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Having finished her exams last summer, Cathy has now immersed herself entirely in her music. It was through mastering the guzheng that Cathy started making her first steps as a songwriter, graduating from the school of Taylor Swift and Katy Perry who expanded her pop horizons and triggered her ambitions as a performer. Writing her first proper song at nine-years-old, she began writing songs in her diary instead of normal entries as a homework skill. As she matured and fell in love with the rose-tinted song writing of Lana Del Rey, who weaves beautiful stories from ordinary, universal experience, Cathy Jain began to find ways of doing the same through her own unique lens. 

The guzheng features prominently in her music and keeps her anchored artistically to her heritage. Growing up in China before living in Australia and later, Manchester, where she was originally born, Cathy Jain’s music is the sum of the different people, music and cultures that define her world. Asia, in particular, has left an indelible mark on her sound, having been exposed to influences such as Chinese opera, K-pop and Bollywood that broadened her scope beyond Western-centric limitations.

The artist chooses to articulate her style by not articulating it – rather, she delights in subverting expectations, free to play with the parameters of pop, multi-instrumental indie rock and shimmering electronics however she pleases. Since her first release, Cathy has found herself tipped in the NME 100 and featured on publications as one to watch in 2023, not limited to: Clash, DIY and Notion. 

Ethnicity: British-Chinese
Location: Manchester, UK

Instagram: @cathy.jain


GET TO KNOW - completed September 2021
3 words to describe you:
Determined, fantasist, hardworking

3 words to describe your music:
Perceptive, playful, heartfelt

If it does, how does your heritage impact your art?
I play the guzheng (a sort of Chinese zither with 21 strings) which I love to use in my songs.  I also grew up listening to pop music from all over the world ranging from Bollywood music to k-pop to Chinese opera to eurodance haha. this has really inspired me to be more experimental with my music. Lyrically, I like to write about the things I observe and my experiences of living in China and travelling around the world has definitely helped me widen my worldview <3 

If you could collaborate with anyone, who and why?
I would love to collaborate with joji. I love all the artists in the 88rising gang (Rich Brian, NIKI, Jackson etc...) but joji has always been one of my all time favourites. I love the melancholy sound he produces and the swag in his beats.

Your next career/music goal:
EP release!

Top 3 go to songs/artists:
(Currently)
Heavenly - Cigarettes After Sex
DHL - Frank Ocean
Moon Song - Phoebe Bridgers

Words you live by:
Everyone's a bit lost sometimes so don't stress so much <3 

Anything else you'd like to share?
My new EP 'artificial' is coming out November 5th!!! it would mean the world to me if you kept an eye out for it!