Caiti BakerFor the past few years, Caiti Baker has become an 'It Girl' for Aussie collaborations. Most prominently she's worked with AB Original on tracks like Dead In A Minute and Sorry, and recently she provided backing vocals on Pete Murray's Camacho album, as well as touring in support of Dan Sultan, Guy Sebastian, Son Little and Booker T Jones. Now, it's Baker's turn to have the spotlight upon her, with the release of her debut album, Zinc, slated for October.
"Zinc is a collection of songs that have been maybe three years in the making, solidified and, I guess, based on the foundation of the USB key that my father bestowed upon myself and James after we had a four-year falling out and it was filled with a bunch of guitar licks and harmonica lines... that James Mangohig, my producer, sampled and I think I probably wrote my best stuff to those demos," explains Baker.
"I'm anxious. I'm nervous about it too, of course. It's just because I've had these songs for up to three years. They've been in my head and they've been in my producer's head. A few people have heard them but actually a full realisation of what we've been working on is like 'the day is here' in two weeks. And people are going hear it and I'm anxious to know what people think and also, I don't care and it's a rollercoaster of emotions," she laughs. "I just hope people understand it and that's something that I have to be prepared for if they don't and music is a subjective thing. I'm just going to be grateful for anyone to pick it up and enjoy it, or not."
"As a collective whole, I think I'm extremely proud of every song and at the moment, as it stands, I listen to the album probably two to five times a day because I just know as soon it goes out I probably won't listen to it for a while. I definitely think Believer is one of the best songs I've ever written and I'm excited to have that out in the world for sure, especially from a production and arrangement side..."
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Listening to Zinc, it's seemingly impossible to nail it to a genre. Baker has been most influenced by blues and hip hop, growing up listening to everyone from Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone and Etta James to discovering Missy Elliot, Destiny's Child and Janet Jackson, though you couldn't pinpoint exactly where those influences enter her sound.
"Music for me has never been a trend... Music is a therapy for me, so I'm putting out myself into these songs and my collective experience as a human is so different to anyone.
"In terms of the style and sound that I have, I think it's something that's going to evolve because I've been raised on so many genres and I'm going to pull from that for my entire career, so what I do next might not necessarily sound anything like what I'm just about to release with Zinc. I have to evolve and I have to change because you do as a human and I just like dope shit. If it's gonna sound good, it's gonna sound good. I don't really care where it comes from," she laughs.
When the topic of another album comes up, Baker laughs and explains that she's already ready for the next thing.
"We've got a bunch of tracks that didn't fit on this album that are in the same vein, that will hopefully be released sometime next year. I've got a song bank of probably 60 other demos to work with. I just want to do so much, there's so much to do and so much that can be done. I'm lucky to work with and know a bunch of amazing musicians in Australia that I'm able to work with and collaborate with, so why not?"
"Sonically and musically, I think James and I, and Michael [Hohnen, double bass player, producer and Skinnyfish Music co-founder], have kind of carved something out that we've just been evolving and developing as we all evolve and develop through our lives..."
"In terms of inspiration for lyrics and stuff, definitely," says Baker when asked if her recent collaborations have helped shape Zinc. "There's lyrics that have been inspired by my touring, my experiences with people that I've met on the road or my mates that I get to circulate through every time I tour, get to see, hearing their stories.
"Both Trials and Briggs are great sources of recommendations on anything entertainment, food or comedy or whatever. So yeah, definitely being able to have a source of diverse creativity coming from a bunch of different people that I've worked and toured with.
"Even from a professional side, touring with Dr G [Yunupingu], for his gospel album. I was thrown into the deep end with that and I didn't realise it at the time, I was like, 'Yeah, sweet, I'm going on tour.' I had to learn Yolngu Matha language for the songs with only two weeks to do that. So challenging myself as a capable human to be able to take on the roles of what I can do in my career, like I wouldn't have had those opportunities otherwise. I mean I only really have one job so I want to be as good at it as possible. I'm just grateful that the people I have collaborated with and been supported by have been able to push that."
Before Baker's foray into her solo career, herself and ongoing collaborator Mangohig were picking up success with their group Sietta.
"I think I'm a completely, and I know this sounds so cliche and a bit cheeseball... I'm a different person. James and I were laughing about it the other day, in a way, I'm a bit born again," she shares, laughing.
"From my experience, I had chronic fatigue syndrome and bipolar tendencies and I was jacked up on so much medication and for the entire career of Sietta, like if I wasn't asleep in the studio between takes - I mean there are so many photos of me from those times where James would just turn around and take a photo of me passed out on the lounge in between takes - to sleeping on the tour bus. I had a day job and I had a position in the office where I could just like, this'll sound so bad, but I used to just curl up underneath my desk. So bad! I just wasn't present, I wasn't aware. I was inflamed and manic when I was awake. I'm so proud of myself for achieving what I was able to achieve in writing those albums and performing. We only cancelled one gig because of my health, which I'm super proud of considering how much touring we did."
"I wasn't necessarily myself, so I feel like this album is... I can look at myself in the mirror and identify 100% that that is me and I know who I am and I'm self-assured and I'm proud of what I do, whereas I don't know if I would have been able to have the mental strength to do that through the time that I had Sietta, and I'm so proud of it and I love the music that I made with that but it's just a different plain now."
