Q&A: Kate Young

This week we caught up with the amazing Kate Young. We discussed the enchanting journey behind their album Umbelliferæ, which beautifully intertwines music and nature through the stories of wildflowers, inspired by personal experiences and their studies in herbalism. With a captivating blend of genres and the vibrant influence of synesthesia, they aim to create immersive, sensory-rich experiences that invite listeners to explore the magical connection between plants and sound.

Check out our Q&A below:

Your album Umbelliferæ is a beautiful tribute to wildflowers and their medicinal secrets. How did you decide which plants to bring to life through your music, and what captivating stories or characteristics inspired those choices?

In the beginning, I had been doing a wee introductory course in Herbalism in a physic garden near Hexham, Northumberland and initially I was inspired by all the different kinds of plant names and their associated stories/ properties. You have the common name, the latin name and then regional folkloric names which can change depending where the plant was found in the country. These often have associated myths, all of which made for a rich wealth of knowledge for me to dive into creatively. The ones I chose were a combination of what plants I was seeing in the place where I wrote the music when on walks, or in the gardens, and also the herbalist books and accounts I was researching. 

 The Marigold for instance, I found a story about in a book that described “if a girl touches her toe on Marigold, she will understand the language of birds”. So one day, I tried this out, I put my toe on a marigold…a few weeks later it was very windy outside and a little bird got thrown against the wind and was lying on the ground concussed. I picked him up, built him a little nest in the garden shed and we hung out for about an hour. It was a special moment as its so rare to get that close to such a little bird. He eventually flew off – and then I remembered the story. So perhaps theres something in it!

The Dandelion song – I was just trying to imagine if a dandelion was a person – what kind of person they’d be and their character. I decided they’d be pretty wild and chaotic. So this shaped the sound of the music and perhaps by accident turned into my ‘death metal’ number. Elecampane is a well-loved herb by many herbalists and have many assocoiations with ailments of the lung. I immersed in the writings of Mrs Grieve ‘A Modern Herbal’ and wove some of her descriptions and concoctions into the song from there. 

The journey for this album began with a commission from Celtic Connections, leading you to a Northumberland community farm. How did that immersive experience shape your artistic vision, and what magical moments influenced your fusion of music and nature?

I was lucky to have the time to fully immerse on composing for about five months, and being in that environment was the perfect setting for inspiration and also focus on the work. The process of composing can be fickle and taking break for walks, chatting to friends and observing dreams are just as important as putting pen to paper in the process. 

With such a rich blend of world traditions, chamber music, and indie/pop, how did you navigate the unique challenges of creating a string quintet album? What surprises did you encounter while redefining the traditional 'singer and band' model?

To be honest, I would only say that I do not think about ‘what genre I’m composing in or stylised in’ when creating. I think that could be quite problematic. The only thing I’m ever concerned with is the freedom to experiment, try out and combine one idea with another. I draw upon a wide range of inspirations from Indie and Pop to Classical and of course World and folk traditions. I’m not interested in whether I am conforming to a generic performance model or creating a new one – I’m primarily concerned with staying in line with what feels magical/yet to be discovered/ honest and personal. I was not trained in classical composition either – I have slowly found my feet with composing for string quartets and quintets over the years through projects where folk musicians were allowed to try out working for such an ensemble. What I would say about this is – while scoring for quintet makes me feel free to compose in all directions and explore, I like to combine the voice and song with it as it helps to anchor the piece in my way of writing. To me, it feels kind of like  the ‘spine of a book’ as a it, hold the pages together upon which all kinds of ideas and journeys are traversed. 

Your synesthesia, especially Chromesthesia, sounds fascinating! How does experiencing music in color and imagery shape your compositions? Can you share any vivid colors or scenes that come to life for you in specific tracks on the album?

I always knew I had some experience of colour and imagery associated with music since discovering an internal vision of colours in my mind when played the notes of the piano as a child. However, I think because the process of composing this work was so intensive and I worked daily on it for almost half a year – some things in my unconscious brain became more vivid and I began to notice them more consciously. This moment arrived when I was in the middle of writing ‘Gentian’ and at some point I stopped to ask myself ‘OK, what is the next part of the song? How does it sound?’. In that moment, what I experienced was a colourful, spatial ‘landscape’ like an abstract painting in my mind – only momentarily. It felt as if behind it there was a hidden message – but one that can only be felt. I realised there and then that it was only that I was by chance channelling whatever this was into music, but it could easily become a painting or dance movement and so on. What I was ‘seeing’ was the idea or song itself in a primary state before it have become materialised in some way. I also realised that this is probably what is going on most of the time and I will dip in and out of varying degrees of awareness about this. Since discovering this, I use this as a kind of compass when writing. I believe that if I can ‘see’ the song I’m writing, then I’m on the write track. Because this means that somehow there is something of substance going on and I’m not merely just pushing out notes for the sake of it!

More recently, I have completed a Masters degree in the Utrecht, NL in Scenography which was about designing spatial experiences and environments by employing dramaturgical concepts. My graduation work and focus was about composing spatially and how objects and materials in space relate to – or can symbolise musical or sonic ideas and concepts. I designed environments that encourage people to open up their senses, touch, listen and also play. Objects where played with that trigger sounds made by the choices of the spectator and therefore the main goal being to unveil something of this magical world that a composer with synesthesia gets to experience to the public, without the need to become a skilled musician to do so. I believe creating playful environments for being to explore, create and be as a way to celebrate the world of composition, and also observe the experience of others as a way to research how I might continue to make work that aims to bridge the gap between sound and material. 

 Can you tell us about any upcoming plans & projects to watch out for?

On the 1st of December I will be performing with Hannah Lavery in the Traverse theatre. She will be reading excerpts of Jekyll and Hide while I will be creating new music to accompany the text. I will also be performing on New Years’ Day at ‘First Footin’  festival with my UK string trio band. 

Q&A: Majesty Palm

This we week welcomed Majesty Palm to our Resonate artist of the week hall of fame and delved into an in-depth insight into the dynamic duo.

Majesty Palm have been turning heads with the duo’s unique blend of Pop, Funk & New Wave which was solidified by winning the SAMA’s 2024 “Best Newcomer” award. Recently they enjoyed success in the BBC Introducing Scottish Act of the Year 2024 competition becoming one of the finalists, performing as part of the live show as well as announcing their debut at this year’s TRNSMT festival. As well as receiving regular airplay from BBC Introducing, tthey have now been featured on BBC Radio 1’s Introducing show with Jess Iszatt. Throughout each release and live performance, Majesty Palm are gearing themselves up for huge success.

Can you tell us the story of how Majesty Palm came together? How did you meet and decide to start creating music as a duo?

We met kind of through mutual pals, Cameron needed a singer for one of the tunes he was making at the time and we just collaborated on a song as two separate artists. I think we quickly realised that we work well together and both shared a similar mindset for where we wanted the direction of the music to go and decided to start releasing music as a band. I think once we realised that we bounce so well off of each other creatively and shared the same goals with the music, it only made sense to start the band and start creating and releasing together. - Olivia 

Who inspired you to make music - and since becoming a duo are there influences from each other you have been introduced to that you now love?

It's a hard one to pin down to be fair! I got into guitar and rock music when I was 10 after watching School of Rock haha and I'd always hear bands like AC/DC, Linkin Park & Metallica around the house so I was just drawn to playing and listening to music more and more. I've went through the metal phase, and am still probably maybe in it, but I've always loved pop music and especially funk stuff, 80s bands and I'm a sucker for Dua Lipa. I think we've always liked the same music and bands and always drawn upon similar influences throughout our time writing music together which I guess is why we've continued to do it! - Cameron

I kind of grew up listening to a lot of 80s bands like Simple Minds, Depeche Mode, The Blue Nile, it was just I would hear round the house and when I met Cameron we bonded over those shared influences, which are so important to the music we make now. Fleetwood Mac has always been a massive one for me too, I've always been a massive fan of Stevie Nicks and that was what got me into writing songs originally. But yeah, pop musics the big one, we obviously both share such a love for pop music and it's always been a massive love of mine whilst growing up, so it's cool to make music that reflects that now. -Olivia

How would you describe the music that you create?

We do take a lot of different influences and genres and kind of blend them all together, but the music is pop at it's core. Pop music is what brought us together as a a band and we've always shared such a love for it, but we also both have such a love for 80s and disco music. I think we try and blend those influences and our love for current pop music to create something that has those nostalgic elements, but also is new and exciting. - Olivia

As a duo, do you find that the dynamic between the two of you influences your creative process?

Yeah definitely! Our process hasn't changed much over the years we've been working together but I'd say we've definitely gotten more used to each other as individuals and understand more and more how each other works. Usually an idea will start with myself - I'll produce a track or a small idea to begin with and I'm always thinking what can we do differently or expand upon sonically that we've done before, and also write something that I think Olivia will like which in turn influences my creative process. I've always been in bands before where its more of a collective writing process where everyone chips in on different parts or songs entirely but I've always really enjoyed working with Olivia as a duo as I think we pull from a lot of the same influences, have a similar outlook on how we hear music but we also have our own inspirations which can bring unexpected spins on things and makes it what it is. - Cameron

What role does your local Scottish music scene play in your career? Are there any artists or venues that have been particularly supportive or influential to you?

The Scottish music scene has been so important to our growth as a band, we've always felt really welcomed and supported and it's allowed us to gain more confidence and opportunities that we are so grateful for. First of all, there are so many talented bands and artists. To be surrounded by that is really exciting and motivating to be apart of and so many of them were so welcoming when we first started releasing music and playing gigs. Of course, the small music venues in Scotland who give smaller artists the opportunity to play and be seen are extremely important and we've benefitted so much from getting the opportunity to play in these venues. King Tuts is one that will always stand out to us as they were the ones to put us on for our first gig and we ended up headlining it back in January this year which was a special moment for us. Local promoters like Crowded Flat as well, they have shown us so much support and have done that for so many bands in the scene. You can tell they just have such a love for the scene in Scotland and working with people like that is so motivating and important to the growth of local bands and artists. We feel really proud to be part of the music scene in Scotland and to be surrounded by so many talented and supportive people and we've been given so many opportunities because of it that we'll carry with us. - Olivia

You’ve recently had a whirlwind of success—from winning "Best Newcomer" at the SAMA’s 2024 to becoming finalists in the BBC Introducing Scottish Act of the Year and performing at TRNSMT. What have these milestones meant for you, and how do you feel they’ve shaped the band’s journey so far?

It's been a bit mental to be honest. Its always been a dream from a young age since being involved in music and playing in bands to play at TRNSMT or T in the Park back in the day and something that you never actually think will come to be a reality. To play at this years TRNSMT was a massive moment for all of us I think and to have the recognition from the music scene at both the SAMA's and the BBC Introducing Scottish Act of the Year meant so much too to have almost like the validation that whatever we're doing is connecting with people which is class to be fair. 

I think all these milestones have massively shaped our journey so far. Even from our first gig being at King Tuts which is such a renowned venue I think each kinda thing that we've done has led to the next thing which has been even bigger and better and I think with every gig or opportunity we've had has given us more confidence in ourselves as performers and artists in general which has helped us grow to where we are now. - Cameron

With Tenement Trail coming up later this year, what can fans expect from your performance there? Any bands you’re wanting to see?

You can expect some new tunes from us which will be exciting to play live! Of course there'll be plenty of tunes for everyone to dance to so we're buzzing for the day, we can't wait. There are so many bands we're buzzing to see as well, Bottle Rockets, Lacuna, VLURE, Fright Years, just fingers crossed our set isn't clashing with any of them! -Olivia

Looking forward, what’s next for Majesty Palm after Tenement Trail? Are there any upcoming projects or releases you can tease for us?

We have a few things planned which we can't announce justtttt yet! Definitely more music to round off the year alongside some more shows too. We've been building and planning a lot throughout this year and can't wait to share what we've been up to over the coming months with everyone! - Cameron

Listen to Majesty Palms brand new release ‘Borderline’ now