Katye Kellye (Kah-cha Kell-ee) is very, very tired of Autocorrect trying to change her name. Her band, The Interruption, until recently was composed of amazing studio professionals who have worked with bands you’ve actually heard of. Ms. Kellye has now put together a band with musicians who need to be heard from.
Ms. Kellye writes incisive, pointed, bad-ass songs of experience that are probably not about you. (Although if you think they are, maybe you need to think about why that might be.)
She has been a singer and songwriter for a relatively short time (in geologic terms) or a very large number of dog years. Previously the lead singer of Toxic Shox, her the first offering in about 35 years was an EP, Vanity Project, which is available for sale/streaming on most streaming services. Check out the song It Simply Isn’t Christmas and the exclusive interview below:
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1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?
KATYE KELLYE & THE INTERRUPTION: Although we’re based in Asbury Park NJ, we’re all originally from elsewhere: I was an Air Force dependent, so lived in OH and NY, Paul F. grew up in Fairfield Co., CT, Robin is from Wanamassa NJ and Paul D. and Evan are from Ocean Co. NJ. I have been writing songs since a young age, and Paul F. wanted to be in a band, so about 4 years ago we started one.
2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?
KATYE KELLYE & THE INTERRUPTION: We all grew up with music lessons and Paul D. and Evan both have degrees in Music.
3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘KATYE KELLYE & THE INTERRUPTION’?
KATYE KELLYE & THE INTERRUPTION: Katye – way too many bands to name have influenced and informed my songwriting. Everyone in Rock is influenced somewhat by the Beatles. Other touchstones are The Who, The Ramones, 60’s Girl Group/Wall of Sound Bands, Jefferson Airplane, and Carole King. My mom was a musician, and she always had music playing of all sorts, from Harry Belafonte to Opera Buffo to Gilbert and Sullivan and all kinds of classical music. We all have parents or grandparents that are musicians!
4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
KATYE KELLYE & THE INTERRUPTION: I try to tell relatable stories with my songs. Sometimes they’re funny, sometimes they’re raw. Sometimes both. Since music is how I make sense of the world, I like to think there’s some universal truths about the universe in everything I write. I kind of agree with one reviewer’s assertion that we’re “50 years of Rock and Roll rolled up in a neat little package”
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5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as ROCK?
KATYE KELLYE & THE INTERRUPTION:
I did the garage band thing as a teen, wedding bands in my 20s. I love music, so enjoy singing pretty much anything, but always in my own voice. My bandmates at the time were obsessed with sounding like the record. I was determined that it sounded like me.
6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?
KATYE KELLYE & THE INTERRUPTION:
I am a child of the ‘60s and am not afraid to write about what I see as injustices in society. I wrote a song at the beginning of the Pandemic called “Terrified” and recorded it remotely with an all-healthcare worker band called “The Essentials” talking about how we all felt taking our lives in our hands working every day without adequate PPE. I wrote a song (as yet unreleased) during the BLM protests here in the US called “How It Feels” after a frank conversation with an African American friend and realizing that as a mom of white children, there were conversations I’d never needed to have with my boys about how to deal with encounters with law enforcement. I’ve written about how refugees are treated in the US, a country that was founded by immigrants, and my latest protest song is called “Friend of a Friend” about what happens when women lose autonomy over their own bodies.
7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?
KATYE KELLYE & THE INTERRUPTION:
I would love to sell a song to someone who’s going to make it a hit, but I write music because it’s therapeutic. For the whole band, our “happy place” is on stage, so performing for people makes us all happy.
8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?
KATYE KELLYE & THE INTERRUPTION:
I don’t really have a fixed process for songwriting. Sometimes it’s a snippet of overheard conversation that resonates with me, sometimes a chord progression in something I hear that pulls me in and gives me a hook to work from. Occasionally, a full song just “falls” out of my head. I frequently work with Evan (Producer and Guitarist/multiinstrumentalist) to refine arrangements.
9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
KATYE KELLYE & THE INTERRUPTION: Clearly I’ve been through a few things! Just listen to my music. In 1985, my all-woman band at the time, Toxic Shox was in the process of negotiating a recording contract with a major Punk label in NYC. Even though it was woman owned, there was the usual quid pro quo expectation of “being nice” to the A&R team. We weren’t going to provide the “quid” so there was ultimately no “quo” on their end. I’ve had nasty breakups, lost friends to AIDS and drugs, and now to politics. My mom passed away in August, and I’m still processing that. I’ve written one song already about that, but I feel like there are quite a few more in there.
10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
KATYE KELLYE & THE INTERRUPTION: Seeing the look on my mom’s face when I was performing. She had some serious musical chops herself, so seeing her enjoying my performance meant something.
11. With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters, and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?
KATYE KELLYE & THE INTERRUPTION: You know what they say opinions are like.. Seriously, when I hear criticism, it’s usually from someone that never had the experience of getting up on a stage and making themselves vulnerable when sharing their art. How can I possibly take their criticism seriously?
12. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?
KATYE KELLYE & THE INTERRUPTION: I love live performance because it’s always unique. No two shows are the same – ever. I live for seeing audience reaction.
13. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?
KATYE KELLYE & THE INTERRUPTION: People are going to interpret them how they interpret them. Nobody can completely experience someone else’s experience. If they strike some chord of truth from the listener’s own experience, awesome.
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Photo credits: Jeff Crespi