Josset Yarbrough writesThe CHIRP Radio Interview: Girl K

CHIRP Radio Posdcast contributer Josset Yarbrough recently sat down with Kathy Patino, who creates music as Girl K, to discuss her latest release My Future. You can listen to their full conversation here.

Josset Yarbrough: I'm here with Kathy Patino, the mastermind behind Girl K. Her most recent release, My Future, is a pop album that tugs at your heartstrings with its vulnerable lyrics, and has music that makes you want to dance and scream in the best possible way. So without further ado, welcome Kathy. How are you? 
Kathy Patino: I'm good. Thank you for having me.

JY: So you describe My Future as the black swan of your releases. This album has a stronger pop focus compared to your previous releases, which has more of an indie rock feel. So what led you to that sonic transition and what have you been able to express more now that you've expanded your musical horizons?
KP: Yeah, I definitely had been listening to a lot more pop music in my life. For the longest time I was very anti-pop. I don't know where that drift happened, because I was raised on Disney Channel people like Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato. Then indie rock took over my life and now it's back to being way more pop; I really only listen to Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande right now. I really like playing around with synths and Logic to write my demos and, and I feel like this has allowed me to explore more of what I could create musically because there's only so much I felt I could do playing guitar and staying in that indie rock vein. 

JY: How did you work through the way you wanted the album to sound? Because you have such emotional lyrics, but then there are those moments where it sounds very heavy and there's an ethereal feel to it. And then other moments, you want to dance. It covers so many emotions, even in one song. What was the process for trying to cover that?
KP: Yeah, I just really love a song with a beat. And I also really wanted to create atmospheres within the song. Finding really cool sounds while working on these songs really allowed me to identify moments and opportunities to showcase them. But, generally, I just write a lot of songs, and then because they're all written within a certain era where I have a certain skill set developed I'm, you know, thinking a certain way, they all just end up working together because they encapsulate a moment in time for me.

JY: I read that you worked on the album for about two years, and so I wanted to know what was the song writing process like over that time, especially when you have lyrics that are very personal and relatable, but you still want to get that feeling across. 
KP: Those two years specifically were very interesting, because one of those years I was living back home with my parents. That was probably the longest break I had away from being in the music scene in Chicago since I was 19, and it was very isolating and I felt like it would be over for me, so that drove much of the inspiration behind these songs. Along with that, when I'm in the songwriting process, I'm writing the album and I have all these anxieties about, "Will the album do well," or, "Will people like these songs," and dealing with the stress that comes from wanting to make music. I don't know if it's necessarily my dream to be a famous musician, but just music itself is my dream and I'm trying to figure out what that even means for me. I just want people to hear what I'm making, I want to have fun making it, and I don't really care how many people that is. But if I can keep playing shows, that would be really cool. 

JY: So I know you worked with HEARTGAZE on the album, and I was wondering how did y'all connect and work on the album together and get an idea of what you wanted the album to sound like.
KP: I met HEARTGAZE, Clem, through a friend of mine, shoutout Lolly. And a lot of the people that she introduced me to were relatively newer artists who I had not heard of, but were making pop-adjacent music. I was taken aback; I feel like I've only ever heard indie rock in Chicago or  singer-songwriter type beats and so then to find a pop community, that was really inspiring. Espeically when at the time, I was trying to set a standard for the quality of this project. Clem was still in Chicago and had the time, and was excited to work with me. And so we just essentially, over the course of a couple of months, sat down at their apartment and worked. And within an hour, they would have a whole song fully revamped. I really unlocked my creativity in terms of not knowing the possibilities of what music I could make.

JY: What song on the record was the hardest to complete? Was there something where you're like, "There's something in this song that I want to get across, and it took a couple of like trials to get through?"
KP: Definitely. "My Future" and "Bag Full of Rocks" were the hardest songs to complete production. I knew on "My Future" needed to be a really big song, full, dance-pop vibes. It wasn't fully complete until my guitarist, Kevin Shepard, added some really sick guitar chords on top of the chorus, and I was like, yes this is what it needed. Then for "Bag Full of Rocks" I really wanted that song to give Caroline Polachek, and so with that I needed to create a sense of mystique and really cool percussive moments, so it made me feel good to find that path. "Climb" definitely added some more elements onto there, especially with the vocal mixing that took it full circle.

JY: How did you realize that you wanted to make music for yourself now and not for the eight-year-old, who you are at your core?
KP: I think it's still something that I'm going back and forth about because I see what's happened to Chappell Roan or Hemlocke Springs and I'm like, that would be so cool. And then at the same time, I don't like the music industry, I don't want to do what you have to do to really get out there, and it's also quite difficult. Nothing is black and white. You've got to play a game, and I am in and out of wanting to do that grind. Since I've done Girl K since 2017, I'm at the point where I need to take a second and not do Girl K stuff. See how I feel about making music because I'm not feeding that part of me that needs to keep grinding for this dream. I just want some peace. 

JY: Well, I thought the album was a massive contribution to positivity in this giant blurb of chaos and negative things in the world, and I appreciate your work. I was wondering if there's anything else you want to let folks know about at home?
KP: Yeah, just follow your heart. Don't feel like you've got to follow your dreams. Don't take the word "dreams" too seriously. Just be a good person, do the things that make you happy, and just be nice to other people. 

JY: Thank you so much for your time. 

My Future is now available on Bandcamp.