Artist Spotlight: Kate Stewart

Shot by @cosmo_webber

As a definitive music obsessive, from time to time you uncover an artist - and often a specific song of theirs - that takes your breath away. The type of song that, once you’ve finished listening to it, you just perch, still, in a state of mild wonderment; amazed by its sheer creativity, message and/or technical eminence. Kate Stewart’s Hate You is one of the songs.

It’s quite simply a stunning achievement. A beautifully monstrous anthem, the cut tackles masculinity and abuse, and celebrates self love and female empowerment. Accompanied by one of the best videos of the year, the song’s message is visually brought to life with direction from Jack Bowden and input from creative powerhouse Betsy Johnson. Powerful, intelligent, satirical and surreal, Kate and those around her have released one of this years’ hidden gems. 

I was graced with the opportunity to chat with Kate about the fabulous single, her flirtations with different musical styles, and what’s to come from her.

Who is influencing you musically?

I am massively influenced by all of the divas with massive vocals! Growing up I listened to Whitney Huston, Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Jazmine Sullivan, Mariah Carey. They were, and still are, my main influences. 

How have you musically and personally evolved since your 2018 EP 'In The Beginning”?

Musically I think I’ve come a long way. Even though I’m really proud of that project and I love the songs, it didn’t feel totally authentic to me. The music on ‘In The Beginning’ felt a little too soft and sad for the kind of person that I am. I’m very strong and I have a lot of energy and I don’t think that was coming though enough in that project. The new music I’m about to release, really feels like me, it’s totally natural and just feels right. Personally I’ve grown a lot as well, I think I put up with less shit, and I know now exactly what I want. 

You’ve flirted with a lot of styles in your career, how did the Shy FX collaboration come about?

I’ve known Shy for years. I’ve always been a massive fan of his work, he’s an icon when it comes to UK music, so when he reached out to work I was so hyped because I knew we were gonna make something genius together. He reached out, and it was a super chilled session, we spoke for ages and then started working and Badboy Business was the first session we ever did, and it turned out to be a banger! 

What other styles would you like to create within?

On this new project, I’m definitely moving into a more pop territory, which is definitely where I feel the most comfortable, alongside R&B. But there’s also a song on there which I’ve done with the Free Nationals that hints to a bit of reggae. I would also love to jump on a garage record one day, that is my 3rd favourite genre. 

Who would you love to collaborate with?

The list is endless! But I would love to collaborate with James Blake, SZA, Doja Cat, Pharrell, Dr Dre, Max Martin, Mark Ronson. They spring to mind but I would love to work with so many people. 

Absolutely love ‘Hate You’! How did the single come about and what was the recording process?

Thank you! I was in New York just before the world went into lockdown, and I was in the studio with Swagg R'Celious, who’s an incredible producer. He was playing me a bunch of music that he had made recently, and ‘Hate You’ was one of them. I became totally obsessed with it, and he told me no one was actually using the song and that I could record it. I write all of my music, everything I’ve ever released and everything on the EP is written by me and my incredible co-writers. So not writing ‘Hate You’ is definitely a testament to how much I love the song, because I really love to be involved in the writing process, but I really resonated with this song, and so happy that I got to put my voice on it. 

It’s such an interesting and empowering track - what are you trying to portray with this song?

I think I really related to this song, because everything that’s being said in the song, I’ve been there myself, I’ve felt those things when I’ve been in a relationship, and I think with the video it very much portrays a girl power type energy and I think that’s really important to talk about. 

Was the release date of Valentine's Day intentional? What is the meaning behind releasing such a track on a holiday of love?

Yeah, it was intentional. I just thought it was quite funny to release a song all about hating someone on the day that’s meant to be all about love. I’m not a very soppy person, and I think Valentine’s Day is a little bit of a silly day, so I thought I’ll put my own stamp on it, and release a song but shouts out the singletons. 

You worked with some huge names in the process of the song, how does it feel to be backed by such titans of the industry?

It feels amazing! I am a massive fan of all of the producers on this song, so to be backed by them is a blessing. I’m happy they loved my version of the song. 

The video is incredible, what’s the main idea you are trying to get across?

Thank you! I just wanted to portray that men sometimes don’t realise that they can make a woman feel extremely uncomfortable by going a little bit too far with the way that they act. I know there’s been so many situations in life unfortunately where a man has made a woman feel uncomfortable, and sometimes they don’t even know that they’re doing it. But at the end of the video I wanted to show women empowerment, because us women are very strong individuals, and we should always stick up for ourselves. 

How did you construct the narrative?

When I make a song, I always see the video so clearly in my head, and that’s how I know it’s a good song. So as soon as I recorded ‘Hate You’, I could see the video so clearly in my head. I saw lots of red, and lots of black, and an empty cabaret type club. I then saw a video of Jessica Rabbit singing “Why Don’t You Do Right” from the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and then my narrative became a lot clearer. I initially based it off of that clip. I then brought my idea to my creative director Betsy Johnson, who fleshed out the story and decided to take a darker approach which I loved. 

Why did you choose an empty bar to perform the song?

I thought it gave the video a really eerie effect. I think a woman would feel a lot more uncomfortable in an empty room with a few horrible men sitting around rather than a club full of people. I liked the fact you could focus on all of the characters individually and really delve deep into all of their stories separately. 

What does the facial masks on the men represent?

It basically just represents certain men being demonic and nasty. At first we were going to make the men look more like pigs, but we decided that they should look more like vampires, because at the end of the day, the way that some men act is extremely demonic, and horrible, and in the video this clearly states it on their face. 

What’s to come from you?

I have a few more singles coming out this year, and then I’m going to drop an EP. Hopefully I can do a lot more live shows, that would be the dream. But I’m very excited for people to hear this project, it’s some of my favourite music that I never made, and I can’t wait to share it.