{"id":308037,"date":"2023-05-04T11:21:30","date_gmt":"2023-05-04T11:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gaytimes.co.uk\/?p=308037"},"modified":"2023-07-19T09:31:08","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T09:31:08","slug":"queer-now-kai-bosch-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaytimes.com\/music\/queer-and-now\/queer-now-kai-bosch-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Kai Bosch wants to make queer history"},"content":{"rendered":"

Get to know the new British singer-songwriter putting his emotions front and centre of his music.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

WORDS BY ZOYA RAZA-SHEIKH<\/p>\n

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Before becoming an artist in his own right, 13-year-old Kai Bosch would conjure up classical piano covers of his favourite artists. From twinkling odes to Lorde\u2019s Melodrama and Lana Del Rey\u2019s unforgettable melancholia, the musician established comfort and commonality with the musicians that shaped him. Living in Cornwall, the young musician took to writing songs in secret, keeping his talent hidden behind closed doors. \u201cNo one had ever heard me sing before and it stayed like that for years,\u201d Bosch tells GAY TIMES.<\/p>\n

However, it wasn\u2019t until his family took a trip to France that the musician took a chance on himself. \u201cAs a gay person with no friends, writing was my escape. So, even today, while I feel that there are more eyes on me and people paying attention to what I’m saying, the reason I do it is for myself,\u201d he explains. A lot has changed since the early days of Bosch\u2019s experimentation.<\/p>\n

Now, with nearly 200,000 listeners online, the up-and-coming talent is leading with the courage to \u201ctake control\u201d of his artistry. \u201cThe reason I perform is for myself. It feels like a huge statement to the universe that this all happened to me, and now I’m performing it on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

What began as a creative coping mechanism to \u201cprocess\u201d his personal experiences, has become the beginnings of a career built on emotional storytelling and frank, captivating lyricism. \u201cMy music is emotional and I like to put my own spin and my own perspective on most of the things I sing about and things that have happened to me,\u201d he says. \u201cI hope that people resonate with the music and that’s what made them enjoy it so much. It’s so nice that I’m getting people who resonate with it and message me about it. It’s really meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the latest instalment of our monthly new music editorial series, Queer & Now<\/a>, we sit down with Bosch to hear more about his new EP, Spider, and more.<\/p>\n

Kai, hello! How\u2019ve you been today?\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n

I’m wonderful. I am really excited. I’m playing KoKo this evening in Camden supporting Seafret, which is going to be my biggest show ever. Koko is iconic as well so it feels like a big moment to kind of kind of finish off these past two weeks, which has been a complete whirlwind for me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I used to be quite nervous but the more I’ve been onstage I\u2019ve become addicted to the feeling. I think it’s hilarious because I’ll be excited but I guarantee I’ll get there and it’ll get to an hour before I go on and then I’ll feel weird. But, then the minute I’m stood up there, I’m fine again.<\/span><\/p>\n

You started out doing covers but how did that snowball into a full career as an artist?\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n

I was doing it privately for a while and then my family went to France for a month and I stayed at home. And, in that month, I made a few songs and there was one in particular that I thought was quite good. So, when they came back, I played it for them and that’s the first time they’d heard me sing anything I’d written musically and my mum started crying. [My family] pushed me to put it out and share it and this was back in 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

They say your closest and biggest critics are usually your family\u2026<\/b><\/h4>\n

My mum continues to be the best kind of person to ear out any of my songs. I’ve always sent her things and if she’s not enthusiastic then I’ll know that I need to do better. But, also, I think she’s reached a point where she’s quite impressed with everything I send to her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which artists have been your biggest inspirations?<\/b><\/h4>\n

I’ve got to give the medal to Lorde and Lana Del Rey. There are also a few other influences that have come and gone so Marina and the Diamonds was one. The artist that inspired me to start writing and producing my own was an artist called Laurel. I stalked her Instagram and copied every piece of equipment she used or any software or plugins and then taught myself.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s been your favourite music memory?\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n

Probably my first headline show at the Servant Jazz Quarters in Dalston. It was the first time any of my family or friends had seen me perform with a full band. It’s also the first time that I felt safe that I’m in a room where everyone here loves me and I’m not going to be judged. I can go crazy and be myself while I perform. Before it even started, I was grinning because [I was in this] room of love and, since then, things have gotten bigger.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your music is quite emotive and relatable. How do you tap into the topics you choose to sing about?\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n

What I sing about is what I’m feeling and what needs to be purged from my head. I’m so introspective and my thoughts are like a washing machine of what’s going on and the only way that I can get it out or processes it is by writing. So, when it comes to mental health or relationships, I’m so self-reflective all the time and that’s what comes out. I think it\u2019s so important to me is being completely unfiltered and not overthinking. It’s how I feel and I wish there was more rawness and unabashed honesty. Sometimes, you don’t need clever lyricism or a metaphor sometimes, you can just say it how it is.<\/span><\/p>\n