Katie Wighton Steps Out On Her Own With Debut Album ‘The End’

Indie singer songwriter Katie Wighton is going out on her own having released her debut solo album The End. The much-loved vocalist/ guitarist from the ARIA Award-winning group All Our Exes Live in Texas has penned some stunning songs which are a snap shot, capturing memories and moments through some difficult and challenging times. Katie talks to Hi Fi Way about her debut album.

Is there the feeling of relief and satisfaction once you got to the with your solo album?
I don’t know if it’s relief and satisfaction. I think it’s more, I don’t know, albums are funny because once you’ve done it you’re sort of like, okay, what’s next? That’s how I am anyway, so I find it difficult to be satisfied. I’m proud of it, I can look back on it and really be proud of what James and I made. I think that’s kind of the main and only thing that I can look at it as, as something I’m proud of, like a, a snapshot in time.

Was it always about finding the right time to do a solo album?
Honestly, I don’t feel like I have much of a choice when it comes to making music. It just feels like something that I have to do or at the very least I keep doing accidentally or otherwise. I think I always feel like I have a lot to say musically and songwriting for me is a big source of joy and I love writing music, so that’s the thing I have to keep coming back to. I just keep making music and when we were having a bit of a break with Exes, we were touring so much and we all came home deciding to do our solo things for a little while I kept writing and thought, well, I better do something with these songs.

Is the song wrong process cathartic for you?
Yeah, absolutely. I always feel like when I’ve written a song that I really connect with, it’s something I want to listen to a lot. I feel really lucky because it feels like I have these little soundtracks to my life, which not everybody has. It definitely feels cathartic, and it always feels good seeing your feelings on a page or hearing your feelings kind of back at you in a song. I feel like it’s definitely a lovely part of the process.

When you get all these emotions out through your music how do you feel after?
I feel like with songwriting, for me, if I get it right and I capture a mood and I capture the point, then yeah, that’s exactly it. I feel like this record I wrote in a time when I was pretty vulnerable and having a difficult time. Emotionally I had just broken up with someone and we’d gotten back together and then we’d broken up again. Making this record, I did find it quite painful and I still do find it quite painful sometimes to sing the songs and play the songs live just because they are so brutal.

The more you play those songs live does the emotional connection diminish or does it get easier to play at some point?
It’s interesting. It’s definitely getting easier the more I listen to them and more I play them. But honestly, I think the thing that makes it easier is the fact that I’ve moved on from that feeling. The problem is that every now and then when I play these songs and I play them with my partner, who is the muse for most of these breakup songs, the poor thing, he’s very gracious about it. It definitely brings things back up again that I often will go home and have a bad dream and he has to be like, Hey, I’m here. It’s okay. That didn’t, that part of your life is over. I feel like it’s definitely getting easier.

How emotional an experience was it for you listening to the album and seeing these songs come to life?
I was actually on a train from Los Angeles to Ojai, or like Ventura, which is in California, to visit some friends. I got the master back for my album and I listened to it. I have a photo of me listening to my master and crying on the train because it was definitely a very powerful experience.

In terms of the journey you wanted to take the listener on with this album how important was the track order?
I hope that the listener gets the same experience that I do, but I’m sure that there will take different things from the record than what I intended. I think that’s kind of beautiful. I am so up for people having their own experiences, but yeah, I hope they feel!

Did the songs change much as you were recording them or did you have a very firm idea in your mind about how you wanted them to sound?
They changed quite a lot actually. We recorded an EP, well a whole bunch of songs in Sydney a few years ago that that would later become an EP. We saved a few songs for the album, so from that process in Sydney to then working with James in Melbourne and then working with James through lock downs, I was in Queensland and he was in Victoria, they definitely changed and some became very different. Then they’ve changed again since we’ve started playing them live. Songs tend to be a little malleable in that sense, I think.

Earlier you said you were starting to think about what is next? Any ideas brewing for a new album or is it too early to have those ideas in your mind?
Not at all, I’ve got an EP and an album planned, which I’m hoping to record in the next few months. I also have a Christmas song, which I’m going to put out this year.

Very cool, the whole idea of the Christmas song is very underrated don’t you think?
Yeah, I am really excited about this Christmas song. I’ve also been doing on Instagram this thing where I’ve been getting people to prompt me with songwriting sort of ideas. I have about forty or fifty sort of beginnings of songs. I’m really hoping, I don’t want to jinx it by saying it out loud, but I’m really hoping I can turn some of them into an album as well. I’m definitely thinking ahead.

Interview By Rob Lyon

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