Biography
Born in London and raised on a strict diet of Bagpuss and The Beatles. She started playing the piano as soon as she could reach the keys.
Gigs followed, all over London…then one evening, while singing for her supper at Maison Bertaux (London's oldest cake shop featuring the most out-of-tune piano ever heard) she met Ken Rose. Producer/ songwriter and lion-haired wizard, Ken had just returned from a tour playing guitar with Marianne Faithfull. Their perfectly matched mismatchedness was plain to see - he arch-dude of LA horizontal 'tude, she a spider-lashed runaway marionette with a dash of potty mouth and a love of war poetry - "Let's make a record," they said.
After many an attempt - hard rock, indie schlock and Dutch acid kazoo, Kate decided to travel back through time. She remembered the sinister-sweet tinkle of Danny Elfman's Edward Scissorhands, she remembered the plink and plonk of the Clangers, and throwing open the toy cupboard, out poured her orchestra. Toy bells and pianos, dustbin lids, teapots, double bass playing robots, drums full of pennies, autoharps and school recorders - all of them were included.
Kate and Ken locked themselves in a tiny studio/ playroom, and were visited there by all manner of wonderful folk - Hannah came to claw the cello as if it were a cave full of stalactites, Alison used her gypsy fiddle to glorious effect, Mardyah and Malcolm played and arranged string quartets as if it was the last waltz on the Titanic. Some just came to point and laugh.
A strange symphony emerged from the turbulent sea: ships bells, whistles, mechanical birds, the sinister sweetness of the Victorian toy orchestra - and through it all Kate's voice, the bastard offspring of Thom Yorke and Sinead O'Connor, the thread that bound it all.
Ken, like a crazed seamstress, deftly wove patchwork piece after piece into the whole, using his battered laptop as yet another weird instrument to add to the chaos. From the clutter arose a magical beast - an album like a jewel-encrusted creature of glee, tea and tears: 'One Thing You Should Know About Me'. Every song is from the junk shop that is Kate's heart. Have a rummage - you might find something you like.
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