Introducing: Becca Kate

Somerset-born singer-songwriter Becca Kate is pushing the boundaries of songwriting with her latest EP, THE PROVIDENCE. Known for her fearless experimentation, Becca blends rich, genre-defying production with raw, vulnerable lyricism. The result is a collection that leaves listeners torn between dancing and deep introspection. With tracks like "the girl you shouldn’t have kissed," her indie-pop meets rock sound is both unpredictable and emotionally stirring—delivering a musical journey full of surprise and resolution.

1. Your new EP, THE PROVIDENCE, is anchored in unpredictability and features a mix of rock influences, indie-pop melodies, and raw lyricism. Can you tell us more about the creative process behind blending such diverse

genres and how you decided on this eclectic sound?

I’ve never really been interested in pigeonholing myself as an artist by sticking to just one genre – I think it’s quite limiting. All of my favourite songs have something a little weird about them that doesn’t quite make sense, and I really like that. It feels like you’re being thrown off the scent just when you’re beginning to understand. I think I’m just very drawn to unpredictability when I’m songwriting, and I enjoy trying to strike a balance between chaos and structure. One of my favourite things about the EP is how we managed to capture the energy in the studio. Working with all these

different sounds and ideas was so much fun, and I got to experiment in ways that I hadn’t before. I never really made the decision that the EP would sound the way it does, it just all came together.

2. the girl you shouldn’t have kissed was first released as a bedroom demo and is now fully re-recorded with energetic production. How has your vision for the song evolved since its original release, and what does this new version represent for you?

I think that this version definitely represents a new stage in my career. Hearing the original demo now reminds me of how far I’ve come in the past couple of years. I’m so happy to have recorded this song with a full production – it feels like I’ve finally given it the treatment it always deserved. Most of my songs are half inspired by my own experiences, and half inspired by stories that I make up, and this is definitely the case for the girl you shouldn’t have kissed. I remember feeling pretty disheartened by a situation when I wrote it and that creating this story was a very cathartic release for me, but now my feelings towards the song have completely changed. Seeing it evolve so much and playing it live over the years has made any negative emotion that I may have attached to this song turn positive. When I think of the girl you shouldn’t have kissed now, I think of my friends stood in the front row of my show singing along.

3. In dark cherry, you explore the frustration of being valued for appearance over intelligence, a sentiment many women can relate to. How do you channel your personal experiences into creating such vivid and powerful narratives in your music?

I’m endlessly inspired by my own perception of the world as a woman and, like many of us, I feel like I’ve experienced far too much to ever run out of things to say. I’m purposefully cryptic when I talk about topics like these in my music; the last thing I’d want to do is trigger anyone, or even myself! I just try to keep the emotion behind the lyrics – that’s the main thing. I imagined the character behind dark cherry to be quite mysterious anyway, like she knows more than she’s letting on. A harsh reality for many women is that they have to be so selective in when and where they choose to speak. To me, this song is about having that realisation and refusing to accept that many people deem your beauty to be worth more than your voice.

4. The title track, the providence, was inspired by a pub in Plymouth and captures a sense of romance and nostalgia. Can you share more about how that specific moment and place influenced the song’s mood and storytelling?

One of my favourite things about the providence is that it’s just as unassuming as the place that inspired it. From the outside, I think that The Providence Inn could easily be mistaken for another house along the street, but inside it’s so vibrant and full of life. That’s what I was really hoping to capture in the production – I wanted it to feel like how I felt walking into the pub at night. I’m definitely biased when I say that it’s one of the best pubs in the world, but it’s where I fell in love with my partner so it’s a very special place to me. There was one particular night where the pub was blasting Ska and 2 Tone, and a few of the people danced. I remember watching my partner in that moment and thinking “I need to write about this”. I used a lyric from The Specials’ Ghost Town to reference that night. The entire song just feels like a core memory.

5. Winning the UK Songwriting Contest in 2020 and receiving Youth Music funding in 2023 are huge accomplishments. How have these milestones shaped your approach to songwriting, and what advice do you have to other young artists starting out in the industry?

It’s quite funny to look back on the UK Songwriting Contest now because I won with the first song I ever wrote! I had written short melodies and isolated lyrics during lockdown but I hadn’t completed anything. When I submitted the song, I honestly just wanted some feedback on my writing since I was so new to it – I definitely didn’t expect to win! It was quite an important moment for me because it feels like where it all began. I’ve been writing constantly ever since. My whole life just revolves around it. Youth Music helped me so much in discovering my sound. Unfortunately, recording, mixing, and mastering music is expensive, so many artists can go years without having the funds to create a song with the instrumentation or production they want. Having the funding from Youth Music allowed me to make my first full-

production EP which taught me so much about who I am as an artist. I’m very grateful to them because I know that I would not be making the music I am today without their support.