Last week, when Anabelle Kay released her new single Crazy Horse, we were immediately immersed in her endearing alt-country sounds.
So fresh off its release, we caught up Kay to chat the new track, her experience living in a small US town, being detained at a US border, and a whole lot more.
Fresh off the release of her incredible new single Crazy Horse, we caught up with singer-songwriter Anabelle Kay to chat strip clubs, Cashion Oklahoma, and being detained at the US border.
HAPPY: Hey how’s it going? What have you been up to lately?
ANABELLE: Hey, it’s going well! I’ve been a busy bee… I have moved all over the place, but for now I am in Melbourne. I am a full time student and of late I’ve got stuck right back into writing and recording music which I am very happy about.
HAPPY: We’re really loving the new track… could you tell us a little bit about it?
ANABELLE: So good to hear! Well, William and I wrote the track together on a bit of a road trip. We were scheduled to play a set at a great little festival called Almas Hem in the Innman Valley, SA. There was a sudden down pour of rain and we were stuck in a caravan with a guitar and before you know it we had written Crazy Horse and we thought, this is pretty good right? So we went on and played it in our set that day. On a side note – the song is actually about Adelaide’s notorious strip club ‘Crazy Horse’ and what life must be like in that world for a lady.
HAPPY: How are you feeling about the track now that its been out for a little while?
ANABELLE: It’s been just under a week and it feels like people are really responding to the song and the clip, which is always a nice feeling…
HAPPY: We’re loving William van der Vliet’s vocals on the track too! How did he come to be involved with the song?
ANABELLE: Haha well, he happens to be my lovely man, thats how! But he’s also an incredible singer and songwriter who goes under the name of “Sugar Jacket” and is about to drop a banger, so keep an ear out!
HAPPY: I’d like to talk about the town of Cashion, Oklahoma… could you tell us a little about this town?
ANABELLE: Well, there’s not a a lot going on in old Cashion town, but it was most certainly an experience. It’s church, babies, BBQ’s and football smack bang in the middle of nowhere… but it changed my life and I will always have an affiliation and love for the little town.
HAPPY: You’ve spent several years living there… could you walk us through the impact Cashion has had on your music?
ANABELLE: It was actually around that time that I discovered songwriting through a girl I had met at Cashion high school who was an insane singer-songwriter and heavily influenced me to write and perform with her. It’s probably why there has always been an element of country to my music and my voice. It was all very strange really, but also wonderful.
HAPPY: We understand you’ve previously had a run-in at the US border… could you tell us about that?
ANABELLE: Yes. That happened. Boy oh boy. The US changed my life again but for all the wrong reasons this time and it absolutely broke my heart. I landed in LAX ready for my 10 day holiday. I was carrying a guitar as was suspected of playing shows without the correct visa.
There were no shows happening, I can assure you. But I also had a boyfriend at the time who lived in Nashville so that obviously didn’t help as there was also talk of me absconding and running away with him. One thing lead to another and I was interrogated for hours on end by customs officials about all sorts of things, things of the most ridiculous nature.
Long story short, I was very badly shaken and it was a horrifying ordeal that lead me to being sent home with no real understanding as to why or what my situation is with the US ongoing. Which is not a nice feeling to say the least. So when I released Nightmare Of A Dream in July this year, I decided to release the story at the same time which I thought I would never do, just out of fear from what might come of it, you get paranoid after these things happen I guess.
It ended up being a very therapeutic process, people from all over have contacted me about their horror stories and we’ve talked it out and sympathised with each other. Bottom line is,it nearly lead me to quitting music all together as I blamed music for a long time for this happening. Thankfully, I got over that and I am really enjoying making music again.
HAPPY: What else is coming up for you? Can we expect any new music soon?
ANABELLE: Sure can! I am working real hard on some new tracks with fire producer Micheal McGlynn at Vienna people which we will start to release again at the beginning of 2019.
HAPPY: Cheers for the chat!
ANABELLE: Thanks heaps!
Crazy Horse is available now.
