March 24th, 2009

Hi

Back from Georgia today. I was there for a week and it didn't feel long enough to dip into the past like that. It's incredible to witness a country change so much, the centre of the Tbilisi looks so amazing they're really starting to preserve the old architecture. There's so many shops and I was so shocked to shop in a small supermarket instead of the small booths that used to be privately owned, often by your neighbour.

My grandad's house is being rebuilt after it collapsed 6 months ago. It used to be on stilts and the next door neighbour was digging very low foundations, it happened to rain really heavily one night, and the land slid. Thankfully my grandma felt the earth tremor a minute before his house fell and she screamed up to him and he rushed down the stairs as the building behind him collapsed.

The most incredible album came out last week! Polly Scattergood's self titled album is my favorite so far this year. I've known her work for a long time and have been waiting for this record for ages!

When I was on the plane back to london I was listening to Emily Dickinson's poetry on my audio book and completely fell in love with this one:

I felt a funeral in my brain,
And mourners, to and fro,
Kept treading, treading, till it seemed
That sense was breaking through.
And when they all were seated,
A service like a drum
Kept beating, beating, till I thought
My mind was going numb.

And then I heard them lift a box,
And creak across my soul
With those same boots of lead,
Then space began to toll

As all the heavens were a bell,
And Being but an ear,
And I and silence some strange race,
Wrecked, solitary, here.

And then a plank in reason, broke,
And I dropped down and down--
And hit a world at every plunge,
And finished knowing--then--

Emily Dickinson


See you soon.

Katie x x x


December 2nd, 2008

Hi.

Well Christmas is here again and I got in the full swing of things by putting up my tree last weekend. It's the second year that I've got a real one and I love the whole process of getting the saw out and chopping half an inch off it, which sounds easier than it is especially when your saw is from 1855!

It feels quite strange to still be out in Europe on promo and not be doing any gigs. I do however have a very special gig next week. It's a small acoustic set at a charity event called AfricArt, organized by ASAP, a new charity raising funds and awareness for an orphanage in South Africa, which I'm very proud to be involved with. If you want to find out more about the event or the charity, visit their website:
www.asapcharity.org

I went to two wicked gigs last week when I had a couple days off in London. MGMT on Friday at Shepherd's Bush and Nick Cave on Saturday. I was blown away by MGMT, their songs make me so happy and you just have to dance when you hear them. Nick Cave was also amazing but I was standing and at the back and being quite short I only really saw his head, which is better than nothing I suppose.

Gonna go and deal with my Christmas cards now!

Bye,

Katie x


November 17th, 2008

Hi

What a manic couple of weeks! I can't believe I'm finally off the road. It was so sad doing the last gig in Nantes, I'm really gonna miss everyone from tour even if the last few weeks were filled with nearly everyone being sick including myself.

I can say this now cause it has passed, The O2 gig felt like such a triumph because I'm not kidding when I say I nearly cancelled the show. The morning of the gig I was puking up my steroids (which I was taking for my cold) and couldn't actually stand. Luckily I got better throughout the day and the show happened.

Since the tour it's been non-stop 'cause part of the Children In Need auction prize this year was to write a love song for someone. The lady that won the bid is called Dawn Gibbins and she wants the song to be about her and her husband. I've spoken lots to her about their story and its given me plenty of inspiration so check it out and see what you reckon. It'll be on the B side with "Toy Collection" and "Keep the Home Fires Burning."

I've never really written to such a specific idea before so I didn't know if it would work. The great thing was that Dawn had some fascinating things to tell me about her husband. He's trained in medieval english, writes poetry and used to read her parts of the Tempest by Shakespeare. I hope they like the song. Gonna play it to her tomorrow on Radio 2 at 8.40 in the morning. No pressure!

I've just discovered the most incredible book, Galway Kinnell's 'Book of Nightmares'. I've never read poetry like it.

love
Katie x

October 24th, 2008

Hi all

I wanted to write this blog to clear a few things up regarding an article that I was interviewed for recently. I don't want to sound ungrateful for what I do but I feel so sad and angry when what I say gets taken out of context and turns a perfectly nice and normal conversation with an interviewer into something more sinister. The issue is regarding my creative direction for the next album and Mike's involvement in it.

I know it is widely known that we both decided that, after our third album together, Mike would not produce or write for the next one. It is rare for an artist and a producer to work together so well for so long and we both feel that it is time for us to try something different - I will be writing more on my own or with other songwriters and Mike needs to be giving more time to the other artists on Dramatico. We haven't ruled out working together again in the future as producer and singer.

I suppose because of the success we have had as a team, journalists always want to find a negative slant to this creative decision. For this reason I hope that I have always made it clear that while he's not going to write and produce, he still will be involved as my manager and head of Dramatico Records. Two roles that I hope will continue long into the future.

I know better than anyone else the impact and influence he has had on my career both profesionally and creatively. I know that I would not be where I am if it wasn't for him. I have gotten annoyed in the past when a few forum members have laid into him. Don't you realise that you guys would probably not have ever heard of my music if he hadn't given me great songs like The Closest Thing To Crazy and Nine Million Bicycles to sing?

When I started I didn't know the ins and out of the the music business and perhaps took his great leap of faith in me for granted. But having worked with him for 5 years I now know that he has gone way above and beyond the role of a manager and record company boss in his dedication, risk taking and sheer hard work. I have never said this to him directly but he is the most hard working person I have ever met, I'd swear he sleeps with his Blackberry!

That is why it makes me sad when a conversation that is taken out of context makes me come across as ungrateful or in a hurry to move on from him. This is so far from the truth.

While I'm looking forward to the next record I am also scared because, without Mike, it will be a huge challenge. I know that he is irreplaceable, but after 3 wonderful albums we both feel that it is time that we tried something different. We have been a great team and I know we'll continue to be one.

I am so lucky to have a songwriter who has given me so many beautiful songs to sing and which are still a pleasure to perform every night. Also in five years I have yet to meet another artist who can say they work with the best manager and record company in the world.

I can.


August 15th, 2008

Have the last 7 days actually happened?

I'm sitting in a hotel room in Germany in middle of my summer tour with BBC World News telling me that my home country is being torn to pieces.
Throughout this week I haven't been able to stop watching the news. I've never seen it like this before, it's never made me feel so naked, isolated and angry. When there's a war it's always in some distant land and then they switch to the weather and sports. I nearly hit the TV with the remote control when it went to sports. While the conflict was going on in Georgia I couldn't believe that world around me was functioning normally, or that I was functioning normally. Especially doing these last two gigs, they have felt very weird. I've been removed from them yet have never felt so grateful and happy to be anywhere but on the stage.

The scariest day was last Monday when I couldn't get hold of anyone including my mother and brother who were originally out there on holiday.
When I spoke to mum last Friday she said everything would be fine and all seemed pretty normal on the streets of the seaside town where they were. But then my phone stopped working and I was hearing all these things on the news which petrified me about the conflict moving further in to Georgia and towards Tbilisi where my grandparents live. I finally got hold of them all on Tuesday and they said there had not been any fighting or violence in the capitol or anywhere apart from Gori.

With the Russians still being in Gori there are reports that they have stopped fighting but you don't need to be killing a country's people or its soldiers to paralyse it. You see, Gori is right in the middle of the only road that goes from west to east across Georgia. It's the road that my mum and brother need to travel on to catch their return flight out of Tbilisi.

It's also the road that I travel on every year to get from the capital to the sea towns. It's always such a great car journey, 6 hours of stunning countryside, with the landscape changing from desert-like hills to dark forests, stunning rivers then a mountain that you have to get over where there is usually a bus in front of you struggling slowly around the scary turns of the steep mountain. So for me the thought that this road is currently a danger and a menacing one is unbelievable.

My mum and brother have tried twice to make that journey back to the capital but every time they been turned back by Georgian police advising them that it's too risky. There are reports of people travelling the other way, getting as far as Gori and having their cars and all their goods stolen. I have also heard of a 25 year old girl who is missing. She was travelling with a group of people on that road, near Gori where they were ambushed. She was kidnapped and has not been seen since then.

One of the most frustrating things in the last few days has been trying to get a clear picture of the conflict. Yesterday, according to my family, Gori was still occupied, while at the same time I saw on the news that the Russians were leaving. Maybe it will take them a few days? Maybe they're blowing up un-detonated bombs before they go? Who knows. I would just like my country to get back its stability.

Georgia has always had shaky politics especially after the break up of the Soviet Union and the civil war that followed in the 90's. More recently things appeared to be getting better, the economy was growing, the major cities were starting to look cleaner, electricity black-outs like the ones when I lived there were almost unheard of. But after this last week everything seems uncertain again.

Sue my publicist has told me that she has been inundated with requests for me to talk about this in the media. What am I meant to say? It just doesn't feel right to put this on the same platform as when I'm talking about my music to journalists, with lights, make-up and all the ridiculousness of show business. I don't want to be some face that makes this conflict more personal for the average Britain, because they know some singer that comes from there that sings about bicycles. That's ridiculous! Conflict is conflict. It just so happens that this conflict is on my homeland, on my memories and where pretty much all of my family is right now.

10 days ago I felt secure, happy and looking forward to visiting Georgia for the summer holidays. Now I'm not sure what to feel. All I know is that once Georgia mends itself after another conflict in its recent history then I'll never take that feeling of safety for granted and neither should the millions of people that live in countries of peace.

Katie x