 2020?
I have a project on the way out that isn't a Red Tape... most people are expecting another Red Tape but it's not, it's a collaboration with one of my favourite people in the world. It's all in the works and can't really say anything more than that but I am so, so excited.
Who do you listen to on your Last Bus home?
I could lie but I'm not going to... honestly I listen to me! When you're drunk or whatever and you've written something... most of the time I have a new song of mine in a folder from the last week or so... and you put your headphones in and you listen to your new music & it just hits a bit different. It's like you're in your own movie. I also think it's a good way to judge new music because that's how a lot of people are going to end up hearing it. They hear it magnified that way, they're listening to it emotionally. Because I wrote it I tend to listen to it a bit too analytically sometimes so when I'm drunk I get to step back and look at the whole sunset rather than pinpointing the tiny edges of the cloud that I usually focus on. So yeah, I'm not going to lie I listen to me when I'm fucked and it feels good. You gotta make the music you want to hear otherwise what are you doing?
Caitlyn is clearly well on her way to becoming the next big thing, so jump onboard before we can say "we told you so"...
Photos by the ever-talented Fikayo Adebajo
