MUCH like a shot of espresso, catching up with emerging pop star Caity Baser provided an instant serotonin hit, her loud, infectious enthusiasm shining through the confining laptop screen.
Initially gaining popularity on TikTok during the pandemic Caity’s career has skyrocketed between being nominated for the BRIT Awards’ Rising Star honour and her new mixtape Still Learning debuting at number seven in the UK album charts last week.
“I never really think about what I’m writing or what I’m doing,” says the 21-year-old Southampton-born artist.
“I just write songs about things that I’m going through, and I write it as if I’m talking to my mates and what I would say to them on the phone. I think that’s the reason people connect with it because I’m just speaking honestly about situations.”
Caity has become renowned for her candour and playful irreverence, distilling honesty and hysteria into every lyric she writes which appears to universally resonate with listeners.
“I don’t dress things up - I’m very black and white with it all and I think sometimes that’s nice to hear because it makes you feel a bit less insane.”
However, despite her vivacious persona which has attracted over half a million followers on TikTok she admits she wasn’t always so popular with the masses.
“I always knew that I wanted to be as confident as I am now but growing up, I was literally a loser, I was a little neek,” she laughs.
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“I was shy in a way - I feel like I would just do what everyone else was doing so I could fit in and have loads of friends that I didn’t really like and who didn’t really like me.
“School’s weird though and college was weird... and then when lockdown happened and I stopped seeing everyone completely. I was like ‘what am I doing?’, ‘why am I pretending to be somebody I’m not?’ and ever since then I’ve just been me and gotten better at being me.
“I don’t care about anybody’s opinion anymore – this is who I am, take it or leave it.”
This sentiment comes across strongly in Caity’s track I’m A Problem which celebrates loud, outspoken and independent women, something Caity believes needs to be promoted more.
“We’re definitely getting better but it’s not where it should be,” she explains.
“I rarely get hate on my music but when I do it is always old men and they’re like ‘what is this?’, ‘what are you talking about?’ and I just want to tell them to shut up because they wouldn’t be saying it if I was a man.
“I am just a young girl talking about something that makes me feel good – why do you care Stephen? Get out of your mum’s basement,” she quips.
Another challenge Caity has faced head on recently was when Universal Music Group fell out with TikTok which resulted in popular songs including Caity’s disappearing from the platform.
However, instead of admitting defeat she used the scandal to promote I’m A Problem ahead of its release posting videos with the caption “ur a universal artist aka a problem for TikTok”.
“If you’re going to try and shut me up in one place, I’ll go and scream somewhere else,” she added.
Caity has also made the decision to tackle rising ticket costs by ensuring the shows on her upcoming tour stay affordable at £22.50 per ticket.
“Life is so difficult at the minute in terms of money, especially for young people.
“Most of my demographic are students and people around my age and I’ve been in situations where I’ve struggled to afford to go to concerts or gigs before and it’s not nice.
“So I just want people to come, forget about everything and have fun.”
The Still Learning Tour kicked off on March 26 with Caity set to make her Belfast debut in Limelight 2 on March 31.
“It’s the best time ever. I can’t wait to be on the road, I can’t wait to get dressed up every night and sing with people every night.
“I feel like I’ve gathered a big group of people who just want to scream and shout and have a good time and I can’t wait to get out and join them.
“I’m also looking forward to being back with my band who I love and my whole team. It’s great being on the road with your best mates for a like a month - and that’s work? Cool.”
“It will be madness, excitement, dancing, fun, energy – a real rollercoaster so if you like having fun and you want to have a party come to my tour,” she enthuses.
