All systems are GLOW
Kate Nash all set for a return to the music that kicked off her career after star turn in global hit TV show
TEN YEARS ago, she was one of a wave of indie pop pixies.
With smash hit debut single Foundations, a platinum album and a Brit award win, Kate Nash had the music world at her feet.
But when her follow up to Made of Bricks suffered from difficult second album syndrome, the chart topper was dropped by her label.
She refused to let herself be dragged down by the setback, and turned to crowdfunding for her music, while also rediscovering her childhood love for acting.
And she is back bigger than ever – she brings a Made of Bricks 10th anniversary tour to Edinburgh next week and has been winning rave reviews for her turn as rapping wrestler Rhonda in the Netflix sensation GLOW.
The performer, now 30, got into acting after swapping London for LA, and said she has been delighted to get back in that saddle.
Kate said: “I started acting when I was 11 and doing classes but I didn’t get into drama school at uni which is why I started on MySpace.
“I was working in Nando’s and it sucked. All my friends were travelling and going to uni, and I wanted to do something interesting and creative which pushed me to do music.
“I got success from that and didn’t have time to address any acting for a while. “But later on, an acting manager approached me because her daughter was a fan of my music, and her husband was from Harrow where I grew up. “I did some work including Powder Room with Sheridan Smith and I did a pilot for (Orange is the New Black creator) Jenji Kohan about witches in Salem, with Eddie Izzard and directed by Gus Van Sant. “That’s why she asked me to audition for GLOW – after my work in that – and it’s so fun to finally get an acting job that I love. “It’s the dream job I never knew would be my dream job, and it weirdly fits into everything I’ve worked on about female empowerment, being an outsider and being a bit weird.” Since the upset of losing her record deal in 2010, Kate has embraced an independent and online approach to putting out music. It’s no surprise for an artist who got her break with the early stages of social media, via MySpace, that she has become one of the increasing number of musicians making albums with crowd funding websites such as Kickstarter.
And a side effect of this has been a scheduling and calendar freedom which has worked well with her blossoming acting career which is sure to take off even if there are no further GLOW series booked in to date.
Kate said: “It’s a good problem to have. Me and my music manager are leaving things open-ended, the summer tour is booked up, and I got the dates all approved by GLOW and Netflix, and I arranged my Kickstarer campaign that I knew I would finish my album and get it out there.
“It will just depend what happens with GLOW. We are waiting to hear if there will be a second season and if so, when we’ll be filming so I can plan around it.”
GLOW is a comedy drama series based on a real life TV project from
the 80s, where a producer took out-ofwork actresses to create Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.
The new show was created by Kohan, of Orange is the new Black fame, and Nurse Jackie writers Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch.
It stars Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin as actresses turned wrestling enemies.
As well as Kate, the line up includes Scottish actresses Marianna Palka and Gayle Rankin.
Kate said: “I definitely had to get used to wearing a lot less than normal.
“I was wearing leotards with a thong, which is what women wore to work out in the 80s I guess.
“I really enjoyed getting into that vibe, it was really freeing and I loved that 80s thing of just going for it – it was never too much.”
For the gig in the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh on Tuesday, Kate will be playing the best from Made of Bricks to celebrate its 10th anniversary, while her music since then has included top 10 follow-up My Best Friend is You from 2010, and independent album Girl Talk, from 2013. She also released a new EP, Agenda, earlier this year.
But she said GLOW fans may be in for a treat if they are expecting her to throw down.
Kate joked: “Maybe I’ll be able to get some wrestling into the show. My drummer is a big wrestling fan and we can maybe have a weird section of the show where we just start wrestling.
“The Scottish crowd would be well up for it. It might be too dangerous, actually.” Kate Nash plays the Edinburgh Queen’s Hall, Tuesday. Get more info at www.katenash.com. GLOW is on Netflix now.