Cycling through past, present, and future, Canadian artist Katie Tupper self-reflects with latest EP, “Towards the End,” out via Arts & Crafts. Co-produced by Connor Seidel, it’s a five song journey embracing who she is & how far she’s come. There’s a natural rhythm found in the EP’s storytelling, which is inspired by her home of Saskatoon. While single, “Danny,” is about a distant breakup, “Misbehavin'” addresses bad habits Katie kicked with her current partner. Become enchanted by her light vocals in “Danny,” below, and get to know Katie a bit more in a following Q&A.
Katie Tupper, what natural elements from Saskatoon carry into your songwriting?
Saskatoon influences my songwriting in subtle ways. There is nothing really massively striking about Saskatchewan, it’s more of a quiet beauty. It’s a bunch of open skies, long stretching fields, and is covered in snow for most of the year. I think at times my writing is influenced by this. I try to write about small moments I’ve felt that in retrospect are all part of larger moments in my life. I try to describe the things around me that I’ve considered as plain, like an open farmers field, as something that is really pretty and significant. Trying to romanticize my small city life a little bit.
Do you feel liberated after your breakup referenced in Danny?
I guess so! It was a really long time ago and I had honestly forgotten that it was ever really an important part of my life until I started writing the song. It was nice to write the song for a younger me that would have wanted to know that a shitty breakup would eventually turn into a blessing in disguise and some good writing material.
How did your co-producer Connor become involved, and where did he influence the project most?
I was working with Connor Seidel’s manager through Arts and Crafts and she thought him and I would work well together so she connected us. He is such an incredible producer and also just a really good friend. He is so smart and tasteful with his writing and producing that I feel so lucky to get to work with him. We wrote most of the EP together over zoom and we would send ideas back and forth until things felt right and then I went to record the project with him in Montréal. He’s influenced and been involved in every step – writing, arranging, producing, engineering, mixing. It’s been really awesome to get to work with someone I trust so much to be involved in every single step and getting to keep the entire process to mainly just the two of us was really special.
What themes have stuck with you from the experiences covered in your EP?
The main themes that stuck out to me are retrospect and identity. I named the project Towards the End because all of the songs were written about situations that I had gained some clarity on over the years. Changing in relationships, living side by side with other people, how you change in different relationships were all things I wanted to talk about.
Where do you envision your journey headed next?
As much live music as humanly possible, writing with my friends and new people in person, and I’m currently trying to finish up the writing of a second EP.
