WZLY Interviews: Katrina Weissman

By Haysie Chung ‘24

WZLY DJ and 2023-2024 Music Director, Haysie Chung, sat down with singer-songwriter Katrina Weissman over Zoom to discuss the New Jersey-to-LA music scene, summertime injuries, the “After” movies, and new releases.

WZLY: So obviously, we grew up together, and I have seen you transition from performances at school to coffeeshops and the Meatlocker, but I was wondering if you could just share a bit more about your journey into music: how you got into it, and what inspired you to start creating.

KW: Yeah! I guess I've always been drawn to music. I asked my mom if I could start taking piano lessons when I was around six. I did that for a while, then started musical theater, doing open mic nights around the same time, and writing songs. Then in high school, I joined the jazz band and marching band and formed a band with people from that, Ollie and Simon. We started playing some of my songs at the Meatlocker and those other DIY New Jersey venues. When we were playing those shows, I was like, This is so right and what I want to do. It felt like what I was building up to do for so long because I had all these songs I'd been writing, and it was so exciting to play them with the band. And honestly, when I was playing those shows in high school, I thought like, This is the peak of my life. [laughs] And so when I got to college, I knew I wanted to form another band. 

I found Tristin and Thomas from the UCLA freshman Facebook group. I saw they were in this really awesome band called T. Rexico and started talking to Tristin about jamming once we got to school. We didn’t get to until my junior year because of COVID, but once we all started playing together everything kinda fell into place. We’ve been playing together, with Raina and Dash, for over two and a half years. We started with UCLA house shows and have recently been playing more LA venues. The UCLA music community has stayed very tight-knit though. We have a songwriting group that meets now and then and we still play a lot of shows together. But it’s been cool playing new shows at these venues and meeting other bands just out here to do music. 

Yeah, that's awesome. It’s also been cool to be on the other end and watch your performances grow from the really small and dingy venues in New Jersey to more big ones out in LA. What's the process of finding a venue? Is there a certain thing you're looking for in the places where you perform?

There are a few venues in LA that most bands frequent. There's Permanent Records, Silver Lake Lounge, The Resident. There's a new venue that just opened up called Scribble. I don't usually have to look for venues though, it’s more like you end up friends with other bands and see that they’re playing shows in certain places and then maybe they’ll ask your band to join a bill. It's a little bit more organic.

When I was in high school, I definitely looked up places to play and did research. I found the Meatlocker's Facebook page, and I think I came up through that. Because in high school, I felt like we were the only band really playing, at least from Glen Ridge. So we did have to do a little bit of digging. But in LA, honestly, everyone you meet is doing some creative thing, so it's easy to just fall into it.

Yeah, that sounds nice about LA. I remember I tried to see you at the Meatlocker.

Oh, really?

Yeah, but it was past my curfew.

Ohhh. Well, they did have us playing at 2:00 in the morning sometimes.

I remember it was you and Strange Weekend going on at 11:30 p.m. I must’ve been in ninth or tenth grade because my mom called me like, It's your curfew, I'm picking you up.

Yeah, they had us playing super late because it was in the basement of a restaurant. I definitely had some really good, loyal friends who would stay out till 2:00 in the morning to watch us play on a Wednesday. I have a place in my heart for that time of life, for sure.

Katrina Weissman playing at the Meatlocker in 2018.

Yeah, I'm glad that you've graduated from there. [laughs] But anyway, back to business. I read the two interviews you had with the Luna Collective in preparation for this,

Wow, research!

Yeah, whatever! [laughs] And I saw that you shared quite a bit about “Wasted Space” and “Not Love.” And since you've released those, you've also released “Different Night” and “Urgent Care Summer.”

Yes.

Huge fan. Loved both of them. You haven't really had an opportunity, it seems, to speak a bit more on them. I thought it was interesting that they were released pretty close together, but have very different vibes. “Urgent Care Summer” really took me back to high school, but “Different Night” felt so mature. I was just wondering if you wanted to speak a bit more about those two releases.

So “Urgent Care Summer” was a song that we would play at house shows in college because it was really fun. It is “high school” and silly and a good song for people to dance to when they're drunk at a college party. I recorded it with this UCLA student record label that had just started that year. They were looking for artists to work with them and they helped us record the song. It was just one eight-hour session at a UCLA student recording studio. I have never recorded a single song in one day, and it was really back-to-back. Two hours, Thomas is in there playing guitar, and then another hour, Raina is in there playing the violin. We weren’t going back to do a bunch of takes or anything. It was just all very quick because it was just a fun, silly song. 

Every summer, I hurt myself in some way, and I have to go to Urgent Care; I used to go to sleepaway camp during the summers, and the closest doctor's office was Newton Urgent Care. There was one summer when I went there and went up to pay at the front desk. And I was like, Hey, I'm Katrina Weissman. And they were like, Oh, we actually already have a tab open for you from last year. 

Haha, that’s pretty iconic. 

Yes! So the line where it's like, “They got an open tab for me,” they actually did. [laughs] It's just fun, you know? But anyway, the song just so happened to come out that month because the student label wanted all the songs to come out at the end of the school year. 

Then “Different Night” was something I'd been working on for much longer. A lot of it comes from this at-home demo that I made the summer prior; I was hanging out with my bassist Tristan and he was showing me this Sparklehorse song he covered using those chords. I just loved those chords so much, and that night I went home and wrote the song. The song is, not so silly. It's more about people leaving school, including my college boyfriend, and doing different things after we just had such a fun year together. And it was right after Covid, so I felt like I was really settling into something good and then it was so quickly being torn apart. So I was just feeling a lot of grief from that and that's what that song is about.

Yeah, those are pretty opposing things, but both are really good. When they were released so close together, I was like, This is the best summer of my life.

[laughs] Thank you. I appreciate the support, Haysie. 

I'm a big supporter, I love it. 

Thank you!

So your comment about songwriting was something I was also wondering: what is your songwriting process? I know, for a lot of artists one of the big things is if people write their lyrics first or come up with the tune. So I was curious about that for you, and any inspiration you might use for your process?

I was actually just talking to someone about how when I was in high school, I really wanted to sound like Alexandra Savior and when I was in college, I wanted to sound like Phoebe Bridgers. I used those two artists as such a platform of inspiration, like how I wanted things to sound and the kind of lyrics that I wanted to use. And at this current moment in time, I don't have an artist like that, who I can use as a sort of template. So yeah, it's a little unrelated—just something that I've been thinking about recently. 

But anyway, I guess if I don't have inspiration, like if there's not anything going on in my life that I want to talk about, I'll just come up with a melody for the verse and chorus and then be like, I'll just write words later. Whether or not I do that is like a whole other story. [laughs] If I do have something going on that I want to talk about, it's a lot easier. I usually just write the melody and lyrics in one sitting together and I’ll voice memo record myself singing the melody; it’s very stream-of-consciousness. 

Mhm. I know we mentioned earlier that we both studied abroad at the same time; did you write any songs when you were abroad, like did you find any inspiration in the difference in scenery?

The difference in scenery, not so much. But I was going out with this guy, and I think the fact that I was inevitably going to leave in a month caused some tension. 

Yeah. Study abroad partner. It's pretty tough.

Study abroad romance! I was watching all the Before movies, so it only made sense.

Yeah. And then your song was in—wait. [pause] Is that one of the movies that your song was in? Oh, no. I’m thinking of the After movies. 

I'm talking about Before Sunset.

Oh, sorry, wow. They're way too similar in name.

[laughs] Yeah, that's so funny, though. The “Before” and the “After” movies. Totally. 

Total pivot from the last question, but how was the process of that? Did they have to reach out to you to get your permission to have the song in the movie?

I interned for the film production company that releases those movies! I sent my music to someone who works there just because they were like, Oh, you're interning for us and, you're spending so much time doing script coverage, like, send us your stuff, we want to help out!

And so I did. They pulled me into one of the sound booths one day and they played a scene that had “Wasted Space” in it. It took so long for my brain to register that that was happening, that they were going to use the song. I was kind of nervous, honestly, for my song to be a part of this movie. I knew it was from a Wattpad fanfiction, which is kind of awesome, but I really didn’t know anything about that. But, it was great! I'm so happy that that happened. 

I took my band to see the premiere of the movie when it came out. They were all singing the song, having a good time. It happens in the first nine minutes of the movie. So, we got in there, we saw the song in the movie, and then we just enjoyed the rest of it. Have you seen it? 

Yeah, I saw it because I was like, Omg “Wasted Space” is in this. [laughs] So good. 

It's a really fun time and I think everyone should watch it. Maybe even the whole series.

Have you seen the whole series? 

[Laughs] I have not. 

Okay. [laughs] I was gonna say, 

I imagine that the others are just as insightful as After Everything.

I was wondering if you have any upcoming projects or releases you're working on. A big question that I have, actually, is if you have any plans for a music video. 

Oh, funny you should say that! I just recorded a music video in October with Ronan Sidoti. 

Omg. 

Yeah, but the song isn't done yet, so we haven't been able to put it out, but it will be out at some point soon. Currently, I'm playing a lot of shows around LA and recording most weekends with my very talented co-producer, Simon Hircshfield. We’re working on three songs that are almost done, and then five more that are steadily coming along. 

Mhm. Do you have plans for an EP or do you plan to continue releasing singles? 

It would be nice to release an album or EP at some point. I mean, I'm sure that I will eventually, but we'll probably stick to singles for now. 

Yeah, that sounds good. I also love your single covers. You have a good eye for that. 

Thank you. I took a lot of those in Newton, New Jersey, where I used to go to sleepaway camp. 

On the drives there, I always thought it was so beautiful. There are all of these cute little cottagey houses and all this farmland. So I just drove up there one day and took all the pictures that I've been using as single covers

I also like the one of your mom for a “Different Night.” I'm like, sorry, I'm a bit of a super fan. [laughs]

Aw! I was looking through my grandparent's photo albums, and I saw that picture, and I was like, This is horrifying. I have to use it or something. 

Yeah, that one's pretty awesome. 

Thanks. I'll tell Jen you said so. 

Katrina Weissman’s “Different Night.”

Oh, great. [laughs] My final question is about your new song “Sunday.” I was wondering if you want to share a bit about that, your inspiration, and the process of it.

Yeah! So, I’ve been living in LA for five years and spent a lot of that time feeling homesick and being a bit resentful of Los Angeles while missing specific things about New Jersey. Recently, I’ve gotten kind of bored of that grief and am committing more to living here—and that feels really good. This song is about letting go of my homesickness and this idea I have of myself being so one-way. Because, I don’t know, you’re from the East Coast, and it is a very different experience than living in southern California. A part of me wants to hold on to that because it reminds me of home, my family, and all of my friends that I am no longer around all the time but I feel like I’m settling into California in a new way that is very exciting.

I produced the song with my friend Riley in a few days in his garage all on Garageband. I’ve been working on a few songs for about a year now so it was a fun, kind of cathartic experience to write a song, record it, mix it and have it be out within a month.

Yeah, that makes sense.

Ooh, exciting. I like that a lot though—this idea of homesickness taking a new shape and a new form, but that love still existing.

Yeah. Well, I love the song, and I definitely found it moving. It’ll be my on-repeat for my hometown walks. But that was my last question! Thank you so much for this. 

Thanks for having me!