In this current musical era of auto-tuning and techno-pop, it’s refreshing to stumble upon the raw folk musical stylings of someone like Katie Bulley. Just listen to the Hamilton native’s recent single “Up and In” from her upcoming album Sun Wolf, out on May 29th, and you'll feel as if you're in a much happier musical time and place. Sun Wolf is Bulley’s first project since leaving the formerly up-and-coming all girl rock band The Barettas, and it is the result of recent journey across America with nothing but a smile and a guitar. On this musical excursion, Bulley had the opportunity to explore some of rock history’s most infamous locations, including the notorious Sun Studio’s in Memphis, where she would go on to record her album.The quality of Bulley’s’ music stems from her deep-rooted respect for musical history. This can easily be spotted in her Bob Gruen-influenced music video for “Up and In”, where she recreates several of Gruen’s most notorious photographs with a handheld camera and the kindly help of a few strangers. Noisey had the pleasure of talking to Bulley about the video, her new album, and how to overcome loneliness through accepting solitude.Noisey: Thanks for taking the time to chat Katie! I understand you got into the music scene through dancing?
Katie: Yep! It all began in dance class, dancing "jives" with my family. I was a part of a travelling dance group for 15 years. During competitions we would see routines accompanied by ragtime, rock & roll, swing, modern, spoken word poems, broadway, everything really. It was a time in my life when I learned about rhythm, structuring songs, performing, perseverance, discipline and friendship. When the older girls in our group were graduating high school, my sister was one of them and for some reason, I knew it would be our last year there. I joined a closer studio for a while until I bought a guitar. I can dance around a bit too now if I'm in the mood!Did any of these childhood influences affect your style of songwriting more than the others?
AM radio stations, theatre music and movie soundtracks mostly. When the songwriting came in, I was no longer a child. I only began playing music about two years before my first band, so "early" influences are still influencing me. The major one is Bob Dylan.
I've always written songs on an acoustic guitar. They're all folk songs really, they just went through a different filtering system with that band.When did you decide that you wanted to record your album down south?
Well, in late December I knew I already had enough material for a full-length album and I felt I was destined to record this one down south. I was on a path that I had to take alone in order to accomplish what needed to be done. So I just headed to America late December 2013 in search of a recording studio.So you literally travelled on your own?
Yep! New Years Eve I took a drive into Clarksdale, Mississippi to see the infamous crossroads. I felt like if I could survive that drive, the rest of the trip would be smooth sailing.So how did you end up recording the album at Sun Studios?
New Years Day I went into Sun Studios. I knew there were still recording artists there so I got to talking with the man at the front counter about sessions and told him I would need some musicians. He put me in contact with the engineer and said he had a feeling we would work well together. I didn't end up back there for about a month, but in the meantime I traveled around by car, by bus, and by myself, just absorbing the music scenes, techniques, walks of life and praying I wouldn't run into trouble.I understand you got to work with some pretty notable musicians; what was that like?
YES! The drummer, John Argroves, was great and reminded me a lot of Luke Wilson. Playing with Dave Roe was wonderful too. He is a great story-man. He even had some good ones about playing with Johnny Cash back in the day.You say you didn’t end up back there for about a month; what did you do in the meantime?
I travelled around Memphis, Nashville, and New Orleans. I've been reading about these places for years and hearing artists, authors and poets speak of doing the same thing. You could say I was a Canadian girl with an American dream.Travelling around all of these new places on your own must have been somewhat scary.
To be honest, being on the road like that was where I felt more like myself than ever before. I think it's because everyday you're introduced to a new circumstance and you get to see how you handle it. It's all about learning the history, avoiding the angles, and pure kindness.So is it safe to say that Sun Wolf is the narrative of such a journey?
I’d say so. For a while there it was called 'Lone Wolf' because I was out on my own musically for the first time and romantically at the same time. I was learning how to find solitude as opposed to loneliness while being on my own.Tell me more about this transition from loneliness to solitude.
Well I was in a band on the rise and in a heavy relationship as well. They both ended abruptly. It gave me the opportunity to re-build the foundation of who I was and where my morals stood. Many people are familiar with that "sink or swim" point. That's when I declared "war" on my bad habits.
Definitely. The major theme would probably be overcoming darkness and the Devil. Some songs are about how I did it and others are about how other people CAN do it. Sound-wise, I'd have to say that the album is heavily influenced by genres like Americana, traditional blues, and folk music. I've been digging deeper into those types of artists so it's bound to come through in the songs.This album is clearly very personal to you; is there any particular song that you hold closest to you?
The "Secret Song/Song To Bobby”. Some influence is from a song off of Bob Dylan's album, Song to Woody. It sounds nothing like it but the idea came from that. They’re words straight from my heart to him. You could say it's my attempt at keeping certain traditions going. It may also intrigue others to dig deeper into their work if they hadn't already gone there.How did the Bob Gruen video come about?
I happened to be watching a streaming interview he was on one day from a New York news website. I had a show coming up in Brooklyn and thought it might be a fun idea. Once inspiration struck, my wheels started spinning. I casually e-mailed his secretary about it asking for permission and a tear of joy ran down my face when she replied back!What was Gruen’s first reaction to the idea of the video?
He is a cool cat. I don't think he's been asked to do this before so I think he was more concerned with who I was. We talked a bit at his studio before we went out to film. After a while I think he realized I was just an authentic artist with an idea, then we were able to joke around and share stories. His assistant helped film. They even invited me back to give me a copy of his huge photo book and an Ike & Tina film he made in the early 70s as a holiday present. Anyways, the whole video is to keep the movement going. Songs, freedom, art, contributing, drive, driving, history, recognition, revolutions, perseverance, presence, presents. It's ongoing and we're all a part of it in some way, hopefully in a good way.What was your favourite/least favourite city that you visited throughout your trip?
It may be biased to say Memphis because I was recording there so we'll leave it out of this question and I'll say New Orleans. I stayed with a bunch of great people there and felt the most safe. That’s actually where the album’s name changed from Lone Wolf to Sun Wolf. My least favourite stop would have to be where I was on the Gulf Shores of Alabama. It was definitely beautiful but the ruminates of hurricanes and oil spills left the city in rough conditions. The hotel peep-holes were all smashed in and there were warnings all over the room about not opening the door to anyone. I mainly like places where I feel safe.Adam Lalama is a writer in London, Ontario. He's on Twitter.----The Reason is Hamilton's most storied rock group.The Teenage Kicks are also from Hamilton and have a great debut.Dirty Nil? Also from Hamilton, also great.
Advertisement
Katie: Yep! It all began in dance class, dancing "jives" with my family. I was a part of a travelling dance group for 15 years. During competitions we would see routines accompanied by ragtime, rock & roll, swing, modern, spoken word poems, broadway, everything really. It was a time in my life when I learned about rhythm, structuring songs, performing, perseverance, discipline and friendship. When the older girls in our group were graduating high school, my sister was one of them and for some reason, I knew it would be our last year there. I joined a closer studio for a while until I bought a guitar. I can dance around a bit too now if I'm in the mood!Did any of these childhood influences affect your style of songwriting more than the others?
AM radio stations, theatre music and movie soundtracks mostly. When the songwriting came in, I was no longer a child. I only began playing music about two years before my first band, so "early" influences are still influencing me. The major one is Bob Dylan.
Advertisement
The sound of your solo work seems to be completely different from the punk-rock/surf sound of The Barettas; how did this come about?
I've always written songs on an acoustic guitar. They're all folk songs really, they just went through a different filtering system with that band.When did you decide that you wanted to record your album down south?
Well, in late December I knew I already had enough material for a full-length album and I felt I was destined to record this one down south. I was on a path that I had to take alone in order to accomplish what needed to be done. So I just headed to America late December 2013 in search of a recording studio.So you literally travelled on your own?
Yep! New Years Eve I took a drive into Clarksdale, Mississippi to see the infamous crossroads. I felt like if I could survive that drive, the rest of the trip would be smooth sailing.So how did you end up recording the album at Sun Studios?
New Years Day I went into Sun Studios. I knew there were still recording artists there so I got to talking with the man at the front counter about sessions and told him I would need some musicians. He put me in contact with the engineer and said he had a feeling we would work well together. I didn't end up back there for about a month, but in the meantime I traveled around by car, by bus, and by myself, just absorbing the music scenes, techniques, walks of life and praying I wouldn't run into trouble.
Advertisement
YES! The drummer, John Argroves, was great and reminded me a lot of Luke Wilson. Playing with Dave Roe was wonderful too. He is a great story-man. He even had some good ones about playing with Johnny Cash back in the day.You say you didn’t end up back there for about a month; what did you do in the meantime?
I travelled around Memphis, Nashville, and New Orleans. I've been reading about these places for years and hearing artists, authors and poets speak of doing the same thing. You could say I was a Canadian girl with an American dream.Travelling around all of these new places on your own must have been somewhat scary.
To be honest, being on the road like that was where I felt more like myself than ever before. I think it's because everyday you're introduced to a new circumstance and you get to see how you handle it. It's all about learning the history, avoiding the angles, and pure kindness.So is it safe to say that Sun Wolf is the narrative of such a journey?
I’d say so. For a while there it was called 'Lone Wolf' because I was out on my own musically for the first time and romantically at the same time. I was learning how to find solitude as opposed to loneliness while being on my own.Tell me more about this transition from loneliness to solitude.
Well I was in a band on the rise and in a heavy relationship as well. They both ended abruptly. It gave me the opportunity to re-build the foundation of who I was and where my morals stood. Many people are familiar with that "sink or swim" point. That's when I declared "war" on my bad habits.
Advertisement
Is this where the theme of the album came from?
Definitely. The major theme would probably be overcoming darkness and the Devil. Some songs are about how I did it and others are about how other people CAN do it. Sound-wise, I'd have to say that the album is heavily influenced by genres like Americana, traditional blues, and folk music. I've been digging deeper into those types of artists so it's bound to come through in the songs.This album is clearly very personal to you; is there any particular song that you hold closest to you?
The "Secret Song/Song To Bobby”. Some influence is from a song off of Bob Dylan's album, Song to Woody. It sounds nothing like it but the idea came from that. They’re words straight from my heart to him. You could say it's my attempt at keeping certain traditions going. It may also intrigue others to dig deeper into their work if they hadn't already gone there.How did the Bob Gruen video come about?
I happened to be watching a streaming interview he was on one day from a New York news website. I had a show coming up in Brooklyn and thought it might be a fun idea. Once inspiration struck, my wheels started spinning. I casually e-mailed his secretary about it asking for permission and a tear of joy ran down my face when she replied back!What was Gruen’s first reaction to the idea of the video?
He is a cool cat. I don't think he's been asked to do this before so I think he was more concerned with who I was. We talked a bit at his studio before we went out to film. After a while I think he realized I was just an authentic artist with an idea, then we were able to joke around and share stories. His assistant helped film. They even invited me back to give me a copy of his huge photo book and an Ike & Tina film he made in the early 70s as a holiday present. Anyways, the whole video is to keep the movement going. Songs, freedom, art, contributing, drive, driving, history, recognition, revolutions, perseverance, presence, presents. It's ongoing and we're all a part of it in some way, hopefully in a good way.
Advertisement
It may be biased to say Memphis because I was recording there so we'll leave it out of this question and I'll say New Orleans. I stayed with a bunch of great people there and felt the most safe. That’s actually where the album’s name changed from Lone Wolf to Sun Wolf. My least favourite stop would have to be where I was on the Gulf Shores of Alabama. It was definitely beautiful but the ruminates of hurricanes and oil spills left the city in rough conditions. The hotel peep-holes were all smashed in and there were warnings all over the room about not opening the door to anyone. I mainly like places where I feel safe.Adam Lalama is a writer in London, Ontario. He's on Twitter.----The Reason is Hamilton's most storied rock group.The Teenage Kicks are also from Hamilton and have a great debut.Dirty Nil? Also from Hamilton, also great.