Written and recorded by Cat in an AirB&B attic in Cork last year, the track was co-produced by Duncan Brookfield and the final product uses a lot of the original demo. Showcasing Cat’s natural gift for telling poignant and vivid stories through his lyrics, ‘Ancient History’ sheds a light on embracing fragility, pain and suffering, especially amongst men.  

Tell us about the genesis of your project. How did you get to where you are now?

Ans: 2021 was a pretty rough year for me personally and it inspired a lot of emotions that came pouring out in song form. This is the first single from an EP that i wrote last september in 4 days, it was a very cathartic experience and i’m very proud of the result

What should a song or piece of art communicate in your opinion? 

I think songs or art should allow listeners to feel unique experiences. Listening is a very subjective experience and the role of art in our world is to enable people to feel emotion in my opinion.

Who were your top 3 artists last year?

Remi Wolf

Still Woozy

Kanye West

What do you do when you’re feeling uninspired?

I write a lot from experience. When I’m uninspired I try to go out into the world and find new experiences

What are your 2022 projects and goals?

I hope to successfully release this EP I’ve been working on since last September. My goal is to have as many people listen to my music as possible and hope that at least some of them like it.

Favourite movie or TV show?

I find this question really difficult to answer, I think my answer at the moment is Ozark but it’s always changing

Tell us about your latest release ‘Ancient History’ and how it came about

Ancient History was the last song I wrote for the EP and I almost never wrote it because I only set out to write three songs. but, I decided to carry on and write one more song. I knew immediately it had to be the first single. It’s a culmination of everything I was feeling and going through last year bundled into a song. I like to leave the meaning of my songs to be interpreted by the listener in whatever way they see fit so I won’t say exactly what the song is about but it wasn’t necessarily a very good year.

What is something you would want to change in the music and entertainment industry?

I think musician’s should be paid more money per stream of their song on large streaming platforms.

Can you outline your creative process?

It’s never the same but usually I know the general vibe of the song i’m about to write before I write it so I write an instrumental on the piano or acoustic guitar, then write the melody and lyrics. Production has been something i’ve worked on a lot over the past few years too and it’s become a very important part of my creative process.

Who inspires your style and aesthetics?

I think my friends would be the first people to say that I don’t have a great sense of fashion but I do like nice clothes and recently my housemate has been a good influence on me stylistically and recently i’ve become a fan of vintage clothing, I live in shoreditch so it’s very easy to find good vintage clothes.. I think people like Jamie Cullum, Theo Katzman and Chris Martin inspire me stylistically in my music but I’m not sure that’s the answer you were looking for!

What is the achievement or moment in your career you are the most proud of and why?

I’m very slow to recognise important moments in my career until a long time after the fact but I remember discovering that someone I had never met had made a playlist of just my music on spotify and having a real sense of pride about it. It’s the little things I guess! 

What do you think an artist should sing about nowadays?

I think the most important thing is that an artist remains true to themselves. After that they can sing about whatever they like.

Do you have any regrets?

I am very much someone who lives in the moment and takes each day as it comes and I think for that reason I don’t have any major regrets in life.

What is some piece of advice you would give to yourself right now?

Be patient! It’s something I’m working on constantly but I’m a very impatient person a lot of the time.