Kat Says: “Know Yourself. Know Your Worth”
Actually, Drake said that, but I believe in myself and maybe you do, too?
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Friends,
I come to you today full of humility and anticipatory excitement. Today is a big step in a personal journey to see and value myself and my work, and in asking the world to see that value, too!
Today is the day I unveil a new paid tier for this-here newsletter and kindly make a request:
If you have enjoyed my work over the years, if you like the direction in which this newsletter and my Twitch streams and YouTube uploads are headed, please consider subscribing to Kat Scrawls for $5 a month.
Why $5 a month? That’s actually the lowest threshold Substack will allow me to set (or so I read). That feels steep in today’s economy, when rent is often more than 20 percent of one’s income and the cost of daily necessities skyrockets out of control—but I don’t in that act of sympathy want to diminish the amount of time, energy and emotional care that I put into all this work.
Why should you—the discerning individual and very-real modern-hell survivor—give $5 of your monthly income to Kat Bein? Well, I’m gonna outline what you’ll get for it, but first: an impassioned plea!
I’ve been working in the world of digital journalism—and more specifically, music and electronic music journalism—for more than a decade, and I’m so, so lucky to be here. It’s the honor of my life to help artists tell their stories, and to play any small role in the connection music lovers around the world have with their favorite songs.
Even more than that, it’s my reason for being to shed light on the context of these songs, to make sure people hear music and see the whole world around it.
Every song, every album, every genre is a reflection of the soul, heart and community within which it was created. Not every song is politically motivated. Some of the best and most freeing music is righteously dumb, but finding the freedom to be so dumb is often a challenge to our everyday slog. The act of simply existing can be a political act, and every emotionally impactful song worth listening to has a story behind it that’s worth exploring!
In the immortal words of the Chemical Brothers, “music that triggers some kind of response!”
My career is driven by the desire to dig up those stories and share them with the world. I’m blessed to have bylines in some of the most respected digital music publications on the internet. Still, there are so many stories that aren’t being shared, and I want to take total creative control in my corner of the universe.
I do Kat Calls for free because I fucking love to do it. Cutie Club is an extension of this vision, and it’s another project I dedicate at least four hours to every week for free, simply because I fucking love sharing music and stories so much.
At the end of last year, I started this newsletter, once again because I am physically addicted to sharing music and stories. Anyone who has ever been in a room with me for 10 minutes while music is playing knows I can’t stop myself from interjecting with a fun fact about the song or artist on the loudspeaker.
This is who I am. This is what I do, and I’m finally breaking through this burn out period I’ve been in for months because I get such a fucking rush from writing this newsletter!
A couple weeks ago, someone DMed me and asked if I was going to upload my latest Kat Calls videos to YouTube, specifically the chat I had with Shadient, because the video-on-demand recording deleted itself on Twitch and they want to rewatch it.
I don’t think there’s a better feeling in the world than knowing someone out there appreciates your work, because that’s exactly why I’m doing it: so fellow music nerds have that interview with their favorite artist that makes them feel seen and felt and understood.
The answer is a loud and resounding YES! I AM GOING TO PUT ALL THE VIDEOS UP ON YOUTUBE ASAP. I am going to keep writing this newsletter and making these playlists every week. I am going to bring the streams back as soon as I’m settled in my new apartment, and I’m going to dive even deeper into content creation.
I have ideas for a musical deep-dive video series and on-the-scene event recaps. I want to film and edit interviews—and I already have! But I need time to sit down and do all this work.
So, here’s where my kind request comes in:
If you enjoy what I’m doing and want to support me on my journey to write more honest essays, stream more interviews and shows, record and release a podcast, film and edit music nerd educational programming lol, the best way for you to do that right now is to sign up for the paid tier of this newsletter and/or share my content.
If I can gather some funds to keep going, it will give me freedom and motivation to prioritize my passion projects, simply because knowing someone is out there who believes in me and wants to see it is holding me accountable.
Now, to be clear, this newsletter, my streams and my (future) YouTube content will always, ALWAYS be free. I’m just going to deliver extra content for paid subscribers, in the form of weekly listicles that expand on the topics addressed in these essays, or perhaps more essays and show reviews that can’t wait for Friday to come out, and even some exclusive interviews and chats with artists, friends and peers in the industry. I’m also tooootally here for your suggestions, as always.
So, that’s it! That’s my pitch. Sorry to take up an entire newsletter about it, but there will be more less-ego-centric content coming v v soon, I promise hahaha.
My first paid-only listicle will come on Wednesday! I’m going to share some of my favorite long-form audio/video music experiences, in honor of my band’s 30-minute audio/visual mix which you can WATCH RIGHT NOW ON YOUTUBE, OMG!
Alsooooo
Everyone is talking (or subtweeting) about Beyoncé’s latest album Renaissance, which caught headlines with its use of house and electronic music. It’s led to many a think piece, but I want to highlight two works by two of my favorite peers:
My friend Brittany Gaston (an undisputed techno stalwart who is insane in all the best ways) got her first byline on Oprah Daily with this must-read house music primer which also explores many of the influences inherent on Beyoncé’s LP
Then, diving deeper into the cultural context of divas, the gay community and the black and queer roots of electronic music, the incredible Craig Jenkins delivers a beautiful and contextually rich review of the album for Vulture
In other news (which is behind a paywall, sorry, but you may have your ways…), my professional doppelganger Katie Bain wrote a fascinating piece on the how and why of music industry power players moving to Miami. It has already inspired next week’s newsletter, so stay tuned!
And without further ado…
Absolutely Necessary
(This is the part where I share songs that are so good, they’re absolutely necessary to listen to. That’s it. That’s the bar.)
I made two Spotify playlists for this section that you can follow: one weekly playlist updated with just the new stuff every week, and one cumulative playlist that will host every song I pick ever (until Spotify tells me it's full). Check them out! I made them for you—and me, but mostly you.
Eyyyyyy, FIRST OF ALL. You should read First Spin. It’s the weekly blog update I contribute to at Billboard Dance where me, Katie Bain and Krystal Rodriguez write about the best new tracks of the week. They don’t aaaallllll make my playlist cut, BUT this week many of them do, including my picks for Baauer’s new tune “Let Me Love U” and Brijean’s “Take A Trip.” Wowser, Bowser. Those are some hit tracks.
Cherry Flavored Antacids - “Falcon”
I’m sorry. Did I just start this week’s playlist with my own fucking song? You’re goddamn right I did. It’s fucking AMAZING—and I’m not just saying that because I think the lead producer is hot (that’s a joke because my bf is the other member of the band, lol). “Falcon” is our take on freestyle, it’s got a hyphy beat but also has a whole minute-long breakdown that is a little sad and should make you think about how small humanity is in the face of an ever-expanding galaxy, and how special it is that we ever have a moment of consciousness wherein matter can experience its own beauty. Yeah, I fucking said that.
Cherry Flavored Antacids - “Monoi”
Wow, the balls on me to put two of my band’s songs back to back to back to back. It’s like I’m Drake beefing with Meek Mill or something. Anyway, I’m charged up as hell on these tunes, which are now officially on Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Beatport, Traxsource and all other DSPs and digital retailers. Also, you can make IG stories and TikToks and shit with our music, and it’ll just automatically recognize it and give us money or something. Technology is INSANE.
Bklava - “Anywhere With You”
I first learned of Bklava via her collab with LP Giobbi, which admittedly only came out in, like, March of this year. So I don’t know much about Bklava at this point, other than she’s an INSANE vocalist and from the UK. I’m here for these supercharged rainbow rave vibes. This is only one of four tracks on her new EP by the same name. I’m locked in, ready to go anywhere with Bklava from here on out.
NGHTMRE - “Trials” Feat. IDK
Okay wow. If I’m being totally honest, I am one pre-mixed margarita deep writing this part of the newsletter, and I am SHOOK by how lit this track is. It’s got some kind of Mexican trumpet sample blasting over a spacey trap beat, and IDK is setting fire to the mic with his hooks and verses. This is a big one that deserves to be played loud and you should 100 percent throw ‘bows.
Decap - “Gates”
If you are the type of person that downloads sample packs, you might know Decap as that dude behind “drums that knock.” He is a stellar producer, obviously emphasis on the drums, but “Gates” is bringing soulful melody and hot-box-the-car moods on a level that can’t be denied. I would love to get Decap on Kat Calls, so let’s all cross our fingers xoxoxo
FM Skyline - “On The Promenade” (George Clanton Remix)
Anyone who looks at me for two seconds knows that I am obsessed with vaporwave. It’s that style of music that combines the lofi plug-and-play vibes of muzac with the nostalgic joy of N64 soundtracks, spices it up with a bit of Sade-era R&B samples and a dash of ‘90s Japanese jazz pop. This is my first introduction to FM Skyline, and I immediately followed, but s/o the incredibly-named George Clanton for this updated remix with, to borrow a phrase from our last artist, drums that knock.
Sad Night Dynamite - “What Does That Make Me?”
This duo showed up in my inbox one day and just continuously turns out interesting post-punk tinged funk. This one has a very groovy bassline and some really maximalist vibes, exploring sexual lyrics with a vibrant patchwork of samples and some sultry melodies.
Golden Features - “Touch” Feat. Rromarin (Solomun Remix)
Oooh, this one is serving smoky warehouse rave in the early 2000s. I feel like I need JNCO jeans and a crush on a really skinny dude with an attitude problem. It’s still very modern, though, and very shiny.
ALRIGHT HAPPY TIME GOOD JOB I’m fucking tired. I hope you enjoyed today’s newsletter but I am done now. SEE YOU NEXT WEEK, Saturday if you want to keep things free as a bird, and Wednesday is you want to PAY ME ;)
Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the playlists on Spotify. One is updated weekly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!