Debbie Kate

Another newbie to OOTB, Debbie has an amazing voice, and truly is a great songwriter. Her song ‘Pennies to the Ocean’ had Garrett sitting himself ‘on a sandy beach being warmed but the sun‘. After some confusion between me (mainly me) and Steve, we agreed that Debbie had an early Cerys Matthews vocal sound (and not a Kerry Katona sound). The self proclaimed ‘Edinburgh Virgin’ was much admired by the then relaxing Caro Bridges, who liked her to an organic Norah Jones/Ellie Golding. A really relaxed and professional appearance, and we look forward to hearing more in the future!

- Out Of The Bedroom

Roses Et Violins is a new monthly event at Captain’s Rest, showcasing the best in new Scottish music. As Valentine Day approaches, Roses Et Violins takes on the theme of love and passion with an all-acoustic, all-beautiful line up.
Playing this evening is Debbie Kate, female vocalist from Aerial’s Up but an also very much acclaimed solo artist. As Debbie prepares for her set tonight, I catch up with her in the green/beer room for a chat about her solo work.

Hello. You are, Debbie Morton, Debbie Kate?

Debbie Kate.

Sorry, the posters confused me.

I know me too!

So tell me about yourself?

I come from Dublin and I have been in Scotland for six years. I went to university in Stirling but always kept music close. I started writing songs at about 15 or 16 and started with open mic nights, then got on to bigger gigs. When I started uni I thought I need to get a career and get a life, but then I thought it’s just not the right thing for me, so I started writing – loads and loads of writing. I then moved down to Cornwall after uni, lots of cool music in Cornwall so thought I’d just go down there as well. I’ve met lots of incredible people since then that have helped me along the way.

You’ve played in a few bands now, how does playing in a band compare to playing acoustically as a solo artists like you are tonight?

To be honest, I played by myself a lot before I started in a band. It’s great playing with a group of people, really getting to know them. It’s a different ambience and a different comfort zone. They are two very different things, like playing in a band is amazing, but playing your own stuff is just more special – it’s scary like but it’s a good way of networking.

If you could choose between playing as a solo artist and playing in a band, what would it be?

I honestly love my band so much because we are all so close. I love the idea of being with a big group as supposed to being on your own. I like the balance, of having the band around me and not being the sole writer. I’m not sure how many other bands have the duo writer like us so that is nice.

You’ve clearly moved about and travelled, how much do you think place and where you are affects the type of songs you write?

Pretty big, yes pretty massive. Part of what I write now is about the places I’ve been and the people I’ve met and interact with – my boyfriend and my friends etc. It’s not just things are in my head, its things that the people around me have dropped in there that I write about. Where I am at the time really affects me, like I was a teenager in Ireland, and when I moved to Cornwall it was a surfer scene and was a different scene. If you’re smart enough to let the city you’re in into your music then that’s really good.

Is there one city in particular that’s had a huge influence on you?

Ehhhhh, dunno! I guess Dublin is where I take my influence. Dublin is where the open mic nights were held and where I started playing my music, I listened to music when I was really young that I now keep coming back to as a songwriter. Dublin has so many good bands that don’t even get a chance to get out of Ireland and get heard.

I’ve got your E.P here ‘I Sea’, talk me through the process of recording your EP.

Again it was when I moved house, I moved home for a few months to save money, so it’s got a few songs I wrote back home and a few from here. I played on my own for such a long time that the idea for the EP was to put songs down and get some people in. We didn’t really rehearse we just put down what we thought sounded well. The last song is keys, and I don’t even play keys it was just a good idea to experiment. It’s very full the EP, I’ve got a double bass and cello and some male backing vocals, it’s all the things I couldn’t do by myself. It was realised in October, a bit under the radar though as I joined Aerials Up a couple months before, but I’d really like to push it now. I really want to promote it now, as a lot of time and thought went in to it. My friend Paul put a lot in to the artwork and we hand printed and made them all ourselves.

Do you think more shows like this tonight will help promote the EP?

I hope that people will want to check out the EP after hearing me play live tonight. I’m not sure where I fit in with advertising; I’ve had a lot of playback already from Ally McCrae (BBC Introducing) and Jim Gellatly so I’m just hoping to get a few more listeners from it all. I think it can be nice to meet people too rather than just having a CD, put in the personal touch!

Do you think that by being in the very successful Aerials Up will help promote the EP?

I hope so; I always feel like I have a responsibility to the band, like when I’m playing with the band I put everything into the band. But because we are all so close and understand each other, it’s a really good thing to share all our music – we all do different things as well as play in the band and want to help rather than hinder each other.

With Aerial’s Up you played a lot of summer festivals, does playing a big festival compare with playing a smaller acoustic gig like you are tonight?

Playing festivals is great for so many reasons – you get new and bigger crowds, and you get to see the other bands that are playing. I do like the intimate gigs, it’s always really nice, but on the flip side playing a festival is so much fun and so crazy and you never know how it’s going to go because of random crowd banter.

It must have been a great feeling to play at T in the Park? What is the best band you’ve ever played with?

I love Admiral Fallow. They were one of the first bands that I fell in love with when I moved to Glasgow. When I first saw them I knew I’d be happy in Scotland with music like that. So yeah it was really good to share the stage with them. And then also we played with Paolo Nutini, which was really great.

If you could play with any artist in the world who would it be?

I’m totally obsessed with this girl called Gemma Hayes, she’s an Irish artist and she was really big about 2008. Or Laura Marling, they are my two big favourites. Laura Marling is so mature as a writer I think she’s just brilliant. If you could bring Joni Mitchell back to do one last big gig that would be it, you could kill me then and I’d be happy!

What is next for Debbie Kate after Roses Et Violins?

I’ve got a gig with The University of West Scotland on the 10th, I’m trying to get some Edinburgh gigs lined up too. I want to promote my EP more, and Aerials Up have got their EP coming out soon too and a wee tour. As a band, we want to go over to Ireland, I just think Ireland would totally dig our music; they’ve got the right mind frame for a band like us.

Thank you for speaking to us!

Susan Ford

‘I Sea’ is available now on Bandcamp: http://debbiekate.bandcamp.com

- Glasgow Podcart

As Debbie Kate takes to the stage, the majority of the crowd have yet to make their way in to the downstairs venue at Oran Mor. Still, the sixty or so who are inside find themselves captivated by Debbie’s voice. She strides through a set which includes tracks from her EP “I.Sea”, with ‘Coconut Dreams’ a particularly catchy number. With her endearingly tiny guitar, textbook mic technique and rich vocal delivery, Debbie carried out the often unforgiving task of capturing the attention of someone else’s crowd with admirable aplomb.

- Glasgow Music

Im going to cut right to the chase. Theres a big problem with this EP.

The problem with this EP is not that from the outset of Pennies In The Ocean, you will be left wondering how an acoustic guitar can sound so bright and sparkly.

Neither is it that every time you listen to it, you will fall in love again and again with the 25 year old Debbies dulcet tones.

No one (and certainly not me) could say that its track three. For these admitedly uncultured ears, Coconut Dreams is the standout on this soulful 5 track diamond. At this point, I tip my cap to whoever produced this; Ive met some misguided engineers who, for whatever godforsaken reason, dont like reverb, but these tracks are positively dripping with it... in fact the whole set has a very retro feel to it. It would be an insult to say its under produced, because in every song you can hear something unspectacular but very clever.

Tracks 4 and 5 are of a similar earthy quality, and in all honesty Im left wanting to hear more, so fingers crossed that this Emerald Isle chanter can keep on writing.

I digress.

Dear reader, the problem with this EP, is that its the wrong time of year... its got me in summer mode... and whilst stupid me wants to get my shorts on and head up to Kelvingrove Park with my frisbee, clever me knows that at 7pm in November, that would be a very fucking stupid thing to do.

Lift yourself from winter gloom and head to the Liquid Ship on the 16th of November to catch Debbie in action. Leave your Aviators at home.

- Glasgowmusic.co.uk

Debbie Kate has that cute thing going for her. She exudes a girlish charm and sings sweet songs that edge towards the forlorn in their subject matter. She's also a fine example of the performer audience divide thing - she wants to make you happy and after a couple of songs you want to make her happy too. That's the basis for a good relationship. - bluesbunny.com