Originally from Wellington, but now Auckland-based, folk-pop singer-songwriter Susannah Bull (known as Susannah) has released her debut single, Katy. Written and performed by herself (on keys and vocals) with her brother, Christopher Bull (on guitar and synths). Chris also produced, engineered and mastered the track.

You can find Katy on Spotify, Bandcamp, SoundCloud, and other streaming services.

What the song is about lyrically?
Katy was an old friend of my parents who I also befriended – in particular, we would catch up when we caught the same bus into town in Wellington. I don’t know exactly what it was in particular that made me write an entire song about her, but she had such a generous spirit and warmth to her and she cared a lot for my brother and I, even though we only ever really saw one another in those chance encounters on the bus.
Katy was an amazingly talented tapestry artist, if you google Katy Corner you can find images of her brilliant works and I guess seeing the person that was sitting next to me on the crowded no.14 bus, no one else would have any idea how talented this woman is. You could however notice other parts of the song in this woman before you – her big smile but also the tattoos, the dark shadows under her eyes, the tired skin…

Who produced/recorded it? Did the track come together in the studio, or at home?
Produced, recorded, engineered and mastered by my brother and fellow musician Christopher Bull across a long two and a half year period in London and New Zealand, we worked at layering the elements of the song together, adding light electronics and textures, while still retaining its simple and clear core, keeping the focus on the lyrics.

Were there any gear or effects that you used in the mix to get the sound you were after?
Katy was composed and mixed exclusively in Logic Pro X. The synths and instruments are a combination of Native Instruments’ Komplete (particularly piano and cello from Kontakt), Logic’s included instruments (especially the brilliant Retro Synth and B3 organ), and live guitar, processed with Native Instruments’ Guitar Rig Pro. As well a variety of plugins were used, including Sound Toys delays and saturation, and Waves Abbey Road Plate reverb.

Is this a stand-alone track or part of an upcoming album or EP?
Stand-alone at present, but working towards an EP with Chris!