Kara, first time on the show. Not exactly sure how that’s possible considering we’ve been friends since 2015, you’d think I would have reached out at least one time to get you on the show, right?

Kara: I know, right? Fuck, it’s almost like you didn’t want me talking because you’re afraid I’d reveal some crazy stuff considering how long we’ve been pretty fucking close friends. I know we’ve both chilled the fuck out recently, maybe you think it’s safe for me to come on here and talk with you now that those crazy early days are behind us. Hmm, how long exactly does the statute of limitations last?

You know there’s no hiding on here, the crazier the stories the better! I’m sure we’ll get to that good stuff, but first let’s talk about your career up to this point, because I know it’s an interesting one. Success never came so easily to you, we hung out a lot during the time you were trying to break out into the industry, we even wrote a fucking song together. It was a flop, hence why we’ve never written together again. You debuted in 2012 and you didn’t have a big hit until 2022. There were a couple of moments where it felt like you were on the cusp of blowing up and then it would just fizzle out again. How would you describe those tricky years?

Kara: Shit, we’re going therapy session deep right off the bat. I’ve kinda talked about it quite a lot in detail, but honestly I think it just boiled down to identity. I debuted in 2012 and saw myself as this alternative sort of bohemian artist, influenced by David Bowie and a lot of 70’s New York Punk. The idea of being so different to how people may have expected me to sound based on my appearance and personality was probably more of an appeal than actually having the ability to pull that sort of alternative thing off. Alternative was the mainstream back in 2012 too, so that was probably part of it. Just trying to find my niche within the zeitgeist at the time. I started to drift away and there were a few hints of rap and hip-hop influences coming through but still with an alternative style until we got to the ‘Therapy Sessions’ E.P in 2020 where I fully went in on the rap and hip-hop influence and embraced it.

It was that E.P that sort of raised your name up a little within the industry, and I sort of was watching you slowly rise up as each new thing you did from that point on kept building your name into one that was finally given credibility. To me, it was once you shed your self-doubt and went all in on that style of music that changed the game for you. Almost going from a generic face in the crowd to becoming a major player in the industry. I think the genre shift definitely did that for you.

Kara: It did! And that self-doubt thing is 100% true. Like, you fucking knew me pretty closely back then, when I was middling and just not expecting anything I did to ever blow up. I also think the rawness and honesty of the ‘Therapy Sessions’ E.P sort of showed a different side of me and people started to think, shit, maybe this chick has a story worth listening to. And from that moment onwards, I started writing from an autobiographical point of view. My opinions on shit, stories that I’ve lived throughout my life. If you listen to the E.P and the album “Post-Traumatic, it’s literally like reading a diary and once that way of writing clicked for me, it was like there was no turning back from that point. I started to see myself as an artist that could have a body of work to look back on worth being proud of. When the period before this all clicked, I was writing and recording not because I had that vision to create something, but literally just because I was pencilled in to record some shit or put some shit out. Now, everything I do serves a purpose, took a while to figure it out but I’m on that path now.

The album, ”Post-Traumatic” really blew up last year and put you up there as one of the big names in the industry. The album went number one and you had three number one singles from the album and then headlining your first ever world tour. I came to one of your shows and it was insane to see how big and in demand you were backstage, we barely got time to speak. We only ended hanging out one or two times over the last couple of years, but I was watching you on this journey and it was great to see. I know you always talked about artists that were huge and how it looks like it takes them away from life, in a way. How do you manage that level of success?

Kara: Honestly, I think the moment you sort of decide to go all in and really dedicate yourself to those opportunities you have to be 100% certain that you want it. Up until that point, I half assed my way through a career, I did enough to be able to survive as an artist. But once it clicked in me, I knew everything would change. I sat down with the label and explained, I’m on a two album deal and I’m about to start working on album number two. We both have nothing to lose, if it flops you don’t renew the contract and you walk away with maybe a small profit, I walk away with two albums under my belt, a couple of charting songs, enough to probably get me a lesser record deal somewhere else, just enough name recognition to get by.
My mindset was to jump on the momentum of the E.P and dedicate myself completely to writing and recording an album that was completely from deep inside of my soul, none of us expected it to do things that it did. I’m proud of that record which is really fucked up to say considering I had spent the previous five or six years talking about how I really hated my debut album. Kind of felt like it was a chance to have a second try. So even though I was hesitant of that level of fame and success and intrusion, I loved the idea of really fucking going for it. Scariest part of all of that, is the thought of what the fuck do I do now?

Which sort of brings me onto the next topic, I watched interviews with you and read tweets from you sort of not so subtly prodding your record label to offer you a new deal. I know from texts and calls back and forth with each other that you started getting really pissed off the longer it went on. What’s the situation now, are you free to sign with another label?

Kara: Man, I was ready to go fucking wild with rage at one point. It was a two album deal, I had released the second album and it did crazy numbers for the label, then the world tour which was relentless from April to November and brought crazy numbers to the label. I said every time that I wanted to stay with ‘Just Record’, cause I have a lot of love for them. They stuck by me through the years and never pushed me into shit that I didn’t want to do. But we eventually arranged a meeting towards the end of the world tour and we worked out a new record deal. It’s always interesting to think about what it would be like somewhere else because no label works in the same way as each other, but for me it was about sticking with that family vibe and I know they’ve got some pretty big plans for 2024. I feel like I’m surrounded by my guys that I know have my back, Kidd and Stacks are legit, I know there’s talks with some other people coming in that definitely excite me to. I think it’s going to be a wild year at the label, for sure!

I’m excited for you, I know your schedule is already filling up like crazy but I think we gotta squeeze some time in a little more to hang out like those old days. We’ve talked about the career side of things, but I kinda want to talk to you about your life. I don’t think people know quite how fun you can be to have as a friend and coming up together in the industry led to some great times.

Kara: Oh shit, now you really trying to get me back cause I said that I’d reveal some stories about you. We’ve been involved in some wild situations, guys. Honestly, I think we partied and vacationed together more than we actually worked for a while. There was a group of us that came into the industry at that time and I think we just all sort of needed each other to balance out things and navigate this crazy world. We’ve kind of seen all sides of the industry, it doesn’t happen much at all anymore, but there was a time when the best part of this job was the people that you’d party with and spend time with.

It’s definitely a different industry now, it’s probably a little safer but definitely less fun. I feel like those that came up around us were definitely more open to taking risks where now it’s more PR driven. I know labels that work really hard to keep stuff from going public and a lot of the time it’s weird little shit that we wouldn’t think twice about.

Kara: That’s so fucking true! I smoked weed with somebody in the industry at the 2020 FCA’s, the one in Liverpool. She’s a friend, but she was desperate to make sure that it wouldn’t get out. There were six of us and we all received messages from her label about the importance of her image and this information not getting out. We’re close friends and she smokes so much fucking weed, but I never realised up until that point how much effort some people in the industry try to keep this perfect image. She was fucking a rapper at that point too and it wasn’t widely known, but it wasn’t a secret either, they had been spotted going out to dinner and parties together and her label were working overtime to keep the fact that she smokes away from the press.
I mean, if you’re a fan of anybody in the industry, just know they’re not perfect. Remember the trip we took to the desert and we all took shrooms and spent like four days dancing naked under the sun.

That was definitely a trip, I’m keeping that story for the memoirs. But we used to take time out all the time to just let loose and go a little wild, it was part of the job back then I’d say. We’d rent a villa in Tijuana every Christmas for three years, Me, you, Maddie and a few more of us that I’m not sure if they’re open to being revealed and we basically all hated the holidays, so we’d vacation for like two weeks out there, lock ourselves inside and get so fucking high and so fucking wild. The parties we had were special at that time.

Kara: It’s a different industry now, it was dangerous when we came into it if you weren’t with the right people. But for me, awards shows were the places you would see the craziest shit ever. I was once in the bathroom at an awards show, crying over some pointless bullshit and was given a couple of lines of coke by literally America’s sweetheart. Like we’re talkin’ the last person you’d expect, she was it. I honestly can’t say names, but I think there’s maybe a handful of people that fit that category and it was one of them.

People will probably find it hard to believe, but that’s just because there’s less industry events these days. We’re going to wrap things up pretty soon, but as is tradition whenever we meet up, we gotta talk about your love life. You know me and Jay have been waiting for you to give up that fuckbuddy lifestyle and move into the double dating shit that I’ve been trying to force for like a year now. What’s happening?

Kara: Nah, you know how difficult it is to maintain that shit. It took you moving out of the country during lockdown to figure that out. Right now, with the plan for the next year or two, it’s going to be relentless working on a new album and no doubt being on the road so much. Any spare time I get, I just want to be taken away from the studio and have some fun. I don’t want to stress about the little things that you always stress about in relationships.

Alright, I’ve been hearing rumours about you and a certain somebody. You can tell me in private, but just know that I ain’t buying any of that PR nonsense. My place in Hawaii is always available when you’re both ready to hang out. I’ve loved being able to catch up with you and we’ll definitely not leave it so long next time. Can’t wait to see what you do this year, I’m sure it’ll be huge!