Katie Lass: Music has been a constant companion to me. I’ve been playing around with different instruments since I was about 15. It started with guitar and occasionally piano, sometimes other people's drums. In Arizona my group of friends during high school were a bunch of skate punk kids and that was a really important time for me. We went to tons of shows and our world basically revolved around music. I’ve had a lot of fly-by-night collaborations with other musicians over the years but mostly just meandering jam sessions, and hadn’t really tried writing songs in any deliberate way until 2020.
Who are some of your inspirations?
Elizabeth Fraser / PJ Harvey / Trish Keenan / Luigi Serafini / Gary Panter / My Bloody Valentine / Delia Derbyshire / Takako Minekawa / Iggy Pop / Portishead / Arthur Lee / The Kinks / David Bowie / Blonde Redhead / Leonora Carrington / Arik Brauer / Henry Darger / Francis Bacon / Patti Smith, to name a few. It’s hard to narrow it down. I love musicians and painters and writers, all sorts of artists, across all mediums and styles, who do their own thing in their own way and aren't afraid of being different. People with fierce, playful spirits are the ones I gravitate toward. Magic sees magic, if you feel it you know it’s there.
You're getting ready to release your new record "Hypnopomp"? What does that title mean?
The word refers to a certain mode of consciousness leading out of sleep, characterized by hallucinations and projections which the dreamer perceives as real. I’ve often willed myself into a kind of trance state when I’m making things, and to me good music is sort of hypnotic in nature, keeps you suspended somewhere between this world and another. Some people mistakenly think it’s “Hypno Pop,” but that’s cool too. Symbolically this album was a sort of awakening for me in a lot of ways. For a long time I was just really shy and never imagined I could play my own music for other people. Making this album changed all that. I was able to accept the version of myself I already was and the capabilities I already had, which really freed me up to try things and delve into my subconscious. As a result I covered a lot of ground really quickly. The converse of that is “psychopomp” which is actually etched into the dead wax on the B-side of the record, and refers to the spirit that guides souls into the next realm after death. Not necessarily to be taken literally, it’s kinda just about letting go of your hang-ups and accepting that uncertainty is to be embraced rather than resisted, and that really renders the present moment more important than anything in your past or future. If you can get your mind into a state where you’re always half dreaming I think that’s kind of ideal, creatively.
How did you record Hypnopomp and what do you hope people listening to it will take away from the record?
Most of the record was recorded at home in my Hamtramck apartment, using a 2-input interface, a condenser microphone and a couple borrowed microphones and borrowed drums. A couple of the tracks were a collaborative recording process but 99% of the songwriting and recording was a solo endeavor. Basically I just started recording songs knowing I would eventually compile the best ones, but I wasn’t trying to make things that sounded similar or stick to a theme. I wanted to let some different styles interact. Some of the songs started as loops. Many of the tracks didn’t have drums or percussion until later. A couple of the tracks started as garage band recordings on my phone, but most of them I recorded through my interface using Studio One on my laptop. A lot of multi tracking, sampling and overdubbing, but in a few cases I would do a live recording of guitar or bass with vocals along to a beat loop. Mixing was really meticulous. In the beginning I was working with a wild amount of track layers, which I definitely started to simplify as time went on, but the action/reaction factor really took off during the process and a lot of things just happened really quickly and spontaneously.
Besides just a heady dopamine trip, the takeaway for people with this record might be that you don’t have to wait for permission from others to create the world you want for yourself. You can start right now, and just continue to build on that. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Don’t be afraid to make something strange or inaccessible. That's where the discoveries happen, which I think is a James Joyce quote, and maybe a Broadcast lyric too… probably tons of people have said that. The willingness to be vulnerable and make a mess is really the only way to get anywhere worth getting to I think.
How do you feel about the Detroit music/art scene?
To be honest I never feel too comfortable in any 'scene’ really… I’ve always just been a pretty solitary person preoccupied with working on various projects in my free time… but since I moved here from Arizona about 6 years ago, I’ve established some connections with a good number of really talented and supportive people and their encouragement has been crucial for me in the past few years as I’ve devoted more and more of myself to these things I enjoy doing and I’ve become more confident about putting myself out there. I feel a lot more comfortable collaborating with people these days and I definitely intend on setting up more shows and working with more people as time goes on. The Detroit music/art scene is great and powerful and raw. I’m happy to be here.
Who are some of your favorite local artist/bands/venues?
Outer Limits is always doing fun stuff. We just played with this new band Zastava at Andy Art Center, they have a really great sound. I like Eck. Sun Astros are good friends of mine, they’re always great. DaddyMother is sick. Shadow Show is cool. Day Residue rules. Just heard about this band Clinic Stars that I like a lot. Kathy Liesen’s solo music and paintings are some of the best I’ve seen/heard as far as my taste is concerned around here. There are a lot of other ultra talented and driven people around too, it’s all really inspiring.
If you could collaborate with one person, who would it be and why?
I’ve never been able to really plan or anticipate collaborations… they always just kinda emerge naturally if they’re meant to be. I can’t say I sit around thinking about hypothetical collaborations, but… maybe Isabelle Antena. That electro-samba stuff from the 80s still really gets me. I don’t know though, hard question! Tastes are always fluctuating.
How do you feel about the future of art/music?
I find the most pleasure when I’m planted firmly in the present moment. But I do know art/music for me will continue to be my main source of joy, and probably some pain too. It’s not all about having fun, it’s a lot of work really.