Claudia Kate is very much what you might call, a girls-girl. In her professional career so far, she’s already been likened to artists such as Kate Nash and Wolf Alice, and her song BIG TALK, Little Girl gained large popularity in 2022 when she was just 23, talking about the political environment around the time and life growing up as a young woman in that environment. If you want real, raw, honest songwriting, Claudia gives you just that. But, she has more than just the experience as an artist herself as she’s also a merch seller for a popular British band, and a guitar teacher to the younger generation of musicians, and has recently been on her first tour supporting a band she grew up listening to. She shares insights into the reality of the cost of touring as a supporting independent upcoming artist, life on the road as a merch seller with the Hoosiers, and the special connections that music has within her family. Don’t be surprised if by the end of this, you find yourself part of the ‘Claudia Kate Cult’ too.

First of all, could you introduce yourself, giving an explanation of what you do.

Yes, I'm Claudia Kate, and I'm an artist, songwriter, performer, and I'm very passionate about women's rights, very politically driven in my music, and I write songs from the heart, I guess. Very honest songs. I also now teach music as well, so everything musical.

How did your journey into music start?

I guess from a young age, I was very musical. My Nanny is a pianist and she always had the whole family singing, performing, always, and I'm the youngest in my whole family, so I was actually quite shy as a kid. I don’t think anyone really believes me when I say that! I was really good at English at school, and that was kind of the only subject I was good at, and then I'd been having piano lessons since I was around six years old, but it was so boring. I then discovered guitar and chords and would accompany myself and sing, so then I had singing lessons, and when it got to going to uni, I was going to study English, but in the end didn’t feel like it felt right, so I went and did songwriting, which is when I kind of decided that I'd just do this then. So I was 18 when I properly committed to music, and I've not really looked back since.

Where was it that you went to uni for the songwriting?

I went to ACM in Guildford, Academy of Contemporary Music.

Did you find that that course was helpful and beneficial for where you wanted to go with your music?

I don't know, I mean it's probably not for everyone. I think you really need to want to do it because it's still about seven grand a year, so you're still spending all that money, and I think some people just went because it's something to do. But I did learn a lot about songwriting, and I, most importantly probably, met people that I'm still friends with that are in the industry now. So it definitely taught me more life skills and a bit of the business side of music, so I think it was worth it, but I wouldn't say to everyone that you have to go do that, because I think I could have easily have learned these things not going to Uni.

When it comes to your music, you’ve already said you’re very passionate about women's rights, and your songs do carry themes of the political environment. Where do you feel your influences or inspirations in music came from growing up? Who were your main influences?

I grew up kind of on my parents CD's in the car. It was the only way I was consuming music. I was about 12, I'd say, so that was a lot of, like, the Beatles, Queen, a lot of Brit rock, Brit pop, and I think those are very honest songs. I don't think they really steered away from any topics, especially, like, the Beatles obviously got very political at times, but in terms of female artists, probably The Corrs, a bit more folky stuff, and then when I was a bit older, I discovered Lily Allen, and that, like, broke my brain. I was in awe because she just sang just saying it how it is, and I remember I had my little mp3 player, it was this big, pink thing, and every Christmas, I'd ask for the newest Lily Allen CD. Looking back, I didn't understand what half the words meant really, but I've just connected on a deep level to her songs. Taylor Swift I think raised me as well, I remember when she took her music off of Spotify I was heartbroken and begged my parents to buy me CDs, she’s definitely the reason I play guitar. From there I made friends with some cool girls at school, who I'm still friends with, and they introduced me to the likes of Wolf Alice, and Kate Nash, and they kind of opened the doors for me in terms of what was more current then, and then I got into indie. I mostly listened to female artists from then on and heavily pulled from that honesty of the female experience and couldn’t wait to start making my own music.

You’ve previously been likened to Kate Nash and Wolf Alice, so that must be quite something for you to hear, being inspirations of yours. It’s clear you’ve been influenced by them through your sound and way of songwriting.

Yeah, especially when I was at uni, I think I really was down that Kate Nash rabbit hole. Obviously I do have a southern accent, but I was really singing in the strong English accent, as I think now I have softened it a bit more. It's kind of easier to sing in an American accent, but I used to accentuate things like when she says “I am so bitter” in her song Foundations, that was me. I think as I’ve matured my voice has too and I’ve drawn so many influences from different places I have more of my own sound now. But I will always love Kate Nash, I just think she’s so cool.

Claudia Kate, UNMUTED, 2026 © Alia Thomas | www.aliathomas.com | Please do not use without permission or share without credit.

True, and as we’ve touched on, some of your songs do have that political nature to them, but there's quite heavy themes on self-love and the realities of growing up in this day and age. Did you always have the intention of writing in this way, or did these themes evolve from a different place from when you started?

I think I always wrote like that. Songwriting for me was never intentional. I am someone with very big feelings, and they're very much, like, just beneath my skin. I'm not a subtle person by any means, and when I started writing songs I was probably about 15, 16, and, especially for girls, that’s a very intense time. Your hormones are just crazy, and there's always so much drama around, like, boys and friendships, and, all sorts. So I think I just started writing really honestly about what I was feeling, and I also think at that age, you just don't really care. I remember at uni when I was a bit older, 18, 19, I was writing these songs and sharing them in class, and I didn't even care, I was like, “just hear about this drama I've had with this boy, or a song I wrote about body image.” I handed it in for my final project, and I just didn't care about what people thought of it. I think as I've gotten older, I have got a bit more self-conscious about it, but then when you get that reaction from someone who's heard your song, and they're so moved by it because they relate, that reminds me that it's important that we do have some artists who are willing to just bear it all, and it's not that all of them have to do that, because I enjoy ambiguous songs as well, and songs about other things, but, I feel like I have to keep going now, and that it's important for other people, and young women to have someone who is willing to overshare, and then they can feel like they're not alone.

Is there a reason for becoming more self-concious around what you put out?

I think it's partly to do with social media, because people are so mean. With BIG TALK Little Girl, obviously it was great that so many people saw it, and I got so much positive feedback, but I think I was 23 when it popped off, and I just wasn’t well-equipped to handle how many trolls were coming at me. And obviously with a political song, people are going to disagree with you, but I found that really hard. Then with my next EP, I kind of steered away from politics, but the songs I'm writing now, I'm right back in it, so I was still writing deeply personal songs on the last EP, but I think it kind of made me burst my bubble a bit almost, knowing that not everyone agrees with me, and not everyone is going to like me. I just needed a minute to accept that, and now I think I've accepted it, and I'm just a bit older, you know, into the late 20s now, and I feel like I can keep some privacy to myself, and that I am allowed that, but also, I do want to write these honest songs. That is important to me, so bring on the trolls.

I love that you're claiming that again. I wanted to also mention How Sweet, as it’s a personal favourite of mine. There's clearly a lot of emotion behind the song and a sense of grief. Was this song based around the loss of your Granddad?

Yeah, but it actually wasn't meant to be. There's a lyric in it that goes, “I have to slow dance with my grief”, and he actually wasn't even ill when I wrote this song, but I was more talking about grief in general, like, regrets we have, the way we beat ourselves up over things that have happened, loss of past relationships, loss of friendships… That was more the grief I was talking about, but he opens the song. I recorded that phone call two months before he got ill, and then I released it around a month before he died, so it was just odd that the song happened when it did, and it took on a whole new kind of meaning.

Did he get to hear it?

I think Radio One played it after he passed, but yeah, he did get to hear it. He wasn't the most coherent at that point, but he did get to hear it, and now my Nanny has it. I've got it on vinyl as well. She's got a record player in the living room, so she can hear his voice, and I think that's so lovely. For their generation, I don't think they've got a lot of media of voices like that, so it's really nice for her that she's got that.

And for you as well of course. How does it feel hearing your song on the radio like that?

It's really cool. It's quite special. Hearing it on Radio One feels surreal, because I feel like I don't belong on Radio One. Obviously, it's still the Introducing thing, so you know it's always at, like, midnight on a Sunday, but hey, that doesn't matter. Right now I'm between projects and I'm not on the radio because I haven't released anything, but it's really easy to beat yourself up and think I'm not doing anything, but then I have to remind myself I've been played on Radio One, like, five times now. I need to acknowledge that, that's really cool, and younger me would have been, like, “oh my god!”.

I think it's an incredible achievement, not everyone gets to be played on Radio One. As we’ll soon discuss, you’ve been on tours before as part of your work, but at the end of last year, you did your first full tour as a supporting artist with none other than Skinny Lister and The Vandoliers. How was your experience of this?

It was great. I've toured with the Hoosiers, selling their merch, and I'm so glad I'd done that, because I had an idea of how a tour works. My main thing was that I needed to make sure I stayed out of the way, because being an opening support, you're kind of just there as that extra sparkle. You're warming up the crowd a bit, and you're there for those extra few ticket sales, and for me I'm here to gain a few fans, get some content, and just have a good time and sell some merch. I think I did a good mix of mingling, because you know, I got to know the band, but I wasn't in their way. So, I think it went really well. I don't think my music was 100% for everyone in that room. Their fanbase is probably 80% male, and quite a bit older than me, so a man in their 60s probably isn't going to relate to my songs, you know. But it was really nice, to have the chats I did have at the merch table with some people where they did resonate. There were a few young women there who really resonated, and there was even a show in Bristol where there was a girl who only came to see me! She knew Big Talk, Little Girl, and I felt like a bit of a rock star haha.

Skinny Lister pulling me up on stage for the last song every night was really sweet, but we didn't really have time to mingle much at all because they were travelling separately, and I would literally rock up just before my sound check. They had their own dressing room, and they were obviously just relaxing before the show. They’d actually brought their young daughter on tour a bit as well, so Dan and Lorna were parenting backstage as well - I was just in awe! Lorna is the only woman in the band and to be a full time Mum on that tour as well was so impressive. The Vandoliers, the main support, are fronted by Jenni Rose who recently came out as Trans and it was so inspiring to get to know her as well, just really inspiring being around those women. Learning her experience as a Texan Trans Woman was incredibly interesting and moving and Skinny’s fans were so supportive. We'd perform Six Whiskies right at the end all together, which was so fun, but then we'd all just have to leave straight away. So, we actually didn't really hang out but it was so nice that they did bring me up on stage. It was really special to have that, because it's so easy for the main band to just ignore the support acts, but they didn't, and I knew they'd be lovely. My Dad got to go up in Glasgow too, and he loves them. He's the whole reason that I know them, so it was very special. I actually vlogged the tour and you can watch it all on my Youtube!

It sounds like it was a great experience. How is it that you become a supporting artist on tours?

If you're on a label or further along your journey, I guess, have more fans, more engagement, you'd have a booking agent, and they would just get you all these gigs, but I don't have one, so, I have resorted to emailing people. It's basically just putting myself out there. So, with Skinny Lister, they put up an Instagram post, and I'm really lucky I saw it, because, you know, the algorithm is just a nightmare, and I follow like 2,000 people or something on Instagram. I was walking out of work, and I don't know why, but I was on Instagram walking to my car, and it came up immediately. It was a callout saying they need a support act for their tour, and I knew I was already going to see them anyway in London, so I knew what it was. They do the same tour every year, in December, and I was like, I'm just going to comment, in case. There were already, like, 100 comments, and then I sent it to my cousin who works in music PR. She kind of acts as my manager, so she sends emails for me. She's really good with all that stuff, so she emailed them, and we pulled on the heartstrings, because me and my Dad have gone and seen them every December for the last five years. It's a thing we do together, you know, so we mentioned that, and they loved that, and wanted me for the whole tour!

What a lovely full circle moment for you and your Dad.

Yeah, and it was his Dad that passed the year before, so I think it's just been such a hard time, and to have that together was so special. Me and my Dad also went to Liverpool last April on a Beatles pilgrimage, and on that trip, I found out I was playing Latitude. My Dad's been so supportive of my music, and I feel like he was there for all these special moments last year. It was just really nice.

That's really lovely. Now, your grandparents are linked to some of the merch you had on tour as well. You brought your Nan's illustration book, a kid's book, to sell with you on tour. What made you decide to do that?

My Nanny, on my Dad’s side, she’s always written. So it's my Dad's parents, we're very, very close to them, and they're the only side of the family I have cousins on. So we're all really close, and we're very loud, and you can imagine, crazy. Ever since I was a kid, and apparently she's been doing it since my Dad was a kid, she's written poems and short stories for us. We would perform shows in the living room every Christmas that she put on. It's all been very theatrical, and she even writes a poem of what everyone's done the whole year, which we read out every Christmas. So a few years ago, I think it was my Granddad who encouraged her, but he said she should get them published. So in the end, she self-published it through Amazon, and then there's this, you know, pot of money where it's going to be shared between six grandchildren, but it's really hard to market a book, so we haven't sold that many. I'll tell my friends, but not many of my friends have kids yet, you know. It's just difficult. So then when the tour came around, I was looking at all my merch, and I've got, like, vinyls, t-shirts, tote bags, blah, blah, and again, with Skinny Listers fanbase, I thought that not everyone's going to want this. They might love the music and want some merch, great. They enjoy the music, they want to support me, but they don't want a vinyl or a t-shirt, blah, blah, so, what can I provide? Then I was like, light bulb, Nanny’s books! I think people want to support an independent artist when it's something a bit different. Like, different merch that's a bit left field, you know, and it, it was coming up to Christmas - good Christmas present - and we sold all of them! I think we made, like, 200 pounds off them, so there was a bit to my Nanny, and then a bit to my cousins, and I think because of How Sweet as well, it was a really good opportunity to bring it up, because if we didn't have a song about it, it would be harder to mention, but they're kind of all tied together nicely. So it was a way of including her a bit in my music, because she's the person who I've kind of got the music from. It all just tied together really nicely. I definitely should be doing it now, every tour, every gig.

It's really sweet. There’s a lot of costs to touring, of which many people probably don’t know the extent of, for any artist, however big or small. Were you aware of the costs of touring at this point?

Yeah, I had an idea, and actually, the Hoosiers tour manager, Lewis, massively helped me with this tour, because we've become good friends. So when I got offered it, I messaged him. He’s actually Kate Nash’s tour manager and you’ll probably have seen how vocal she’s been in parliament about the rising costs of touring. I have, like, three tour manager friends, but I messaged him because he's always up for helping me. He's really sweet, and he really helped me with all the advancing, which is all those emails you've got to send with your rider, and all these tech specs, and then he also helped me, kind of, understand the costs, and work out the cheapest way to do it. On the Southern leg I stayed at friends' houses the whole way, and then on the Northern leg, I booked, like, the cheapest hotel I could. For having a merch seller I had my Dad, so I didn't need to pay anyone to sell merch, and I was playing solo except for one show, so no cost, and then my band played with me for the last show in London. I looked at the fee, and then I split the money, so that I still made a tiny bit of profit, but they were still paid something. I actually didn't keep very good track of the cost in the end, I think I only made about 300 pounds. I had 10 days off work, and I'm self-employed as a music teacher, so I definitely made a loss, but you have to think of the experience you’re gaining from it, and what else you have gained, but it's no way to make a living.

It's hard, because I don't think, and I’m including myself in this, that a lot of people realise how much it does actually cost to even do one gig, I suppose, let alone a whole tour.

Yeah. I could easily have done an Instagram post breaking down all the costs, but then I feel I'm such a small artist, and I'm so grateful to Skinny Lister, and even if I said the fee now, I'm like, is that really disrespectful? If I say the fee, because it was hardly anything, but that's not the band's fault. As an opening support there isn’t a big budget there. I think I probably could have done it a little bit cheaper as well. You know, if I'd have really sofa surfed up north, and cut down on the food I was having, but I think because it was my first tour, and because I was taking my Dad, it was a first for us. We were having a bit more fun with it, so we were going out for a meal, or you know, having a pint, so we were really enjoying it, whereas I think if it was the thing I did all the time, I would get a lot better at treating it like a business, and being a lot more strategic.

That makes sense. You mentioned already that you did almost the whole tour solo, apart from the last night. What was it that made you decide to do that last show at Scala with the band?

The promoters said they could afford a larger fee for London, so they said I could bring a band if I wanted, and my band are all based in London, so it was kind of a no-brainer! I do enjoy playing solo, and I think my lyrics come across more, and I guess my personality, which, you know, helps. Sometimes I think I turn into a bit of a stand-up comedian up there, and I think I'm so funny, and I'm like, Claudia, you're here to sing, haha, but yeah, having my band… People always say that my music with a band is just like another level. It was so nice to include them. They're all my friends, and they're so supportive, and I'd obviously been on this tour without them, a bit sad, so to include them on that last show, and be like, “look at all these incredible people I've met”, they were so excited to be there. I think it brought in this new energy, because I'm obviously exhausted, I'm on day 10, so my voice is going, I had a cold, I've been hanging out with all these people for a week, and I love them all at this point, but then my band come in like, “oh hi, nice to meet you!”. They're all sat backstage, like, drinking all the beers, and I haven't really been doing that, because I was trying to look after my voice, and again, be really respectful of everyone’s space, but then my band go in, and they're like… I mean, you were there, you saw it - it was really nice, and it really calmed me down, because I had them there. I felt like I was with my family again, and it just sounded so good. I’d told Jenni Rose how my band are all Queer and the coolest people and she was so excited to meet them as well, because I think she was quite overwhelmed by how liberal London is compared to Texas where she’s from. I’m just super proud of my band and Scala is the biggest venue we've played. It was so good up there, and I felt so confident, and just having them around me, hearing my songs full band… and there were people on the front row that had been at a few gigs, who knew the words. It just felt really good.

I suppose you may have suggested this earlier but do you have a preference of doing things solo, or the band, or would you say evenly enjoyed? There must be pros and cons to each.

Yeah, I'd say it's like an even thing, because with solo, it's so easy like, now I live in Cambridge, Essex area, so I'm not far from London, but I'm getting a lot of gigs around here now and I don't expect my band to come here for that, unless it's paid really well. So I've been playing a lot of solo shows, and it's been good for me. My guitar skills are improving anyway, because I've been teaching guitar, but I feel like I've been improving at that whilst performing too, and that's been good, but I do love playing with my band because you're just up there with your friends, and everything just sounds bigger. It's more fun, and it's kind of how your songs are meant to sound. There's nothing that compares, really, to playing with the band, but, you know, it's just so hard now to find the time. The gigs, if they don't pay enough, and I can't pay them anything, it's like, is it worth doing? But I guess it's going to be quality over quantity now, and we said we'll do less gigs this year, but they'll be really good ones.

That makes a lot of sense. Now you mentioned you played Latitude last year. What was that like?

That was a real pinch me moment, because it was through BBC Introducing. Everything I've done has been very much, like… And I guess this suits me, but very much without anyone big at the top, you know, helping me out. So Matt Plumb at BBC Cambridge, who I've known for years, has been so supportive. It was really nice, because I often feel, and this is probably going to sound really odd, but I often feel like I deserve things, and I don't ever really get them. I watch everyone else get these Latitude slots, because they pick people every year, and I'd be like “ok when is it my turn?.” But then I got a text from Matt, and I was working at a cafe at the time, so I'm in my mid-cafe shift, and I get a text from him asking if I was free for a call at the weekend, when I was in Liverpool, and I thought I know what this is about, it's my time… Oh god, and I'd been to a brewery with my Dad in Liverpool, and I'd had like an 8% beer, and was then live on the radio, being told I'm playing Latitude, and I was like, “no way, oh my god!”. I can't even hold back, because I know I'm tipsy. Anyway, then I'm playing Latitude, right? Crazy. I spent months where I was like, in the gym, trying to get fitter, so I could jump around a bit more. My drummer wasn't free, so we had to get another drummer, so then it was like, rehearsals for that, and she was amazing. Yeah, I just took it so seriously, and it was amazing, so fun. Young girls were coming up to me after asking for pictures and they’re literally what I do this for so it was very emotional.

Was that your first big festival?

Yeah! And, I don't know, the actual performance, it never does it justice when it's filmed on a phone, because I know I sounded better than the video haha. There's actually not that much content out of it, because I don't think it resonated, and it was raining, so everyone sort of stood back, but it was really good. Very, very good. I had a very good time. I want to do it again, so if anyone's listening, haha.

Put it out there! I would love to chat to you a little bit about working with The Hoosiers - for anyone who doesn’t know, they're a very successful British band, and have been for a while now. You have already said that you handle their merch duties on tour. How long have you been doing that for?

Since 2023, or 2024, maybe. So actually only like a couple of years. We've done two tours, and there's a third one booked which I think they’ve just announced.

Nice! What was your route into that role? How did it come about for you?

So I mentioned to my friend Ellie Dixon that I wanted to get into anything live. It was when I lived in London, so I'd been managing a cafe, and I found I had no time to do anything else. So I went freelance. I was doing music stuff, cafe stuff, and it was a perfect opportunity to do other things. I knew that I didn't have the skills to be a tech on tour, so I thought, what can I do? Her partner at the time said I should do merch. I thought that would be cool, and they were in something called the Trans Creative Collective. It's a community in London, and they include cis women as well, and try and give opportunities to people that basically aren't cis men. So then they had contacts with Lewis, and Lewis must have put in some group chat that they need a merch seller for this tour, and then my name got put forward. So it was just through connections, word of mouth, and to be honest, I was pretty out of my depth. I'd sold merch, obviously, at my gigs, and at friends gigs, but I'd not done it on such a level. But I think when you've worked in retail and hospitality, you've got the people skills, you can do a stock count, work with money. I'd done all that, so I knew that I could do it.

I remember the first night and I still cringe about this now. I've not spoken to the boys about it, but I met them in Bristol. I remember going and putting my bag on the bus, and they all stood at the back of the bus, and I just was like, “Hi” and waved. I didn't go over to them because I didn't want to intrude. Then we did the night and I remember counting all this merch, and there was so much of it, I thought oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, I'm not gonna make it. It was on a boat, and it was leaning. So for the load in and load out my thighs were burning, and after load out we were loading the trailer. It was pouring with rain, and Lewis was like, “how much money do you think you made?” I was like, “I don't know, like a few hundred, like maybe £X amount.” He was like, “okay, right. Well done” and then I went on the bus and I checked, and I’d made significantly more than that, so when I realised I told him I’d made a mistake and what the actual amount was, because I didn't really process how I’d sold that much initially, and I realised I'd done a good job. So I also realised how polite he was initially being when I first told him haha. He is a nice guy. Then we went and got showers at Travelodge, and I thought “okay, I can do this.”

Your first night I suppose is quite daunting too, especially as you're going into this team that have already been working together for a while, all guys, and the fact that the role you’re doing is a level up to what you've done before. It’s quite a lot to process generally!

Yeah, haha, but yeah, I love working with them. It’s such a nice team, and considering I'm quite a bit younger than them, and the only woman, they're so nice. You know, I'm sleeping on a bus with them, and I just feel so comfortable. Now I know I have ADHD as well. It makes sense why I make little mistakes like that because my attention to detail just isn’t there and I’m always going at a million miles an hour!

Considering you didn’t say much to them on the first night, were they very welcoming generally?

Yeah, really welcoming, and they also wanted to talk about my music too, which was really, really nice, because you've obviously got The Hoosiers, and then you've got their session players as well, and a tech, and Lewis. Going through the TCC to hire me, they obviously actively wanted to diversify their team which is such a good example for men to set in the industry.

Absolutely. So it's actually quite a small team still, then?

It's about six people. So, four in the band, one tech, and then Lewis, who's a tour manager and also does sound.

A nice sized group! So in terms of the merch selling, when you are on tour with them, what is a day in the life of Claudia Kate the merch seller like?

We travel on a tour bus, and it's actually contrary to what you think, cheaper, to do it on a bus than it is to book hotels, or have a split van, because you'll see all accommodations pay for multiple hotel rooms. So it sounds glamorous, but it's not really. You're in a tiny bunk, cosied up. So I wake up at like 10am because you're tired from getting in at around 4am, and then I have a bit of time in whatever city I've woken up in. We do have time to get breakfast, and then people might go in groups, some people go alone. So it's your own time then before load in. You’d then load in at like 1pm, so that's my time to get all the merch in, and then they kind of go off again, because they wouldn't sound check for a while. That's when I count. So I count everything. I've got a spreadsheet that I've made, and when they sound check, that's my free time. So they sound check at like 4pm, and by then I'm all set up. So I'll go chill, or whatever, and so we're kind of crossing timings then because then it's doors and that's my time to work and they've got free time. So I'm very much not on the same time schedule as literally everyone else. So it can be a little bit lonely in that respect, but then it's also really nice at the same time. Then I'm just in a city - some cities I've got friends in, especially this tour coming up. I think we're going to loads of different places where I know there's people, so you're definitely on a different time to everyone else, but you're kind of working more. It's not as hard, obviously, but you're there from doors to literally curfew because you're just working from the minute people come in, to the minute they leave. I love it. And I will sell all of that merch, you know. You're not coming over here and not buying, haha. I know how important it is because tours don't pay. So it's so important that you sell that merch because it will make a difference. That is where you get most of the money from, I guess. Most of your profit is from merch. I mean, it’s a bit different for them because they're on a label and they've got more. The ticket sales, obviously, are huge, but the merch sales just bumps it up massively, and I can pay my wage within like one night. So then it's just nice because I want to do it for them, because they're so lovely. I want to make them as much money as I can so they can continue to tour and make music! Their fans are genuinely so lovely as well, with a lot of neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ people who I’ve gotten to know from these tours.

And after the show, when does your day end?

About midnight. There's always a couple of people from the venue that help you load out. So I'm not like carrying everything. Although I want to, you know. I want to prove that the load out never takes that long haha, and then sometimes we'll go for a drink, but we're a pretty tame crew, because, you know, you’ve just got to do it again tomorrow. So we'll stay up, play a game, go out for a drink. If we're not leaving straight away, then that's nice. but your body clock definitely shifts into a complete night owl. You are waking up pretty late, but you get used to it. Especially if you do it for multiple nights on a tour. We tend to have one or two nights mid tour where we go a bit loopy and we’re up laughing for hours. I've got so many fond memories from these tours.

What's it like actually sleeping on a bus?

I like it because I like moving. I love the white noise. It's only annoying if you're ill, it's not fun. I had one day last tour where I wasn't very well, and you can only wee in that toilet. So that's OK, but I had my period and that wasn't fun, but otherwise it's fine. There was one night, actually, when I was a bit ill on the last tour, and we got a hotel room so everyone could shower that day because we weren't at a venue. We had a day off and they all voted for who could stay in it, and I won to sleep in that room that night. So I got a hotel room for one night. They’d voted behind my back because they knew I wasn't feeling very well, so that morning I was like, “Lewis, do I look all right?” He's like, “yeah, you're fine” and the next day he was like, “you looked fucking awful, I didn’t want to freak you out.” Haha.

They sound like a lovely bunch. They really do.

Go buy tickets!

Just briefly, outside of making music, you said you're a teacher. How long have you been teaching music?

Only since September. So I was always in coffee shops and then this place opened up where I live now, in the town I grew up in. I didn’t think I’d be back here, but it's nice to be back because anyone who's here now from school wants to be here. Me and my friends are definitely the youngest in this whole town, but it's good. Then I discovered there was a music shop that only opened two years ago, so I just walked in and asked if I could have a job, and they said yes. I don't know, a lot of people back at uni and people I've spoken to were viewing it as like, if you end up teaching, you've failed. I can't speak for most people, but it was the mindset of, if you're not out there making music and performing in studios and you end up teaching, you failed, but I don't see it like that at all now. It's paying for my studio time! So I teach one-on-one, and it's mainly young girls, and teaching ages of around six up to 18 with guitar, piano, singing, and it’s just being able to be that positive influence on them which is so rewarding for me. To be able to also give the advice that I can give them that no-one gave me is just amazing. I actually love it so much. So I'm really enjoying that. And they teach me stuff too! It's so nice to be with that next generation, because I think I was really detached from it. My boss jokes that I’ve created the ‘Claudia Kate Cult’, my students all wear my merch and stuff, it's so sweet. It's been really, really rewarding, and it's given me a lot of purpose.

That’s so lovely. Okay, so are we expecting any new music from Claudia Kate in the near future? What's going on for you at the moment with your music?

Yes. Definitely. I've written songs. There was one I was playing on tour, called Stop the World. That song, she's ready to go, but I'm trying to do a good thing, basically, and I really want to work with female producers now. I’ve only worked with men previously, and I feel like I need to put my money where my mouth is. Obviously, there's so many talented male producers out there, and you know, go work with them, but I really want to work with producers who are female, or non binary. So I could have put out music sooner, but I really want to do this properly. I will be in the studio soon, and I want to release music this year. That's the goal. So I just need to hunker down!

Are you planning any gigs this year as well?

I’ve got a few local ones cropping up, like little indie festivals and stuff like that, and I think when I've got the music ready, I want to do a London headline with my band. Like a release party for all this new music. There'll definitely be a London headline at some point this year, because I feel like every year there needs to be something… And then me and my cousin, who I mentioned, we've got a lovely spreadsheet with all artists that we think I would be a good support for, so we will be spamming the inboxes.

It sounds like it’s going to be an exciting year for you. Going briefly back to what you were saying about the advice you now give your music students, what is something that you wish somebody had told you about the industry before you became a part of it?

There’s so many things. I think I used to view the industry as a “thing”, but it's not a thing. The music industry is like, sprinkled bits everywhere, and there's so many people and, I think you'll feel like you're not in it, but you are in fact in it. I think if you're making music, or doing literally anything in the sector, then you're a part of it. It felt like this big thing that I couldn't claw my way into, but actually, you can do it your own way, and the main thing is to just go out there and talk to people and make those connections. Because that's the only way you're going to, unless you are that lucky few who's going to get swept up by a major label and then thrown into it. You just need to be out there chatting to people, and just go at your own pace. Don't compare yourself to other people because that is what's going to make you sad if you go, “Oh, but they've done this, and they've done that, and I haven't even done that.” Just go at your own pace, and success is like a made up word. Or that's what I've been thinking recently anyway - what is it, you know?

You’ve already given some wise words with that, but do you have any other words of wisdom for girls and women who aspire to be in the music industry, in whatever form or role that may be?

Don't be scared to do it. For so long, I had the belief that I can't do that. “I can't do this because of blah blah.” Even with teaching, I thought to myself that I'm not good enough. I'm not good enough at guitar to teach that, because I play chords, but then my boss said to me that I’m better than these kids who want to learn, and that I can teach them and inspire them. And that is so true. Now I go in there and they think I'm so cool haha. So just stop telling yourself you can't do things, because you absolutely can, and confidence is going to get you everywhere. Because even if you're not the best in the room, you can still be the most confident. As a woman especially and a young person you’re made to feel like your voice doesn’t matter and you don’t deserve to be in certain spaces but you absolutely do, and if you go out there with an honest heart and give it your all you’re gonna go so far. I think to myself that anything I did last year, I had to really dive deep inside myself, you know… really dig deep inside myself to find the confidence to do it. Or I would have been like paralyzed with fear and I wouldn't have done it at all. So just keep showing up and don’t give up!