FEATURE: Spotlight: Caity Baser — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Lily Craigen

Caity Baser

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I am featuring a lot of American artists…

in my Spotlight feature, but I want to focus on a British artist who is going to go a very long way. Southampton-raised, Brighton-based Caity Baser is just twenty, but she has already marked herself out as one of the most distinct and talented rising voices around. An honest and authentic artist who is remarkably down-to-earth and unfiltered, it is no wonder her music connects with a young audience. Resonating with so many people – especially young women -, I think that Baser is going to establish herself as a major name very soon. She has been compared to artists like Lily Allen, in the sense that you get an authentic and un-Americanised accent. A tangible artists who many can relate to, her music also translates and connects far wider than a teenage demographic. I am a fan of her sounds, and the fact she has been played on major radio stations and won the focus of a wide range of music websites proves that her sound is universal. I want to bring in just a few of the many fascinating interviews with Caity Baser. We get to find out more about a wonderful artists already tipped among those who are going to change music and direct 2023’s sound. NOTION featured Baser and asked her about her hugely popular song, Friendly Sex, being compared to Lily Allen, and who she’d like to collaborate with in the future:

“What do you think made “Friendly Sex” resonate with so many people on TikTok?

TikTok is so weird sometimes, I don’t know what works and what doesn’t – every time it’s different. The song was just true and I really felt those things at the time and I think that sits with people. Clearly a lot of people were feeling that way too, so it’s nice to feel like you’re not the only one and you’re not completely losing your mind. Also people love it when I do a backstory before the song, they also like it when I’m just being myself. I know that sounds cliché and annoying but I swear that’s when I get the best reaction! Whenever I get all made up and do videos that look proper profesh they never do that well. But when it’s me with no makeup on, towel round the head looking like a mess, they love it! Which works for me cos I cba to go all out every time. Also it makes me happy that people like It best when im just being me. Makes my heart feel SO WARM.

You’ve worked with production duo Future Cut who are known for their work with Lily Allen – what was it like working with people who have collaborated with such big artists so early in your career?

Honestly I went home and cried afterwards it was so amazing. And so surreal. The day before I just started my new job at the Co-Op which I was so excited for, and then the next day I was in this big fancy studio with two of the best producers ever. It was nuts. But I wasn’t nervous at all I felt completely comfortable and like I was supposed to be there. The guys are the best as well we just vibed from the get go and messed around all day while making music. It was the best introduction to the industry I could’ve had and will hold onto it forever.

How do you feel being compared to Lily Allen? Do you take inspiration from her music?

Yeah I love her so much, I always have. She’s just so cool and says whatever the fuck she wants. Also she says ‘rude’ things but makes them sound so sweet and nice which is something that I love doing too. I feel like I take inspiration from everything that I do/see/hear….I love everything. She definitely influenced me to not give a shit about what people say because you can do what you want. Love you Lily, let’s go dance or soemthing!

Which artists would you most like to collaborate with in future and why?

This is so hard! Like I said, I literally love everyone. Ummmmm I feel like Ed Sheehan because he’s just an all-round ledge and that would be crazy! We have similar styles of writing and singing so I think it would work really well. I love Willow Kayne also. Oh, and of course Lily Allen too please. Okay I’m gunna stop ‘cos I’ll be here forever.

How did you feel when your music was played on the radio for the first time?

I ran around the house for about 40 minutes and sent it to everyone I know. It was CRAZY! Growing up I always used to imagine myself being on the radio so when that moment finally came I would not shut up about it. It was the best ever. To hear the people that I grew up listening to say my name and announce my music?!? Like shut up are you mad? That’s crazy! It was so so so so cool. It’s even happened where my friends have been in their cars and I’ve just come on the radio like how wild is that?!”.

So many young artists are getting noticed via TikTok. A wonderful platform that has started the careers of some incredible names, there are those who find viral fame and get noticed that way. Instead, Caity Baser has found a fanbase naturally and has not had to rely on that kind of acclaim. Again, it shows that her music has this potency and quality that is hard to ignore! EUPHORIA. interviewed Baser in May. Again, there are questions about Friendly Sex and comparisons to Lily Allen, but we get to find out the artists that Baser grew up listening to and was inspired by:

“We’ve become so consumed with pop acts rising from TikTok virality over the last two years that it becomes a breath of fresh air when we witness a form of organic growth from the app. Nineteen-year-old Caity Baser is the opposite of a wannabe pop figure, unintentionally building a platform for herself and simply riding the wave that formed.

She debuted with her Lil CB mixtape in summer 2021, and her now manager tuned into one of the many freestyling videos the artist made during lockdown and decided to make the first call. It’s since been smooth sailing for Baser as she draws comparisons to the likes of Lily Allen and Kate Nash for her sharp wit and incorporation of modern British slang within her lyrics.

The latest addition to Baser’s catalog, “Friendly Sex,” extends her momentum, racking up a colossal 4 million views days after posting the 60-second clip online. Running off the adrenaline, Baser headed to the studio with Future Cut (Little Mix, Rihanna) to finish the track, and within a week “Friendly Sex” hit streaming platforms to the sweet tune of 1 million streams and counting.

Speaking to EUPHORIA., Baser gives a retrospective dive into her career thus far and offers a peek into what lurks on the horizon.

Hello Caity! How are you doing today?

Really good, thank you! I came up to London from Southampton because I had a weekend of being crazy with my friends just dancing. Like non-stop. I’m literally so tired, the bags under my eyes are terrible.

Why don’t you briefly explain how you entered the music scene and how long you’ve been writing music?

I posted a TikTok in 2020 during lockdown when life was just terrible, you know, and nothing was going good. I posted a video of me in my pajamas, no makeup on just singing about how much I hated everything. And it got, like, a million views in a night? I never really took TikTok seriously, I just got it to take the mick out of my friends.

And then my now manager messaged me on Instagram and was like, “Hi, I’ve seen your recent TikTok. Can you give me a call?” I was like, “Who are you? why are you calling me?” And she said, “I work for a management company in London; come visit us.” The next day they put me in the studio with Future Cut who is Lily Allen’s producer — the rest is history.

We’ve recorded music all summer and all winter. I’m still doing it now and it’s literally the best thing ever.

You’ve got quite a conventionally British way of songwriting, which can often link comparisons to the likes of Lily Allen, Kate Nash etc. — who did you grow up listening to that you think influenced the way you write music?

The thing is, I grew up listening to every single kind of music you could ever imagine; Motown, jazz, blues, early 2000s boy bands … everything! But I’d say I’ve always been very honest and I’ve always liked listening to funny, honest songs. You know, Rizzle Kicks, Kate Nash, The Streets, I love that kind of stuff. I also love talking about things that have happened to me and I’ll never be metaphorical about it. I’m just like, listen, you’ve annoyed me.

Your track “STD” is what blew things out of the water for you and now the new single “Friendly Sex” is starting to look like the second wave. Could you tell us how this track came about?

Basically, I’ve been hooking up with this guy and you know when it’s nothing and you don’t feel anything, and then there’s one or two nights where you’re like, hang on a minute … Why are you looking at me like that? Then one weekend we went to this techno event and he brought this girl with him. I never usually get jealous but I stood there thinking who was that? Why is she here? Why didn’t I want you to be there with her but with me instead, what does that mean?

I put a beat on whilst I was cleaning my room and the lyrics happened straight away”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Lily Craigen

Breaking away to an interview from NME, and last year was one when Baser was able to play live regularly. Like so many artists, she was finding an audience and getting traction during the pandemic. She has been able to take her music to the masses over the past year or so. NME asked her what it has been like performing live post-lockdown. I like the fact that Caity Baser is especially moved when it is put to her that her music is impacting young women and giving them a voice:

“The road to Reading & Leeds began in earnest back in August 2020 when Baser shared ‘Average Student’ – a chirpy ode to feeling lost in life and “just kind of winging it” – on TikTok. After the clip racked up over a million views overnight, the Southampton-born artist then received a DM from a management agency and was invited to a London studio – with her lawyer brother in tow – to meet producers Future Cut (best known for their work with Lily Allen).

This unexpected development put paid to Baser’s newly-acquired job at her local Co-op, which she had initially been excited about as a means to save money for studio sessions. “My second shift [I] cried the whole time,” she recalls. “I went in for my third shift and said I’m quitting… how can I get a little taste of what I want, and then go back to normal shit? I couldn’t.”

The risk has paid off: Baser has since gone on to charm her eager and ever-growing fanbase with her personality-packed pop tunes. Tracks like ‘Friendly Sex’ (a tongue-in-cheek take on sacking off your friend-with-benefits because you’ve started to catch feelings) and ‘X&Y’ (a doo-wop banger that boasts pithy couplets like: “I invested in you like crypto / But I think it’s time to trade”) have racked up millions of streams, soundtracked countless TikTok videos and are now yelled back at Baser whenever she appears on-stage.

Your lyrics are very specific about past situations you’ve been in. Do the people you write about know that your songs are about them?

“I’ll give you facts, receipts, times, what I was wearing! I’m so honest [that] it’s hard for the person to not know it’s about them. I’m still really good friends with some of the people [the songs are] about. One of the boys was at one of my shows and I literally told the story of what happened: I name-dropped him, saying, ‘I think we’ve all had a [she censors out their name today with an “mm-mm”] in our lives’. And then I was like, ‘Fuck you!’ and everyone said it. Then I was like, ‘Point at him and say fuck you!’ It was amazing, and he was just there [looking exasperated]. It’s sick, though: I want to empower girls to be like, ‘Yeah, it’s cool to tell people to fuck off!’”

A lot of women are really identifying with your music. How empowering is that feeling?

“It’s happening again, the goosebumps! I’m getting shivers thinking about it. Yeah, of course it is [empowering]. Growing up I was never sure of anything, and I was quite quiet about my opinions. But now I want to teach people, especially young girls, that it’s so OK to be angry at another person because they’ve done something wrong. You don’t have to go, ‘Oh sorry’. [You can say] ‘No, fuck you. Give me a minute, I’m angry at you, leave me alone”.

What was it like performing your songs live for the first time post-lockdown?

“It’s weird. Since being accepted as Caity Baser – because I never was growing up, it was like, ‘You wear weird things, and why are you singing?’ – now I’m just being me. I never get nervous, as I’m like, ‘These are my people, you make me feel so welcome’. When I go out on-stage it’s not like a gig, it’s like a house party and everyone’s there. I just suddenly get up and am like, ‘Oi! Here’s a load of songs, do you want to hear it?’ I just feel like I’m in a big room with all my friends”.

I am going to round up in a minute. I am not sure whether Baser is working on an album for this year or an E.P. After a series of brilliant singles last year, maybe she will put them onto a mixtape or launch some new tracks. The Line of Best Fit featured the sensational Caity Baser. Reading the interview, and she is charmingly unguarded and open. I use the word ‘authentic’, but I think that is one of the most important and precious qualities for an artist. There is so much adoration and admiration behind Baser right now:

“The mentality of ‘just being a girl in her room’ is something Baser is determined not to lose sight of. A pop star might have fans, but she calls them friends. “I’m in group chats with them!” she enthuses. “They call me, I call them back. We talk. They turn up really early to my shows and I come out and say hello, and then go out afterwards to hug them all.” She tells me there is a group chat called ‘Caity Slays’, a space of “big sister advice”, where everyone – including Baser herself – helps each other through tricky times.

It’s this sense of togetherness, of closing the gulf between artist and fan, which bleeds into everything she does. I ask her what qualities she believes define a great pop star. “Someone who isn’t rude,” she answers immediately. “Someone who just acts like your mate, and is like, ‘Oh my god, hey!’ – someone who will engulf you in a hug when you go up to them. Someone who includes the audience, makes it feel like it’s everyone’s show, rather than just their own. And someone who isn’t a dickhead,” she smirks. “When I perform, I just feel like I’m at a house party with my mates, except I’ve got a microphone and we’re all singing together.”

One of Baser’s upcoming tracks, “2020”, captures the experience of coming-of-age in such turbulent times. “It’s fucked,” she insists. “When I talk to my mum or my dad about when they were twenty, it sounds so much fun. I mean, I’m having loads of fun, but the older I’m getting, the more I’m realising that everything is just… fucked. There are so many problems.” But as with everything, there is a silver lining. “I feel like everyone in the Gen Z demographic… what a good word!” she grins, looking to her manager excitedly. “I feel like we’re all really understanding. You can be who you want to be, and there’s no judgement. Whereas I know some of my friends’ parents would not be okay with some of the shit that I’d be okay with, because of how they were raised. Well, fuck that. Change.”

Her debut mixtape, Lil CB, was a statement of intent, the first embodiment of her vision having been afforded a moment to actually think about what that is. “All those songs are about things that really annoyed me and affected me at one point in my life, so I wrote about it, put it into the world and made a little present out of it,” she smiles, “like, ‘Right, that’s it. I’m done now.’” Reckoning with “Haters”, toxic exes, being broke and the urge to put her phone on airplane mode, it perfectly captures the attitude and spirit of a precocious eighteen-year-old. “STD”, which leans into her taste for reggae-inflected beats, is Baser’s weapon of choice against a ex who had been sleeping around behind her back. “I heard you got an STD / From sleeping with Molly, Libby and Sophie / You had the nerve to cheat on me / Well karma’s a bitch and I was out of your league”, before leaving him with an exasperated sigh, “Ugh, men are fuckin’ trash, goodbye / Fuckin’ see ya / You had a small dick anyway!”

PHOTO CREDIT: Jack Alexander

I wonder if there isn’t a little hurt beneath all this bravado. “Things can be a bit shit,” she shrugs, “but I make good things out of them. I refuse to be like, ‘Wahhh, I’m sad!’ It’s fine, I’ll giggle about it somehow.” But she is the first to acknowledge that since she dropped Lil CB, she has grown up immeasurably. Compare any eighteen-year-old with someone at the age of twenty, and there is a world of difference. “When I listen to the Lil CB stuff, I sound a bit like a kid – I mean, because I was a kid. I’ve changed a lot in these last two years.” That’s why she’s allowing for nuance and vulnerability within her music, releasing the “What I Didn’t Say” edition of her scathing shoot-down hit “X&Y”.

For as long as she could remember, writing a song was how Baser dealt with her emotions. “Whenever anything goes wrong, I go to the studio – even good things, I’ll write about it. I always feel so much lighter,” she shares. The practise room at school was Baser’s regular haunt; she preferred it to socialising, to the point where she didn’t even have to ask to use it anymore – she had her own key. She would sit at the piano and teach herself. “It was like my best friend,” she says. “Because when I felt like I couldn’t talk to anybody – this is so cringey – I would just play the piano and feel so much better.” I find it incredibly hard to believe her when she tells me that she never had many friends growing up. She has a way of talking to you as if she’s known you for years; as if you were the only person who mattered in the room. She sparkles with confidence, and the way she makes the stage feel like a home suggests that she has always been this way.

“I think I’ve always wanted to be confident,’ shrugs Baser. “But everyone around me was always like, ‘Don’t do that.’ I always wanted to wear weird stuff and act weird… I don’t know, no one really accepted me in school and even college. So I was just like, ‘Okay, I’ll talk how you talk, I’ll wear what you wear, I’ll do what you do.’ And then, as soon as I started getting accepted for being me, I was like, ‘Okay! Here I am!’” she grins. “I’ve been long-caged”.

This year is going to be a phenomenal one for Caity Baser. I can see her commanding huge stages and performing around the world. I don’t think it is going to take long before Baser sits alongside our most popular and successful artists. I cannot recommend her highly enough, so do ensure you follow her and give her music a lot of love. She has come a long way in a short time. I think the Brighton-based artist might have to get her head around the fact that things are…