Kitty Perrin ahead of Wild Paths

We had a chat with Norwich-based singer/songwriter and radio presenter, Kitty Perrin, ahead of her performance supporting Prima Queen at Wild Paths Festival later this week.

First off, how are you? Are you excited to be performing at Wild Paths again this year?

I’m really good, thanks! And I’m really excited for this year - performing at St Andrew’s Halls last year was the biggest space I’d been in, and it was incredible. It’s become such a marker in the year, really. I moved to Norwich in 2018 and Wild Paths started in 2019, so it’s always been the biggest thing locally for me to be involved with. I’m buzzing to be back and to see all the local artists this year, especially Suds, they’re like a little sibling band to us which I love. There’s Prima Queen, Elkyn… Tiny Umbrellas, too! They’ve been one of my favourite artists of the year!

You’ve been all over the UK this year, touring. Can you describe the feeling of performing your own work to all those people?

It’s weird and amazing. I think the thing with tour is that it happens so quickly, but it’s also so chill, too. We get to just hang out before the show and then people show up and then you end up chatting to loads of people who saw you just at the merch table afterwards. The fact that people show up is so validating for me as an artist - they care! You feel like a real musician, it’s a great feeling. It’s nice to have the connection with people; you see people getting into it, singing along to the choruses, that kind of thing. As a smaller, independent artist, it’s a lot more personal that it is with bigger artists and their audiences. You can really feel it.

You’re also the host of BBC Introducing in Norfolk - how does having this show inspire you as an artist, seeing as you’re constantly being exposed to new work every week?

It’s amazing, really, because I’ll go through the Uploader every week and be picking out songs and thinking that we’ve peaked with local music because it’s just that good, and then the next week I’ll hear something that I can’t believe hasn’t blown up and been played everywhere, it’s incredible - I’m sat there thinking ‘Why aren’t you famous yet?!’. So I think, probably, the inspiration I get is from knowing that stuff I listen to will be heard by someone, and then their life could change because of it. It’s just so interesting to see where it will go. And it’s so special, too, to have that personal connection with music, and it’s inspired me in a way to just be happy with where I am and what I’m doing as an independent artist - 2 or 3 people could listen to one of my songs, they could really love it and then they’ll message me on Instagram and tell me. It’s really, really nice.

You released your debut EP, Stick It Out, in April of this year - what was the reaction to that like? It must’ve been super daunting, especially as an independent artist.

I was thinking about this recently, actually! I was looking through my Instagram Stories archive, and I got to the day when I released the first single, and I’d gotten 500 streams on it when I was expecting only a handful. It was the most amazing thing to me that so many people were listening to me - and I’ve released three EPs now, the first when I was twelve years old. That feeling never changes, it’s such a visceral reaction. It’s still a huge deal for me, I love it.

Do you have any particular favourite songs to perform live at the minute, or any that you’re excited to do at Wild Paths?

There is one called Superheroes, which is the closer of my set. I wrote it for my band after a conversation we had about having superpowers - what they would be and what we would do with them. Time travel got brought up and we discussed if we would go back in time and tell our younger selves about the future - we agreed that it wouldn’t be worth it and that it would be too risky because we then wouldn’t have the lives we have now. It’s a really sweet song and so much fun to play! I also have a new track called Village Hero which is a new one I’m debuting at Wild Paths - you’ll have to come along to the gig to hear the full backstory…

(Kitty did actually tell me a little bit about it, but I’ll let you readers find out for yourselves at the gig!)

What would you say is your favourite part about having such an expansive and creative music and art festival in Norwich? You’ve been living here for a few years so it must have a lot of meaning to you.

Norwich has definitely become my home, for sure, and one of the things I love about Wild Paths is that it brings the wider music industry to the city. It’s a tough thing to try and get some attention on Norfolk and all of its local talent, and the festival brings in labels, management, A&R, all sorts of people that can be exposed to the good stuff that we have to show them, even if it’s just for a weekend, and I think that’s amazing. It’s a bit more of a compacted line up this year, but I remember that at one point there were 60+ local acts performing, which was crazy. It’s a great way to have exposure to the local scene, and the line up this year is a perfect fit. Touring bands also have the chance to come here, too, and see what it’s all about, and it can encourage them to come back in future!

Looking to the future, where do you see yourself over the next year? Any more plans for new music or gigs?

Well, the most exciting thing that’s happened recently is that my band and I have just received a grant from Help Musicians, who are a music charity that has loads of grants available for stuff ranging from touring to production to contracts. The one that we’ve got is to help record and produce a bunch of new stuff to release, hopefully next year! We’ve been sitting on loads of new songs since releasing the EP, so to get those recorded will be great - there’ll always be lots more new gigs, too, so that’ll be really nice.

You can catch Kitty at Last Pub Standing on Friday the 14th of October as part of Wild Paths Festival. Her debut EP, Stick It Out is available to listen to on all streaming services now, and you can also catch her BBC Introducing show every Saturday evening on BBC Radio Norfolk.