Kat Says: “Today Was A Good Day!”
I’m just feeling fine, so I’m sharing fun songs and keeping the vibes bubbly.
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Hey Friends! Happy Friday!
I’ve got to say, it’s been a wild yet rewarding week over here at Kat HQ. I received a lot of great feedback from last week’s newsletter, and I celebrated with a night out on the town, catching the enigmatic Satin Jackets at The Ground in downtown Miami with my friends.
The set was lovely! He took the stage in his golden mask and dropped all kinds of feel-good grooves, including a nice refresh of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon,” which was even more fun for me because we were dancing on the night of the actual “Harvest” full moon.
Then I ran into my friend Nick and hit this club Floyd’s where a DJ from Spain was playing all this modern goth shit that GAVE ME LIFE. I still don’t know what his name was, because there are like 500 on the flyer and I really should just ask my friend Nick, but it was great nonetheless.
I was there ‘til the club closed at 5 a.m., and then Nick convinced me to go to Space (all these clubs are in the same building, btw) where Claude VonStroke was about to go on. I tried, man. I really did, but when I found myself wishing I could take a quick nap in the bathroom stall, I realized it was way past time to go home.
All my emotions caught up to me, and I got all sad on the way back to my house (fucking 30-minute drive, not fun after so long at the club), then I had to face all those icky feelings and a hangover in the morning. It got me thinking:
I have soooo many things that I want to achieve in the next few months. I’m hitting Portola Festival in SF next weekend to make a vlog for this newsletter, and I’ve got Kat Calls back up and running once again. All that stuff takes a lot of inner confidence and drive, because I’m not doing it with the backing of any big brand name or publication. I’m doing it for myself with the backing of YOU!
Hangovers aren’t helping me keep that momentum going, so I’m gonna try my best to keep a clear head and “stay on target,” but I’m really excited for what is to come!
(That being said, if there’s someone on the Portola lineup that you’re really interested in hearing from, lmk and I’ll do my best to nab a lil interview!)
I’d say it was Wednesday when I finally came out of my weird anxiety cave, and last night’s Kat Calls with Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs was the cherry on top of a pretty good week, all in all. It was poignant, because he came to a similar realization about 10 months ago as he was putting the finishing touches on his new album.
“There is definitely self-sabotage in partying—and that’s fine,” TEED told me during the stream. “I didn't mind a band hangover, because it meant that I could have a day off, and I could spend a day just focusing on not dying. I wouldn’t be thinking about all my shit, because I'd just be like, ‘right if I can just get this ice cream down, I can go back to bed.”
He’s been sober for 10 months, and he says it’s really helped improve—well, pretty much everything.
“I’m definitely not someone who is just like ‘hey, everyone needs to fuckin’ sober up,’ no no no,” he says. “I just wanted to do it, but my general anxiety level is much lower, and if I do feel anxious, I can deal with it in eight minutes … and I have two more whole days in a week, just to do stuff that’s good for me. Certainly with this year, an album and touring, I knew I needed to be giving myself a chance to be on form.”
It was a lovely chat all in all. You can restream it on Twitch right now, or wait however long it’s going to take for me to update YouTube, el oh el.
That being said, I’m very motivated right now to hop on that train and get all the awesome interviews from Kat Calls Season 3 on YouTube, so you can relive Sohmi and Tennyson and Slushii and Shadient and all the other acts that don’t start with S, I swear it wasn’t a pattern lol.
Coming Up Next
Speaking of Kat Calls! We’re coming back next Thursday with Party Pupils!! He was supposed to come on the show last year with Pat Lok when they released their collab “So Fine,” but then he couldn’t make it last minute because he was rehearsing for MAX’s tour debut later that week.
If you don’t know Mr. Pupils, know that he consistently produces some of the funkiest nu disco-inspired and electro-pop jams I’ve heard in the last few years. He just dropped this one with fellow Kat Calls alumnus Kaleena Zanders, which was featured on the playlist last week!
He’s got a crazy collection of bright-colored Kappa tracksuits, and he just released another banger today, which I’m including in the playlist breakdown below. Familiarize yourself with the lad, then tune in Thursday, Sept. 22, at 7 pm ET / 4 pm PT and be part of the conversation!
Alsooooo
Speaking of the wisdom TEED has to spit, he recently wrote an op-ed for Billboard Dance outlining his seven greatest lessons from his decade in the music industry. It’s full of choice thoughts and wonderful encouragement. He’s a man that speaks to my heart, to be sure. Even if you’re not a musician, I think there’s something enlightening here.
I also wanted to share this awesome piece by Annabel Ross in Vice. It was published a couple weeks ago, but it details the toxic work environment going down at Beatport. It’s as important to read as it is shocking. Big yikees.
And now, 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.
Party Pupils - “Break It Down”
Out now on Nervous Records, this is exactly the kind of thing I love about what Party Pupils is puttin’ down. It lands somewhere between early ‘90s hip-hop, indie electro and Nintendo Wii soundtracks. Turn up the bass when you hear this sound and drop it to the grouuuuund.
Imanu - “Shoyu” Feat. Droeloe
Oooh, this is a spicy one! Crunchy beats and melodic synths come crashing together in something that’s a little sinister and dark but beautiful all the same. Y’all already know I’m a sucker for frenetic rhythms and textured bass! Plus, all the love in the world to Droeloe.
George Clanton & Nick Hexum - “under Your Window” (Demo”
Turns out this is a demo version (read: earlier) of a song that lofi funk master George Clanton and Nick Hexum released a couple years ago. I have to say, I’m digging the demo version more. It’s a lil quicker. There aren’t any vocals (no shade to the 311-style singing, I fucking love 311), and it just fucking viibbbeeesss.
K?d - “Three In The Morning” Feat. Cecilia Gault
YOOOOO! I have listened to this song like 100 times since it appeared in my inbox this week. I am loving this dark, basement rave served with a side of high fashion. It’s clean on the production but filthy with the groove. Makes me wanna stay up all night making bad decisions—but we’re holding off on that for a few weeks, hahahahha.
Fonteray - “Sunshine”
Mmm. This is the kind of song you just have to bask in. A real end-of-summer tune if I ever heard one, it comes from Australian producer Fonteray, who I don’t know too well but who definitely landed on my “follow on Spotify” radar. Excited to hear more from this guy. Smooth as butter!
Jimmy Edgar - “Slip N Slide”
Open wide for your weekly dose of weird. If you thought Hudson Mohawk’s “CBAT” is a good song to fuck to, you’re gonna wanna get balls deep in this squeaky sploshy single from Sophie compariot Jimmy Edgar. It’s side a on a new double release, and it’s my favorite of the two, though you should go check out side b and see how it makes you feel, lol. He’s got a new album announced too! Liquid Heaven coming soon, with a Sophie collab too (RIP).
Forester - “All I Need”
When I first pressed play on this song, I didn’t know what to expect. It had a cool lil groove, a vocal that didn’t like, drive me crazy or anything—but then! That chorus drop hit and I was just sent across the room. This is some real dance across the linoleum in socks without pants like you’re the king of the world type shit. Very melty grooves. I couldn’t deny it. Had to put the song on the playlist! Hope you agree :)
COOL, FRIENDS! I hope you enjoyed this week’s light-hearted email. Was it light-hearted? It was certainly a little unfocused, but we’re heading into the weekend with a smile in our hearts (I hope!) and fun on the calendar!
I’ve got tickets to see the new Bowie documentary, Moonage Daydream. I’ll tell you all about it in this week’s Wednesday paid newsletter. If you aren’t already, consider being a paid subscriber and supporting me on my journey. Also, feel free to let me know what else you’d like me to review, write about or listen to!
LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH <3
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!