What Katie Did Next

“I have this preoccupation with the number 12,” Katie Kim confesses, an obvious nod to the critically-celebrated debut album which took the number as its title. “So I thought it would be good to release Cover And Flood in 2012.”

Forgive our impatience, but 2012 just seemed so far away when we first got word of the new record last July. Equally frustrating was having to wait half a year to learn the idea behind its mysterious title. I’ll have to keep on guessing – Katie says she’s just as much in the dark as I am.
“I can’t really explain it, it was just in my head and I don’t know why. Water was just a huge theme to me and whenever I gave the album to anyone, it reminded them of water for some reason. It’s the same with any song, people will always say, ‘What’s that song about?’ I can’t really tell you, it’s kind of like an exorcism of sorts, it just happens. It comes up in your head and you use it.”
We speak on one of the last days of 2011, just a few weeks after Ms. Kim (Ms. Sullivan to those who ask to see her passport) made her Later… With Jools Holland debut as guitarist with The Waterboys.
“It was great,” she beams. “I grew up watching Jools Holland and so did my family, so it was a bit surreal to find out that we would be going on it. Thinking about the many people who watch it, including my friends and everything, I thought that I would be a lot more nervous, but it ended up just becoming very relaxed, fun almost. It’s really more like a party than anything else.”
With collaborations with David Kitt, Halves and Mike Scott also tucked away under her belt, Sullivan is one of the busiest musicians we know. In the interim between album one and two, there have been plenty of tracks to keep fans entertained, including a tear-jerking version of Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’.
“I actually recorded that, god, about seven years ago, while quite tanked up on wine and about 20 years of age but I just decided to put it up on SoundCloud this year. I was even a little apprehensive about putting it up online because it has been covered by so many people, but I love that song, I think it’s one of the best love songs ever written.”
With any luck, the cover will appear on the cassette Sullivan is planning to produce for her upcoming tour.
“I’m gonna put lots of songs on it that I don’t intend to put on the third album and songs that didn’t make Cover And Flood. Little things that didn’t fit anywhere else. Things that I think I need to get off my chest, I suppose.”
Having spent years struggling with stage fright, Katie Kim finally reached her full potential as a frontwoman through some major shows in 2011.
‘To be honest, I don’t want to do anything else.” she explains. I don’t have a ‘Plan B’. I don’t say, ‘If this doesn’t work out, I want to work in advertising,’ or, ‘If this doesn’t work out, I want to work in a studio’. It’s not really an option so I kind of just had to say, ‘What’s the point of wasting an hour or two before a gig being terrified? You might as well enjoy what you’re doing.’ And then I did.”
When last we spoke, Sullivan was proudly championing the Irish underground music scene. I’m delighted to find that her devotion hasn’t changed.
“I’m fascinated with New York in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, the whole punk revival and all that stuff. Everyone knew each other and everyone was friends and everyone supported each other and it kind of reminds me a lot of that era of music. I think it’s as exciting as that time, I know people might question me but I do think I feel things are about to happen.”
Of course, even the bountiful Irish music scene has its problems. While homegrown musicians appear to be doing better than ever, countless vital record stores and radio shows have met their maker over the last couple of years. Sullivan appeared as a guest on one of the final episodes of Donal Dineen’s Small Hours, which sadly came to an end in December.
“It’s difficult for me to grasp the idea that Donal would be taken off the air when he and Paul McLoone and Michael Carr and Cian Ó Cíobháin are the only people who do play the kind of music that is getting people excited. But I’m still totally optimistic. I’m really excited by people like Moths and Solar Bears and Cian Nugent and Patrick Kelleher and Catscars and Angorwat and Deaf Joe, it’s just a really exciting time and I’m so happy to be a part of it. It’s great that everyone can support each other and work together, especially in times of depression when record stores are closing down and people are losing their radio shows, it’s amazing that everyone can come together. I do believe in Irish music and I think this is going to be an even more exciting year.”
With an album as lovely as Cover And Flood kicking things off, we’re inclined to agree.

Cover And Flood is out now. Katie Kim will join The Lost Brothers and Puzzle Muteson on the Certain Three Tour this month, with dates in Bourke’s, Limerick (19), Theatre Royal, Waterford (21), Roisin Dubh, Galway (26), the Workman’s Club, Dublin (27), The Spirit Store Dundalk (28) and more.