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Jess Plunkett sat down with Caity Baser for Lippy Magazine and chatted about owning your feelings, future collaborations and an exclusive look at an unreleased song…
If you haven’t heard of viral TikTok star, Caity Baser, yet, now is your time to get-to-know. The 20-year-old, Brighton-based singer is taking over with her truthful and sassy songs that are empowering a generation of women to speak boldly and unfiltered.
Life has not slowed down for Baser since the release of her new EP, Thanks For Nothing See You Never. ‘It’s everything I've ever wanted and dreamed of happening’ Baser exclaimed, telling Lippy how it’s the best fun and she’s loving every second.
It’s clear to see how excited Baser is about her recent success, and how much has changed for her since her days working in her local Co-op. After sharing a song to TikTok called Average Student in 2020, Baser received millions of views, and was quickly recognised and signed to her first management agency, leaving her Co-op job behind her.
Baser reminisced on this time in her life and recalled recently seeing snapchat memories of herself from years ago. ‘I was crying my eyes out saying, "Why can’t I be a superstar?!”, and when asked if she could go back and tell her younger self anything, she stated, ‘I want to go back and tell her it’s fine, we are gonna do it, we are on the way now and it’s full speed ahead!’
TikTok appears to be a game changer in the acceleration of new artists’ success, and this is certainly no exception for Baser. ‘It’s a massive platform and everybody uses it, it’s all over the world, it’s a part of Gen Z culture. Everyone is doing things because of TikTok’.
Baser thanks the accessibility of TikTok for her rise in fame, ‘It’s like Google now, everyone uses it and everyone’s always on it.’. We spoke about how you can connect to fans more personally on TikTok and relate to you and your songs; ‘It’s like a big group chat to speak about your feelings!’.
When it comes to her biggest or favourite achievement in her career so far, it keeps on changing.
‘Reading and Leeds was amazing last year, and that was the best moment of my life at that point. And then I signed a record deal, and that was the best moment of my life at that point. And then I sold out my tour in November and that was the best moment of my life at that point. Just everything! Releasing an EP that was amazing, going on another massive tour and getting loads of festivals, just everything.’
‘That’s my favourite moment, everything’.
One recent milestone for Baser was the release of her new single with DJ sensation Sigala, whom she had previously DMed to work with back in lockdown. ‘In lockdown I had zero chill. I went through a phase where I messaged everyone. I think I messaged Clean Bandit, Miley Cyrus, Raye, everyone. I went through a phase where I was just messaging everyone saying "hey, you should do a song with me even though I have nothing out and I have no platform”. She admitted it was a real ‘full circle moment’ for her now working with someone she messaged all those years ago.
‘It’s weird because I forgot I’d messaged Sigala, like when he said it I was like what.. Oh no I do remember going through that phase where I messaged everyone.’
At the roots of Baser’s music is her storytelling. Even through the beginnings of the writing process, she loves to tell a story. ‘Normally I’m like, “so this happened”, and here’s exactly start to finish what I was wearing, what he was wearing, what they were wearing, what she was wearing, and here’s exactly how I was feeling and then I just tell the story. Or sometimes they’ll start with the guitar or I'll be on the piano, but every time it's always about something that I've gone through, because it’s just like storytelling, you know?’
You can imagine Baser’s honest, storytelling lyricism has often got her in hot water, especially when she's writing about her negative experiences with boys. ‘I never tell them (that she’s writing a song about them) they’re always just like, ‘Is this about me?’ and i’m like, ‘yeah, obviously it’s about you”.
‘The guy Friendly Sex is about, I made another one and put it on TikTok and it got quite a few views. And then he called me and was like ‘Can you stop making songs about me?’ and I was like, ‘Well stop pissing me off then!”.
‘This is my way of expressing myself. I'm not just gonna sit here now that I can actually express myself like this. No-one is safe in these streets.’
Speaking of negative reactions, Lippy Magazine's SS23 edition all relates to the theme of rage, and this is certainly an emotion Baser doesn’t shy away from in her music. ‘I’ve been in the studio the last three days with the boys I wrote Pretty Boys with, which is cool, and we made seven songs I think…slay. But what was the ragiest one? I made one called suck your mother. It’s so good! In my brain I have a person I'm thinking about, but it’s about someone that’s just like oh my god.’
And the lyrics do not disappoint either. ‘It goes, ‘suck your mother, and your daddy too, and your brother and your sister ‘cause they look just like you”. Iconic.
As a University student of a similar age to Baser, I find I resonate with a lot of her songs and the things she is experiencing and feeling. Recently, my best friend went through a breakup and we found ourselves screaming Baser’s songs on long drives in my car. That feeling of empowerment and letting those emotions out is not only cathartic for my broken-hearted ladies out there, but also for Baser herself.
When asked how it felt knowing her music empowers so many young people, she exclaimed how it made her feel, ‘so good.’; ‘I remember times I felt like i couldn't do that and it made me so sad. I feel like all the songs I make empower me and empower a situation that was bad, but the song makes it good. It's about owning your feelings and being like yeah, cool, that happened, whatever. I’ll scream about it now it's fine.’
‘The fact that the way that you guys feel when you listen to it is how I feel when I made it, it’s like we’re connected in some sort of weird way’.
Baser expressed her excitement to scream those same songs with everyone on tour. One song she’s particularly excited about performing is her latest single, Pretty Boys. ‘I’ve never performed it live, ever. I’ve sang the rest of the EP live before, but this is a new thing and I'm excited for it.’
If you didn’t manage to get tickets to the Leeds gig, you’re out of luck. The Stylus-based event sold out almost instantly, which Caity herself couldn't believe. ‘I find it wild, I didn’t expect that. I find it mad how people from all over the country know who I am. I don't deep that enough. I'm just like yeah i make songs whatever lalala and then im just like you from everywhere know me?! It's a lot, its cool’
But don’t be too disheartened. Hinting at some exciting future plans, Baser revealed she might be doing another tour, lots of festivals, another collab and lots of new music, so you will certainly get your Caity Baser fix this summer.
‘It’s very vague, I'm sorry! But I'm gonna be everywhere! Catch me everywhere.’
You can listen to Caity’s new EP Thanks For Nothing, See You Never here:
Words: Jess Plunkett